Welcome to the Concordia track & field blog from Marion, Indiana! Throughout the week, we will be posting blogs written by team members as well as pictures of the events of the day.
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May 29, 2010
FINAL RESULTS: CU men finish 5th and women finish 7th! Congratulations on an amazing track and field season!!
CLICK HERE for the full recap.
6:01 p.m. EST -- A few minutes later, senior Eric Burck turned in a gutsy performance with a fifth-place finish just two days after a runner-up finish in the 10,000. Burck finished with a 14:44.87 and used a strong kick over the last 600 meters to move up the ladder. Burck was edged at the line by Lewis-Clark State’s Dave Marks by .01 for fourth place while the top three finished well ahead of the pack. Kennedy Kithuka, the 10,000 champion, became a double-winner with a convincing 13:56.82, nearly a minute ahead of Carison Kemei, the second-place finisher out of Wayland Baptist.
5:34 p.m. EST -- In the final event of the championships for Concordia, Alice Taylor placed sixth in the 5,000 with a 17:55.18. Taylor stayed with the lead pack through the first mile and fell off to eighth late in the race before surging over the final 200 meters to earn All-American honors. Mudy, the steeplechase winner from earlier in the day, took first with a 17:19.81 after outdueling a pair of harriers from Asuza Pacific.
4:20 p.m. EST -- Catherine Sims placed seventh in the finals of the 400-meter dash to add two points to the Concordia total. Sims was able to pick off a pair of runners around the third turn, moving up to fifth at one point, but was caught in the final strides. Sims crossed in 55.83, a shade off her 55.18 school record in the semifinals on Friday and just .03 off sixth place for All-American honors. Marissa Mosely took first with a 53.43, nearly a full second ahead of second-place finisher Sarah Laine of Point Loma who crossed in 54.47. A mere .22 separated fourth from eighth place.
3:30 p.m. EST -- The Cavaliers scored eight points in the discus throw as Gabriella Dixson tossed 150-1 in her third attempt while Breezy Wentz joined Dixson as an All-American with a sixth-place result after unleashing a 147-7, also on her third throw. Also competing in the discus, Emily Redmayne-Titley finished in 18th with a 135-0. Southwest’s (N.M.) Melesia Mafile’o Blackwill took gold with a 155-6, a five inch win over runner-up Nichole Arnold of Bethel (Ind.) who registered a 155-1. Four feet ahead of Dixson, Lisa Hughes of Lindwenwood placed third while Dixson edged the fifth-place finisher by a single inch.
3:05 p.m. EST -- Jordan Trump cleared 15-5 in his first height in the pole vault and missed all three chances at the next height to end his competition. Trump finished tied for 11th place.
3:00 p.m. EST -- Eric Whalen, who entered the meet tied with the No. 4 mark in the NAIA, did not advance to finals and finished in 14th place with a best throw of 51-5 3/4. Whalen fouled on his first attempt and hit the 51-5 3/4 on his third attempt.
2:50 p.m. EST -- Lauren Moran scored six points with a third-place finish in the steeplechase. Justyna Moody, the pre-favorite and returning champion, took the lead from the gun and cruised to a win with a 10:23.75 which fell shy of her meet record of 10:12.13 which she set last year as a freshman. Moran battled Jamestown’s Katie Conlon for the first half of the race before Conlon pulled away in chase of Moody, finishing in second with a 10:30.87. Moran held off the chase pack as the next three finishers finished within seven seconds of the CU sophomore.
10:30 a.m. EST -- An early update from the final day of action, Sophia DeGraff came in fifth place in the marathon this morning to secure All-American honos and score four team points for the women.
May 28, 2010
11:15 p.m. EST --Despite thinking I had no more writing to do post April 30, I am quite delighted to keep our faithful track followers up to date on our national meet here in Indiana. With that said, please don’t judge my grammar. I will try to do a quick outline of the trip and meet up until now, then focus more specifically on our distance team.
