Bulldog Weekly Report (April 26, 2016)

By Jacob Knabel on Apr. 26, 2016 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Booster Club Athletes of the Week

Female: NiCole Dobernecker, Softball

Dobernecker, who hails from Charter Oak, Iowa, took advantage of increased playing time over the past four games. During that stretch she went 5-for-7 with two home runs, two doubles and six RBIs. The transfer from the University of West Florida is hitting .324 with three home runs on the year.

Male: Neil Ryan, Baseball

Ryan, a native of Grand Junction, Colo., fired six shutout innings in leading Concordia to its first win over Doane since 2009. The sophomore right-hander allowed only two hits and two walks while striking out five. Ryan has made 10 appearances on the mound this season.

News and notes:

Einspahr to shift to full-time teaching role: On April 21 Concordia announced that head coach Kregg Einspahr had accepted a full-time teaching role within the science department. His 24-year run as head cross country and track field coach will come to an end at the conclusion of the 2016 outdoor track and field season. Einspahr has steered his teams to a national title, six national runner-up finishes and 16 conference championships. He’s been named GPAC coach of the year 19 times and national coach of the year twice. For more details on Einspahr’s career shift, click HERE.

Kohlwey accepts position at Colorado’s Lutheran High School: A 13-year veteran of the men’s and women’s basketball coaching staffs at Concordia, alum Marty Kohlwey has announced that he has accepted the position of Director of Campus Ministry and Senior Theology Teacher at Lutheran High School in Parker, Colo. Wrote Kohlwey, “God has blessed my family with 18 wonderful years in Seward.” For more details, click HERE.

Registration open for Bulldog Golf Classic: The 23rd annual Bulldog Golf Classic is set for Friday, July 22 at Woodland Hills Golf Course in Eagle, Neb. Team payment and registration is due by July 8. Teams can be registered by clicking HERE.

Pardos takes GPAC, central region by storm: Still unbeaten against GPAC opponents, freshman tennis star Willy Pardos has risen to No. 8 on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s NAIA central region rankings. Pardos has grown increasingly comfortable while holding down the No. 1 singles spot for head coach Joel Reckewey. For more on Pardos and his success, click HERE.

Wrestling ranks fifth nationally in team GPA: After an eighth-place team finish at the 2016 NAIA national championships, head coach Dana Vote’s wrestling squad earned a No. 5 ranking on the National Wrestling Coaches Association list of NAIA All-Academic teams. The list rates NAIA wrestling programs in terms of overall GPA. Bulldogs Foster Bunce and Ken Burkhardt Jr. made the list of NAIA All-Academic individuals. For more information, click HERE.

Bulldog football wraps up spring practice season: Head coach Vance Winter’s squad wrapped up its spring practice season on April 22 with the blue-white scrimmage open to the public inside Bulldog Stadium. Junior receiver Kiyoshi Brey hauled in touchdown grabs of 21 and 41 yards as one of the standout performers of the night. The scrimmage also featured linemen returning punts. For more on the scrimmage, click HERE.

International Insights: In a video interview series conducted by Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Amanda Gubbels, several Concordia student-athletes from foreign nations have detailed their experiences on adapting to life in Nebraska. The interviewees have included Carlos Acosta, Toby Down, Christian Montero, Javier Moreno, Dylan Pierquin and Lewis Rathbone. To watch the interviews, check out Concordia Bulldogs on YouTube.

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 4 p.m. CT: New this year is the Bulldog Coaches Show, which runs for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 4 p.m. CT on KOOL 103.5 FM. The show can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the TuneIn Radio app and then searching “KOOL.” Throughout the 2015-16 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests were aired live on Max Country.

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.

