HASTINGS, Neb. / VERMILLION, S.D. – The GPAC Championships may be in the books, but Concordia University Track & Field athletes are taking advantage of additional opportunities leading up the national championship meet later this month. A revamped Bulldog women’s 4x100 meter relay blazed to a school record time at the South Dakota Tune-Up while Addie Shaw continued her dominance and Jerod Peters added a new automatic national qualifying mark in action at the Bronco Last Chance Meet on Friday (May 7).
Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads are fresh off GPAC placements of first on the women’s side and fourth on the men’s side. The Concordia women remain ranked No. 1 in the NAIA (according to the USTFCCCA).
Known for their exploits in races of 400 meters, Rachel Battershell and Rachel Lewis joined the 4x1 on Friday. They teamed up with Hannah Mulligan and Cora Olson on a time of 47.70 and placed fourth at the South Dakota Tune-Up (against NCAA Division I and II competitors). That time met the automatic national qualifying standard and broke the previous school standard (48.32) that had stood since 2007 (Katie Swanson, Lauren Sankey, Jill Pfeifer and Emily Wolters).
The Bulldogs also entered a men’s quartet into the 4x1 at the University of South Dakota. The team was made up of Cade Klecker, Joel Rathe, Jacob Jennings and Colton Meyer. The same group that blazed to a GPAC title turned in a season best of 41.77 (second place) on Friday. That figure came in under the ‘B’ standard national qualifying time.
Fifteen athletes represented Concordia in Hastings, which hosted a meet solely for field events. The meet was condensed and moved to Friday due to impending Saturday storms. The biggest highlight was Peters’ toss of 53’ 5 ½” in the shot put. That mark locked up a spot at nationals for Peters. Also in the throws, Shaw took first place in small fields in the discus, hammer and shot put while again eclipsing the national qualifying standard in all three events. In addition, Sarah Ragland and Chris Wren put up marks in the hammer that surpassed the ‘A’ standard. Lastly, Jackson Armitage busted out a personal best of 162’ 9” in the javelin.
The remaining Bulldogs who competed in Hastings came up short of national qualifying marks. In the triple jump, Taylor Moes landed just shy of the ‘B’ standard in the triple jump with her mark of 37’ 5 ¼.” Meanwhile, three Concordia athletes compete in the pole vault – Anna Baack (11’ 1 ¾”), Amira Cummings (11’ 1 ¾”) and Zach Bennetts (15’ 1”).
The Bulldogs will host one more time this outdoor season when they put on the Concordia Twilight next Friday (May 14). The Twilight meet schedule can be viewed HERE.