Bulldog Weekly Report (Feb. 26)

By Jacob Knabel on Feb. 26, 2019 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week

Female: Philly Lammers, Women’s Basketball

Lammers, an Omaha native, has helped the top-ranked Bulldogs advance to the GPAC championship game with near perfect efficiency in the postseason. In quarterfinal/semifinal wins, Lammers has totaled 32 points while going 13-for-17 from the floor. She needs 15 more points for 1,500 in her career.

Male: Wade Council, Baseball

Council, who hails from Colorado Springs, Colo., reached base nine times in 16 plate appearances as the baseball team opened up the 2019 season over the weekend. In an 8-4 victory at No. 8 Oklahoma City, Council went 3-for-4 with a run scored, a triple and four RBIs. He is a returning second team All-GPAC honoree.

Previous Athletes of the Week
Feb. 19 – Josiah McAllister (track & field) / Jacee Pfeifer (track & field)
Feb. 12 – Isaac Howes (tennis) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Feb. 5 – Cam Devers (wrestling) / Taylor Cockerill (basketball)
JANUARY Athletes of the Month: Brevin Sloup (basketball) / Taylor Grove (track & field)
Jan. 29 – Mario Ybarra (wrestling) / Taylor Grove (track & field)
Jan. 22 – Michael Stann (wrestling) / Addie Shaw (track & field)
Jan. 15 – Brevin Sloup (basketball) / Leah Larson (track & field)
Jan. 8 – Zack Moistner (wrestling) / Mackenzie Koepke (basketball)
DECEMBER Athletes of the Month: Tanner Shuck (basketball) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Dec. 31 – Brevin Sloup (basketball) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Dec. 18 – Taylor Cockerill (basketball) / Michael Stann (wrestling)
Dec. 11 – Deandre Chery (wrestling) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Dec. 4 – Tanner Shuck (basketball) / Taylor Grove (track & field)
NOVEMBER Athletes of the Month: Alberto Garcia (wrestling) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 27 – Alberto Garcia (wrestling) / Taylor Grove (cross country) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 13 – Zac Walter (football) / Grace Barry (basketball)
Nov. 6 – Jack Bennett (soccer) / Tori Cera (soccer)
OCTOBER Athletes of the Month: Carlos Ferrer (soccer) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
Oct. 30 – Carlos Ferrer (soccer) / Taylor Cockerill (basketball)
Oct. 23 – Josiah McAllister (cross country) / Jenna Habegger (volleyball)
Oct. 16 – Carlos Ferrer (soccer) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
Oct. 9 – Kordell Glause (football) / Brynn Suddeth (soccer)
Oct. 2 – Zac Walter (football) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
SEPTEMBER Athletes of the Month: Ryan Durdon (football) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
Sept. 25 – Roger de la Villa (soccer) / Erin Lokke (shooting sports)
Sept. 18 – Lane Napier (football) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
Sept. 11 – Ryan Durdon (football) / Marissa Hoerman (volleyball)
Sept. 4 – JP Verissimo (soccer) / Lauren Martin (soccer)
Aug. 28 – Garrett Perry (soccer) / Jenna Habegger (volleyball)

News and notes:

Softball continues to adjust schedule: The run of rough weather conditions continues to wipe away the early portion of the Concordia softball schedule. The Bulldogs still have yet to open up their season having had three more doubleheaders canceled last week. Head coach Shawn Semler’s squad was scheduled to play a twin bill each day Feb. 22-24 this past week. No makeup dates have been set for those contests. Concordia is now slated to begin the 2019 season this Sunday (March 3) in Tucson, Ariz. It also added a home doubleheader versus York College on March 14.

All-GPAC honors announced: Last week the GPAC announced all-conference honors for the sports of track and field and wrestling. Head coach Matt Beisel’s track squad placed 49 individuals on the All-GPAC list. In addition, Beisel was named the GPAC Women’s Coach of the Year while Cody Williams pulled in the GPAC Men’s Field Performance of the Meet award courtesy of his efforts in the heptathlon. In wrestling, the Bulldogs were represented by five individuals on the All-GPAC teams. The group included first team selections in Deandre Chery and Michael Stann. Check the links below for complete all-conference lists.
-All-GPAC track & field
-All-GPAC wrestling

Beisel, McLaughlin collect awards from USTFCCCA: For their work in leading the Concordia women’s track and field program to a GPAC indoor title, coaches Matt Beisel and Ed McLaughlin were honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Beisel was bestowed the title of NAIA Midwest Region Women’s Coach of the Year and McLaughlin was named the NAIA Midwest Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year. For more on these awards, click HERE.

