Concordia senior Annie Hess, shown here competing in the discus Friday evening, captured her third consecutive national crown in the event, winning by more than six feet over the runner-up. Photo courtesy of Jason Dormeyer, Concordia Sports Information.
Hess Three-Peats as NAIA Discus Champion
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Photos courtesy of Jason Dormeyer, Concordia Sports Information
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Concordia's men's and women's teams are in second and third place, respectively, after the first two days of the 2009 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, and CU's Annie Hess (above) won her third straight discus crown to mark the third individual national title here by a CCC athlete.
In the men's team scoring, defending champion Azusa Pacific leads the way with 45 points after 11 events. Concordia (36) is second, followed by British Columbia (35) and Oklahoma Baptist (22). Eastern Oregon of the CCC is in eighth (17).
In the women's team scoring, Wayland Baptist is in first with 46 points after 12 events, and is followed by Lindenwood (36) and Concordia (30).
FRIDAY NOTES:
►Annie Hess won her third consecutive title in the women's discus, and Concordia picked up 17 points in the event to make a major move in the team standings. Hess, last year's Outstanding Performer of the Meet here, won the event with a throw of 176-07 to win the event by 6 1/2 feet over runner-up Laura Wortman of Mount Marty (171-01). Also picking up important team points for the Cavs were third-place finisher Kristine Leonard (150-11) and sixth-place finisher Emily Redmayne-Titley (146-05), both freshmen. Katherine Tripp finished ninth (142-09). Hess' individual crown was the third of the meet for Concordia, which had gold medal performances on Thursday from Greg Schultz (men's hammer) and Jesse Staub (men's javelin).
►College of Idaho's Stephanie Helm won her heat and had the second fastest time in the prelims to advance to Saturday's finals in the women's 5,000. Helm clocked a time of 18.00.47. Two other CCC athletes -- Concordia's Alice Taylor (18th, 18:12.03) and C of I'sTegan Troutner (23rd, 18:40.61) did not advance.
►College of Idaho's women's 4 x 800 relay team made a valiant effort at All-America status, but fell just shy Friday night. The Yotes placed seventh (9:29.32) in the final and earned one team point. Half the quartet performing in the event here this week was comprised of athletes who don't train in the event and were replacing injured teammates.
►Southern Oregon's Antwun Baker picked up three team points for the Raiders with a sixth-place finish in the 100 meter final Friday. Baker clocked a time of 10.77 in the final to match the time he registered in the prelims earlier in the day.
►Concordia's Curtis Parrish (right) ran a PR and school-record time of 52.40 to qualify for Saturday's finals in the 400 hurdles.
►Eastern Oregon had a tremendous performance in the decathlon, getting points from both Lucas Ohmes (third) and Ivan Staeheli (eighth). The Mountaineers picked up seven team points in the event. Ohmes totaled 6,748 points -- 115 out of second -- while Staeheli finished with 6,266. Warner Pacific's Brett Van Asch placed 11th and Southern Oregon's Alex Waroff placed 13th. Four of the 14 finishers in the event came from the CCC.
►Concordia's Leon Carl picked up one point for the Cavaliers in the men's shot put final, finishing eighth in the competition with a mark of 52-1 1/2.It was a three-spot improvement for Carl, who placed 11th in this event last year. Eastern Oregon's Quinten Baxter did not advance to the finals, and finished 13th overall.
►In the women's 800 meter prelims, Concordia's Linsie Michels earned a spot in Saturday's finals by clocking a time of 2:13.33. It was the seventh-fastest time in the prelims. College of Idaho's Maggie Miller just missed advancing to Saturday's finals, clocking 2:14.15 to finish ninth (top eight advance).
►In the men's 5K racewalk finals, Concordia's Shawn Magee placed 16th (26:23.00).
►In the men's 800 meter prelims, Concordia's Jessy Brown advanced to the finals with a school-record time of 1:51.88, the seventh-fastest in the two heats. His teammate, Cordero Cisneros, clocked a time of 1:53.22 and did not advance to Saturday's finals.
2009 NAIA ALL-AMERICANS FROM THE CCC
(requires top 6 finish)
MEN
Antwun Baker, Southern Oregon, 100m (6th)
Eric Burck, Concordia, 10,000m (4th)
Chris Dilley, Eastern Oregon, Hammer (2nd)
Lucas Ohmes, Eastern Oregon, Decathlon (3rd)
Paul Roshau, Concordia, Javelin (3rd)
Greg Schultz, Concordia, Hammer (1st)
Jesse Staub, Concordia, Javelin (1st)
Eric Whalen, Concordia, Javelin (5th)
WOMEN
Annie Hess, Concordia, Discus (1st)
Kristine Leonard, Concordia, Discus (3rd)
Aria Nojima, Concordia, Javelin (3rd)
Emily Redmayne-Titley, Concordia, Discus (6th)
Lauren Sexton, Concordia, Javelin (4th)