Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week
Female: Hhana Haro, Softball
A freshman from Garden Grove, Calif., Hhana Haro went 6-for-8 with two runs, a double, two home runs and three RBIs in last week’s doubleheader at Northwestern. With a .540 batting average this season, Haro ranks first among GPAC players and second nationally. She also ranks 15th in the NAIA in slugging (.828).
Male: Scott Johnson, Track & Field
A senior from Kansas City, Kan., Scott Johnson placed second in both the long jump (23’ 5 ¼”) and the triple jump (47’ 1 ¾”) while competing at the Francis Classic in Hays, Kan., on March 30. Both marks met the ‘B’ national standard and place him inside the top 10 nationally. Johnson was an indoor GPAC champion and national qualifier.
Previous athletes of the week
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:
Postponements/cancelations: Before making plans to attend sporting events this spring, be sure to check out @cunebulldogs on Twitter and Concordia athletics website for updates on event postponements/cancelations. Due to impending unfavorable weather forecasts, several events have been moved around this week. Baseball (Wednesday), softball (Thursday) and track and field (Thursday) are set to host events in the middle of the week.
Women’s soccer group serves in Vegas over spring break: Six members of the Concordia women’s soccer team, accompanied by volleyball assistant coach Abby Pollart, spent their spring break serving others in Las Vegas. The group included juniors Kaylee Brown, Maria Deeter, Taylor Roby and Hannah Sain and freshmen Chelsea Bright and Jennika Chapman. They engaged in many activities such as praying with community members, interacting with area homeless, packing lunches for children, reorganizing a thrift shop and working at a soup kitchen. For more on the trip, click HERE.
Women’s golf set to open up spring season this Thursday: The wait will end this week for the Concordia women’s golf team, which has not competed since the GPAC Fall Championships unfolded Oct. 9-10 in Vermillion, S.D. Head coach Brett Muller’s women’s team will enter the spring sitting ninth in the GPAC (383-376–759) with two conference championship rounds left to be played. The spring season will get started on Thursday with the CSM/Midland Invite (originally scheduled to be played out over two days). Meanwhile, the men have already taken the course this spring for the Spring Break Invitational (March 8-9) in Opelika, Ala., and the Bulldog-Tiger Cup (March 24). The men’s season will continue with the Woodland Hills Shootout next Tuesday and Wednesday (April 10-11) in Eagle, Neb. Concordia will no longer take part in the Northwestern match play event, which had been originally slated for April 9-10. For more on the golf programs, click the following links: men | women.
Winter sports wrap-ups: All winter sports are in the books for 2017-18. For wrap-up coverage, check out the links below.
-All-sports winter wrap-up
-Individual sport wrap-ups: Men’s Basketball | Women’s Basketball | Wrestling
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.
Track & Field
- The outdoor season got underway for the entire team last week at the Alex Francis Classic (March 30) hosted by NCAA Division II Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kan. The previous week saw a handful of Bulldogs compete in 1,500 and 10,000 meter races at Wayne State College’s Wildcat Classic. In the most recent outing, Jessica Deterding won the triple jump and Concordia throwers combined for seven automatic national qualifying marks. For more information on Bulldog track and field, click HERE.
- Head coach Matt Beisel’s squad looks to have another strong crew of throwers once again. That group recorded seven automatic national qualifying marks at the Alex Francis Classic. They were posted by Jacob Cornelio (hammer throw), Madison Holt (hammer throw), Samantha Liermann (shot put), Johanna Ragland (shot put), Adrianna Shaw (discus, shot put), Bethany Shaw (discus). Cornelio also just missed the ‘A’ standard in the discus. Morgan De Jong added a ‘B’ mark in the discus.
- The win in the triple jump marked the first time Deterding has claimed an event title at a collegiate meet. The sophomore from Eustis, Neb., turned in an all-time personal best of 37’ 5” for a ‘B’ standard. She is just over a half foot off the automatic mark and ranks 12th nationally in the event. Deterding shined for a solid jumps crew that includes senior Scott Johnson, a GPAC indoor champion. He turned in ‘B’ marks in the long jump (23’ 5 ¼”) and in the triple jump (47’ 1 ¾”). Also in the women’s triple jump, Leah Larson was the runner up to Deterding.