Lammers, Shuck pick up CoSIDA Academic All-District honors: A pair of Bulldogs were recognized last week by College Sports Information Directors of America for their combined work in the classroom and on the hardwood. Juniors Philly Lammers and Tanner Shuck were named to 2018-19 Google Cloud Academic All-District® Women's Basketball Teams. They join Maria Deeter (women’s soccer) as the second and third Concordia student-athletes to be chosen as Academic All-District winners by CoSIDA this 2018-19 academic year.

Bulldog dance and cheer finishes season at NAIA Northwest Qualifier: The competition season is now in the books for head coach Mandi Maser’s cheer and dance squads. Both teams competed at the NAIA Northwest Qualifier in Fremont, Neb., on Feb. 22. The result was a 10th place finish (out of 12) for dance and a 13th place finish (out of 14) for cheer. The Bulldogs began their competition season with the Doane Invite back on Jan. 19. They also appear regularly at many other Concordia sporting events such as basketball, football, volleyball and wrestling.

Historic 4x4 just getting warmed up: It’s been an impressive indoor season for the quartet of athletes that make up Concordia’s women’s 4x400 meter relay. The group that includes freshmen Rachel Battershell, Sarah Lewis and Jacee Pfeifer and senior Jamie Nikodym is uniquely special, and not just because it is now the indoor school record holder. For more on this faith-filled group that is just beginning to reach its full potential, click HERE.

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its fourth 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 2018-19 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 is in his fourth season calling Concordia volleyball.

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.

Women’s Basketball

  • The postseason is here for the top-ranked Bulldogs, who appear to be kicking it into another gear at the right time. Concordia blew away both Briar Cliff, 80-55, in the quarterfinals and No. 15 Hastings, 89-66, in the semifinals of the GPAC tournament. For the third year in a row, 13th-year head coach Drew Olson’s program will host the conference postseason championship game. The Bulldogs have improved to 29-3 overall. For more information on Concordia women’s basketball, click HERE.
  • Success in the postseason is just another indicator of the elite nature of this program. The Bulldogs have now won 18 GPAC tournament home games in a row after recording two more blowout wins. Concordia has captured GPAC tournament championships five times (2005, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018) with four of those titles coming under Olson. No women’s basketball team in GPAC history (2000-present) had ever swept conference regular season and postseason championships in back-to-back years. Now the Bulldogs have a chance for the ‘double’ for a third-straight season.
  • Concordia is nearly impossible to beat inside Walz Arena (where it is 50-1 in its last 51 home games) when it operates offensively in the manner it did versus Hastings. The Bulldogs shot 56.4 percent in the first half while building a lead as large as 24 points. Concordia ended up shooting 48.6 percent for the game (sixth highest single game percentage this season). It certainly felt like it was the Bulldogs’ day when freshman Mackenzie Koepke banked in back-to-back treys in the second quarter.
  • Senior Quinn Wragge totaled 27 points last week and moved up another rung on the program’s all-time scoring list. In the win over Hastings, Wragge (1,724 career points) leapfrogged Lynda Beck (1,720) for sixth place on the list. Wragge could end up in fifth place by the end of today (Feb. 26). Stephanie Schilke is just above her at 1,736 points. The top four scorers on the list are Bailey Morris (2,054), Sarah Harrison (1,800), Kari Saving (1,773) and Whitney Stichka (1,765).
  • In the post, All-American Philly Lammers was near perfect last week from the field. She went a combined 13-for-17 (.765) from the field in the wins over Briar Cliff and Hastings. The Omaha native has continued to improve her ability to finish in the paint. Her season field goal percentage of 58.4 is a significant uptick from the 51.4 percent clip she posted last season. Lammers is also closing in on a milestone point total. She needs 15 more for 1,500.
  • Win or lose in the GPAC championship game, Concordia stands a good chance of being the No. 1 overall seed at the NAIA Division II National Championships. Last week the Bulldogs were back to being the unanimous No. 1 (all 12 first-place votes) in the coaches’ poll. According to Massey Ratings, Concordia has played the third toughest schedule of all NAIA teams. Based on the current national poll, the Bulldogs own wins over No. 2 Northwestern, No. 3 Southeastern, No. 4 Dakota Wesleyan (two), No. 13 Dordt, No. 15 Hastings (three), No. 19 Morningside and No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan.
  • Lincoln East High School product Grace Barry continues to serve as one of the nation’s top point guards. She posted impressive stat lines last week of 11 points, eight assists and five steals versus Briar Cliff and 13 points, nine assists, six steals and five rebounds versus Hastings. Barry is back to being the national leader in steals per game (3.75) while also ranking No. 3 in assists per game (5.81). The backcourt of Barry, Taylor Cockerill and Riley Sibbel has been the key to Concordia’s press.
  • This Bulldog team has forced turnovers at an unprecedented rate. The next turnover it causes will be the 1,000th by opponents this season. The only other squad in program history to force 1,000 turnovers in a season was the 2014-15 team that reached the national championship game. That squad forced 26.7 turnovers per contest, but even that pales to the 2018-19 average of 31.2.
  • Now it’s time to shoot for another trophy. Concordia will host fourth-ranked Dakota Wesleyan (28-4) today (Feb. 26) at 7 p.m. CST. In GPAC championship game meetings the previous two years between the same two programs, the Bulldogs won 78-77 in overtime in 2017 and then 90-88 in 2018. Concordia has won six of the last seven in the series. Then on Wednesday, the national tournament bracket will be announced by the NAIA.

