DES MOINES, Iowa – Senior Scott Johnson continues to climb the school’s all-time list in the triple jump. One of a select number of athletes able to compete at the NAIA Midwest Quad on Thursday, Johnson busted out an automatic national qualifying mark in a breakthrough performance. His efforts highlighted the meet for the Concordia University track and field athletes who appeared at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Head coach Matt Beisel’s squads turned in 14 event titles and Adrianna Shaw (hammer throw) joined Johnson with a fresh automatic mark. The quad meet also featured athletes from Baker University (Kan.), host Grand View and St. Ambrose University (Iowa).
“There were some events where the competition was slim in terms of number of competitors,” Beisel said. “Maybe from one perspective when you’re just competing against some of your teammates it might help you relax. It’s like practice like it was with the men’s pole vault. On the other hand, I think having really good competitors to go against helps. Typically the bigger meets are going to help us have better overall performances.”
Johnson bumped his way up to No. 2 in program history with his personal best triple jump of 47’ 6 3/5” in a winning performance on Thursday. He bested a smaller field of five competitors in Des Moines. He also took first in the long jump by coming in at 22’ 1/10.” Johnson has now locked up his first trip to the outdoor national championships. He’s a two-time indoor qualifier.
The Bulldog women’s shot put dominated once again. The five Concordia competitors went 1-2-3-4-5 amongst a field of 15 throwers. Samantha Liermann claimed yet another event title with her toss of 47’ 6 3/5. Next in line were Shaw, Johanna Ragland, Jodi Fry and Jazzy Eickhoff. Shaw popped off a hammer throw of nearly 170 feet and placed second out of nine athletes. Shaw now owns automatic national qualifying marks in three events.
It was a solid day for York native Kennedy Mogul. She finished the 400 hurdles in a first-place time of 1:05.06, roughly six seconds better than her time at the beginning of outdoor season. Additionally, she finished third in the 100 meter hurdles (15.80) and collaborated with an improving 4x400 meter relay group that took first place.
Elsewhere in the field events, Jacob Daack creeped closer to a ‘B’ standard in the shot put with a personal best. He also turned in a PR in the discus. For the second meet in a row, Ben Pratt won the high jump. His PR on Thursday measured almost 6 ½ feet. Meanwhile, freshman Joe Gomez eclipsed personal bests in three throwing events and Eickhoff won the javelin competition with a 'B' standard throw.
On the track, Pat Wortmann checked in under two minutes (1:59.20) in the 800 meters and placed fifth. Concordia also ran off a women’s 4x800 meter relay that clocked in at 10:14.46. The quartet featured Miranda Rathjen, Rebekah Hinrichs, Lydia Cook and Alyssa Fye.
Most Bulldogs will be in action next week at Doane’s Jim Dutcher Invite (April 20-21) in Crete, Neb. Members of the team could also compete at the Kansas Relays (April 19-20) hosted by the University of Kansas in Lawrence.