The group flew out of PDX last Sunday, putting us here for a full week. I have to admit, I wasn’t too sure about doing the whole week thing at first, but am very glad we did it now. As we all know, Portland still thinks it is mid February, and I have been running in my double insulated wool pants and parka for most runs. When we got here, we went for a run around 1 a.m. It was still mid to upper 70s, with a humidity level I can’t explain, mostly due to not knowing how those numbers quite work. It has been consistently hot every day we have been here. It takes some getting used to, but it has been quite comfortable in all honesty. The 75-degree nights mesh well with my army issued bunk bed and wool comforter I have been sleeping in.
There is my quick recap of the trip overall. I did make some jokes in there, but to be honest this campus is one of the nicest I have ever been to. We have great access to their facilities, and the people running the meet are very friendly and wanting to help in every way.
Now for the fun part. As most of you know, I run the longer distances for Concordia. I do like to think I have skills and can be competitive in anything from the 400-10,000, just ask Martin Romero-Clark. I should probably not get too confident as I am sitting here drinking a half-gallon of strawberry milk, but I will pretend it is aiding in my recovery. Recovery. Ugh. I have already ran the final of the 10,000 last night, and managed to pull off 2nd place. A few hours ago I ran a prelim of the 5,000 and qualified for the final that is to be held tomorrow in the hottest part of the day. I’m excited. The other distance boys, Martin Romero-Clark, Jessy Brown, Marcus Nelson and Cordero “duff duff” Cisneros put on a good showing in the 4x800 final today. Charles Cummings had a very tough heat of the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and narrowly missed qualifying for the final. I gave him a kiss on the cheek to aid with his emotional downfall. They made me very proud!
In all, the distance group is doing exactly what we had projected, and are very happy with the results thus far. I will miss these guys, as all are seniors except Marcus. He got a great experience coming as a freshman and expect him to be very good in his coming years.
As a team overall, we are sitting pretty well, 2nd or so I think. We have an outside shot at getting a trophy, which would be pretty cool because I expect on repping a multi-colored, checkered flannel on the awards stand with the rest of the team. Well, there is rumor of cake and ice cream for a birthday on the team, so I better get in there and buck some.
Eric Burck, senior, 5k & 10k
8:50 p.m. EST -- In the last event of the day for CU, it looks like the Cavs will not advance to finals in the women's 1,600 Relay. Results should be available soon.
7:56 p.m. EST -- Competing in the 5,000 semis a day after running the finals in the 10,000, Eric Burck and Alice Taylor successfully advanced for Saturday’s finale as Burck crossed in third place in the first heat of the men’s competition and Taylor crossed in second place in the final heat of the women’s version.
7:32 p.m. EST -- Erik Kuster claimed an All-American performance in the discus with a 164-7 to take third place. Kuster’s bronze winning toss occurred on his opening attempt. Also in the discus, Derek Furgason placed 14th overall with a 149-4 effort.
6:40 p.m. EST -- For the second straight day, the CU men’s 3,200-meter relay team established a new school record. In Friday’s finals, the foursome of Martin Romero-Clark, Marcus Nelson, Jessy Brown and Cordero Cisneros clocked in at 7:34.04, a shade faster than the 7:36.90 in the previous round, to finish in fifth place to score All-American honors.
6:05 p.m. EST -- In the second day of the decathlon, Taylor Schmidt was able to move up one spot to snare a single point with an eighth-place finish. Schmidt scored 6,481 total points to up his own school record by more than 100 points as his old mark sat at 6,306. Schmidt set a season best mark in the discus and the 1,500 while tying his season best in the pole vault with a 13-3 1/2 clearance. His highest single event tally occurred in the 110-meter hurdles where he finished with a 15.28 for 816 points.
4:41 p.m. EST -- Eunice Makinde placed third overall with a 14.29 in the finals of the 100 hurdles for six team points. Shannon Hellman scored a relatively easy win with a 13.45 and was followed by Missouri Baptist’s Tiffany Jackson with a 14.20. After Makinde finished with a 14.29 the next four times all fell within .07 (4th, 14.30; 5th, 14.32; 6th, 14.33; 7th, 14.36). Makinde’s points moved CU into fifth place in the team standings with 15 points.