Men’s Basketball

  • The 2018-19 season has drawn to a close for the Bulldogs, who fell short in their attempt to stun second-ranked Morningside in the GPAC tournament quarterfinals on Feb. 20. The GPAC regular season champion Mustangs shot an impressive 60.0 percent from the field while advancing with a 97-74 win over Concordia. The defeat extended the program’s postseason drought and put sixth-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad at 15-16 overall. For more information on Bulldog men’s basketball, click HERE.
  • The loss also prevented Concordia from increasing what had been a stretch of four-straight seasons with a winning record under Limback. The Concordia alum helped build the program back up after it struggled through a 6-22 campaign the season prior to his arrival. The Bulldogs’ best season to date during Limback’s tenure came in 2016-17 when All-American Chandler Folkerts led them to a 21-10 overall record. Limback has also guided Concordia to season win totals of 18, 17 and 16 in recent years.
  • The Bulldogs will have to wait until 2020 for another chance at ending the program’s lengthy run without a postseason victory. Since a GPAC tournament quarterfinal win at Briar Cliff in 2009, Concordia has dropped nine conference postseason contests in a row. Only two of those nine games have been at home for the Bulldogs. They also hope to soon get back to the national tournament, where they have not appeared since finishing as the NAIA Division II national runner up in 2005.
  • Tanner Shuck completed his junior season having totaled 1,123 points in his career so far. That figure puts him in a tie with Drew Olson for 24th place on the program’s all-time list. If Shuck were to simply put up the same number of points (418) as a senior that he did as a junior, he would eclipse 1,500 career points and move all the way up to No. 8 on the program list. The Grand Island, Neb., native has sunk 231 3-point field goals as a Bulldog.
  • Seward High School product Brevin Sloup appears likely to eventually join Shuck in the 1,000-point club. Sloup’s career total stands at 726 after he ramped up his scoring average from 4.5 as a sophomore to a team high 16.4 (11th among GPAC players) as a junior. Scoring was never a problem in high school either for Sloup, who is Seward High’s all-time leader with 1,179 career points as a prep. Sloup posted solid shooting percentages this past season of 43.5 from the field, 40.8 from 3-point range and 86.5 from the free throw line.
  • Freshman Carter Kent has the look of a budding star. Several of his best games this season came against Morningside. In three clashes with the Mustangs, Kent totaled 53 points (average of 17.7). Kent scored 18 or more points in the three of the season’s final four games while raising his scoring average to 10.4 for the year. His season high was 26 in the upset of then seventh-ranked Briar Cliff on Jan. 12.
  • The victory over Briar Cliff stands out as the season’s most positive memory. In that contest, Sloup went off for a career high 33 points and was subsequently named the GPAC Player of the Week. That win concluded a wild week that also featured a frantic comeback victory at Hastings. Shuck emerged as the hero by drilling the game-winning trey. That week began a stretch that saw the Bulldogs win five out of six GPAC outings.
  • Considering the lack of a senior on the roster, Concordia certainly has an opportunity to make a jump in 2019-20 if it can put together a positive offseason of development. The hope is to have much more familiarity. This past season, Shuck and Sloup were the lone returners with significant experience at the NAIA level. Limback leaned upon many new faces, including Kent and fellow freshmen Justin Wiersema and Tanner Wubbels and transfers Sammy Adjei and Chuol Biel.

