Track and Cross Country

Jessica Weborg, a senior from Elk Point, S.D., won the women’s 800-meters at Friday’s Concordia University Twilight Meet in Seward, Neb.

Weborg had a winning time of 2:14.72 to lead a one-three-five finish by Morningside athletes. Hailee Heitkamp, a freshman from Adrian, Minn., ran third with a time of 2:17.72 and Breanna Mathes, a junior from Cherokee, Iowa, was fifth in 2:1801.

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Morningside track & field and cross country head coach Dave Nash has announced the names of 13 additions who will join the Mustangs for the 2012-13 academic year.

The additions include one junior college transfer and 12 high school recruits.

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Morningside College athletes won five events at the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.

Four of the triumphs came from the Mustang women, including a school-record performance in the 400-meter hurdles from Hailee Heitkamp, a freshman from Adrian, Minn., whose winning time of 1:03.54 broke her previous school-record time of 1:03.66 she set earlier this season.

Megan Glisar, a sophomore from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, won the women’s high jump with a height of 5-8 1/2 and also finished seventh in the triple jump with a school-record distance of 36-11 to shatter the previous Morningside standard of 35-6 3/4 set by Kellie Hoffman in 2001.

The Mustangs’ Jessica Weborg, a senior from Elk Point, S.D., also scored a victory for the Morningside women with a time of 4:43.36 in the 1500-meters to compliment a third place finish in the 800-meters with a time of 2:17.93.

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Neeia Cooperwood, a freshman from Omaha, Neb., has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Women’s Field Event Athlete of the Week for April 16-22.

Cooperwood won the long jump at last weekend’s Northwestern College Red Raider Open with a distance of 18-3. Aside from her victory in the long jump, Cooperwood also triumphed in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.52 seconds and finished third in the 100-meters with a time of 12.33 seconds.

Breanna Mathes, a junior from Cherokee, Iowa, is the female nominee from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) for the NAIA’s 2012 A.O. Duer Award.

The Duer Award was established in 1967 to recognize a junior male and female student-athlete who has excelled in character, playing ability, and scholarship. The award is named after former NAIA executive director Al Duer, who constantly sought to promote an integration of education and sport in the NAIA, reflecting an ideal balance between work and play, body, mind and spirit. Candidates must achieve a minimum grade point average of 3.75 on a 4.0 scale.

Mathes is a standout distance runner for the Mustangs’ women’s track & field team. She is the Morningside record holder in the indoor 1000-meters with a time of 2:56.75 and is part of school-record holding relay teams in the indoor and outdoor 3200-meter and distance medley events. Mathes placed fifth in the 1000-meters at this year’s NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships to earn All-America honors and also helped the Mustangs earn All-America laurels in the distance medley relay with a third place finish. Mathes was the 2012 GPAC indoor champion in the 1000-meters and the 2011 GPAC outdoor champion in the 800-meters.

Mathes has a 3.99 cumulative grade point average with a major in mathematics teaching. She is a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society, Alpha Lambda Delta freshman women’s honor society, Kappa Delta Pi education honor society, and Kappa Mu Epsilon mathematics honor society.

Garret Ehlers, a sophomore from Ida Grove, Iowa, has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Men’s Track Athlete of the Week.

Ehlers won the 3000-men’s steeplechase at last Saturday’s Wayne State College Wildcat Classic with a meet and school-record time of 9:23.61. The time is the fifth fastest in the NAIA so far this season.

Ehlers broke one of the oldest standards in the Morningside record book. The previous Morningside record of 9:43.0 was set by Andy Dunlap in 1983. Ehlers’ time also shattered the previous meet record of 9:33.65 set by James Hansen of Black Hills State University in 2006.

The Mustangs will compete in the Dordt College Invitational on Thursday in Sioux Center, Iowa.

Morningside College track & field and cross country head coach Dave Nash has announced the names of four high school recruits who will join the Mustangs this fall, including the anchor runner for last year's Iowa Class 1A state championship girls distance medley relay team.

