Bulldog Athletics Association Member (BAAM) Athletes of the Week
Female: Laycee Josoff, Softball / Adrianna Rodencal, Track & Field
A junior from Yutan, Neb., Laycee Josoff went 8-for-16 (.500) at the plate over six GPAC games last week. She homered twice in the same inning in game one of Concordia’s doubleheader sweep at Waldorf. Josoff was honored by Channel 8 (KLKN in Lincoln) as its Athlete of the Week. Josoff is an Exercise Science major.
A senior from Lincoln, Neb., Adrianna Rodencal raised the bar again last week as she broke her own school records with NAIA leading times of 13.04 in the 100-meter hurdles and 58.02 in the 400-meter hurdles at the Dutcher Memorial. Rodencal also helped the 4x1 relay to a time of 47.00. Rodencal is majoring in Biochemistry.
Male: Alex Johnson, Baseball
A graduate student from Olathe, Kan., Alex Johnson garnered GPAC Pitcher of the Week accolades after he tallied 14 strikeouts in a 10-1 win last week at Dakota Wesleyan. Johnson covered six innings with one run allowed on six hits. He is the baseball program’s all-time record holder for strikeouts (302). Johnson owns a degree in Psychology from Concordia.
2025-26 BAAM Athletes of the Month
March – Nick Velders (tennis) / Katie Welker (shooting sports)
February – Jonny Jurchen (track & field) / Adrianna Rodencal (track & field)
January – Hayden Kluthe (track & field) / Adrianna Rodencal (track & field)
December – Brooks Kissinger (basketball) / Adysen McCarter (track & field)
November – Ava Greene (volleyball) / Brooks Kissinger (basketball)
October – Kierstynn Garner (soccer) / Adam Van Cleave (football)
September – Carson Fehlhafer (football) / Katie Welker (shooting sports)
2025-26 BAAM Athletes of the Week
April 14 – Taylor Hedke (lifting); Alex Johnson (baseball); Kaiden Mima (lifting)
April 7 – Kaylei Denison (softball); Vaughn Hendrickson (track & field)
March 31 – Daniel Caballeros (men’s tennis); Adrianna Rodencal (track & field)
March 24 – Nick Velders (men’s tennis); Katie Welker (shooting sports)
March 17 – Ben Chisholm (men’s tennis); Taylor Larsen (dance)
March 3 – Raelyn Kelty (women’s basketball); Brooks Kissinger (men’s basketball)
Feb. 24 – Adysen McCarter (track & field); Cal Price (wrestling)
Feb. 17 – Mary Beth Hart (softball); Jonny Jurchen (track & field)
Feb. 10 – Gabe Lujan (wrestling); Adrianna Rodencal (track & field)
Feb. 3 – JJ Jones (basketball); Hayden Kluthe (track & field)
Jan. 27 – Zac Kulus (basketball); Adrianna Rodencal (track & field)
Jan. 20 – Hayden Kluthe (track & field); Adrianna Rodencal (track & field)
Jan. 13 – Cole Price (wrestling); Ayla Roth (women’s basketball)
Dec. 16 – Jonny Jurchen (track & field); Adysen McCarter (track & field)
Dec. 9 – Ashley Keck (volleyball); Brooks Kissinger (basketball)
Dec. 2 – Brooks Kissinger (basketball); Kristin Vieselmeyer (basketball)
Nov. 18 – Oliver Benson (soccer); Braxtyn Koch (football); Kristin Vieselmeyer (basketball)
Nov. 11 – Ava Greene (volleyball); Brooks Kissinger (basketball)
Nov. 4 – Kierstynn Garner (soccer); Hugo Garrote (soccer)
Oct. 28 – Keeli Green (cross country); Vaughn Hendrickson (cross country)
Oct. 21 – Addie Kirkegaard (volleyball) / Taylor Slaymaker (soccer); Adam Van Cleave (football)
Oct. 14 – Oliver Benson (soccer); Kierstynn Garner (soccer)
Oct. 7 – Carlos Collazo (football); Katie Welker (shooting sports)
Sept. 30 – Hugo Fuentes & Nick Velders (tennis) / Peyton Atwood (football); Sadie Mares (soccer)
Sept. 23 – Oliver Balazs (soccer); Katie Welker (shooting sports)
Sept. 16 – Carson Fehlhafer (football); Ella Waters (volleyball)
Sept. 9 – Sam Blevins (shooting sports); Molli Martin (volleyball)
Sept. 2 – Emery Custer (golf); Slade Leicht (soccer)
Aug. 26 – Kierstynn Garner (soccer); Ashley Keck (volleyball); Sean Stratman (soccer)
News and notes:
BAAM luncheons are held every Tuesday (when classes are in session) at 12 p.m. CT inside the Dog House Grill, located in the Janzow Campus Center. The luncheons feature reports from head coaches who are in season at the time. For information on how to join BAAM, click HERE. It is not a requirement to be a BAAM member in order to attend the weekly luncheons.