Tennis

  • After going nearly two weeks between matches, the Bulldogs returned to action this past weekend with the men’s and women’s teams taking on Bethel College (Kan.) and Bethany College (Kan.) (Feb. 22-23) inside Genesis Health Club in Lincoln. Concordia emerged perfect on both sides. The men eked out 5-4 wins over Bethel and Bethany while the women won by scores of 8-1 and 9-0. Both teams sport overall records of 3-1 on the young season. For more information on Bulldog tennis: Men | Women.
  • Prior to last week, coaching duties had been handled by graduate assistants in Nikita Kostikov on the men’s side and Javier Moreno on the women’s side. On Feb. 18, Concordia officially announced the hiring of David DeSimone, who takes over the head coaching role. Since finishing his undergrad at Kalamazoo College (Mich.) in 2015, DeSimone has held several tennis coaching positions. He has served as an assistant coach at NCAA Division III Augustana College (Ill.) and worked as a Junior Development Pathway Director at Quad City Tennis Club. As a student-athlete, DeSimone also served as an assistant at the USTA Boys’ 18 and 16 National Championships in Kalamazoo.
  • The Bulldog women effectively shook off a 6-3 loss at Grand View University (Iowa) two weeks earlier by going a combined 11-1 in singles and 6-0 in doubles over the weekend. Four Concordia players each went 2-0 in singles versus Bethel/Bethany: Marlene Maier, Kirsten Wagner, Angela Bell and Lindee Schultz. A transfer from NCAA Division I Alcorn State University, Maier had no trouble at all. She won 6-0, 6-0, on Feb. 22 and then 8-0 on Feb. 23.
  • The Bulldog lineup featured the same three doubles pairs in both weekend matches: Maier and Claudia Miranda Viera at No. 1, Wagner and Allison Marshall at No. 2 and Angela Bell and Lindee Schultz at No. 3. Two of the doubles matches versus Bethany were won by forfeit. Maier and Miranda Viera went 2-0 while earning their victories in contested matches. The lone loss of the weekend came in No. 4 singles versus Bethel.
  • The Concordia men emerged with victories by taking four of six singles matches over both Bethel and Bethany. Sophomore Jeremy Berryman and senior Conner Works put together 2-0 weekends in singles matches. Berryman held down the No. 4 spot in the lineup while Works played at Nos. 5 and 6. Senior Thomas Greeff at No. 1 and junior Luke Zoller at No. 2 were additional contributors to Friday’s win. In Saturday’s victory, freshmen Isaac Howes at No. 3 and Jack Kitson at No. 6 also picked up wins.
  • In doubles, the Bulldogs did just enough. At the No. 2 spot, the combo of Howes and Kitson earned an 8-2 victory over their counterparts from Bethel. In the matchup with Bethany, Joseph Bindl and Greeff were fortunate to collect a win via forfeit at the No. 3 position. Concordia has used the same three doubles combinations in each of its first four matches this season.
  • On the men’s side, Berryman, Howes and Works are the team singles wins leaders with all three sporting identical 3-1 records. Greeff and Zoller have collected one win apiece. In doubles, the pair of Howes and Kitson is 2-2. On the women’s side, nine Bulldogs have played in at least one singles match. Maier (3-1) is the leader for total victories. Bell is 2-0 while playing at the back end of the lineup. Marshall and Wagner are 2-0 when teaming up in doubles. Collectively, the men have produced records of 12-12 in singles and 5-7 in doubles. The women are 16-8 in singles and 9-3 in doubles.
  • Both teams now get set for a weekend road trip. Concordia’s men and women will be at Sterling College (Kan.) for a 1 p.m. CST start on Friday before traveling to Ottawa University (Kan.) for an 11 a.m. first serve on Saturday. Those matches will precede a stay in Colorado over spring break.

