Cavs advance three relays at NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships

3/6/2014 6:44:00 PM

GENEVA, Ohio—With a light schedule on Thursday, Concordia track and field relay teams went 3-for-3 in advancing to the finals while competing in the opening day of competition at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships held at the SPIRE Institute.

The Concordia men's 1,600-meter relay team kicked off the squad's relay action with a school record time of 3:15.12, placing fourth in the first of two sections. Andre Washington (Vancouver, Wash./Hudson's Bay H.S.), Jordan Reheer and Chris Zeller (Portland, Ore./Reynolds H.S.) combined to give the Cavs a late lead in the race with perennial sprinting powers Wayland Baptist (Texas) and Oklahoma Baptist closing down the last stretch.

Demetrius Rhodes (Portland, Ore./Benson Polytechnic), who will also be competing in the open 800 on Friday, anchored the team by crossing the line almost two full seconds faster than the school record set last year en route to an eighth-place national finish which netted the team All-American honors in 2013.

Five of the top eight times occurred in CU's section with Indiana Tech leading the field with a 3:13.53, just ahead of Wayland Baptist's 3:14.39.

"We couldn't have asked for anything better," CU head coach Isaac Frederick said. "Andre (Washington) had a great leadoff and kept us within close contact from the get-go which was a key for us to get through to finals. It took a school record to get us to finals last year and we ended up crushing that mark today."

In the men's distance medley, newcomer Brad Prettyman (Estacada, Ore./Estacada H.S.) established a similar tone for the Cavs, moving into second place on the final straightaway of his 1,200-meter leg before an outstanding exchange to Edgar Vazquez (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Capistrano Valley H.S.) provided a slight lead for the CU squad. Vazquez cruised through 400 meters before Jasen Brown (Brewster, Wash./Brewster H.S.) carried the stick for the 800-meter leg.

Remaining in second place, Brown gave way to Matthew Clowes (Stoke-on-Trent, England/Westwood College) for the final 1,600-meters where the NAIA's top miler calmly went stride-for-stride with Southern Oregon's Matt Avila to easily earn entry into Saturday's final. Concordia, ranked sixth in the NAIA heading into the meet with a 10:13.22 to its credit, was inconsequentially nipped at the line by CCC foe SOU with a 9:59.53 to the Raiders' 9:59.33. Oklahoma City turned in the top time of the day with a 9:58.81.

Not only will Concordia be shooting for a school record in the finals, but along with Southern Oregon, will have an outside shot of the national meet record of 9:48.16.

"I was getting pumped just watching Brad and Edgar run before me," Brown said. "Knowing we are running for the team and not just ourselves helps with the nerves and is going to end up helping us reach our potential. We will be shooting to win it on Saturday."

On the women's side, the foursome of Christa Collmer (Boring, Ore./Sam Barlow H.S.), Molly Scoles (Sedro-Woolley, Wash./Mt. Baker H.S.), Brianna Keane (Bellingham, Wash./Sehome H.S.) and Sarah Whybark (Snohomish, Wash./Glacier Peak H.S.) successfully navigated through the prelims of the distance medley with a time of 12:02.73.

In the top four throughout the first two legs, Keane was clocked in 2:15 for her 800-meter leg to move up into a virtual tie for second place behind defending national champion College of Idaho.

Whybark followed with a strong 1,600 meters to cross in third place in the first section, but easily advanced to finals as CU's time would have been good enough to win the second set of relay contestants. The time battered the team's entry mark of 12:23.49 and rests as the No. 4 time in school history, just over seven seconds off the school record of 11:55.10.

"Christa and Molly led off with big season bests for us," Frederick said. "Brianna came through with a great race which is a good sign for her open 800 tomorrow while Sarah stepped up and finished the job."

In the lone individual race of the day for the Cavaliers, freshman Eric Alldritt (Bend, Ore./Summit H.S.) finished with a 15:29.69 to end in 22nd place in the 5,000-meter run.

NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships
SPIRE Institute
Geneva, Ohio
March 6-8

Concordia Men's Results
5,000 (prelims): 22. Eric Alldritt (Bend, Ore./Summit H.S.), 15:29.69. 1,600 Relay (prelims): 6. Concordia, 3:15.12 (A. Washington, J. Reeher, C. Zeller, D. Rhodes). Distance Medley (prelims): 3. Concordia, 9:59.53 (B. Prettyman, E. Vazquez, J. Brown, M. Clowes).

Concordia Women's Results
Distance Medley (prelims): 3. Concordia, 12:02.73 (Christa Collmer (Boring, Ore./Sam Barlow H.S.), Molly Scoles (Sedro-Woolley, Wash./Mt. Baker H.S.), Brianna Keane (Bellingham, Wash./Sehome H.S.), Sarah Whybark (Snohomish, Wash./Glacier Peak H.S.)).