- A steady wind coming from the south for the entire meet negatively impacted the times of runners in races covering greater than 200 meters. In the sprints, freshman Mika Brees placed sixth in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, posting times of 12.43 and 26.04, respectively. Brees also competed on 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays. The women’s 4x4 finished in 4:19.74 (third place). The Seward High School product was an indoor all-conference performer in the 60 and 200-meter dashes.
- Liermann is back in a familiar spot – leading the nation in the shot put. Now a two-time national titlist in the shot put, Liermann’s NAIA best mark stands at 47’ 7.” Adrianna Shaw (44’ 10 ¾”) and Ragland (44’ 8”) also currently hold down top five spots on the national list. With it still being early in the outdoor season, every aforementioned Bulldog with an automatic mark ranks in the top five of the NAIA.
- In recent years, the additional throwing events at outdoor meets have favored the Bulldogs, who captured national championship banners at the 2015 (men) and 2016 (women) NAIA outdoor national events. Since winning the national title in 2015, the men have also posted outdoor national finishes of second and fifth. On the women’s side, Concordia has placed inside the top 10 of four outdoor national meets in a row, placing ninth, fifth, first and sixth, respectively.
- The first home meet of the outdoor season is coming up on Thursday when the Bulldogs host the Concordia Outdoor Invitational (April 5). Originally scheduled to be a two-day event this Friday and Saturday, the meet was shortened due to an unfavorable weekend weather forecast. As a result, the meet will be smaller in scale with seven different institutions set to be represented at the Concordia Invite. A tentative meet schedule can be viewed HERE.
Baseball
- Though unfavorable spring weather continues to interrupt the schedule, the Bulldogs managed to play four GPAC road games during last week’s action. Concordia got swept in a doubleheader at Midland on March 27 and then split a twin bill at Hastings on March 30. A home doubleheader versus Hastings that had been scheduled for March 31 was postponed due to frigid weather over the weekend. Fourth-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad enters the week at 15-10 overall and 3-3 in conference play. For more on Bulldog baseball, click HERE.
- It took until the fifth inning of the final game of last week for the Concordia bats to begin to heat up. The Bulldogs entered the week averaging 8.0 runs per game and were fresh off a doubleheader sweep of Mount Marty that saw them outscore the Lancers by a combined total of 17-7. Concordia tallied just two runs in the twin bill at Midland and was then shut out by Hastings starter Vinny Schmidt in game one. The Bulldogs grinded out game two, getting two RBI singles from Thomas Sautel and a two-run base hit from Dylan Jacob.
- Concordia did not need much offense in game two at Hastings thanks to the efforts of Nick Little, the GPAC ERA leader (1.13). The righty from Lithia, Fla., continues to eat up innings at an impressive rate. He tossed his fourth complete game of the season while holding the Broncos to one unearned run on six hits and two walks to go along with 10 strikeouts. Little has covered at least seven innings in each of his six starts. He has not given up more than three earned runs in any of those outings. Little’s record stands at 5-1.
- The Bulldog pitching staff is also home to one of the GPAC frontrunners in strikeouts. Lefty Cade Moring has used a wipeout breaking ball to rack up 52 punch outs over 31.2 innings. Moring’s strikeout rate of 14.78 per nine innings ranks third best among all qualifying NAIA pitchers. In his outing at Hastings, the Eagar, Ariz., native struck out 11 Broncos in a six-inning complete game. In two starts versus GPAC opponents, Moring has amassed 26 strikeouts in 13 innings. Overall this season, he owns a 3-2 record and 3.41 ERA.
- In terms of player of the week awards, Concordia has been on a roll. The Bulldogs have collected four GPAC weekly honors. Little was the first to earn GPAC recognition having been named the conference’s pitcher of the week on March 6. Then on March 20, Wade Council swept GPAC player and pitcher of the week awards. A week later, Christian Meza garnered the player of the week honor after going 7-for-10 in the doubleheader versus Mount Marty.
