Bulldog Weekly Report (April 17)

By Jacob Knabel on Apr. 17, 2018 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week

Male: Scott Johnson (track & field) / Luke Zoller (tennis)

Johnson, a native of Kansas City, Kan., won the triple and long jump events at last week’s NAIA Midwest Quad in Des Moines, Iowa. Johnson broke through with an automatic national qualifying mark of 47’ 7 ¾” in the triple jump (ninth best in the NAIA).

Zoller, who calls Lenexa, Kan., home, claimed wins at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles in last week’s home match with Midland. At 9-6 this season in singles play, Zoller leads the team in wins. He’s also 8-7 in doubles play.

Female: Adrianna Shaw (track & field)

Shaw, a native of Bassett, Neb., placed in the top two of each of her three throwing events at the NAIA Midwest Quad. She turned in a fresh automatic national qualifying mark of 169’ 5” in the hammer throw and is now qualified for nationals in three events.

Previous athletes of the week
April 10 – Ben Pratt (track & field) / Murphy Sears (golf)
March Athletes of the Month: Wade Council (baseball) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
April 3 – Scott Johnson (track & field) / Hhana Haro (softball)
March 27 – Cade Moring (baseball) / Mackinsey Schmidt (softball)
March 20 – Wade Council (baseball) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
March 13 – Cody Williams (track & field) / Samantha Liermann (track & field)
February Athletes of the Month: Deandre Chery (wrestling) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Feb. 27 – Nick Little (baseball) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Feb. 20 – Deandre Chery (wrestling) / Samantha Liermann (track & field)
Feb. 13 – Jerry Stepps III (wrestling) / McKenzie Gravo (track & field)
Feb. 6 – Michael Duffy (wrestling) / Colby Duvel (basketball)
January Athletes of the Month: Kyle Pierce (basketball) / Dani Hoppes (basketball)
Jan. 30 – Kyle Pierce (basketball) / Anna Baack (track & field)
Jan. 23 – Jacob Cornelio (track & field) / Dani Hoppes (basketball)
Jan. 16 – Josiah McAllister (track & field) / Brenleigh Daum (basketball)
Jan. 9 – Jared Woods (wrestling) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
December Athletes of the Month: Cordell Gillingham (basketball) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Dec. 12 – Cordell Gillingham (basketball) / Taylor Cockerill (basketball)
Dec. 5 – Brevin Sloup (basketball) / Sydney Feller (basketball)
November Athletes of the Month: Tarence Roby (football) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 28 – Jake Hornick (basketball) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 14 – Cameron Devers (wrestling) / Jeannelle Condame (soccer)
Nov. 7 – Tarence Roby (football) / Emily Deschaine (cross country)
October Athletes of the Month: Ryan Durdon (football) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)
Oct. 31 – Ryan Durdon (football) / Kaitlyn Radebaugh (soccer)
Oct. 24 – Marcelo Hernandez (soccer) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)
Oct. 17 – Carlos Ferrer (soccer) and Grady Koch (football) / Sami Birmingham (soccer)
Oct. 10 – Micah Lehenbauer (soccer) / Kaitlyn Radebaugh (soccer)
Oct. 3 – Micah Lehenbauer (soccer) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
September Athletes of the Month: Tarence Roby (football) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)
Sept. 26 – Kordell Glause (football) / Emily Deschaine (cross country)
Sept. 19 – Lewis Rathbone (soccer) / Victoria Cera (soccer)
Sept. 12 – Tarence Roby (football) / Murphy Sears (golf)
Sept. 5 – Jack Bennett (soccer) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)

News and notes:

Calhoun elevated to head wrestling coach: On April 11, Concordia announced the promotion of Levi Calhoun. The Moore, Okla., native takes over as head wrestling coach after spending three seasons serving the Bulldog staff as an assistant. Calhoun possesses seven total season of assistant coaching experience at the NAIA level. Calhoun previously worked at his alma mater, Baker University (Kan.). Calhoun is the fourth head coach since the wrestling program rebooted in 2009. For more on Calhoun, click HERE.

