LINCOLN, Neb. – It’s a big week for the top 10 nationally-ranked Concordia University track and field squads, which are in the midst of showcasing their talents on a national stage. In Thursday’s action at the prestigious Drake Relays, Lucas Wiechman completed his exploits in the decathlon with a fifth-place finish while up against a field of several NCAA Division I athletes. Meanwhile, back in Lincoln, four Bulldogs won event titles at the Prairie Wolf Outdoor Invitational hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan on Thursday.
Wiechman has all but assured himself of a spot in the decathlon national championships by totaling 6,586 points while competing on Wednesday and Thursday under cloudy skies in central Iowa. Wiechman beat out competitors from the likes of Iowa State, Kent State and Northern Iowa. Wiechman, a heptathlon national champion, has already qualified for outdoor nationals in the pole vault and 110 meter hurdles and ranks eighth nationally in the 400 meter hurdles.
A pair of fresh automatic national qualifying marks were turned in at the Prairie Wolf Invite, courtesy of both Addie Shaw (145’ 3”) and Bethany Shaw (146’ 10”) in the discus. The Shaws finished third and fourth, respectively, in the event by coming through with personal records. Event titles were claimed by three Bulldog throwers: Cody Boellstorff in the hammer (207’ 11”), Jazzy Eickhoff in the javelin (129’ 10”) and Sydney Meyer in the hammer (175’ 5”). Eickhoff’s mark represented a personal best by two-and-a-half feet.
On the track, Ben Hulett won the 110 meter hurdles in a time of 15.02, which is 0.17 seconds off his personal best (‘B’ standard qualifying mark). In the 800 meters, Josiah McAllister shaved more than four seconds off his personal best by clocking in at 1:55.04 for a runner-up finish at the Prairie Wolf Invite. On the blue oval in Des Moines, CJ Muller ran a 1:54.16, which fell short of his national qualifying time of 1:51.40.
Among other highlights, Casey Eberth vaulted 10’ 2” for a PR. Additional personal bests were turned in at Nebraska Wesleyan by Philip Kreutzer in the hammer (188’ 7”), Amy Migl in the hammer (129’ 4”) and Tristen Mosier in the pole vault (11’ 1 ¾”).
Also at Drake, the Concordia women’s 4x800 meter relay finished eighth out of 18 competitors with a time of 9:28.65. The relay was made up of Marti Vlasin, Quinn Wragge, Alayna Daberkow and Miranda Rathjen. In the men’s 4x4, the quartet of Wiechman, Jake Rodgers, Nathan Matters and CJ Muller registered in at 3:19.29 for 16th place. Elsewhere at Drake, Tricia Svoboda threw 131’ 10” in the discus.
The Drake Relays will continue on Saturday. Lurz will compete in the hammer throw and both Allie Brooks and McKenzie Gravo will both take part in the pole vault in Des Moines. Live results can be viewed HERE.