LINCOLN, Neb. – Seven Bulldogs either turned in new or improved ‘A’ or ‘B’ standard qualifying marks while in action at the Prairie Wolf Outdoor Invitational hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan University on Thursday (April 25). The Concordia University track and field squads (ranked No. 2 for women and No. 14 for men in the NAIA national ratings) were joined at the meet by athletes from other Nebraska institutions such as Bellevue, Doane, Midland, Nebraska Wesleyan and the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
The biggest revelation for head coach Matt Beisel’s program was the new automatic national qualifying mark unleashed in the hammer throw (166’ 9”) by senior Carley Weisser. In the discus, both junior Jacob Cornelio (158’) and senior Samantha Liermann (140’ 8”) notched fresh ‘B’ marks. In the shot put, juniors Liam Hennessy (51’ 9 ¾”) and Addie Shaw (44’ 2 ¾”) came within an eyelash of automatic national qualifying tosses in season best performances.
The women’s pole vault crew also got some good work in. Junior McKenzie Gravo achieved a season best and won the event by clearing 12’ 2 ¾.” That mark currently puts her alone at No. 3 on the NAIA national leaderboard. In addition, junior Allie Brooks is getting closer to the ‘A’ standard in the pole vault. She vaulted a season best of 11’ 7” and placed third at the Prairie Wolf Invite. In the men’s pole vault, Cody Williams again went over 15’ 7” (third place).
In the 100 meter hurdles, sophomore Kennedy Mogul was also an event titlist. The York, Neb., native clocked in at 15.31 in the finals to beat out a field of eight competitors. Additionally, Mogul placed second in the 400 meter hurdles, clocking in at 1:05.64. In the 100 meter dash, Cora Olson (12.58) and Emily Loy (12.84) placed third and fourth, respectively. On the men’s side, sophomore Henry Reimer came up with a break through personal best of 55.67 in the 400 hurdles. Sophomore Jeremiah Reeser produced notable efforts in the 200 meters (22.89; 2nd place) and in the long jump (21’ 11 ¾”; 6th place).
Four Concordia relays are getting set to run at the Drake Relays on Friday. More information about that can be found HERE. The Bulldogs will also host the Blizzard Buster meet on Saturday. Find the meet schedule HERE.