3:55 p.m. EST -- A dropped baton in the first exchange eliminated any chances of advancing in the women’s 400 relay. Seeded 10th after the prelims, the Cavaliers recovered the stick and rallied around the track, but were disqualified with an illegal exchange. The Cavs held a season best of 47.16 which would have held for seventh place.
3:30 p.m. EST -- In the 800, Junia Limage positioned herself in third place behind a pair of elite runners from Simon Fraser on the opening lap but couldn’t hang on over the final 300 meters as she fell behind to finish with a 2:20.95.
3:15 p.m.EST -- Catherine Sims advanced to the finals in the 400 by posting a school record time of 55.18, taking down her old record of 56.30 by more than a full second. Sims time was second in her heat and third overall. Oklahoma Baptist’s Marissa Mosely registered the fastest semi-final time with a 54.29 out of the first heat. Point Loma’s Sarah Laine was the lone competitor to topple Sims with a 54.89 in the second heat.
VIDEO:
Catherine Sims, 400 Finish
3:03 p.m. EST -- After qualifying with a school record 12.06 in the prelims of the 100-meter dash, a slow start out of the blocks doomed Kaley Jameson in the semis with a 12.47. Jameson will run later in the day as a part of the 400 relay team which will be seeded 10th.
2:17 p.m. EST -- Taylor Schmidt cleared 13-3 1/2 in the decathlon pole vault for 631 points. Through eight events, Schmidt is in ninth place overall and 72 points behind eighth place.
1:29 p.m. EST -- Eunice Makinde shattered the school record in the 100 hurdles to advance to finals later in the day. Makinde crossed in 14.08 for third place in her heat. Her old school mark was a 14.28 which was set at the Pacific Twilight earlier in the month.
1:15 p.m. EST --Chris Wilson’s quest in the men’s 110-meter hurdles ended in the semifinals after finishing in 15.47, well off his 14.81 from the prelims and his 14.78 school record. Jesse King of McKendee took the final qualifying spot with a 14.58 while Armond Smith posted the best time of the afternoon with a 14.27.
VIDEO: Chris Wilson
1 p.m. EST -- Dominique Jacoy scored 4,199 points to finish in 15th place in the heptahlon. Her total was more than 100 point off her career best of 4,364 set at the CCC Championships earlier in the month. Her school-record tally would have been good for 12th place. Jacoy scored her biggest haul on the second day in the final event, nabbing 622 points in the 800 with a time of 2:35.79.
May 27, 2010
As day one comes to a close things are looking up for our squad. With numerous improvements in both field and running events we have a really high chance of scoring big if all continues to go well on the track and field tomorrow. There were many improvements made by the CU women's throwers as well as some AMAZING races ran by the CU sprinters. The biggest improvement came in the Women's 100-meter dash where Kaley Jameson (my roommate and friend) came in at a blazing time of 12.06 (new school record)! I was so happy to be there, it was amazing to see.
All in all it was a great day for everyone. A lot of sprinters and distance runners advanced to semis in one if not two events and the throwers gave a great showing on the field to rack up some points for both sides. I am excited, anxious and even feeling nervous as we all prepare to head into Day 2 of competition. But until I post again, I end the day feeling exhausted and ready to go to bed. It will be another incredibly HOT day but it is so nice to see the sun shining brightly each morning.
Have a good night,day or evening folks...depending on when you may be reading this.
Be blessed,
Eunice Makinde, 100 Hurdles, Relays
10:45 p.m. EST -- In the last event of the evening, Eric Burck placed second in the 10,000, scoring eight points and giving the Cavs 25 for the overall team lead.
9:15 p.m. EST --The Cavs go 2-5-6-9 in the javelin to score 15 points. Senior Paul Roshau set a career best with a 231-5 for a runner-up result. Jesse Staub was fifth, Eric Whalen sixth and Tim Wyland ninth.
8:55 p.m. EST -- Lauren Moran cruised to the top finish in her prelim heat of the women's steeplechase.