Baseball

  • The Bulldogs made their way south while opening up the 2019 season in Oklahoma City, Okla., over the weekend (Feb. 23-24). After dropping the first three of four on the trip, Concordia rebounded with an 8-4 win over eighth-ranked Oklahoma City University. The Bulldogs began the weekend with a 9-8 loss to MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) before starting the three-game series with the Stars. Two of the weekend’s three defeats were by one-run margins. For more information on Concordia baseball, click HERE.
  • Ryan Dupic is beginning his fifth season as head coach for the baseball program. He has done a tremendous job of building up an outfit that had a nasty string of below .500 seasons before his arrival. Dupic entered 2019 with a four-year coaching record of 113-89. His 2017 squad won the GPAC regular season title and advanced to the opening round of the NAIA National Championships. That same team owns the school single-season record for wins (34). This year’s squad was picked by league coaches to place fifth in the GPAC.
  • After allowing a combined 21 runs on the season’s opening day, the Bulldogs shored things up from a run prevention perspective. While up against an Oklahoma City team that led the NAIA with an average of more than 10 runs per game last season, the duo of junior lefty Sasha Jabusch and senior righty Tanner Wauhob held the Stars to a combined six runs on 10 hits over 13 innings (two complete games). A Sioux City, Iowa, native, Wauhob is a candidate for a rebound season after he allowed 18 earned runs in 14.1 innings last season.
  • Junior right fielder Wade Council emerged as the offensive star of the weekend. In 16 plate appearances over the four games, Council reached base nine times via four walks, three singles, a double and a triple. He also drove in four runs in the victory. A second team All-GPAC honoree last season, the Colorado Springs, Colo., native batted .339 with a .428 on-base percentage and team high six home runs in 2018.
  • Council and his teammates combined for 13 extra base hits over the weekend. Three Bulldogs each hit one home run: Evan Bohman, Keaton Candor and Luciano DePamphilis. A sophomore from Vista, Calif., DePamphilis enjoyed a monster game versus MidAmerica Nazarene. He went 3-for-3 with a home run and six RBIs. With Thomas Sautel out of the lineup due to a hand injury, DePamphilis started at third base in both games on Feb. 23.
  • Jabusch was one of several players to make their Concordia debuts. With Logan Ryan also sidelined, Edmonds Community College transfer Carson Lindell got the nod at shortstop in all four games. He collected four hits in 10 at bats, including a double. Catcher Beau Dorman, a transfer from College of the Siskiyous, also played in all four games. He notched three hits, including two doubles, in nine at bats. Dorman shared catching duties with freshman Ben Berg.
  • It’s not entirely certain when or if the Bulldogs had ever previously defeated a team ranked in the nation’s top 10. The win over Oklahoma City marked the program’s first against a top 25 opponent since Concordia defeated then No. 16 Jamestown in Tucson, Ariz., on March 5, 2017. The Bulldogs did not play a ranked foe the entire 2018 campaign. No GPAC squads are currently ranked, although Jamestown is listed among others receiving votes.
  • Tucson will be the location the next time Concordia takes the diamond. The Bulldogs are scheduled to play 12 games during that Tucson Invitational that spans from this Saturday (March 2) until March 9. The conference season is slated to open up March 16 with a trip to Midland.