Former GA’s make mark in coaching ranks: Recent Concordia graduate assistants are popping up as collegiate coaches all over the nation. Additionally, current GA’s such as Dan Ball (Bowling Green) and Logan Wagner (Mount Marty) are getting set to embark upon new adventures in the coaching profession. We caught up with the likes of Thad Sankey (Concordia University, Ann Arbor), Shawn Rodehorst (University of Nebraska-Kearney) and Kim Uetrecht (North Park University) for thoughts on their experiences as Bulldogs. To read the feature, click HERE.

Sears earns national honor: Sophomore Murphy Sears carded a career low 73 at the CSM/Midland Invite on April 5 and was subsequently named the NAIA National Women’s Golfer of the Week. The Crete, Neb., native is believed to be the first national weekly award winner in the history of the Concordia women’s golf program. Sears earned All-GPAC accolades last season as a freshman.

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its third year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT on KTMX-FM 104.9 Max Country. The weekly feature can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the Max Country app. Throughout the 2017-18 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Tyler Cavalli serves as the host of the coaches’ show as well as the play-by-play voice for football and basketball. Frank Greene called volleyball action again this past fall.

Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting http://www.cune.edu/csn at game time. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.

Softball

  • Officially, the Bulldogs played only four games last week, counting a doubleheader sweep of Briar Cliff (April 9) and then two losses at No. 25 Morningside (April 10). Concordia also finished a suspended game at Doane on April 12 and held on for an 11-10 win in a contest that goes down as having been played on March 22. Due to inclement weather, the home doubleheader with Dakota Wesleyan originally scheduled for April 14 got postponed. Fifth-year head coach Todd LaVelle’s squad now stands at 16-14 overall and at 5-5 in conference play (tied for fifth). For more information on Bulldog softball, click HERE.
  • The victory at Doane brought more suspense than LaVelle would have hoped for. Concordia entered the bottom of the fifth leading 11-6 thanks to an eight-run fourth and a three-run fifth that occurred on March 22. In completion of the suspended game, Brittany Woolridge recorded the game’s final out with the bases loaded and a one-run lead. Woolridge was credited with the save after recording the final three outs in the circle. She relieved Baily Clear, who fired the first six innings of the game. Clear worked scoreless fifth and sixth innings before running into trouble in the seventh.
  • An offense that has been one of the best in the GPAC got shut down by Morningside pitcher Hallie Misiaszek on April 10. In game one, Misiaszek tossed a six-inning no-hitter in which she issued two free passes. Concordia recorded its first hit of the day when Hhana Haro doubled with two outs in the top of the first. After an 8-0 loss in game one, the Bulldogs were much more competitive in game two. Their deficit was just 3-1 in the top of the sixth when Dalaney Nance doubled home Concordia’s lone run in the twin bill.
  • Appearances out of the bullpen like the one made at Doane have not been all that common for Woolridge. She’s pitched in 13 games, making nine starts. Statistically, the Tucson, Ariz., native has been the team’s ace. Over 58.1 innings, Woolridge owns a 3.48 ERA. Her record I 3-4 to go along with two saves and 34 strikeouts. The staff leader in strikeouts is freshman Grace Bernhardt (44). Bernhardt also tops the team in wins with her 7-4 record.
  • Despite a 1-for-5 doubleheader versus Briar Cliff and a 1-for-5 performance at Doane that is now officially in the books, Haro remains in the thick of the race for the GPAC batting title. She is 55-for-110 (.500) in her freshman campaign. Haro has been the team’s most reliable source of power, sporting a .764 slugging percentage and 84 total bases. With 15 doubles, Haro needs only three more to break the program’s single-season record shared by Clarissa Eloge (2011), Melissa Morrison (2005) and Meredith Peters (2003).
  • Program records such as the most doubles in a season are reachable, but others will be much more difficult to break. Consider Concordia Athletic Hall of Famer Mindy Evans Miller’s school career standard of 227 hits or her 83 pitching victories. Junior Leah Kalkwarf’s career to date provides an illustration of how difficult it is to amass 227 hits. Kalkwarf is a career .339 hitter over 124 games but is nearly 100 hits away from Miller’s lofty total. For someone to break the wins record, she would have to average at least 21 victories over a four-year span.
  • Concordia has now played nine games against teams that were either ranked or receiving votes at the time games were played. The Bulldogs are 2-7 in those games with the wins coming over Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) and Tabor College (Kan.). Two of the defeats were one-run losses at Northwestern and another came by two runs to then 11th-ranked University of St. Francis (Ill). Morningside and Northwestern are the only teams in the GPAC currently garnering votes in the national poll.
  • Two doubleheaders within the conference make up this week’s slate. The Bulldogs are getting set to host Midland (20-11, 7-3 GPAC) today (April 17) at 5 p.m. Concordia will then trek north to Mount Marty (9-15, 5-5 GPAC) for a 1 p.m. first pitch in Yankton, S.D. Entering the week, 12 games remain on the regular-season schedule, including a nonconference doubleheader versus York College on April 26.