Spring GPAC Tournament/Championship season: GPAC Championship season has arrived for spring sports. The schedule for those championships and tournaments is listed below. Men’s golf was the first to get underway with action beginning in Dakota Dunes, S.D., on Monday. The conference tennis tournaments will get started later this week. Automatic bids to the NAIA National Championships will be on the line. For specific GPAC tournament schedules, see the sport-specific schedule pages.
--Men’s Golf: April 20-21 (Dakota Dunes, S.D.)
--Women’s Tennis: April 23, 25 (Omaha, Neb.)
--Men’s Tennis: April 24-25 (Omaha, Neb.)
--Women’s Golf: April 27-28 (Dakota Dunes, S.D.)
--Baseball: April 29-May 1, May 4 (top two seeds host pods)
--Softball: April 29-30, May 2 (top two seeds host pods)
--Outdoor Track & Field: May 1-2 (Fremont, Neb.)
Powerlifting, Weightlifting National Championships result in top 10 team finishes: Between the powerlifting and weightlifting programs, Concordia combined for five top 10 national team placements in action that took place April 9-12. In powerlifting the Bulldogs placed fifth on the women’s side and sixth on the men’s side in Kenner, La. In simultaneous competition staged in Salt Lake City, Utah, Concordia Weightlifting earned placements of third for co-ed, fifth for men and eighth for women. The individual medalists in powerlifting were Teya Badger (third), Dax Davis (fourth), Taylor Hedke (second), Wyatt Hosick (third) and Will Peterson (second). In weightlifting, Kaiden Mima starred as a back-to-back national champion while setting new American University standards across the board. He was joined with medalist honors by teammates Evan Fukuhara (second), Taylor Hedke (fourth) and Enzo Mancini (fourth). Impressively, Hedke garnered All-America honors on back-to-back days in different sports in different regions of the country. The national championships wrapped up the 2025-26 competition seasons for Head Coach Freddie Myles’ Bulldogs. This was the fourth year of competition in the young history of the two lifting sports programs.
--For additional details on the two programs (and for national championship recaps), check out the following links: Powerlifting | Weightlifting.
Kissinger nets CSC Academic All-America honors: In recognition of a highly successful junior season athletically and academically, Brooks Kissinger was named a 2025-26 NAIA First Team Academic All-American by College Sports Communicators on April 14. The Business Administration major averaged 22.1 points per game this past season. Other Bulldogs to earn CSC Academic All-America honors in 2025-26 are Brevin Damrow (football), Kierstynn Garner (women’s soccer) and Ashley Keck (volleyball).
Profiling standout Concordia student-athletes: Concordia Athletic Communications frequently highlights student-athletes and their unique stories. In the most recent features, the journeys of Taylor Hedke (lifting sports) and Nick Velders (tennis) were detailed in feature pieces. Check out the links below for feature articles.
--Taylor Hedke
--Nick Velders
--Gideon Stark
--WBB: ‘Press’
--Ashley Keck
--Taylor Larsen
--Mariana Molano
--Men’s Tennis Seniors
Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show has returned for an 11th year. 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 2025-26 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Parker Cyza serves as the host of the coaches’ show as well as the play-by-play voice for football, basketball and volleyball. In addition, Eric Allgood will call select volleyball matches in place of Cyza.
Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting https://www.cune.edu/athletics/watch-bulldogs at game time. Beginning with the 2023-24 academic year, Concordia Athletics began a partnership with Hudl for live video streaming. Live webcast links for away contests are publicized in sport specific releases that preview action for that particular week. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted via the Hudl account. For select JV streams, check out that specific sport’s Facebook page.
Outdoor Track & Field
· Weekends of outdoor competition: 4.
· Last week:
o Competed at the Dutcher Memorial hosted by Doane (April 15-16, 19); select Bulldog athletes also competed at the Red Raider Open on April 16.
