Courtesy of GoCobbers.com, Release: May 7, 2010

Meet Rewind:

Meet Results: MIAC Decathlon Meet Results

Meet Recap:

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (5/7/10)-- For the second straight year Concordia finished with four athletes in the top 10 of the MIAC decathlon. The Cobbers finished the 2010 competition by coming away with a second place finish to go along with third, fourth and seventh place finishes.

With their four top finishes in the decathlon, the Cobbers lead the overall team standings heading into the main portion of the MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship which continues May 14-15 at St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minn. CC currently has 21 points and is seven points clear of conference favorite St. Thomas.

The Cobbers were led by senior Marly Simmons who finished second with a  total of 5,771 points. Devin Dirth of St. Thomas won with 5,838 points. The runner-up finish for Simmons is his best finish in a conference multi-event. Last year Simmons was fourth in the event with a total of 5,927 points.

Simmons was in contention to win the decathlon until he stumbled in the discus. He struggled in wet conditions and lost 250 points with his performance in the discus. His season best in the event was 118-11 and Simmons was only able to come up with a toss of 77-8. He then responded by posting season bests in two of the three remaining events in the competition. Simmons' best event of the meet was the 110-meter hurdles where he ran a career-best time of 15.60 and posted a total of 778 points. His time was the fastest by any competitor in the meet.

Sophomore Caleb Giesen finished in third place with 5,557 points. That is a career best for Giesen and betters his previous best of 5,416 points by over 140 points. Giesen's best event came in the 400 meters where he ran a 53.03 and scored 680 points. That time is a career best for Giesen.

Jeff Bakke bettered his sixth place finish in 2009 by two spots as he posted a total of 5,535 points and finished in fourth place. He was only 22 points behind Giesen and was outdone by his teammate in the final event of the competition. Giesen scored 630 points in the 1500 meters and Bakke ran a 5:03.72 and came away with 538 points. Bakke's best event was the first event on Thursday. He ran a career-best time of 11.61 in the 100 meters and scored 730 points. His time in the 100 meters was the fastest of any of the 14 athletes in the meet.

Freshman Brad Johnson placed seventh in his very first conference decathlon meet. He ended with 4,819 points. He bookended his two best events of the meet. He only bettered the 600-point mark in the 100 meters and the 1500 meters. He ran a season-best 12.02 in the first event of the meet and recorded 647 points.