Baseball

  • The weather just hasn’t cooperated. The Bulldogs are still hoping to squeeze in 16 conference games before postseason play begins on May 3. Concordia’s lone outing last week resulted in a doubleheader split at Morningside on April 10. The Bulldogs took game one, 10-4, before falling in the second one, 8-5. Fourth-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad enters the week at 17-14 overall and at 5-7 in conference play. In a bunched up GPAC with much still to be decided, Concordia resides in eighth place, yet isn’t all that far behind first-place Doane (10-4). For more on Bulldog baseball, click HERE.
  • Concordia’s combined 15 runs on 18 hits in the doubleheader at Morningside were a positive development. Over the first 10 GPAC games this season, the Bulldogs had averaged only 3.2 runs per game. A hot streak seems inevitable for a Concordia team that still ranks as one of the GPAC’s best from an offensive standpoint. Among conference teams, the Bulldogs rank No. 1 in both batting average (.300) and runs scored per game (6.4) and second in slugging percentage (.425).
  • Some aspects of the team may have run hot and cold so far, but sophomore Nick Little has been a consistent starter at the top of the rotation. He’s been so effective this season that his four earned runs allowed at Morningside last week were actually a season high. He still managed to continue his run of throwing at least seven innings each time out (eight starts). He is now 6-2 with a 1.74 ERA over 62 innings. He’s allowed only 46 hits and 18 walks while striking out 53. His strikeout rate of 7.7 per nine innings is up significantly from his figure of 4.0.
  • Junior Thomas Sautel drove in four runs thanks to a pair of two-run singles in the game one victory over the Mustangs. Those RBIs pushed his season total to 20, making him the fifth player on the team to reach that total. Christian Meza leads the Bulldogs with 29 RBIs. He is followed by Keaton Candor (27), Wade Council (25), Kaleb Geiger (23) and Sautel. Meza, Candor, Council and Geiger all rank inside the top 10 of the GPAC RBI leaderboard.
  • After Little tossed his sixth complete game in the opener at Morningside, Dupic used five different pitchers in the second game. Working on four days rest, Cade Moring struggled while making his eighth start. He still flashed swing-and-miss stuff (five strikeouts), but was victimized by three walks, two hits and a hit batter. He was pulled after allowing five runs in 2.2 innings. Despite the loss, Moring is in the midst of a breakthrough year. He has recorded 67 strikeouts and has a 4.02 ERA over 40.1 innings.
  • The GPAC regular-season title remains up for grabs, but Concordia will have to rattle off a significant win streak if it wants to keep alive hopes of repeating its 2017 championship. Last season’s team put together separate GPAC win streaks of nine and seven on its way to a 19-9 conference mark and first-place finish. So far this spring, the Bulldogs have swept only one GPAC doubleheader (Mount Marty), have split three (Hastings, Northwestern and Morningside) and have been swept in two (Midland, Hastings).
  • The 11 complete games thrown by Concordia starting pitchers have limited the chances for the bullpen. When Dupic has made a call to the ‘pen, he has gone most frequently to guys like Nathan Buckallew (eight appearances), Jake Fosgett (eight appearances) and Wyatt Weller (seven appearances). Fosgett appears to be the team’s ace reliever. He has allowed only one earned run over 10 innings and has recorded 14 strikeouts and two saves. Buckallew has a win and two saves to his credit.
  • With less than three weeks until the start of the GPAC tournament, things are about to get really hectic. This week the Bulldogs are scheduled to host Dordt (7-17, 4-10 GPAC) today (April 17), host Briar Cliff (17-18, 6-10 GPAC) on Wednesday, travel to Doane (20-16, 10-4 GPAC) on Saturday and then host Doane on Sunday. Six games are also on tap for the following week. The league schedule has been shortened from 28 to 26 games due to the rash of postponements.

