JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – A total of 10 Concordia men’s and women’s track and field athletes were named All-Americans after the second day of the NAIA Indoor Championships, including Cody Boellstorff who won the title in the men’s weight throw Friday afternoon.
Boellstorff said, “I’m excited, it’s what I was going for this season. I’m still itching for the 70 foot throw, but I’m happy with it.”
Boellstorff’s first place toss came in at 69-09, a new school and personal record. The junior placed first in the weight throw in every meet he competed in this season. In a field of the toughest competition in the weight throw in NAIA Indoor Championships history, three other Bulldogs placed in the event. Zach Lurz turned in a mark of 64-07.75 (third), Josh Slechta hit 61-09.50 (fifth) and Philip Kreutzer marked a throw of 60-10.50 (seventh). Coming up just shy of placing was Jose Rojas who threw the weight 60-01.
Lurz said, “We’ve always relieved heavily on the weight throwers and we did our job today. Almost everyone set a PR, we did what needed to do.”
The women also participated in the weight throw today. All four Bulldogs competing in the event reached All-American status. Kali Robb was the top finisher for the squad and came in fourth with a throw of 60-00.50. Coming in sixth was Kattie Cleveland, registering a 59-05.75 toss. Steph Coley finished seventh with a mark of 57-06.50 while Liz King placed eighth, turning in a throw of 56-10.25.
Lucas Wiechman finished the men’s heptathlon during day number two of the meet. Wiechman finished the seven event feat in second place with 5,176 points. Today’s events were the 60 meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meter run. Wiechman’s day was highlighted by a third place finish in the 60 meter hurldles (8.55) and a first place finish in the pole vault (16.02.75).
McKenzie Gravo received All-American honors in the pole vault in her debut season. The freshman hit a mark of 12-02.50 to finish fifth.
Gravo, “My performance was a little rocky today at the beginning, I was a little nervous to be here. But then I got into my head and was like, ‘I made it here, I might as well make the most of it.’ I made most of them on my third attempts, but I still made it and that’s what counts. I was just trying to enjoy everything…it was a joy to be here and do what I do.”
On the track, Kim Wood ran in the 1,000 meter preliminaries and qualified for finals on Saturday. The senior had the second best time of the prelims, crossing the finish line in 2:58.35.
CJ Muller qualified for the men’s 600 meter run, posting a time of 1:20.77 in the preliminary race.
Beginning at 9 a.m. CDT, the Bulldog track and field teams will be back in action for the closing day of the NAIA Indoor Championships. Events that Concordia will be competing in include: women’s shot put, men’s shot put, men’s pole vault, women’s 1,000 meters, men’s 600 meters and the men’s 4x400 meter relay. Live results can be found HERE.