Concordia earns top-10 finishes at Augustana Twilight meet
Concordia cross country and track and field conference banners
Photo: Leo Lopez
By Kai Olbrich
The Concordia cross-country team opened its season under the lights with top-10 finishes at the Augustana Twilight meet in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Friday. The Bulldogs were headlined by fresh faces on the women’s side and experience on the men’s side.
The men placed sixth out of 33 teams, while the women were 10th out of 28 in a field featuring various levels of competition, including NCAA Division 1.
Senior Trey Robertson led the line for the men with a 45th-place finish, running a 15:42. The 2024 Great Plains Athletic Conference meet runner-up beat all but four GPAC runners in the night’s race.
The Bulldogs packed together well and had just a 20-second difference between Robertson and senior Ransom Watts in fifth. Filling in spots two through four were senior Aidan Limback, junior Vaughn Hendrickson and sophomore Keith Siek. Senior Justin Sherman and junior Jessup Pederson rounded out the top seven.
The women had just one upperclassman in their top seven and were headlined by freshman Hope Beck. Beck placed 41st with an 18:42 in her first collegiate meet.
Sophomore Ashley Robertson placed 79th overall and second for the Bulldogs. Three freshmen, Katie Johnson, Rachel Prince and Amanda Smith, scored for Concordia, while sophomore Izzi Brumbaugh and junior Annaka Schlachter placed sixth and seventh, respectively.
The Bulldogs have two weeks to prepare for the Greeno-Dirksen Invite in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Sept. 19.
