SEWARD, Neb. – While competing inside the friendly confines of the Fieldhouse that now showcases two national championship banners, the Concordia University track and field programs combined for 48 personal records, 13 automatic national qualifying marks, five event titles and four runner-up finishes at Sunday’s Concordia Indoor Classic. It marked the first home appearance of the 2017 indoor season for the Bulldogs.
It was also the first time coaching the Bulldogs in a home meet for head coach Matt Beisel.
“I had a lot of joy looking around and seeing everything running smoothly and having my kids performing well,” Beisel said. “It was really a cool experience. Among our 100 athletes, we’ve had 250 personal bests this season, including the intrasquad meet. That shows improvement.”
Concordia performers swept men’s and women’s pole vault titles on Sunday. Sophomore Allie Brooks took first on the women’s side and senior Lucas Wiechman did the same in the men’s competition.
Pole vaulting is a family affair for Allie. She has joined her father Gene Brooks as Concordia pole vault record holders. Gene continues to own the men’s school indoor pole vault standard of 18’ ½.” On Sunday, Allie shattered her previous personal best by clearing 12’ 6 ¾,” moving former record holder Cassie Starks (12’ 6 ¼”) down a notch.
Allie has come a long ways since tearing her ACL as a high school senior. She also gets pushed every day by teammate and 2016 pole vault All-American McKenzie Gravo, who is red-shirting this indoor season. The school record, also a Concordia Classic meet record, may be just a start.
“It was amazing,” Brooks said. “It was everything that I dreamed of it being for the past few years. I’ve been trying to chase the record. It was awesome.”
Added Beisel, “That mark will rank her as one of the tops in the U.S. right now. After the story of her getting through an ACL repair and working her way up, it was really cool.”
Already qualified for nationals in the pole vault, Wiechman cleared 15’ 10” on Sunday. Teammate Tyrell Reichert turned in a fresh automatic national qualifying mark by vaulting 15’ 5.” He placed fourth among the field of 26 athletes.
Headlining the throws group, senior Cody Boellstorff pushed his NAIA leading mark in the weight throw to 66’ 9 ¾.” Throwers accounted for eight national qualifying marks at the Concordia Classic. Those additional marks were achieved by Samantha Liermann (shot put), Zach Lurz (shot put and weight throw), Sydney Meyer (weight throw), Kali Robb (shot put and weight throw) and Adrianna Shaw (shot put).
Senior CJ Muller continues to compete along with the top 600 meter runners in the nation. In his only race of the day, he clocked in at 1:20.82 in a winning effort on the track. The Omaha native, a two-time All-American in the 600, entered the weekend ranked fourth in the NAIA in the event.
“You just want to keep working at it,” Muller said. “We run to make ourselves better. I want to keep bumping myself up on that list. Each week we approach it like we haven’t run a race before. Next week I’ll be running it (600) again and hopefully move up on the national list.”
The fifth event titlist for Concordia was Jake Rodgers, who ran a 22.56 in the 200 meters. Concordia event runner ups included Robb (weight throw), Rodgers (400 meters), Shaw (shot put) and Patrick Wortmann (1,000 meters). Shaw topped her personal best by exactly two feet with her shot put toss of 46’ 5 ½.” Based on the NAIA leaderboard entering the weekend, that mark would be good for second, just ahead of Robb (46’ 2 ¾”). Though she placed third in the high jump, Brooks again turned in a mark of 5’ 5,” which meets the national qualifying standard.
Wortmann’s 1,000 meter time of 2:34.58 was a personal best and puts him near the national qualifying mark of 2:32. Wortmann is one of the leaders for a distance group showing rapid improvement. “They were very competitive and I love what I saw there,” Beisel said.
The bulk of the team will be headed to Doane next Saturday for the Fred Beile Invite inside Fuhrer Field House. Select Bulldog athletes will also take part in the Sevigne Husker Invite (Feb. 3-4) hosted by the University of Nebraska. Beisel’s program will also host the annual Concordia Indoor Invitational on Feb. 10.
Concordia Classic event titles
- Cody Boellstorff – weight throw (66’ 9 ¾”)
- Allie Brooks – pole vault (12’ 6 ¾”)
- CJ Muller – 600 meters (1:20.82)
- Jake Rodgers – 200 meters (22.56)
- Lucas Wiechman – pole vault (15’ 10”)