Tennis

  • The Concordia women’s tennis team pushed its GPAC win streak to three over the weekend by defeating both Northwestern, 6-3, and Mount Marty, 7-2, in matches that were played in Omaha. Those victories came three days after both the Bulldog men and women were tripped up by highly-regarded University of Nebraska-Kearney squads on April 20. The Concordia women have moved to fifth in the conference standings with records of 6-14 overall and 4-3 inside league play. Meanwhile, the men are 7-10 overall and 1-3 in the conference. For more on Concordia tennis: MEN | WOMEN.
  • The women have steadily improved this season after winning only one of their first 10 matches. Since GPAC play began, several individuals are hitting their stride. Freshman Katelinn Wurm won both of her matches over the weekend while improving her GPAC singles record to 4-3. Fellow freshman Kayla Smock is now 4-2 in league play and sophomore Annie Horn is 3-3 versus league opponents. The Bulldogs toppled Northwestern by claiming four singles and two doubles matches. They came out on top in all matches against Mount Marty with the exception of Nos. 1 and 2 singles.
  • Horn picked up an impressive victory in defeating UNK’s Sthefani Rodriguez, 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 2 singles spot. Horn was the only Bulldog to record a victory in matches that were played to finish. The native of Denver, Colo., immediately took on a prominent role last season in play 13 matches at the No. 1 spot as a freshman. This season she’s played 13 times at No. 1 and five times at No. 2. Her career singles record is 11-22.
  • Collectively, the Concordia women have produced records of 38-81 in singles matches and 17-25 in doubles play. Horn (7-11) is tied for the team lead in singles victories with Smock (7-10). Horn also leads the team in doubles victories with her mark of 7-12. Horn and Smock are two of four Bulldogs with at least five singles wins. The other two are Wurm (6-13) and Hannah Boe (5-13).
  • The match at UNK (9-0 loss) was the only outing last week for the men, who are in fifth place in the conference standings. While freshman sensation Willy Pardos dropped his match at No. 1 singles, he gave Alvaro Arias a tussle in a 7-6, 6-3 loss. Pardos, now 11-5 overall at No. 1 singles, still has yet to lose when faced with a GPAC opponent. He’s 4-0 in both singles and doubles against conference foes. In rankings released on April 13 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, Pardos appeared at No. 8 in NAIA’s central region.
  • The Bulldog men have combined for records of 42-60 in singles play and 18-30 in doubles matches. Five Bulldogs have six or more singles wins: Pardos, Gabe Poling (10-7), Javier Moreno (8-9), Patricio Esquivel (6-10) and Thomas Greeff (6-11). Pardos carries an 8-7 doubles mark. His usual partner, Moreno, is 8-8 in doubles play.
  • Only one regular-season match remains for the men and women. They will head to Hastings (M: 8-14, 3-0 GPAC | W: 6-11, 4-2 GPAC) for matches set to get started at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. The Bronco men are riding a 30-match conference winning streak and have won each of the last four GPAC regular-season titles.