8:15 p.m. EST -- The men's 4x800 set a school record and posted the second fastest prelim time with a 7:36.90. Relay order was: Martin Romero-Clark, Marcus Nelson, Jessy Brown and Cordro Cisneros.
7:05 p.m. -- Freshman Taylor Schmidt ended the first day of the decathlon in 10th place with season best marks in all five events. Schmidt scored 3,332 points
5:54 p.m. EST -- In the men’s hammer, Bo Johnson scored a pair of points with a seventh-place finish after unleashing a personal record 180-7. Johnson came into the meet with the No. 16 ranking in the event with a season-best toss of 177-9.
4:12 p.m. EST -- Dominique Jacoy sits in 17th place after the first day of competetion in the heptathlon with 2,537. She ran a 26.32 in the 200 for her best individual event, scoring 769 points.
4:07 p.m. EST --Kaley Jameson ran a school record with a 12.06 in the 100 to advance to semis.
2:15 p.m. EST -- Women's 100 hurdles. Eunice Makinde advanced to the semis with a 14.36, placing third in her heat. Makinde holds the school record with a 14.28.
11:10 a.m. EST -- Women's Hammer has finished with freshman Gabrielle Dixson earning All-American status with a 4th place finish with a throw of 171-11 and junior Amanda Federici earning crucial points with a 7th place finish, throwing 164-08.
MORNING STUDENT-ATHLETE BLOG:
The Concordia Track Team has been basking in the Indiana heat for several days now, adjusting to the three hour time difference and the local hospitality. I cannot begin to express the gratitude I have for these pleasant mid-westerners. Wesleyan has gone above and beyond to dress and impress for this special occasion. From the state of the art mondo track surface with automatic timing systems at all four corners to the freshly groomed campus complete with an array of electric shuttle carts, it becomes very clear that this university is staking a serious claim to hosting outdoor nationals for years to come.
On Tuesday we decided to borrow a propane grill and provide some good-ol West Texas BBQ for ourselves. Other teams seemed dumbfounded on who we were and how we managed to score such a cooking device….RESOURCEFULNESSJ. Most of our team partook in the festivities while others looked on as if they were skeptical of my cooking abilities, ……did I mention I was from Texas?
By Wednesday it was clear that nobody had been poisoned so we carried on with our plan to rest up for competition. The day went fairly smooth as we continued to smash water as the weather here is very un-Portland. Towards the afternoon it became clear that some of the men needed some touch-up on our hair. We fetched some hair clippers from the local price-club and continued in the tradition of creating a spectacle on the front porch of our dorms. I don’t wish to create too much detail, but Eric Whalen’s hair became a multi-phased masterpiece and talk of all gossip among the jealous collegiate demographic!
It is now Thursday, the first race day for the talented athletes that are now filling this very well equipped and large campus. Concordia’s team is ready as well as myself. People are excited, nervous, and well prepared all in one large bundle. All I can think about is the months of ups and downs that this team has experienced throughout this year. All injuries are either healed or taped with care at this point. We are ready to show the NAIA that Concordia Portland is serious about making a name for itself in a sea of established track and field programs.
Chris Wilson
Junior - men's 110m hurdles
May 26, 2010
Two words: BBQ and BANANAGRAMS. This pretty much explains the last few days. We arrived Sunday night and have pretty much spent the past few days working out, making store runs, laughing, eating, and playing a large assortment of games as we try to stay focused.
Performance wise we have a very diverse group of athletes. With many of our sprinters returning veterans, we definitley have a lot of youngin's out in the field. Just hoping we can pull it together and place higher on both sides this year.
Competition begins tomorrow and the mood is definitely positive all around. I can speak for the sprint side of things when I say that we all are ready to go out there and perform well. We are ranked really high and have a very good chance of surprising a lot of teams and placing higher than when we came in. We are all mentally ready to compete and I believe this is our year to come out and do something big.
Until tomorrow we will have time to focus more and reminisce on our wonderful moments these past few days of eating BBQ steak, getting haircuts and of course playing numerous games of bananagrams (look it up for details).