Track & Field

  • The Bulldogs enjoyed a rare weekend off from competition while fresh off performances to remember at the 2019 GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships (Feb. 15-16). The women captured the program’s first conference indoor title since 2010 by racking up 173.5 points. Meanwhile, the men placed second with 116.5 points. By the end of a long championship hunt, head coach Matt Beisel’s squads had combined to produce seven GPAC event titles, four fresh automatic national qualifying standards and two new school records. For more on Concordia track and field, click HERE.
  • With the bulk of the indoor season now in the books, Bulldog athletes enter the NAIA indoor meet with 28 automatic national qualifying marks and 12 ‘B’ standard qualifying marks. Concordia athletes with multiple ‘A’ standards in individual events include Gavin Davis, Samantha Liermann, Jacee Pfeifer, Johanna Ragland and Addie Shaw. The pole vault crew has shown off impressive depth by piling up seven ‘A’ and five ‘B’ clearances between the men and women. The list below also includes Concordia multi-event athletes with performances that met the minimum standard required to reach the national championships.
    • Men’s 4x400m relay (A, 3:19.45)
    • Women’s 4x400m relay (A, 3:57.55)
    • Men’s 4x800 meter relay (A, 7:51.74)
    • Rachel Battershell – 400 meters (A, 57.83)
    • Zach Bennetts – pole vault (B, 15’ 1”)
    • Dalton Berry – pole vault (B, 15’ 1”)
    • Allie Brooks – pole vault (A, 12’ 2 ½”); high jump (B, 5’ 3 ¾”)
    • Jacob Cornelio – weight throw (A, 65’ 11 ½”)
    • Gavin Davis – 200 meters (A, 22.23); 400 meters (A, 49.48)
    • Morgan De Jong – weight throw (A, 53’ 5”)
    • Gavin DeHaai – pole vault (A, 15’ 9”)
    • Jessica Deterding – long jump (A, 18’ 3 ¼”); triple jump (B, 37’ 2 ½”); No. 6 nationally in pentathlon (3,410)
    • Jodi Fry – shot put (A, 44’ 11 ¾”)
    • McKenzie Gravo – pole vault (A, 12’ 2 ½”)
    • Liam Hennessy – shot put (B, 51’ 4 ½”); weight throw (B, 54’ 7 ¼”)
    • Mariah Huneke – weight throw (B, 52’ 10 ¼”)
    • Leah Larson – triple jump (A, 38’ 2 ¾”)
    • Samantha Liermann – shot put (A, 47’ ¼”); weight throw (A, 55’ 5”)
    • Erin Mapson – pole vault (A, 12’ 2 ½”)
    • Nathan Matters – 600 meters (A, 1:21.65)
    • Josiah McAllister – 1,000 meters (A, 2:29.93)
    • Kennedy Mogul – No. 20 nationally in pentathlon (3,030)
    • Tristen Mosier – pole vault (A, 11’ 6 ½”)
    • Jacee Pfeifer – pole vault (A, 11’ 10 ½”); 400 meters (A, 58.14)
    • Tucker Platt – pole vault (B, 15’ 1”)
    • Ben Pratt – high jump (B, 6’ 6 ¼”)
    • Johanna Ragland – shot put (A, 45’ 1 ¾”); weight throw (A, 55’ 11 ¼”)
    • Tyrell Reichert – pole vault (B, 15’ 1”)
    • Addie Shaw – shot put (A, 46’ 8 ¼”); weight throw (A, 60’ 6 ¾”)
    • Adrianna Sims – triple jump (B, 37’ ¼”)
    • Sam Sisco – pole vault (B, 15’ 1”)
    • Carley Weisser – weight throw (A, 54’ ½”)
    • Cody Williams – pole vault (A, 16’ ¾”); 60 meter hurdles (B, 8.38); long jump (B, 22’ 11 ¼”); No. 1 nationally in heptathlon (5,213)
  • Concordia’s seven GPAC event championships were produced by the women’s 4x400 meter relay, Allie Brooks (pole vault), Jacob Cornelio (weight throw), Taylor Grove (3,000 meters), Josiah McAllister (1,000 meters), Thomas Taylor (800 meters) and Cody Williams (heptathlon). Cornelio, McAllister and Taylor were each first time conference champions in individual events. Brooks, Grove and Williams have each captured two career individual GPAC titles. Williams has won the past two GPAC multi-event crowns.
  • Ranked third nationally in the heptathlon entering last week, Williams elevated his game and even put himself within striking distance of GPAC meet and school records. Since it was still early on day two of the GPAC championships, Williams elected to take it easy on the 1,000 meter run in order to preserve his energy. He still finished with 5,213 points in the heptathlon to rise to No. 1 on the NAIA performance list. In last season’s indoor national championships, Williams placed seventh and earned All-America honors.
  • Concordia also has a star in the women’s pentathlon in junior Jessica Deterding. It came down the wire in the final event, but Deterding managed to run an 800 meter time just under what she needed to break the school’s pentathlon record. She compiled 3,410 points (GPAC runner up) to move herself up to No. 6 on the NAIA national list. The previous record of 3,401 points was achieved by Lydia Pomerenke at the 2014 NAIA indoor national championships. Prior to last week, Deterding had been No. 2 on the list with 3,183 points.
  • The women’s 4x400 meter relay is only going to get better. As it stands right now, it’s already pretty darn good. The group includes three freshmen in Rachel Battershell, Sarah Lewis and Jacee Pfeifer, in addition to senior Jamie Nikodym. Together, they blazed to a school record time of 3:57.55 for a GPAC title last week. That time ranks No. 4 nationally. The group ran an even faster time at the Devaney Center earlier this season that had been disqualified.
  • The GPAC championships were further proof that both squads have improved immensely as compared to 2018. A year earlier at the GPAC indoor championships, the Concordia men placed fourth and the women fifth. This time around, the women got big point totals out of the pole vault, the 400 meters and the throws in the process of winning the fifth conference title (only the second in indoor) in women’s program history. The men placed as a GPAC runner up for the 14th time in school history.
  • Official NAIA national qualifiers were announced on Feb. 24 by the NAIA. The 30 Bulldogs who made the qualifying field will compete at the 2019 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings, S.D., this Thursday through Saturday (Feb. 28 – March 2). For more on the national championships, click HERE. Concordia’s complete list of qualifiers can be found HERE. 

