Mustangs get rolling at Concordia Polar Dog Invite Friday

SEWARD, Neb. – In the first meet of the 2024 calendar year, the Morningside men's track and field team saw a handful of strong performances to get the indoor season rolling.

The first men's running event for the Mustangs was the 60-meter hurdles. Boston Riedemann ran 9.59 and Eli Ebel 10.16 in the prelims of the event to place 19th and 24th respectively. In the 60-meters, Blake Brown made the finals by running 7.05 in the prelims. Brown improved upon his time in the finals, running 6.97 to place third. Brown was .02 seconds off the school record of 6.95 ran by Dom Flemister in 2019. Leighton Olesen missed the finals by one spot, running 7.11 and needing a 7.09 time to make finals. Adam Fillipi ran 7.53 and Austin McClain 7.59. 

Olesen added a top 10 finish in the 200, running 22.96 for sixth. Adam Fillipi ran 24.35 and Austin McClain 25.38.

The Mustangs had a strong showing in the 600 as Kadyn Cline took second place running 1:24.65 and Casey Kruger placed fifth running 1:25.98. Chayton Rowe ran 1:29.32 and Rodrigo Lopez ran 1:33.16. Jose Lopez ran 2:17.01 in the 800-meters.

Jack Kling also recorded a top five finish in the 400, running 51.69 for fourth. Davon Brees ran 53.99 for 15th place. 

In the mile run, Parker Halder ran 4:39.01 and Garrett Hanson ran 4:39.3 to place ninth and tenth. Eein McKinley ran 4:46.64 and RC Hicks 4:49.57 for 14th and 15th place respectively. Austin Ramold ran 4:56.6 and Nick Schiltz 5:01.33. 

To end the night, the team of Cline, Brees, Kruger, and Kling ran 3:30.9 for fourth in the 1,600-relay. Halder, Rodrigo Lopez, Hicks and Hanson ran 3:41.64 and McKinley, Ramold, Jose Lopez and Schiltz ran 3:54.32.

In the weight throw, John Groetken threw 35-2.5 (10.73-meters) and Keyan Fulton 33-6 (10.21-meters). Fulton placed 19th in the shot put, throwing 38-8.25 (11.79-meters). Groetken threw 34-0 (10.36-meters).

Morningside has a week off before getting back to action in the final weekend of January.