(Sacramento, CA) The Concordia Distance program is preparing for another first this weekend. Micah Bauer (Freshman; Traverse City, MI) and Ryan Exell (Grad; Canton, MI) are competing in the NAIA Marathon Classic hosted by the California International Marathon in Sacramento, California on Sunday, December 3.
The two Cardinals are the first two runners in program history to qualify for the Marathon championships. They both had to log an average of 40 miles per week over a 12 week or 3-month time period, which started in September and had to be submitted by November 5. Also included in the qualification process was to record two 2-hour runs in the process. Through all of the training, Bauer comes into the race seeded 5th overall, while Exell is seeded 21st out of 65 athletes. The championships award the top eight runners.
The NAIA Marathon Classic is being contested for the first time in history. The NAIA coaches decided to separate the Marathon into its own championship in 2022. The Marathon previously was tied to the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships and had been contested in Alabama. Concordia's Stephanie Johnston won the event in May of 2018, becoming Concordia's first NAIA national champion. After a few years of deliberation about health concerns with summer heat in Alabama, the decision was made to not only move the Marathon but to make it a specialty event, with the hope of making it an NAIA National Championship in the future.
