(Adrian, MI) Concordia men's track & field competed Thursday at the Don Kleinow Invitational hosted by Seina Heights University. Concordia finished 16th out of 18 teams and came home with several National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) qualifying marks and personal best times.
Shining on the track was freshman Jeremiah Salas (Decatur, MI). Salas ran 23.00 in the 200m dash to qualify for NCCAAs and earn a new personal best time. He also ran 11.57 in the 100m dash. Also running the 100m was Kash Warren (Senior; Lorain, OH), Jordan Foy (Freshman; Columbia, SC) and Maurice Kado (Beachwood, OH). The trio crossed the 100m finish in times of 11.54, 12.21 and 12.23, respectively. Kado went on to jump 5.29m in the long jump.
Also earning personal best times on the track was junior Andrew Wiemer (Meridian, ID). Weimer ran 24.64 in the 200m and 54.95 in the 400m dash, both top times for Weimer. Freshman Logan Hay (Houston, TX) joined Weimer in the 200m dash, running 24.49. In the 400m dash, sophomore Noah Starkey (Macomb, MI) ran 58.06 and Adam Dahl (Owosso, MI) saw a personal best, running 1:00.71. The sprints squad wrapped speed events by taking 4th in the 4x100m relay, with Warren, Starkey, Foy and Salas running 44.13.
The distance squad checked some personal best boxes in their respective events. Freshman Noah Finley (Monroe, MI) tied his 800m best, running 2:32.18 and had a huge breakthrough in the 1,500m race, running 5:23.02. Also running in the 800m was Dahl, Michael Brannan (Junior; Dearborn, MI), and Luke Bentz (Freshman; Fort Wayne, IN). Dahl ran 2:41.08 in the event with Brannan just ahead, running 2:24.51. Bentz finished the 800m race in a time of 2:13.76. Bentz also ran 4:32.55 in the 1,500m event. Wrapping up the track was Avery Sanchez (Allen Park, MI) who debuted in a track 5,000m race, running 18:09.40.
On the field side, senior Richard Branch (Detroit, MI) took 4th in the javelin throw with a toss of 44.03m, also qualifying him for NCCAAs. Throwing a personal best in the same event was fellow senior Zachary Yoder (Mt. Pleasant, MI), throwing 37.93m. Yoder also cleared 1.74m in the high jump for a 6th place finish. Freshman Scott Smith (Saginaw, MI) threw 31.71m in the javelin throw and saw a personal best throw in the shot put, tossing 11.93m. Freshmen duo Mason Wyllis (Holt, MI) and Jordan Ponce (Milan, MO) competed in the shot put together, throwing 8.15m and 9.61m, respectively. Continuing to add strong marks to the shot put was ToRohn Yancey (Freshman; Detroit, MI) and Zachary Belinsky (Junior; Beulah, MI). Both Yancey and Belinsky heaved personal bests, throwing 11.48m and 12.57m, respectively. The duo also saw personal bests in the hammer throw, with Yancey throwing 29.06m and Belinsky throwing 38.60m. The personal best marks continued to roll in the hammer throw with sophomore Joshua Wood (Champagne, IL) throwing 23.07m.
The Cardinals compete again April 22-23, 2022 at the Mike Becraft Invitational hosted by Ohio Northern University. Keep up to date with the Cardinals by following the team on social media - cuaaxctf.
