Warriors Make Their Marks at Weekend Meets

SEWARD, Neb. – Midland University sent athletes to a pair of meets this week with the majority of its competitors taking the track and field in Seward, Nebraska at the Concordia Outdoor Invitational. Two of the Warriors' long-distance runners made the trek to Vermillion, South Dakota for the USD Early Bird.

Jonathan Mahoney and Felix Grave both ran the 10,000m at the meet hosted by the University of South Dakota on Friday. Mahoney turned in a new career best in the event with a time of 32:22.85 to place 4th while Grave ran a time of 35:38.16 for 13th.

At the Concordia Invite, Aiden Mountain placed 4th in the 100m with a final time of 10.93. That time puts him as the eighth-fastest in program history.

In the 400m, Blake Olbrich and Noah Sherman both finished in the top ten. Olbrich was 7th with a time of 52.17 while Sherman finished 10th with a time of 52.46.

Henri Stoeckermann and Lucas Hjortkjaer each ran the 800m and the 1500m on the day and had similar placings to each other and the field. In the 800m, Stoeckermann was 7th with a time of 1:55.59 while Hjortkjaer was 8th with a 1:56.07. The duo replicated their 7th and 8th placings in the 1500m as Stoeckermann turned in a time of 4:16.56 and Hjortkjaer had a 4:17.88. Braden Taylor joined the top ten finishers in the 1500m with his 10th-place time of 4:19.51.

Evan Shepard had a strong showing in the 110m hurdles. He had a time of 14.98 in prelims and then bested that with a 14.74 in the finals to take 2nd overall.

Rounding out the track events was the 4x100m relay team. Marell Finks led off the team which also consisted of Mountain, Sherman, and Mats Albertz. They ran a time of 43.17 to place 3rd.

In the field, the Warriors continued to excel. The high jump saw four athletes in the top ten. Robert Atwater, Ross McMahon, and Shandon Reitzell all cleared 2.08m while KeRon Blackwell reached 1.97m. Atwater was awarded the runner-up placing by a judge's decision while McMahon and Reitzell tied for 3rd. Blackwell finished 7th in the event. The Warriors currently have the top-rank high jumper group in the NAIA as ranked by the USTFCCCA.

Atwater added a 3rd place finish in the pole vault, reaching a season-best height of 4.60m. In the triple jump, he was 4th with a leap of 13.73m. Garrett Guindon was also in the event, placing 10th with a distance of 12.85m.

Reitzell's day also saw a top-ten placing in the long jump. He reached a mark of 6.59m to place 7th.

In the javelin, Midland had three throwers among the top finishes. McMahon placed 6th with a distance of 48.02m while Jase Voorhees was 7th with a throw of 47.73m and Josiah Meyer finished 8th with a mark of 46.95m.

Rounding out the meet's performances was Nate Osness in the shot put. He had a best of 12.77m to take 9th.

Midland will look to continue making strides next week when it competes in the Jim Duncan Invitational. The event, which is held on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, is set to get underway on Friday, April 12.