SEWARD, Neb. – Stars Rachel Battershell and Adrianna Shaw rewrote the record books during a successful Saturday (Jan. 25) at the Polar Dog Invite, staged inside the Fieldhouse. Chase Berry and Xavier Ross also added fresh automatic national qualifying marks in a meet that included athletes from Concordia University, Irvine, Doane, Hastings, MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) and Mount Marty.
The event marked the second home meet of the indoor campaign for head coach Matt Beisel’s Concordia University track and field program. The Bulldogs emerged from the Polar Dog with 13 event titles, including one for Jacob Cornelio, who expanded upon his NAIA best mark in the weight throw.
A two-time national champion, Shaw now stands atop the school’s all-time list in the weight throw. Her toss of 62’ 6” out-distanced the former school record of 62’ 1 ¾” accomplished by Kali Robb in 2016. Shaw won the event by more than six feet at the Polar Dog with a measurement that ranks No. 2 on the current national leaderboard. Shaw also came close to her season best in the shot put by hurling it 46’ ½” on Saturday (second place). Teammate Morgan De Jong also again hit the ‘A’ standard in the weight throw.
Battershell just keeps on raising her level. She’s just a sophomore with a lot more left in the tank, but what she’s doing right now is quite remarkable. The native of Wheatland, Wyo., again broke her own school record in the 60 meter hurdles by clocking in at 8.96 in the prelims of the event. In addition, Battershell took over the NAIA national lead in the 400 meters with her automatic national qualifying time of 56.40. That’s not all. She also teamed up with Kennedy Mogul, Jacee Pfeifer and Sarah Lewis on a national qualifying time of 3:58.20 in winning 4x400 meter relay performance (second in the nation).
On the men’s side, Ross in the 400 meters and Berry in the pole vault have ensured themselves of berths in the indoor national championships. Ross took first place in the 400 with his meet record gallop of 49.03 (No. 3 in the NAIA). Ross steered the men’s 4x4 to victory (group included Camden Miller, Colton Meyer, Henry Reimer). In the pole vault, Berry joined teammates Gavin DeHaai and Cody Williams as a national qualifier. Berry cleared 15’ 7” at the Polar Dog. Berry placed runner up to DeHaai, who vaulted 16’ 2 ¾.”
Cornelio remains at the top of the country in the weight throw. He came in just shy of his personal best by landing a toss at 65’ 9” while winning the event by nearly eight feet at the Polar Dog Invite. Also in the weight throw, Sarah Ragland improved her mark to 52’ 7 ¼.”
On the national landscape, several other Bulldogs made a mark. Sarah Lewis clocked a ‘B’ standard of 59.32 in the 400 meters, Ben Pratt leaped a ‘B’ mark of 6 7 ½” (first place) and Erin Mapson made her way back with a clearance of 11’ 2 ½” in the pole vault (B’ standard). Mapson is part of a loaded women’s pole vault group that includes the likes of Josie Puelz (12’ 6 ¼”) and Allie Brooks (12’ 6 ¼”), who went toe-to-toe at the top of the competition at the Polar Dog Invite.
Other first-place finishers on Saturday included the men’s 4x400 meter relay, women’s 4x800 meter relay, Kylahn Heritage (one mile), Cora Olson (triple jump) and Jordan Lorenz (5,000 meters). Heritage again came in under the ‘B’ standard in the mile. Rebekah Hinrichs and Alyssa Fye finished next in line after Heritage in the mile. Heritage, Hinrichs, Fye and Miranda Rathjen made up the winning 4x8. On the men’s side, Camden Sesna was the mile runner up.
The Bulldogs will also host the Concordia Classic this coming Thursday and Friday (Jan. 30-31) inside the Fieldhouse. To view the meet schedule, click HERE.