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Megan Glisar won a national championship in the women’s high jump, two other Morningside athletes were national runner-ups, and Morningside had an additional two All-America performances in a productive closing day in Saturday’s action at the 2012 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Geneva, Ohio.

Glisar, a sophomore from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, triumphed in the women’s high jump with a height of 5-8 3/4.

Glisar, a former NCAA Division I athlete who joined the Mustangs as a transfer from the University of Iowa, was undefeated in seven meets during the indoor season, including a school-record performance when she cleared 5-10 at the Buena Vista University Graphic Edge Open on Feb. 11. She was a four-time Iowa state champion during her prep career at Sergeant Bluff-Luton High School.

Monte Larsen, a senior from Neola, Iowa, who anchored the Mustangs to a NAIA National Championship in the distance medley relay on Friday, earned All-America honors with a runner-up finish in Saturday’s final of the men’s 600-meters.

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Monte Larsen, a senior from Neola, Iowa, received the Men’s Most Outstanding Performance of the Meet award from last Saturday’s Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships held in Lincoln, Neb.

In addition to Larsen’s top performance award, the Mustangs’ Dave Nash was named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Men’s Indoor Track & Field Co-Coach of the Year along with Doane College’s Ed Fye.

Larsen earned the outstanding performance award for his 47.9-second 400-meter split when he anchored the Mustangs to a GPAC record-breaking time of 3:16.14 in the 1600-meter relay. Morningside carved a second off the previous GPAC standard of 3:17.16 that was set by Doane in 2007.
Larsen also anchored the Mustangs to a victory in the 3200-meter relay and was an individual champion in the 600-meters and 1000-meters with times of 1:19.39 and 2:31.88, respectively.

Nash guided the Mustangs to a third place finish in the men’s team standings for their highest finish ever at the GPAC Indoor Championships. Nash also coached the Mustangs to a third place finish in the women’s team standings. He was named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year in 2009.

Morningside College athletes won nine events and the Mustangs finished in third place in the team standings in both the men’s and women’s divisions at the 2012 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships held Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.

Monte Larsen, a senior from Neola, Iowa, played a role in four of the Mustangs’ five triumphs in the men’s competition. Larsen won two individual events with first place times of 1:19.39 in the 600-meters and 2:31.88 in the 1000-meters and ran the anchor leg for two winning relay teams.

The Mustangs’ most impressive relay victory came in the 1600-meter event, where the quartet of John Harris, a junior from Holstein, Iowa; Mike Huseman, a junior from Alta, Iowa; Brad Wright, a sophomore from Mullen, Neb.; and Larsen triumphed with a time of 3:16.14 to break the existing GPAC meet record of 3:17.16 set by Doane College in 2007. They also broke the former Morningside school-record time of 3:17.34 set in 1992.

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Megan Glisar, a sophomore from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, has been named the NAIA National Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week and Monte Larsen, a senior from Neola, Iowa, is the NAIA National Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week.

They were also named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Women’s Indoor Field Athlete and Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week.

Glisar, a transfer from NCAA Division I University of Iowa and a four-time state champion in the high jump during her prep career at Sergeant Bluff-Luton High School, shattered the Morningside school record in the indoor high jump in her Mustang debut at last Saturday’s Dordt College Invitational in Sioux Center, Iowa. She cleared 5-9 1/4 to topple the previous Morningside standard of 5-5, which had been achieved five times, including three times by Anne Torkelson. Glisar’s height is the top performance in the nation so far this season.

Aside from her win in the high jump, Glisar also helped lead Morningside to a second place finish in the 1600-meter relay and placed fifth in the 200-meters with a time of 27.29 seconds.

Larsen won the 600-meters and the 1000-meters and anchored the Mustangs to a victory in the 1600-meter relay at the Dordt Invitational. His time of 1:20.53 in the 600-meters is the fastest in the nation so far this season, while his time of 2:28.71 in the 1000-meters is the second fastest in the nation and broke the former Morningside school record of 2:29.31 by Josh Dickinson in 1995.