Wrestling

  • The 2018-19 season continued at the GPAC Wrestling Championships for the 12 Bulldogs chosen to compete in at Northwestern in Orange City, Iowa, on Feb. 16. Those dozen Concordia representatives combined for 25 victories, eight advancements to the semifinals, two runner-up claims and one individual GPAC title. As a team, head coach Levi Calhoun’s squad placed fourth (121.5 points) in a tight pack at the top of the heap. Five Bulldogs emerged as NAIA national qualifiers. For more information on Bulldog wrestling, click HERE.
  • The program will be represented at the NAIA national championships this Friday and Saturday (March 1-2) by Deandre Chery (174), Walker Fisher (174), Alberto Garcia (133), Zack Moistner (133) and Michael Stann (285). Conferences are awarded automatic bids based upon the number of nationally ranked wrestlers they have in each weight class. Based on their performances this season, Chery and Stann appeared to be near locks entering this past weekend. Chery successfully defended his 2018 174-pound title to secure his bid to nationals.
  • The next step for Chery may be getting himself up on the podium at the national championships. He took care of business at the conference tournament by pinning Jacob Williams of Doane and Haggen Meyer of Northwestern on his way to the finals. Those results marked the 16th and 17th pins of the season for Chery, who is now 34-9 overall. Fisher also reached the finals at 174. Concordia elected to forfeit the match to Chery, now a two-time GPAC champion who will head to nationals for the second time in his career.
  • The national berth for Fisher is a feel good story. The senior from Ashland, Neb., came close to making it last season as a junior during a campaign that saw him go 24-11 overall. Fisher has battled through some injury issues this season but got himself right at an opportune moment. Fisher never once lost inside Walz Arena and is now 13-6 this season after picking up wins at the conference tournament over Scott Teesdale of Doane and Nickolas Madsen of Morningside. Fisher has collected 54 career wins as a Bulldog.
  • Stann has shown an ability to compete with the top heavyweights in the country. He has been ranked as high as No. 10 nationally during an impressive first collegiate season. The Temecula, Calif., native appears to have used his 2017-18 redshirt season wisely. Now 36-13 overall this season, Stann is 7-2 over his last nine matches with the only two defeats coming at the hands of Morningside’s Phil Rasmussen. The Mustang heavyweight knocked off Stann, 6-0, in the GPAC title match.
  • In his one and only season competing with the Bulldogs, Garcia will be headed to the national championships. He entered the GPAC weekend ranked in a tie for sixth nationally at 133 (second in the GPAC). After getting upset in the semifinals, Garcia bounced back with wins over his teammate Moistner and over Briar Cliff’s Isiah Lysius in the third-place match. Moistner also came up big and avenged two previous losses to squeeze his way into the national tournament.
  • Five Bulldogs suffered defeats in the semifinal round – Mario Ybarra (125), Garcia (133), Cameron Devers (141), Chucky Hedrick (157) and Blake Castillo (165). Devers and Hedrick both placed fourth, narrowly missing out on berths to the national championships. Of Concordia’s national qualifiers, Chery is the only one with experience on the NAIA national stage. Last season Chery went 1-2 at nationals with his victory being an upset of fifth-ranked Cody Carson of Missouri Valley College.
  • The season will continue for the five Bulldog national qualifiers. The 2019 NAIA Wrestling National Championships will unfold inside the Jacobson Exhibition Center in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday and Saturday. The Des Moines site will serve as the national host for the second year in a row. At the 2018 event, Concordia placed 22nd nationally (18 points) mostly on the strength of Giovanni Castillo’s fifth-place All-America finish at 133.