Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week will return next week when classes resume at Concordia.
2019-20 BAAM Athletes of the Week
Dec. 17 – Gavin DeHaai (track & field) / Kennedy Mogul (track & field)
Dec. 10 – Issiah Burks (wrestling) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
Dec. 3 – Mario Ybarra (wrestling) / Kylahn Heritage (cross country)
Nov. 19 – Carter Kent (basketball) / Kara Stark (volleyball)
Nov. 12 – Mario Ybarra (wrestling) / Kylahn Heritage (cross country)
Nov. 5 – Carter Kent (basketball) / Delani Fahey (basketball)
Oct. 29 – Brevin Sloup (basketball) / Kylahn Heritage (cross country)
Oct. 22 – Camryn Opfer (volleyball)
Oct. 15 – Lane Napier (football) / Marissa Hoerman (volleyball)
Oct. 8 – Caleb Goldsmith (soccer) / Tara Callahan (volleyball)
Oct. 1 – AJ Jenkins (football) / Rebekah Hinrichs (cross country)
Sept. 24 – Derek Tachovsky (football) / Kendra Placke (golf)
Sept. 17 – Moises Jacobo (soccer) / Kara Stark (volleyball)
Sept. 10 – Carlos Orquiz (soccer) / Amie Martin (cross country)
Sept. 3 – Eduardo Alba (soccer) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
2019-20 BAAM Athletes of the Month
November – Carter Kent (basketball) / Kara Stark (volleyball)
October – Tara Callahan (volleyball) / Lane Napier (football)
September – Derek Tachovsky (football) / Emmie Noyd (volleyball)
News and notes:
Goines takes on role of head women’s soccer coach: Back on Dec. 19, Concordia Athletics officially announced the hiring of Thomas Goines as head women’s soccer coach. Goines possesses eight years of collegiate head coaching experience and is well-acclimated to the Concordia University System. He is a graduate of Concordia University, Wisconsin, owns a master’s degree from Concordia University, Irvine and was the head coach for four seasons at Concordia University, Chicago. For more details on Goines, click HERE.
2010s a decade of unprecedented success: The 2010s came with incredible success both within and outside of the athletic venues for Concordia. During the 10-year stretch, Bulldog squads combined for 33 Great Plains Athletic Conference championships while claiming the first three team NAIA national championships in school history. The 2014-15 academic year was particularly noteworthy with the men’s outdoor track and field team capping the year by winning the national title. The Concordia aathletic department also was rewarded as the 2014-15 GPAC All-Sports Standings champion. For more details on the decade gone by, click HERE.
69th annual CIT coming up Jan. 24-25: The 69th annual Concordia Invitational Tournament is coming up Jan. 24-25 and will be hosted by Concordia University, Chicago. The event features eight basketball games as well as cheer and dance competitions. Pre-sale tickets can be purchased at a cost of $15 by clicking HERE. Tickets can also be bought on-site at Geiseman Gymnasium in River Forest, Ill.
Looking back at the fall: All fall sports finished up by the time early December rolled around. We recapped them in in-depth over the past several weeks. To read these season wrap ups, click the links below.
-Football
-Men’s Soccer
-Women’s Soccer
-Volleyball
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 https://www.cune.edu/athletics/watch-bulldogs at game time. Beginning in 2019-20, Concordia Athletics is partnering with PrestoSports for live video and statistical streaming. For more details on this change, click HERE. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.
Men’s Basketball
· Since Christmas day, the Bulldogs have been about as good as they could have possibly hoped for. Counting the final game of the Hoop N Surf Classic (Dec. 21-22), Concordia has won four-straight games. While ringing in 2020 last week, the Bulldogs won convincingly at No. 19 Northwestern, 88-65, on Jan. 2 and then came back to defeat Dordt at home, 91-79, on Jan. 4. The current streak also includes victories over Menlo College (Calif.) and Peru State College. Head coach Ben Limback’s squad has improved to 11-5 overall and to 4-4 in league play. For more information on Concordia men’s basketball, click HERE.