Track and Field

  • After a two-week hiatus due to the cancelation of the University of Nebraska-Kearney Loper Invite scheduled for April 16, the top-five nationally-ranked Concordia track and field squads returned to action over the weekend at the two-day Jim Dutcher Memorial hosted by Doane. Nine different Bulldogs claimed event titles, including five in the field (four in throwing events) and four on the track. For more on Concordia track and field, click HERE.
  • Three meets into the outdoor season, four Bulldog throwers own marks that rank No. 1 in the NAIA: Stephanie Coley (discus), Zach Lurz (shot put), Kali Robb (shot put) and Josh Slechta (hammer). In addition, Concordia has three throwing marks currently listed at No. 2 on national lists: Liz King (hammer and javelin) and Slechta (discus). In the women’s shot put, Bulldogs check in at 1-3-4. Concordia also holds down the 1-3-8-9 spots in the women’s discus, the 1-3-4 spots in the men’s hammer and the 2-3-4-8 spots in the women’s hammer.
  • Six different Bulldogs enhanced their own automatic national qualifying marks at last week’s Dutcher Memorial: Coley (discus), McKenzie Gravo (pole vault), King (javelin), Samantha Liermann (shot put), Lurz (discus) and Slechta (discus). Slechta’s mark in the discus was a personal best by nearly 15 feet. Coley boosted her season best by almost 11 feet. King propped up her javelin mark by roughly eight feet.
  • Gravo, a native of Henderson, Nev., has quickly become one of the top female pole vaulters in Concordia history. She currently ranks No. 3 on the program’s all-time indoor vault list (12’ 2 ¾”) and No. 6 on the outdoor list (12’). At the Jim Dutcher Memorial she made attempts at a height that would have eclipsed the school record clearance of Cassie Starks (12’ 6 ¼”). Gravo earned All-America status at this year’s indoor national championships by way of a fifth-place finish.
  • Dutcher Memorial event winners on the track included Trevor Bresson (400 hurdles), CJ Muller (800 meters), Emily Sievert (5,000 meters) and Kim Wood (800 meters). Bresson’s time of 55.61 puts him No. 2 among GPAC athletes and .35 seconds short of Morningside’s Kyle Hiser atop the conference performance list. Sievert is one of the GPAC’s top long distance runners, ranking second in the 10,000 meters and fifth in the 5,000 meters. On the GPAC list, Wood is tops in the 800 and second in the 1,500.
  • Last week Einspahr announced that this season will be his last as Concordia cross country and track and field head coach. The 1982 Concordia graduate has put together a career that places him amongst the best cross country and track coaches in the United States. He’s been named a national coach of the year twice and the GPAC coach of the year a total of 19 times. He’s led his Bulldog teams to a national title (2015 men’s outdoor track), 16 combined conference championships and six national runner-up finishes. As an athlete, Einspahr won six individual national titles while starring for the Bulldogs. He is a member of both the Concordia and NAIA Halls of Fame.
  • Both track and field squads have held steady in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NAIA national rankings. The women have checked in at No. 2 in all three ratings while the men have appeared at No. 3 all three times. In 2016, Bulldog track and field has lived in the top five of the national ratings, garnering rankings no lower than fifth during indoor and outdoor seasons in 2016.
  • Below is the list of 29 automatic national qualifying marks and six ‘B’ standard marks turned in by Bulldog athletes through three outdoor meets. This past week marked the first meet of the season that included multi events.
    • Trey Barnes – shot put (A, 55’ 6 ½”); discus (A, 164’ 11”)
    • Allison Brooks – pole vault (B, 11’ 5 ¾”)
    • Kattie Cleveland – discus (A, 145’ 11”); hammer (A, 181’ 9”)
    • Stephanie Coley – shot put (A, 46’ 1 ½”); discus (A, 160’ 3”); hammer (A, 181’ 11”)
    • McKenzie Gravo – pole vault (A, 12’)
    • Liz King – hammer (A, 183’ 9”); javelin (A, 150’ 7”)
    • Philip Kreutzer – shot put (A, 51’ 4 ½”); hammer (A, 177’ 3”)
    • Samantha Liermann – shot put (A, 45’ 9 ¼”)
    • Zach Lurz – shot put (A, 59’ 1 ¼”); discus (A, 175’ 11”); hammer (A, 194’ 7”)
    • Sydney Meyer – hammer (A, 175’)
    • Nicole Perry – hammer (A, 165’ 4”)
    • Kali Robb – shot put (A, 47’ 7 ¾”); hammer (A, 172’ 7”); discus (B, 139’ 11”)
    • Jose Rojas – shot put (A, 52’ 9 ½”); discus (A, 162’ 7”); hammer (A, 195’ 2”)
    • Benjamin Schulteis – hammer (B, 167’ 4”)
    • Josh Slechta – discus (A, 178’ 5”); hammer (A, 210’ 10”)
    • Jan Steinbrueck – discus (A, 144’ 5”)
    • Katricia Svoboda – discus (A, 158’); hammer (B, 163’ 6”)
    • Lucas Wiechman – pole vault (A, 15’ 9”); 110 meter hurdles (B, 14.88); ranks No. 3 nationally in the decathlon (6,400 points)
    • Kim Wood – 1,500 meters (A, 4:38.12); 800 meters (B, 2:14.69)
  • The Dutcher Memorial was the final large scale meet of the season. This week’s slate includes the Nebraska Wesleyan Spring Open on Thursday (originally scheduled for Wednesday) as well as the Drake Relays (April 28-30). Select high-performing athletes will be sent to Des Moines, site of the famed blue oval. The GPAC championships will take place May 6-7 at Hastings.

