Several Bulldogs record national qualifying marks to open track and field season
By Taylor Mueller, Sports Information Assistant
CRETE, Neb. – The highly anticipated indoor track and field season is officially underway as the Concordia Bulldogs got things started at the Scott Nisely Memorial Classic at Doane College.
The Bulldogs started the season with a bang, claiming numerous top finishers on both the men’s and women’s teams and wasted little time in qualifying several individuals for the national meet.
“On the women’s side, the pole vaulters had a tremendous day and Jamie Crouse and Stephanie Coley had real good starts to their seasons,” head coach Kregg Einspahr said. “We had several national qualifying marks already which is great to see.”
Senior Shelby Yelden and junior Cassandra Starks swept the top two spots in the women’s pole vaulting competition, clearing 11’ 3” and 10’ 9” respectively.
All American Jamie Crouse threw her way to a first place finish in the weight throw with a toss of 57’ 6¼”. The throw was enough to qualify her for the national meet. Sophomore Stephanie Coley’s shot put toss of 45’ 4½” placed third and gave her a qualifying mark for the national meet as well.
On the track, sophomore Kim Wood ran away with a first place finish, dominating the field with a time of 2:21.
The men also ran away with a very successful day, and showed promise of more to come in the future, something Einspahr was excited about.
“I thought we did real well on the men’s side in terms of placing,” Einspahr said. “It was a good meet to start out with and get some confidence. We had a lot of winners on the track and that gives you confidence. It’s the first meet and we’re not ready to set any world records, but I was pretty pleased overall.”
Senior John Cartier, freshman CJ Muller and sophomore Jaap Van Gaalen went one, two, three in the 400 meter race with times of 49.72, 50.47 and 51.03 respectively.
More dominance was to be had in the 600 meter race as senior Ben Hinckfoot placed first in 1:24.55 while senior Andrew Malan finished right on his heels in 1:24.95.
Senior Adam Prahlow took first in the 800 meter race with a time of 2:01 while fellow distance running mate Hayden Hohnholt claimed the 3000 meter race title in 8:55.
In the 4x800 meter relay, Malan and Prahlow were at it again, this time teaming up with juniors Charlie Blookmfield and Creighton Pearse to take first with a time of 8:12, knocking out the competition by over five seconds.
The men’s 4x400 meter relay team of Van Gaalen, Muller, Cartier and senior Jonathon Becker was also victorious, scorching the track with a time of 3:20, setting a new meet record in the process.
The Bulldogs also got some help from their field events, as senior Carson Farr took first with a clearance of 16’ 4¾” while sophomore Cody Boellstorff championed with weight throw with a toss of 61’ 4¾”. Junior Trey Farmer took third place in the shot put with a throw of 51’ 6¼”. Farr, Boellstorff and Farmer all qualified for the national meet with their accomplishments.
The Bulldogs will be back in action again next weekend, when they travel to the Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb., to compete in the Prairie Wolf Invite on Friday, Jan. 24.