- Though last week didn’t go as planned, the Bulldogs have plenty of time to make amends with 22 conference games remaining on the slate. Based on all of the available ratings, Concordia is expected to make a run at another conference title. The Bulldogs are the top rated GPAC team in both the NAIA’s official Bo Chip Power Index (40th overall) and Massey Ratings (61st). In the official conference poll released on March 19, Concordia appeared as the co-No. 1 along with Briar Cliff.
- Sophomore Jason Munsch is another strikeout artist on a staff full of pitchers who miss bats. Like Moring last week, Munsch was tough-luck loser. In his start at Midland, Munsch struck out nine hitters while allowing three runs over six innings. The Campbell, Calif., native has K’ed 35 hitters over 20 innings this season. He owns a 4.95 ERA and 1-3 record.
- Despite last week’s struggles at the plate, six Bulldog regulars sport batting averages above or near .300: Meza (.433), Council (.368), Keaton Candor (.360), Sautel (.360), Jacob (.314) and Kaleb Geiger (.298). Meza is tied for the conference lead in batting average. The GPAC RBI leaderboard shows Meza (27) on top with Candor (25) and Geiger (23) also in the top four. Council ranks fourth in the conference in slugging percentage (.609).
- This week’s schedule looks different than originally planned due to the weekend postponement. The Bulldogs are now slated to host Hastings (9-16, 1-3 GPAC) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Concordia is also set to play at Northwestern (10-13, 3-3 GPAC) at 5 p.m. on Friday and then at Dordt (4-12, 1-5 GPAC) at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Weekend contests may be in jeopardy pending potentially inclement weather.
Softball
- A GPAC doubleheader at Northwestern brought two more nail-biting losses for the Bulldogs, who have been excruciatingly close in each of their first three tries at a conference victory. The host Red Raiders won by scores of 5-4 and 7-6 in a twin bill that took place in Orange City, Iowa, on March 28. Concordia then had Easter weekend off. Fifth-year head coach Todd LaVelle’s squad stands at 11-12 overall and at 0-3 in GPAC play. For more information on Bulldog softball, click HERE.
- Nine of Concordia’s 12 losses have come by margins of either one or two runs. Already in conference action, the Bulldogs have watched their opponent celebrate a walk-off win. Doane defeated Concordia, 8-6, in eight innings in the GPAC opener on March 22. Northwestern also rallied to beat the Bulldogs in the bottom of the seventh of the doubleheader’s second game. Concordia has held a lead in the sixth inning or later of each of its GPAC defeats.
- Third baseman Hhana Haro has done her part with a monster start to her freshman season. The Garden Grove, Calif., native obliterated Red Raider pitching, going 6-for-8 with two runs, three RBIs, a double and two home runs in Orange City. Her season statistics are incredible. Through 23 games, Haro is hitting a GPAC best .540 with 20 runs, 11 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 26 RBIs. She is slugging .828.
- It’s safe to say that Haro has adapted quite well to the college game. Among GPAC players, she ranks No. 1 in batting average (.540), second in slugging percentage (.828), second in total bases (72), second in doubles (11), third in hits (47), third in RBIs (26), sixth in home runs (four) and seventh in runs scored (20). Nationally, she also ranks No. 1 in hits per game (2.0), third in batting average, 14th in total hits and 21st in slugging percentage.
- Haro is the leader of an offense that has torn through opposing pitchers. The Bulldogs added a combined 20 hits in last week’s doubleheader. Among all NAIA teams, Concordia ranks sixth in hits per game (10.7), 16th in batting average (.350), 17th in runs per game (7.1), 18th in slugging percentage (.506) and 26th in home runs per game (0.74).
- Sophomore Kenna Heath is still trying to find a groove in her first season with the Bulldogs. She transferred to Concordia at semester after spending her first year-and-a-half of college at NCAA Division II University of Sioux Falls. In 51 games played as a freshman, Heath hit .341 with eight doubles, a home run and 22 RBIs. In game one of last week’s doubleheader, the Seward native emerged with her first home run as a Bulldog. In 21 games played, Heath is hitting .222 with three doubles, a home run and 13 RBIs.