· The offensive attack has suddenly come alive for the Bulldogs, who struggled on that end for much of the month of December. In both outings in Hawaii, Concordia shot exactly 35.7 percent from the field. In the three games since then, the Bulldogs have turned in respective field goal percentages of 57.1, 39.7 and 50.8. Furthermore, those three games have yielded an average of 96.0 points per game and 44.3 percent (43-for-97) shooting from 3-point range. Concordia has made at least 13 treys in each of the past three contests.
· Crete High School product Carter Kent is taking off. He is now the team’s leading scorer with an average of 14.8 points per game after totaling 50 points (25 in each game) over last week’s two victories. The week also saw Kent go 15-for-24 (.625) from the field and 8-for-13 (.615) from beyond the arc. Among GPAC players, Kent ranks 13th in 3-point field goal percentage (.425) and 17th in scoring. The Crete native has reached the 20-point mark in five games this season, including his career high 28-point effort in the home win over Midland.
· Speaking of rising sophomores, 6-foot-5 Gage Smith of Elizabeth, Colo., has earned himself more minutes. His contributions off the bench over the past three games have been significant: 13 points and six rebounds versus Peru State, 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks at Northwestern and six points and six rebounds versus Dordt. During the active four-game win streak, Smith has played at least 15 minutes in each game. Prior to that stretch, his season high for minutes played was nine. What makes Smith a tough matchup is his ability to guard in the post and also step out and shoot from 3-point range, where he is 8-for-18 this season (6-for-7 the last three games).
· After riding through the decade of the 2010s without a national tournament appearance, the Bulldogs hope to break through by taking that next step in the near future. The program’s best season during the decade was 2016-17 when Concordia went 21-10 overall behind second team All-American Chandler Folkerts. The big guy from Milford, Neb., was certainly the program’s player of the decade. Folkerts finished his career with 1,963 points and 868 rebounds. Also during the 2010s, the program had three head coaches: Grant Schmidt (1989-2012), Marty Kohlwey (2012-13 season) and Limback (2013-present).
· To play at their peak, the Bulldogs need Tanner Shuck making shots. The senior from Grand Island, Neb., heated up versus Dordt with 17 points while going 3-for-7 from beyond the arc. Shuck had been held to single-digit point totals in five of the previous seven games. Limback would certainly like to see Shuck continue to move up the program’s all-time scoring list. He is currently at No. 16 with 1,307 career points. A near 40 percent 3-point shooter coming into this season, Shuck’s current 3-point percentage of 28.4 seems likely to rise.
· While Shuck is well past 1,000 points for his career, fellow senior Brevin Sloup is on his way to reaching that plateau in the near future. The Seward High School product rebounded from a 1-for-10 shooting performance at Northwestern by making 6-of-11 shots in a 16-point outing versus Dordt. Sloup has run has career point total to 944. Currently, 30 players in program history are members of the 1,000-point club. Two of them eclipsed 2,000 points: Jon Ziegler (2,099) and Tom Raabe (2,016).
· Suddenly, a top half of the GPAC finish feels very realistic for a team that was picked eighth in the GPAC preseason poll. Last week the Bulldogs showed growth by doing something they were unable to do in one-point losses to Briar Cliff and No. 1 Morningside – finish. While Northwestern made no serious threat during the second half last week, Dordt was within three in the final four-and-a-half minutes. Kent and company polished off the Defenders with a 16-7 run to close the game. Concordia is currently in sixth place in the GPAC standings (half-game behind Dordt).
· The Bulldogs will attempt to keep the win streak intact on Wednesday at Hastings (9-9, 2-6 GPAC), where tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. CT. Concordia will then be back at home on Saturday to welcome Jamestown (11-6, 3-5 GPAC) to Walz Arena for a 4 p.m. start. By the end of the week, the Bulldogs will be exactly halfway through the conference schedule.
Women’s Basketball
· A critical stretch in the conference slate began last week with the top-ranked Bulldogs playing at No. 12 Northwestern on Jan. 2 and then hosting No. 6 Dordt on Jan. 4. In sum, Concordia has recovered nicely from its only loss this season – a 97-72 decision at No. 2 Southeastern University (Fla.) on Dec. 20. The Bulldogs defeated the Red Raiders, 97-81, and then took care of the Defenders, 69-55. Fourteenth-year head coach Drew Olson’s squad has moved to 14-1 overall and remains unbeaten inside conference play at 9-0. For more information on Concordia women’s basketball, click HERE.