Golf

  • Over the past week, both Concordia golf teams have competed in two-day events. Early last week the men traveled to the Sioux City area and finished fourth amongst the 12-team field at the Briar Cliff Mini-Tour Stop. They carded a two-round score of 325-291–616. This past weekend, the women ventured to a course no team members had ever played before and placed third (358-351–709) out of eight teams at the Buena Vista University Spring Invite. For more on head coach Brett Muller’s golf programs: MEN | WOMEN.
  • The highlight of last week came on day two of the BCU Mini-Tour Stop as four Bulldogs shot a 78 or lower to pave the way for a new program single-round record for lowest score. The 291 topped all teams but one on the event’s second day and shattered the former school standard of 298 that was turned in this past Sept. 10 at the Siouxland Invitational. Concordia’s team season average now sits at 311.3 through 14 rounds.
  • Freshman Nolan Zikas has been on a tear this spring. The native of La Vista, Neb., has carded scores of 80, 78, 74, 78 and 69 since the spring season began on April 2. His one-under-par 69 was a career best by five strokes. He finished third at the BCU Mini-Tour Stop exactly eight days after tying for first at GPAC Qualifier No. 3. Last week he was named a co-GPAC golfer of the week. His recent hot streak has lowered his 2015-16 season average to 77.64, one stroke off of Reid Wiebe’s team best average of 76.64.
  • Zikas’ 69 tied Wiebe for a season low single-round score. Fifteen times this season a Concordia golfer has carded a score below 75. Wiebe owns seven of those rounds, Tyler Ehresman three, Zikas two, Russell Otten two and Court Croghan one. Forty-five scores below 80 have been carded by Bulldog golfers this year.
  • On the women’s side, juniors Amy Ahlers (85-87–172) and Kayla Krueger (91-81–172) paced the Bulldogs at the BVU Invite with identical two-round cumulative scores of 172 (+28) at Lake Creek Country Club in Storm Lake, Iowa. They tied for 14th out of 47 golfers in the field. It marked the first time this season that Ahlers has failed to claim a top-10 finish. She’s averaging a career best 80.67 through 12 rounds in 2015-16. Krueger has also participated in all 12 rounds in 2015-16 and owns an average of 86.9.
  • This spring, the women have turned in finishes of first (College of Saint Mary Spring Invite), second (Midland Spring Invite) and third (BVU Invite). The 709 two-round team score at Lake Creek was the team’s highest among the three two-day events it has participated in during the 2015-16 campaign. The team average sits at 351.50. The team low for the season was the 335 on Sept. 9 that broke a program single-round record.
  • In addition to Zikas, the men’s team at the BCU Mini-Tour included Otten (82-72–154), Ehresman (82-72–154), Jared Knoepfel (83-83–166) and Wiebe (89-78–167). Otten and Ehresman tied for 14th on the individual leaderboard. At the BVU Invite, Ahlers and Krueger were joined by Ashlen Pospisil (90-91–181), Brenna Gnuse (92-92–184) and Madison Pitsch (123-114–237).
  • Both teams have just two events remaining on the schedule. Up next for the women is the Kaitlyn Erickson Invite hosted by Doane at Wilderness Ridge Golf Club in Lincoln on Thursday. Next week they will close their season at GPAC Qualifier No. 4 on Monday (May 2). Meanwhile, the men will take part in the Midland Spring Invite at Tatanka Golf Club in Niobrara, Neb., on Saturday. Their final event is GPAC Qualifier No. 4 on May 9.

Baseball

  • Since the previous weekly report, Concordia played six times, winning the final two games leading into this week’s final four games of the regular season. The Bulldogs allowed a combined 63 runs during a recent five-game skid before a crucial 5-0 victory at Doane in game 2 of the April 24 doubleheader in Crete. Concordia had entered last weekend tied with four other teams atop the GPAC standings. Now at 24-23 overall and 9-7 in league play, second-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad sits in a tie for fourth place in the conference. To read recaps of recent action, click HERE.
  • The program now has 50 victories over two seasons since Dupic took over as head coach. Prior to this season, the school record for most wins over a two-year period was 44 (2004-2005). Before Dupic arrived at Concordia, the program had reached the 20-win mark only three times (see highest single-season win totals below). The 2015 team currently holds the school single-season standard with 26 victories.
    • 2015: 26-18
    • 2012: 25-28
    • 2016: 24-23
    • 2005: 22-33
    • 2004: 20-27
  • While Concordia pitching and defense struggled over the five-game losing streak, those facets of the game improved of late. Since Doane’s 10-run third inning in game 1 on Sunday, the Bulldogs have held their opponents scoreless for 17-straight innings. That run includes shutouts over both Doane and Grace University, 17-0. In a league dominated by offense, Concordia’s team ERA of 6.76 is actually good enough to rank sixth among GPAC squads. Only one team in the league has an ERA below 5.00 (Morningside).
  • Over the past week, first baseman Kaleb Geiger added four more RBIs to run his season total to 43, second most in a single season in program history. Only Concordia Athletic Hall of Famer Jarrod Pimentel (51) has ever driven in more runs in a single campaign since Bulldog baseball’s inception in the 1920s. Geiger’s 42 runs scored also check in at No. 7 on the single season list. He’s six shy of the record held by Zak Goodrich (48).
  • Geiger’s seven home runs are tied with Christian Montero for the most on the team (tied for ninth most in school history). Gieger, Jake Adams and Taylor Dudley each hit a home run in the doubleheader versus Midland. Those big flies raised the team’s home run total to 32, four short of a school record for a single season. This year’s squad has already shattered the school record for runs scored in a season with 349.
  • On his way back from a broken bone in his hand suffered early in the season, senior Taylor Bigandt started as the designated hitter at Grace on Monday. It was his first start since March 5 during Concordia’s spring break trip in Tucson. Bigandt has produced solid results in 52 at bats, hitting .385 with two home runs, two doubles and 13 RBIs. Bigandt held down the No. 4 spot in the lineup at Grace.
  • Starting pitchers Neil Ryan and Taylor Bickel are responsible for 11 scoreless innings during the active streak of shutout frames for Bulldog pitchers. Ryan went more than a month between starts before firing a gem at Doane. In six innings, Ryan allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out five. A day later Bickel surrendered only one hit and a walk over five innings against the Royals.
  • Concordia aspires to return to the GPAC tournament for the first time since 2012. The Bulldogs will conclude the regular season with a doubleheader at Hastings (15-31, 7-9 GPAC) at 5 p.m. on Thursday. The next day the Bulldogs host Nebraska Wesleyan (11-25, 2-14 GPAC) for a 5 p.m. twin bill at Plum Creek Park. Concordia needs just three more victories to break the single-season school record set by the 2015 squad.

