Stage Is Set For Another Banner MIAC Finish
Concordia is poised for another banner finish at the MIAC Outdoor Meet as they scored 84 team points on Friday and hold a 47-point lead in the team standings heading into the final day of competition.
NORTHFIELD, Minn. (5/08/26)---Concordia is poised to make it a double team title in 2026. Less than three months after capturing the team championship at the MIAC Indoor Meet, the Cobbers lead the MIAC Outdoor Meet after Day 1 and have a 47-point lead heading into the final day on Saturday.
Concordia used wins in the javelin, 4x800-meter relay and high jump as well as its depth in the javelin to come away with 84 team points on Friday.
The Cobbers enter the final day of the meet with 105 total points which leads second-place St. Olaf who has 58 points.
Junior Genevieve Gruba led a pack of five Cobbers, who all scored team points in the javelin. Gruba became a 2-time MIAC champion in the event when she unleashed a distance of 128-05 on her very first attempt of the meet. Her winning mark was over five feet farther than the runner up.
There was plenty of maroon and gold on the javelin podium as Kaia Gack, Grace Ciarrochi, Kaili Malvey and Kennison Azure all joined Gruba in scoring team points.
When the final javelin had been thrown, Concordia had earned 26 team points in the one event. That total for just the javelin would have the Cobbers in sixth place in the team standings after Friday.
Gack placed third with a mark of 115-11, Ciarrochi was fourth at 115-10, Malvey was sixth with a distance of 111-01 and Azure was seventh at 107-08.
The Concordia 4x800-meter relay team became the first Cobber quartet to win that race at the MIAC Outdoor Meet since 1997. The group of Londyn Ames, Kelyn Henry-Perlich, Abby Lovelace and Kyla Nygaard sped to a finishing time of 9:21.47 which won the race by 1.91 seconds.
Lauren Selle used the momentum from her fourth-place finish in the heptathlon to claim the title in the high jump. Selle cleared a season-best height of 5-05.75 on her second attempt to win her first MIAC title. Her mark also moves her into the Top 20 in Division III for the season.
Concordia also scored big team points in the high jump as first-year teammates Lauren Pearson, Malvey and Emma Norton also finished in the Top 6. Pearson was second with a season best of 5-04.50, Malvey was fourth at 5-03.25 and Norton placed sixth with a season-best height of 5-02.25.
Malvey made it a trio of Top 5 finishes on the day when she placed third in the long jump with a personal-best mark of 18-02.25. All in all, Malvey came away with a total of 14 team points all by herself.
Concordia also got team points on Friday from Genevieve Dabout, Ashley Nelson and Ames. Dabout placed second in the discus with a personal-best mark of 140-00 and Nelson was fifth in the 10,000 meters at 39:04.64 and Ames cruised to a PR time of 4:44.00 and was fifth in the 1500 meters.
Not only did Concordia post a boat load of points on Friday, but they also qualified a slew of athletes for the finals on Saturday.
Pearson will compete in the finals in the 100-meter hurdles, Norton and Emma Warner finished 2-3 in the 400 meters and will race on Saturday, Emily Rengo qualified for the finals in both the 100 and 200 meters, Nygaard will compete in the finals in 800 meters and Josie Brown and Lovelace both qualified in the 400-meter hurdles.
All those athletes have a chance to score team points and if you add all the field events, it could be another banner day for the Cobbers.
Competition on Day 2 at the MIAC Meet will begin at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
Team Standings After Day 1 at MIAC Outdoor Championship Meet
1. Concordia - 105
2. St. Olaf - 58
3. Macalester - 34
4. Gustavus - 33
5. Carleton - 31
6. Bethel - 17
7. Saint Mary's - 14
8. Saint Benedict - 10
9. Hamline - 8
10. St. Scholastica - 2
T11. Augsburg - DNS
T11. St. Catherine - DNS