Bulldogs conclude Drake Relays with automatic mark in women’s 4x8

By Taylor Mueller, Sports Information Assistant

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Concordia Bulldogs finished up their final day of competition at the prestigious Drake Relays, walking away with several impressive accomplishments and a couple more national qualifying marks while competing against some of the top talent the nation has to offer.

“It’s a good meet to go to against real good competition,” assistant track and field coach Mark Samuels said. “It’s competition that we don’t typically run against unless it’s at the national meet.”

The women’s 4x800 meter relay of seniors Jena Schwalenberg, Jenean Williams, junior Erika Schroeder and sophomore Kim Wood certainly took advantage of the fast track and competition and qualified for the national meet with a time of 9:24.10 and a 10th place finish.

“The big performance was the women’s 4x800 meter relay qualifying for the national meet,” Samuels said. “They did a good job and they ran really well. It wasn’t their best but it was a big accomplishment and that’s one of the reasons they were there.”

Samuels went on to note the importance of qualifying for the national meet and getting it out of the way so that the relay squads can focus on their performance at the conference meet.

“One big thing about this meet is getting a couple relays qualified so that we don’t need to worry about trying to qualify for the national meet at the conference meet,” Samuels said. “Now we can focus on being fresh and ready for the conference meet.”

Other Concordia athletes competing at the meet on the final day of competition were freshman Zachary Lurz and sophomore Cody Boellstorff. Lurz finished in 18th place in the discus with a toss of 161’ 8” and 22nd in the hammer throw, achieving a distance of 175.’ Boellstorff did not place among the competition.

“Cody had an off day,” Samuels said. “We didn’t have our best throws, but they were still able to compete against good competition.”

With the Drake Relays completed, the focus has shifted to the final goal and the home stretch. The Bulldogs will gear up for the conference meet next Friday and Saturday at Doane. Hopes of another conference championship are on the line.