Softball

  • The Bulldogs went a week without playing before returning to action over the weekend with a doubleheader split at Mount Marty. Concordia also split a pair of home games with Midland on Monday in a twin bill that had been postponed due to rain. Of their nine conference doubleheaders so far this season, the Bulldogs have split seven of them. They have also swept Hastings and been swept by Dakota Wesleyan. Third-year head coach Todd LaVelle’s squad now stands at 28-15 overall and 9-9 in league play. Concordia is tied for fifth in the conference standings. To read recaps of recent action, click HERE.
  • Under LaVelle, the program has produced win totals of 32 (2014), 29 (2015) and 28 (2016). The three-year victory total of 89 is nearing the program record for most wins over a three-year stretch. That record is currently 91 (2003 – 2005) when head coach Frank Greene’s squads posted win numbers of 34, 21 and 36. Below is a list of top single-season win totals in school history. Five teams have won 30 games in the history of Concordia softball.
    • 2005: 36-19
    • 2003: 34-16
    • 1998: 33-10
    • 2014: 32-16
    • 2008: 31-11
  • Sophomore third baseman Autumn Owens extended her active hitting streak to nine by going a combined 6-for-10 in the doubleheaders versus Mount Marty and Midland. Owens is putting together one of the more impressive offensive seasons in program history. Her seven home runs tie for the fourth most in a single season while her 40 RBIs check in at No. 9 on the school’s single-season charts. The native of Henderson, Nev., also sports a team best .672 slugging percentage.
  • It’s been an up and down season for Concordia pitchers. In Monday’s opening game, the Bulldogs got a much-needed quality start from Woodward, who scattered four hits and six walks while holding Midland to three runs in a 7-3 victory. Woodward also came up one strikeout shy of a season high with seven punch outs of Warrior hitters. Woodward has now struck out 27 hitters over her last five starts.
  • Despite inconsistencies during conference play, the 2016 Bulldogs remain a strong offensive team. After averaging 5.8 runs per game on the way to a national tournament appearance in 2015, Concordia has boosted that average to 6.6 this season. On the national leaderboard, the Bulldogs rank 16th in hits per game (9.6), 16th in runs per game, 17th in slugging percentage (.494), 18th in doubles per game (1.8) and 22nd in batting average (.340).
  • Kylie Harpst has maintained a batting average above .400 most of this season. Currently at .407, Harpst is bidding to become the first Bulldog to hit better than .400 in a campaign since Clarissa Eloge batted .417 in 2011. Harpst’s 57 hits rank 10th all-time in school history for a single season. In Monday’s doubleheader with Midland, the Lincoln native went 4-for-8.
  • Senior Danny Harstad made her first two starts of the season on Monday. She played shortstop in both ends of the doubleheader. Jamie Lefebure, who’s made 36 starts as a shortstop, has been out due to injury. LaVelle also used NiCole Dobernecker extensively in left field. The native of Charter Oak, Iowa, responded on Monday by going 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs. Over the past four games, Dobernecker is 5-for-7 with two home runs and two doubles.
  • The 2016 regular season is set to conclude this week with a trip to College of Saint Mary (18-18, 6-14 GPAC) for a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday. The Bulldogs will then host Dordt (22-20, 8-10 GPAC) at 1 p.m. on Saturday as Concordia honors its five seniors: Dobernecker, Harstad, Bri Liebelt, Amanda Snyder and Julia Tyree. The GPAC tournament will play out at the home fields of the top two seeds beginning on May 4.