Riders Start Strong at Cobber Indoor
Six first-place individual finishes, the team title, and an impressive hurdle showing highlighted Red River’s first meet of the year, the Cobber Indoor hosted by Concordia College. The Riders displayed their depth by placing at least two athletes in all 15 events Friday. The largest point haul came in the 55 Meter Hurdles, where Zimney’s Hurdle Army placed 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9-10. Returning 110M Hurdle State Runner-Up Mo Kamara (7.97) picked up where he left off last season and edged out juniors Peter Wysocki (8.14), Tyler Enerson (8.43), and Parker Wenzel (8.56) for the win. First-time hurdler Alex Holmes (8.61) and freshman Carlos Horcacitas (8.73) also impressed in their first hurdle races.
The jumping events also proved to be big scorers for the Riders, who placed five in the high jump, three in the long jump, and two in the triple jump. Enerson, fresh off of basketball season, matched his PR from last season with a second place finish (6’), followed by Holmes (3rd-5’10) and Kamara (5th-5’8). Returning State Triple Jump Runner-Up Devon Pope started his junior season strong, winning the triple jump (40’11) and landing third in the long jump (19’6.25). Horcacitas (19’1.75) and sophomore Tyler Burian (18’8) capped a 3, 4, 5 finish in the long jump. Holmes continued to show his versatility by winning the pole vault (12’6). Juniors Wysocki (10’6) and Logan Taylor (10’) also vaulted well with 4th and 5th place finishes.
Senior Carter Buelow also got his season off to a strong start with a 2nd place performance in the shot put (47’5). Fellow senior Russell Dukes (8th-41’1) rounded out the scoring in 8th place. Not far behind was newcomer Martin Buchbauer, who showed off his strength in his first meet with a toss of 41’1.
On the track, 2015 All-State Cross Country runners Ty Boucher and Ben Hutchison both won their respective races, with Boucher taking the 1600 (4:49.86) and Hutchison the 3200 (10:39). Fellow cross country teammates Will Valentine (4th-1600), Jake Arason (5th-3200), and Parker Carroll (6th-3200) also ran well. The short sprinters were led by senior Kassim Nsibirwa, who raced to a second place finish in the 55 Meter Dash (6.86) and fifth in the 200 (24.75).
The meet was capped with an exciting 4×400 Meter Relay finish, where the team of Nsibirwa, Jaeden Holt, Enerson, and Boucher finished in a time of 3:48.04, edging out Grand Forks Central for the win. Distance runner Boucher, not used to the sprinting races, showed some impressive range with a strong anchor leg,
Full results can be found here.
The Riders now prepare for the much-anticipated intrasquad competition, the Delmore Decathlon, which will be held on March 23-24. Bemidji State University will host the next indoor meet on March 29th.