Golf

  • It was a busy week for the Concordia golf programs. Both teams competed close to home. In Eagle, Neb., the men placed fifth out of 15 teams at the GPAC Spring Preview (April 11-12) held at Woodland Hills Golf Course. Meanwhile, the women hit the links at the Kaitlyn Erickson/Doane Invite at Wilderness Ridge Golf Club in Lincoln on April 12 and placed eighth among 10 squads. Head coach Brett Muller’s squads have just one tournament left apiece before competing at the GPAC Spring Championships. For more on Bulldog golf, click the following links: men | women.
  • The men found themselves in rare territory sitting atop the leaderboard after one round at the GPAC Spring Preview. Concordia held a two-stroke lead after shooting a 297 on the first day. However, it slumped to 318 on day two and fell back to fifth place. Overall, it was a solid showing for the Bulldogs. The 615 cumulative team score ranked as the fourth best this season for a two-day event following its 583 (GPAC Fall Championships), 592 (Siouxland Invite) and 614 (Midland Fall Invite) totals.
  • Junior Nolan Zikas made a run at his first tournament win since his freshman season. The La Vista, Neb., native led the field with a one-under-par 70 in round one. He ended up three strokes off the lead after shooting a 75 on day two. His tie for second marked the seventh top-five tournament finish of his career. Zikas has been the team’s top golfer this season with an 18-hole average of 74.15. His low round this season of 68 (-4) is a school record.
  • The rest of the group of five at the GPAC Spring Preview included seniors Russell Otten (73-82–155; T-27th) and Tyler Ehresman (78-80–158; T-34th), freshman Kort Steele (76-84–160; 38th) and sophomore Tylar Samek (81-81 – 162; T-41st). Jayden Neal (84-80–164; T-56th), Harrison Helmer (88-83–171; 64th) and Grant Suchanek (87-90–177; T-69th) represented the Bulldogs as individuals. Neal and Helmer were the only Concordia golfers to improve their scores on the second day.
  • The women were unable to carry over their season best performances from the previous week at the Erickson Invite. Though they were a far cry from the 343 they shot on April 5, the Bulldogs did manage to turn in their third lowest score of 2017-18 with a 374. Concordia’s improved spring has lowered the team 18-hole average to 380.4. The team’s two lowest scores of the season have both come at Miracle Hill in Omaha.
  • Sophomore Murphy Sears went from a one-over-par 73 at the CSM/Midland Invite to a 14-over-par 86 this past week. The reigning NAIA national golfer of the week tied for 15th in a field of 70 golfers at the Erickson Invite. The Crete native owns averages of 84.6 for the season and 86.0 for her career, which covers 25 rounds. Sears has shot 85 or lower in five of 10 rounds in 2017-18.
  • Sears paced a Bulldog group at Wilderness Ridge that included Payton DeMers-Sahling (93; T-31st), Haley Nolde (93; T-31st), Paighton Barbre (102; T-58th) and Gabrielle Coviello (102; T-58th). Like Sears, DeMers-Sahling was coming off a career best performance at the CSM/Midland Invite, where she carded an 84 and just missed her first top 10 finish as a collegiate golfer.
  • Both teams will conclude their pre-GPAC championships schedule this week. The men will tee off first at the Midland Spring Invite today (April 17) at Tiburon Golf Club in Omaha (1 p.m. shotgun start). The women will then host the Concordia Bulldogs Invite at Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln on Thursday and Friday. Thursday’s action is set to get started at 12 p.m. CT.

