The Concordia University track team made some history Saturday afternoon at the GPAC indoor track and field championships held at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb. Both the men's and women's teams finished second in overall points behind champion Doane, but it marked the first time in GPAC history that both the Concordia men and women have finished in the top two in the same year.
The Bulldog women were led by Charista Zehnder's 123 points. Zehnder scored 27.5 points on her own by winning the 60-meter dash and the long jump. Zehnder also placed fourth in the 200-meter dash and was part of the winning 4x400-meter relay team. For her efforts she was named the women's athlete-of-the-meet.
Also on the women's side, the Bulldogs took first and second place in the 600-meter dash as Katie Swanson nudged out teammate Emily Wolters with a time of 1:35.28. Bethany Sutton won the 800-meter run by almost two full seconds with a time of 2:18.01. In the 1,000-meter run the Bulldogs' Katie Lutmer finished just off the pace, earning second, and Ann Hershberger took fourth place. Lutmer rebounded with a victory in the mile run with a time of 5:08.14. Lauren Eickmeyer took third for Concordia in the shot put with a distance of 40'11". Amy Sandefur and Sara Retzlaff took third and fourth respectively in the women's weight throw with distances of 48'10" and 48'2.75".
The Bulldog men turned in several record-breaking marks at the meet. Michael Saalfeld ran the 800-meter in 1:51.97, besting the meet record of 1:52.58. Zach Meineke crushed the previous conference record in the 3,000-meter run. His time of 8:34.78 bested the old record 8:39.80 held by a Nebraska Wesleyan runner by almost five seconds. Luka Thor followed suit in the 5000-meter. Thor used a strong kick in the final 200 meters to destroy the old record. His winning time of 14:56.22 bested the old record of 15:05.15 set by a Dakota Wesleyan runner in 2005.
Colin Morrissey finished third for the Bulldogs in the men's mile with a time of 4:23.44. Concordia's 4x800-meter relay team made up of Saalfeld, Jordan Tucker, Caleb Egger, and Keegan Bloomfield was victorious with a time of 7:52.26. Drew Rodine was the runner-up for the Bulldogs in the triple jump with a mark of 46'1.5". Josh Tonniges picked up a victory for the Bulldogs in the pole vault, launching himself to a height of 16'.75". Jordan Hinrichs won the shot put, throwing 53'7" while Brock Simonsen finished third with a distance of 52'1.25". Hinrichs finished third in the weight throw and teammate James Refenes finished in fourth place.
The Bulldogs will now set their sights on the NAIA Indoor National Championships to be held in Johnson City, Tenn. held from March 5-7.