· Links: 2025-26 Schedule | Roster | TFRRS Performance Lists
· Notable: Adrianna Rodencal stole the spotlight again. As part of action this past Sunday at the Dutcher Memorial, Rodencal broke her own school records and ran NAIA top times of 13.04 in the 100-meter hurdles and 58.02 in the 400-meter hurdles. Those accomplishments will make Rodencal a strong candidate for another NAIA National Athlete of the Week award. Rodencal and her Bulldog teammates combined to win 12 events at the Dutcher Memorial. The winners included three relays (men’s 4x1, women’s 4x1 and women’s 4x8), as well as Lucas Corwin (800 meters), Emry Gutz (javelin), Hayden Kluthe (110 hurdles), Adysen McCarter (400 meters), Ashley Robertson (3,000-meter steeplechase), Trey Robertson (3,000-meter steeplechase), Makenna Starkey (high jump) and Kayla Svoboda (100 hurdles). Other big-picture results were turned in by Nathan Baldwin and Harper Boche with personal bests in the hammer throw (B standards for both). In addition, Starkey hit the B standard (5’ 5 ¾”) in the high jump. Also noteworthy, three Concordia athletes rank in the top 20 nationally in multi-events: Hank Moore (12th in decathlon), Addie Reimer (17th in heptathlon) and Kennedee Canales (19th in heptathlon). From prior meets, other NAIA auto standards are held by Jack Habegger and Jonny Jurche in the race walk and McCarter in the triple jump. The outdoor season will continue this week for Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads with the Prairie Wolf Invitational and the prestigious Drake Relays held in Des Moines, Iowa.
· For additional news and notes on the track & field programs, click HERE.
· This week:
o Friday, April 24 at the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolf Invitational.
o Thursday-Saturday, April 23-25 at the Drake Relays.
Softball
· Current record: 19-18, 8-10 GPAC.
· Last week:
o Lost at No. 22 Midland, 4-3 (11 inn.), on April 14.
o Lost at No. 22 Midland, 8-0 (6 inn.), on April 14.
o Won at Waldorf, 20-5, on April 17.
o Won at Waldorf, 13-9, on April 17.
o Lost at Dordt, 6-0, on April 18.
o Lost at Dordt, 10-2 (5 inn.), on April 18.
· Links: 2026 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA Coaches’ Polls
· Notable: During a hectic week of conference action, Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad went 2-4 while earning a sweep of Waldorf – sandwiched between a pair of losses to both top 25 Midland and Dordt. The results leave the Bulldogs at 8-10 in league play and tied for sixth in the GPAC standings heading into the final week of the regular season. Despite especially cold and windy conditions at Waldorf, the Concordia offense piled up a combined 33 runs on 40 hits. Second baseman Laycee Josoff struck for two two-run homers in the sixth inning of game one as the Bulldogs pulled away. For the week, five regulars batted .350 or better: Josoff (8-for-16), Grace Zaugg (6-for-13), Taryn Ganstrom (9-for-21), Bailey Merritt (6-for-15) and Keira Farritor (7-for-20). Ganstrom homered for the Bulldogs’ only two runs of the day at Dordt. Also last week, Ava Martinez belted the first homer of her collegiate career. In the circle, Kaylei Denison continues to be the workhorse. She covered 23.1 innings last week. She notched 14 strikeouts and picked up two wins. From a team perspective, Concordia sports GPAC rankings of first in fielding percentage (.963) and third in batting average (.325). The Bulldogs will attempt to secure a spot in the eight-team GPAC tournament this week as they host Doane on Wednesday and College of Saint Mary on Saturday. The program will honor its senior class between games of Saturday’s twin bill. The GPAC tournament is slated to get underway on April 29.
· For additional news and notes on the softball program, click HERE.
· This week:
o Wednesday, April 22 vs. Doane (19-20, 6-10 GPAC), 5 p.m. DH.
o Senior Day – Saturday, April 25 vs. College of Saint Mary (8-27, 4-14 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH.
Baseball
· Current record: 31-14, 19-5 GPAC; receiving votes in the NAIA coaches’ poll.
· Last week:
o Won at Dakota Wesleyan, 10-1, on April 16.
o Lost at Dakota Wesleyan, 6-5, on April 16.
o Won at Dakota Wesleyan, 11-7, on April 19.
o Won at Dakota Wesleyan, 12-6, on April 19.
· Links: 2026 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA Coaches’ Polls
· Notable: The GPAC regular season champion will be decided by week’s end. The Bulldogs did their best to keep pace while taking three of four in last week’s series at Dakota Wesleyan. Concordia outscored the Tigers by a combined total of 38-20. The only downer was allowing game two to get away from it. In game one, ace pitcher Alex Johnson continued his strikeout binge as he fanned 14 DWU hitters in six innings (one run allowed). Johnson surpassed 300 career strikeouts. The NAIA’s leader in strikeouts per nine innings amassed 53 strikeouts in 29 innings last week. Out of the bullpen, Harrison Hoiekvam (9 K in 3.1 IP) and Warren Rose (7 K in 2.1 IP) were dominant. Offensively, Luke Wilson (9-for-15) and Jake Watson (9-for-16) sizzled. Watson added a home run and nine RBIs and caught every inning of all four games. Additionally, Bronx Lewis belted a home run and pushed his conference leading total to 18. A home run apiece in the series was also struck by Wilson, Jaeden Jordahl and Jake Tyler. In the current GPAC standings, Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad (19-5 GPAC) sits two games behind first-place Morningside (21-3) and one game behind second-place Doane (20-4). The Bulldogs will host Morningside on Thursday before wrapping up the regular season with a doubleheader at Hastings on Saturday. GPAC tournament pairings will be announced this weekend with the tourney slated to begin on Wednesday, April 29.
