Despite suffering through the third weekend in a row with less than perfect running conditions, the Concordia University, Nebraska track team had a successful weekend. A majority of the team took part in the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, while a small number of runners headed to Hastings College, Hastings, Neb., for a last chance qualifier.
Because of the weather, most competitors found it hard to better any of their previous national-qualifying marks. The throwers, however, were very successful. Carly Stokebrand won the hammer throw and finished second in the discus. Jordan Hinrichs and Lauren Eickemeyer each finished second in the hammer and shot put respectively.
At the Drake Relays the Bulldog women set a new record. The women's 4 X 400- meter relay team finished third in the college division with a time of 3:51.51, the fastest time of any GPAC team in the 2009 season. The winning time is also the fifth fastest in the country this season and breaks a twenty-year-old Concordia track record. Members of the relay were Emily Wolters, Katie Swanson, Charista Zehnder and Bethany Sutton.
The 4 X 800-meter men's relay team finished third in the college division with a time of 9:15.81. The winning time is the fastest time this season in the GPAC by over ten seconds and in the NAIA. The Concordia men's distance medley relay team finished fourth in the college division with a time of 10:08.54.
Individually, the Bulldogs had two standout performances. Luka Thor finished fourth in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 31:36.56. Michael Saalfeld finished fourth in the invitational 800-meter run. Saalfeld posted a time of 1:51.61 against a field that included many of the top college 800m runners in the nation.
The Bulldogs will now turn their focus to the 2009 GPAC outdoor championships to be held in Yankton, S.D., on May 2, 2009.