MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's and women's track teams competed at the annual Cobber Open held at Concordia College and came away with some top finishes.
Both the men's and women's teams were fueled by its long distance runners, where the team posted three-first place finishes and three-second place finishes.
The women were fueled by Kristina Anderson and Anna VanWechel, who each took first in their events. Anderson ran the 600-meter in a time of 1:41.20. With a time of 2:18.52, VanWechel surpassed her competitors en route to a first place finish.
Danielle Thompson who took first place with a time 19:02.35 to win the 5K.
Kendra Gaebel ran to a second place finish in the mile, finishing with a time of 5:28.67.
The Dragon women field athletes also posted 3 top five finishers, including Kayla Kapsner, whom competed in the high jump. She posted a jump of 1.64 meters (5'4.5'') to take sole possession of the top spot coming out in first place.
On the mens side,
Laquone Robinson led the team with a first place finish int eh 55-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line with a time of 7.80.
Aaron Lund took a second place finish in the 600-meter run, as he finished with a time of 1:28.81. Travis Husen also placed second as he ran the 3K race and finished with a time of 9:11.35.
The Dragons had two-first place performances and a second place finish in their respective relays.
The 4x400m team compiled of Meyer, Watson, Vossler and
Brock Keaton finished with a first place finish with a time of 3:28.60. The 4x800m relay team (Lund, Kyle Eckhoff, Clayton Foster and Michael McConnell) also posted a first place with a time of 7:58.11. In the 4x200m relay, Derek Meyer, Percy Watson, Eric Asfeld and Jacob Vossler ran their way to a second place finish with a time of 94.55.
The men's field athletes, Ryan Barnes and Michael Bendix went one-two atop the standings in the high jump with leaps of 1.99 meters (6'6.25'') and 1.94 meters (6'4.25''), respectively. Skyler Jackson also posted a first-place finish in the long jump, as he leaped his way to the top with his final posted score of 6.80 meters (22'3.75”) in distance.
The Dragon's Aron Velde also took place in the pentathlon events held the night before, January 29, at Concordia College (Moorhead). He came away with an overall second place finish at the event and was the overall Division II first place finisher with a final point tally of 2,908 points. Velde was only 24 points behind the first place finisher Ryan Jenson of North Dakota State (2,932).
MSUM will next compete at the Bemidji State Open on Feb. 5 and follow with another meet at Concordia on the 6th.
