Pomerenke topples another school record on day one of Concordia Classic

SEWARD, Neb. – Bulldog senior Lydia Pomerenke continued her assault on the school record book on day one of the Concordia Classic held Friday inside the Walz Field House. The annual classic continues on Saturday as the entire field of athletes jump into action. View the event schedule HERE.

Pomerenke, who already held the program record in the outdoor heptathlon, put forth another record-setting performance on Friday. The Seward native topped personal bests in the 60 meter hurdles and the shot put on the way to 3,227 points, eclipsing Stephanie Kohlwey’s 2005 school mark of 3,023 points. Pomerenke came into the meet third on the school’s all-time pentathlon chart with her previous personal high of 2,939 points.

“I really wanted to get the record last year when I was a junior but I ended up falling a little short,” Pomerenke said. “My goal was to hit it and hit it right away so I could just keep breaking my own and setting new goals every time.”

Pomerenke finished in the top four of all five events, including a first-place claim in the hurdles with a time of 9.39. Overall, Pomerenke placed second in the pentathlon behind only Doane’s Erin DeVries (3,404 points).  Based on the NAIA leaderboard entering the weekend, Pomerenke’s point total would rate fourth best nationally. She has automatically qualified for the national championships.

If not for Pomerenke, teammate Montana Hayes would be the school record holder in the pentathlon. Hayes also moved past Kohlwey’s old mark by piling up 3,066 points. Her highest finish was a third-place spot in the shot put with a throw of 34’ 2 ¾”. Hayes placed sixth overall in the pentathlon in front of fellow Bulldog Sara Simmons (2,892 points).

“Everybody did really, really well,” Pomerenke said. “Our first event was the hurdles and each one of us PR’d by quite a bit and that was really exciting because it’s our home track.

“We push each other and I wouldn’t be as good as I am without them.”

On the men’s side, four of seven events were completed in the heptathlon on Friday. Freshman Lucas Wiechman sits in sixth place overall to top the Bulldogs. Wiechman placed fifth in both the 60 meter dash and the shot put.

The men’s heptathlon continues at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday with the 60 meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meter run yet to be contested. Field events begin at 11 a.m. with running events to get going at 12 p.m.

A special dedication for Derek Rodine will take place at 3:10 p.m. during the meet on Saturday. Read more about the ceremony HERE.

For those who can’t make it to the Field House, a live webcast will be offered via the Concordia Sports Network. The broadcast will begin at 11 a.m. and run through the end of the meet.