Track & Field

  • For the third time in four weeks, a meet involving the Concordia track and field programs was moved to a Thursday due to inclement weekend weather. As a result, a smaller field of 63 Bulldogs made their way to the NAIA Midwest Quad hosted by Grand View University (Iowa) this past Thursday (April 12). Concordia emerged from the meet with 14 event titles and two new automatic national qualifying marks. Head coach Matt Beisel’s squads competed against host Grand View, Baker University (Kan.) and St. Ambrose University (Iowa) at last week’s meet. For more information on Bulldog track and field, click HERE.
  • The most significant developments to come out of the Midwest Quad from a Concordia perspective were the two new automatic marks put forth by Scott Johnson in the triple jump and Adrianna Shaw in the hammer throw. Johnson’s personal best of 47’ 7 ¾” in the triple jump clinches his first-ever trip to the outdoor national championships. Johnson now ranks seventh nationally in the event. Meanwhile, Shaw ranks seventh in the NAIA in the hammer throw with her mark of 169’ 5,” which jumped her above teammate Samantha Liermann (166’ – ninth).
  • Two other throwers also managed to either put themselves on the national board or improve an existing ‘B’ standard last week. In a winning effort in the javelin, Jazzy Eickhoff hit a ‘B’ standard with her mark of 128’ 4.” She ranks No. 10 in the NAIA. Junior Carley Skorepa also hit the ‘B’ standard in the discus, measuring in at 141’ 3.” Throwers have accounted nine ‘A’ marks and five ‘B’ marks.
  • The complete list of Bulldogs who appear on the national leaderboard with either automatic or ‘B’ standard qualifying marks is shown below. Concordia athletes have combined for 10 ‘A’ marks and eight ‘B’ marks. Adrianna Shaw leads the way with three automatic marks. Seven individuals have clinched spots at the outdoor national championships.
    • Evan Asche: half marathon (B, 1:14:50)
    • Jacob Cornelio: hammer throw (A, 184’ 4”); discus (B, 160’ 5”)
    • Morgan De Jong: discus (B, 142’ 2”)
    • Jessica Deterding: triple jump (B, 37’ 5”)
    • Jazzy Eickhoff: javelin (B, 128’ 4”)
    • Madison Holt: hammer throw (A, 165’ 3”)
    • Scott Johnson: triple jump (A, 47’ 7 ¾”); long jump (B, 23’ 5 ¼”)
    • Samantha Liermann: shot put (A, 48’ 9 ½”); hammer throw (A, 166’); discus (B, 140’ 3”)
    • Johanna Ragland: shot put (A, 44’ 8”)
    • Adrianna Shaw: shot put (A, 45’ 10 ½”); discus (A, 149’ 1”); hammer throw (A, 169’ 5”)
    • Bethany Shaw: discus (A, 150’ 8”)
    • Carley Skorepa: discus (B, 141’ 3”)
  • The Bulldog women’s shot put dominated once again. The five Concordia competitors went 1-2-3-4-5 amongst a field of 15 throwers. Liermann claimed yet another event title. Next in line were Adrianna Shaw, Ragland, Jodi Fry and Eickhoff. Shaw popped off a hammer throw of nearly 170 feet and placed second out of nine athletes. Liermann continues to lead the nation in the shot put while Shaw and Ragland rank sixth and eighth, respectively, on the national list. Bulldogs also hold down five of the top 10 spots nationally in the women’s discus.
  • It was a solid day for York native Kennedy Mogul at the Midwest Quad. The freshman finished the 400 hurdles in a first-place time of 1:05.06, roughly six seconds better than her time at the beginning of outdoor season. Additionally, she finished third in the 100 meter hurdles (15.80) and collaborated with an improving 4x400 meter relay group that took first place. The 4x4 also featured Mika Brees, Tori Beran and Jamie Nikodym.
  • Elsewhere in the field events, Jacob Daack creeped closer to a ‘B’ standard in the shot put with a personal best. He also turned in a PR in the discus. For the second meet in a row, Ben Pratt won the high jump. His PR on Thursday measured almost 6 ½ feet. Meanwhile, freshman Joe Gomez eclipsed personal bests in three throwing events and Eickhoff won the javelin competition with a 'B' standard throw. On the track, Pat Wortmann checked in under two minutes (1:59.20) in the 800 meters and placed fifth. Concordia also ran off a women’s 4x800 meter relay that clocked in at 10:14.46. The quartet featured Miranda Rathjen, Rebekah Hinrichs, Lydia Cook and Alyssa Fye.
  • The men’s pole vault was a unique competition in that six of the seven vaulters were Bulldogs. All six Bulldogs cleared 14 feet with Tyrell Reichert taking first place. Reichert, Logan Craig and Simon Brummond each vaulted 14 ½,” just shy of a ‘B’ standard. Reichert is a four-time national qualifier.
  • This week’s slate includes the Jim Dutcher Invite (moved to Sunday due to potential rain on Saturday) hosted by Doane and the Kansas Relays (Thursday through Saturday) hosted by the University of Kansas. The majority of Concordia athletes will be headed to Doane. By Friday, the GPAC outdoor championships (May 4-5) will be just two weeks away.

