Bulldog throwers claim four titles on day one of Doane Relays

CRETE, Neb. – Sophomore Liz King improved to a perfect 4-for-4 in javelin competitions this season as one of four Bulldog throwers to make a first-place claim at the Doane Relays in Crete, Neb., on Friday. Concordia dominated once again in the men’s hammer throw and five-time All-American Jamie Crouse notched a title in the women’s hammer.

Throws coach Ed McLaughlin’s crew hogged the finals of the men’s hammer throw, placing six in the top eight. Sophomore Cody Boellstorff won the event with his toss of 180’ 11” – yet another figure that surpasses the automatic national qualifying mark.

“Did I expect that? I knew it was possible,” McLaughlin said of the hammer throw results. “Two good hammer throwers from Hastings weren’t here today. Some people weren’t here so you have to adjust for that.

“Their goal is to throw their best every week. It just so happened that a lot of our younger kids were better than other people. They all made it to the final.”

King again lapped the competition in the javelin with her mark of 148’ 11” – more than 24 feet better than the next closet thrower. The native of Billings, Mont., entered the week ranked No. 2 in the NAIA with her personal best figure of 155’ 10.”

“King once again just ran by everybody,” McLaughlin said. “She didn’t even get touched.”

Crouse outdistanced second-place McKayla Gowen of Hastings by nearly 12 feet with her hammer throw of 169’ 3” – also eclipsing the automatic national qualifying mark. In the same event, Bulldog freshman Kali Robb recorded a ‘B’ mark of 157’ 4” to place third.

Concordia also laid claim to the top spot in the men’s javelin by way of sophomore Josh Slechta’s throw of 171’ 1” – about four feet shy of his personal best.

In the multi events, Concordia got off to a good start in the decathlon. With five of 10 events completed, Brandon Cook (3,204 points), Lucas Wiechman (3,117 points) and Brandon Ramos (3,113 points) sit second, third and fourth, respectively. Saturday’s decathlon schedule includes the 110 meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meter run.

On the track, junior Ben Sievert placed second in the 5,000 meter run by clocking in at 15:41.69, roughly 12 seconds off of first-place Colton McNinch of Southwestern College.

In the women’s heptathlon, junior Sara Simmons leads the way for the Bulldogs. She sits in third place with 2,670 points with four of seven events completed. Senior Lydia Pomerenke is currently in fifth with 2,521 points. The long jump, javelin and 800 meter run will be contested on Saturday.

Backing up Boellstorff’s first-place title in the hammer, Zach Lurz finished runner up (173’), Trey Farmer third (170’ 1”), Jordan Larrington fifth (164’ 4”), Ben Schulteis sixth (158’ 8”) and Brock Braniff eighth (152’ 8”).

The action heats up on Saturday at the Doane Relays. The throws begin at 11 a.m., running events at 1 p.m. and the multi events pick back up at 3 p.m. View the schedule HERE.

Doane will have a live webcast HERE and live results HERE.

“Tomorrow’s kind of a big day,” McLaughlin said. “Our women’s shot puters haven’t been doing when they’re supposed to be doing and our men’s discus throwers haven’t been doing what they’re supposed to be doing. Zach’s doing well and Steph’s (Coley) doing well but we don’t have the depth we’re supposed to have. Tomorrow’s a day they don’t have to worry about hammer. They don’t have to worry about the extra stuff. They can just show up and compete.”