· For additional news and notes on the baseball program, click HERE.
· This week:
o Thursday, April 23 vs. Morningside (33-12, 21-3 GPAC), 3 p.m. DH.
o Saturday, April 25 at Hastings (20-22, 8-16 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH.
Tennis
· Current records: men – 16-4, 4-1 GPAC | women – 15-5, 6-1 GPAC.
· Most recent:
o W – Won at Doane, 6-1, on April 15.
o M – Won at Doane, 7-0, on April 16.
o W – Won vs. College of Saint Mary, 5-2, on April 17.
· Men’s Links: 2025-26 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Women’s Links: 2025-26 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Notable: The regular season concluded last week for Concordia Tennis squads that both locked up second place finishes in the GPAC. The men wrapped up the regular season with a 7-0 blanking of Doane. The Bulldogs swept through doubles and singles. Impressively, senior Nick Velders completed an 18-0 regular season singles mark (four matches at No. 1; 14 matches at No. 2) while stating his case for another potential All-America award. With 16 victories as a team, the Concordia men have broken the school record for a single season (formerly 14). Other top singles marks have come from Daniel Caballeros (16-3) and Leo Lopez (15-2). On the women’s side, the Bulldogs earned wins last week over Doane, 6-1, and College of Saint Mary, 5-2. The individuals who went 2-0 in singles and doubles on the week were Chakira Derman, Alexa Richert and Nina Milic. All six of the team’s main singles players have at least 11 wins on the season (led by 14 from Milic). The 15 wins as a team are two away from the school record set in 2024-25. It’s now tournament time for GPAC tennis. Head Coach Lisa Hart’s women’s program will attempt to defend last season’s GPAC tournament championship. The specific pairings can be found below (along with links to the tournament brackets). The conference tournament begins Thursday on the women’s side and Friday on the men’s side. The location for all matches is Genesis Health Club (Westroads) in Omaha.
· For additional news and notes on the tennis programs, click the following links: Men | Women.
· This week (GPAC Tournament, all played in Omaha):
o Tournament pairings: Women | Men.
o W – Thursday, April 23 vs. Doane (9-12, 4-3 GPAC) / Hastings (8-10, 2-5 GPAC), 11:45 a.m. (Semifinals).
o M – Friday, April 24 vs. Doane (6-13, 2-3 GPAC) / Mount Marty (0-11, 0-5 GPAC), 11:45 a.m. (Semifinals).
o M/W – Saturday, April 25 – GPAC Championship Matches, Times TBA.
Golf
· Most recent completed event:
o Men – Lost to Doane, 18.5 to 2.5, in Bulldog-Tiger Cup on April 11.
o Women – Placed 11th/15 (327-327–654) at the Wayne State Wildcat Classic on April 13-14.
· Men’s Links: 2025-26 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Women’s Links: 2025-26 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Notable: As of Monday evening, 36 holes were complete at the GPAC Men’s Golf Championship in Dakota Dunes, S.D. The Bulldogs sat in 11th place while shooting 325-324–649. Freshman Calvin Zabloudil shot two sub-80 scores (78-79–157) and entered Tuesday’s final round of the conference tournament in 25th place. Seniors Jake Richmond and Brock Rogers will wrap up their careers at the GPAC Championships. Richmond was an Honorable Mention All-GPAC award winner last season. Meanwhile, the women’s team has been idle since placing 11th at the Wayne State Wildcat Classic that wrapped up early last week. Senior Emery Custer and company will take the same course in Dakota Dunes next Monday-Tuesday for the women’s side of the GPAC Championships. The Bulldogs believe they are primed to move up from their seventh-place conference finish last season. Individually, Custer placed fifth at last season’s GPAC tournament and was followed by returning teammates in Maddie Lewis (27th) and Savannah McFalls (28th). Custer has placed in the top five of five tournaments this season and leads the team with a season scoring average of 80.1. The lineup is expected to include the aforementioned Bulldogs along with freshmen Olivia James and Amelia Ptacnik. The teams and individuals who win GPAC titles earn automatic bids to the NAIA National Championships.
· Up next:
o M – Monday-Tuesday, April 20-21 at 2026 GPAC Championships (Dakota Dunes CC).
o W – Monday-Tuesday, April 27-28 at 2026 GPAC Championships (Dakota Dunes CC).