Tennis

  • GPAC play continued last week with both Concordia tennis programs hosting Midland. The women suffered a 5-4 defeat on April 11 while the men endured a 7-2 loss on April 12. Fourth-year head coach Joel Reckewey’s squads own record of 9-7 overall (0-2 GPAC) on the women’s side and 7-8 (0-2 GPAC) on the women’s side. Both teams also lost at Doane the previous week. For more on Bulldog tennis, click the following links: men | women.
  • The women have fallen by 5-4 scores both times out in conference play. They needed to secure just one more match to duplicate their 5-4 victory at Midland in 2017. Last week’s defeat ended a lengthy series win streak versus the Warriors. On the men’s side, Concordia had hoped to beat Midland like it did twice last spring. Four-straight matches against Midland had ended in 5-4 scores prior to last week’s result.
  • Despite losing all three doubles matches, the Bulldog women nearly came back for the team win. Annie Horn (No. 1) and Alison Ebel (No. 5) both came through in 10-point tiebreakers to earn singles wins. Their efforts helped tie the team score, 4-4, with only No. 6 singles remaining on the court. Kayla Smock dropped a close one to Danielle Martin, 2-6, 6-4, 15-13, and the Warriors escaped Seward with the win. Other singles victors for Concordia were Katelinn Wurm (No. 3) and Claudia Miranda Viera (No. 4).
  • Horn moved her GPAC singles win streak to nine with her narrow win at the No. 1 spot. She is the team leader in singles wins and sports a 9-5 record. Collectively, the women have gone 47-43 in singles and 25-20 in doubles. Following Horn’s lead in singles are Miranda Viera (7-6), Wurm (7-7) and Ebel (5-3). Wurm (9-5) has had the most success in doubles. Horn (6-7) and Kirsten Wagner (6-8) own six doubles wins apiece.
  • The positives out of the men’s loss came from sophomore Luke Zoller. He and freshman Jeremy Berryman teamed up for an 8-5 victory for the lone Bulldog doubles win. Zoller then gutted out a triumph at No. 2 singles, outlasting Jack Fryer in a 10-point tiebreaker, 3-6, 7-6 (1), 10-7. Meanwhile at No. 1 singles, Thomas Greeff was edged by Salvador Almeida, 6-4, 2-6, 11-9.
  • The combined men’s records are 38-52 in singles and 24-21 in doubles. Zoller leads the way with a 9-6 overall singles record (6-3 at No. 2). Next in line are Berryman (7-8), Thomas Greeff (6-9) and Josh Miller (5-8). Gio De Moraes (9-4) and Berryman (9-6) top the team with nine doubles wins apiece. Miller (8-5) and Zoller (8-7) are close behind.
  • The women are scheduled to play twice this week. They will host College of Saint Mary (7-5, 3-0 GPAC) at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and then welcome Northwestern (4-10, 1-1 GPAC) to campus for a 12 p.m. first serve on Saturday. The men have the week off and will be idle until play at Hastings (9-6, 0-0 GPAC) on April 24.