Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: March 7, 2008

Meet Rewind:

Heptathlon Results: MIAC Heptathlon Results

Meet Results: MIAC Meet Day 1 Results

Meet Notables: Cobber Notables

Team Totals

Team Totals After Day 1

1. St. Thomas - 139.0
2. Saint John's - 68.5
3. Hamline - 42.0
4. Bethel - 39.0
5. Carleton - 35.0
6. St. Olaf - 30.0
7. Gustavus - 29.5
8. Concordia - 18.0
9. Macalester - 15.0
10. Saint Mary's - 8.0
11. Augsburg - 5.0

Meet Recap:

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (3/07/08)-- Concordia junior Paul Westmark used his overall athletic ability to help the Cobbers reach eighth place after the first day of the MIAC Indoor Championship Meet held at St. John's in Collegeville. Westmark finished fourth in the heptathlon and sixth in the 55-meter hurdles to post eight of the team's 18 points in the opening day. CC is 11.5 points behind seventh-place Gustavus and three points ahead of Macalester who is in ninth place.

Westmark posted his best finish of the meet so far in the heptathlon. He ended the event with a final total of 4,479 points. That was only 106 points out of third place. His final point total is the best in program history since the league moved from the pentathlon to the heptathlon in 2006. Last year Westmark finished sixth with a total of 4,163 points.

Westmark's other point-scoring event was the 55-meter hurdles where he ran an 8.08 in the final heat and finished sixth. He ran a 8.17 in the preliminary heat but then bettered that by .09 of a second in the finals. His best time is the 14th best in school history. Westmark also finished 11th in the 400 meters in a time of 51.82.

The best finish by any Cobber athlete in day 1 was turned in by senior Josh Smith. Smith ran a 50.74 in the 400 meters and finished fourth. He scored five team points for his finish. His final time was .29 of a second behind his record-setting clip last week at St. Olaf.

Concordia super senior Dusten Olejnicak finished sixth in the long jump with a distance of 21-6.00. He was one of two other CC athletes to score team points. Sophomore Marly Simmons placed eighth in the heptathlon with a score of 3,948.

The Cobbers will finish of the MIAC Indoor Meet on Saturday, Mar. 8 beginning at 11 a.m.

Cobber Notables:

MIAC CHAMPIONSHIP MEET - Day 1

(as retold by head coach Garrick Larson)

A poor start prevented Xavier Carroll from making the 55 Meter final on Friday, regardless of his lifetime best of 6.70 that moves him to #8 All-Time. Teammates Perry Patterson (6.76) and Jason Sather (6.79) finish off a trio that represents the best Cobber group of short sprinters since 1984.

Josh Smith was in good position with 100 meters to go in the 400 Meter, but was slowed by a near fall from a Bethel runner that prevented making a move at the right time.

Paul Westmark recovered from a sub-par 55 Meter Hurdle prelim to run 8.08 in the final and finish 6th the highest finish since Josh Vickerman in 2001.

In the Distance Medley Relay the Cobbers had a rocky start, down by 30 meters on the top 9 teams after the 1200 meter leg (Paul Lillehaugen, 3:22). Michael Dunn ran a great 400 leg (51.72) to gain a few meters. Then, Rocky Jantzen ran an amazing 2:02 800 meter leg to pass 9th place Augsburg and pull within 10 meters of the 8th place Gustavus. Then distance runner convert Justin Shobe took over for the Mile and slowly gained ground on Gustavus, passing the Gusties with one lap to go securing 8th place for the Cobbers. The 10:52.89 moves the team to #10 on the All-Time list.