- Crete native Jamie Lefebure continues to improve each season. She went 3-for-6 with a home run and two RBIs at Northwestern. She’s now 9-for-14 over her past four games, boosting her season batting average to .344. The steadying influence at shortstop has made huge strides since batting .175 in 36 games as a freshman. She hit .306 as a sophomore and is now a career .292 hitter. Lefebure had not homered in her collegiate career until last week.
- Considering the offenses’ productivity, Concordia stands to win a lot of games if it can settle in from a pitching perspective. LaVelle has used three primary pitchers that have combined for a 6.30 team ERA. Statistically, Brittany Woolridge has been the most effective. She sports a 4.41 ERA in 39.2 innings. Baily Clear and Grace Bernhardt have also appeared extensively in the circle. Clear’s 56.2 innings are a team high.
- The Bulldogs are scheduled to play a pair of GPAC doubleheaders this week. Hastings (5-15, 0-0 GPAC) will be in Seward for a 5 p.m. CT first pitch on Thursday (moved from Tuesday). Then on Saturday, Concordia will play at league favorite and 25th-ranked Morningside (13-8, 1-1 GPAC) at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs have played only two games at home to this point in the campaign.
Tennis
- Just one match made up the Holy Week schedule for the Concordia tennis programs. Both teams appeared at Woods Tennis Center in Lincoln, Neb., on March 28 for matchups with former GPAC rival Nebraska Wesleyan. The Bulldog women earned a 7-2 victory while the men seemed to be on the verge of claiming a win until rain ended the match abruptly. Concordia lead the team scoring, 4-3. Fourth-year head coach Joel Reckewey’s women’s squad moved to 9-5 overall while the men remained at 7-6. For more on Concordia tennis, click the following links: men | women.
- The women are on a nice run that includes four wins in a row heading into conference play. At 9-5, the Bulldogs have won three more matches than any other team in the GPAC. Concordia has also played more matches than any other conference rival. On the men’s side, the Bulldogs’ seven wins are one behind Hastings and Midland for most among GPAC teams. In the most recent GPAC ratings released by the NAIA, Concordia appeared at No. 2 on the men’s side and No. 4 on the women’s side.
- The Bulldogs were perfect in doubles versus Nebraska Wesleyan thanks to the pairings of Annie Horn and Kirsten Wagner at No. 1, Lindee Schultz and Amanda VonSeggern at No. 2 and Claudia Miranda Viera and Katelinn Wurm at No. 3. The No. 3 doubles combo squeaked out a 9-8 (5) victory. In singles action, Horn (No. 1), Miranda Viera (3), Alison Ebel (No. 5) and VonSeggern (No. 6) each came away victorious. All of the singles matches were pro sets. Miranda Viera and Ebel both won by convincing 8-1 scores. Horn, Miranda Viera and VonSeggern all went 2-0 on the day.
- Collectively, the women are a combined 40-38 in singles and 24-15 in doubles play through the season’s first 14 matches. Three Bulldogs have at least five singles wins: Horn (7-5), Wurm (6-6) and Miranda Viera (5-6). In doubles play, Wurm tops the team with a 9-3 mark while pairing mostly with Miranda Viera, who has gone 5-1 in doubles.
- Before the rains came on Wednesday, Concordia had won two of three doubles battles. Wins were produced by the duos of Thomas Greeff and Conner Works at No. 2 and Gio De Moraes and Josh Miller at No. 3. The Prairie Wolves (2-10) won a close match at No. 3 doubles (9-7). Unfortunately, what had been singles wins by Greeff at No. 2 and by Miller at No. 6 will not count because of the suspension of play. At No. 4 singles, Jeremy Berryman owned a 6-1 advantage and seemed on the brink of victory in a pro set.
- Through 13 matches, the men have put up combined records of 36-42 in singles and 22-17 in doubles. Four players have five or more singles wins: Berryman (7-6), Luke Zoller (7-6), Greeff (6-7) and Miller (5-6). In doubles, three have seven or more wins: Berryman (8-5), De Moraes (8-3) and Miller (7-4).
- Conference play is up next for both Bulldog teams, who now look forward to playing at Doane. The women will be in Crete to take on the Tigers at 4 p.m. on Wednesday while the men will be in the same location at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads are also slated to be at Morningside for a 12 p.m. match in Sioux City, Iowa, on Saturday.