· Olson annually challenges his teams by playing a rigorous schedule. According to Massey Ratings, the team’s schedule currently ranks as the third toughest among all NAIA women’s basketball programs (division I and II). Based on ratings at the time games were played, the Bulldogs own wins over ranked foes in No. 2 Southeastern, No. 6 Dordt, No. 7 Morningside, No. 9 University of St. Francis (Ill.), No. 12 Sterling College (Kan.) and No. 13 Dakota Wesleyan. Six additional games against top 25 opponents remain on the regular-season schedule.
· The decade of the 2010s was an impressive one for the program, which posted a record of 284-63 over that 10-year period. Other accomplishments included winning the 2019 national championship, two national runner-up claims, five national semifinal appearances, 10 combined GPAC titles and nine national tournament berths. Based upon sheer point totals, the top players of the era were the likes of Bailey Morris (2,054 career points), Philly Lammers (1,788), Quinn Wragge (1,776), Kristen Conahan (1,656) and Katie Rich (1,293).
· Senior Riley Sibbel is coming off perhaps the best week of her career. She set a new career high with 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting at Northwestern. She then shattered that personal best by going off for 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting versus Dordt. In the victory over Dordt, the O’Neill, Neb., native added three steals and a blocked shot. The scoring explosion came as a bit of a surprise – Sibbel had reached double figures in only two of this season’s first 13 games. She has made her mark most notably on the defensive end.
· Many observers have recognized Grace Barry’s importance to the team. Said Northwestern head coach Chris Yaw, “There’s just so many ways they score. Their point guard is a dynamic kid, a good player who is able to score herself and get to the rim but she also creates a lot of baskets for her teammates.” The Lincoln East High School product had a fine week that saw her notch 18 points and nine assists at Northwestern and then 16 points and nine assists versus Dordt. Despite being in just her second season at Concordia, Barry ranks 15th in program history with 305 career assists.
· The turnover numbers for opposing squads may not pile up to be quite as lofty as they were earlier in the season. The reasons are twofold – the competition is better and the Bulldogs are using less full-court pressure. Regardless, positive turnover margins continue to be a key for Concordia. In last week’s action, it was plus-five at Northwestern and plus-17 versus Dordt. The Bulldogs continue to lead the nation in turnover margin at plus-17.3 per game.
· After posting 17 points, six rebounds and three steals at Northwestern, Lammers struggled through a 1-for-9 shooting performance versus Dordt. There will be better days the rest of the way for Lammers, who now ranks third in program history with 1,788 career points. She ranks behind only Bailey Morris (2,054) and Sarah Harrison (1,800) in that category. The Millard West High School product also owns all-time school rankings of fifth in both rebounds (929) and steals (311).
· Concordia last hit the 100-point mark in the 100-72 win over Dakota Wesleyan on Dec. 7. However, the Bulldogs still rank No. 2 nationally in scoring at 96.4 points per game. The Bulldogs have reached 100 points seven times this season and at least 90 points on 10 occasions. Concordia is capable of winning in a variety of ways, just as last week showed. The Bulldogs shot 52.9 percent from the floor at Northwestern and then 34.7 percent versus Dordt.
· A stretch of three-straight games against GPAC opponents ranked in the top 12 of the national poll will end on Wednesday with a showdown at No. 4 Hastings (17-0, 9-0 GPAC). Tipoff from Lynn Farrell Arena will be at 6 p.m. CT. The two programs have not met each when both owned top five national rankings since it was No. 1 Hastings versus No. 3 Concordia on Nov. 25, 2003. The Bulldogs will return home on Saturday to host Jamestown (9-6, 4-5 GPAC) at 2 p.m. The Jimmies are coached by Concordia alum Thad Sankey.
Wrestling
· Now ranked 18th in the NAIA, the Bulldogs last competed on Dec. 22 while taking part in the Desert Duals Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. While in Sin City, Concordia dualed four teams from the Cascade Collegiate Conference. In order, the Bulldogs clipped Vanguard University (Calif.), 22-21, lost to No. 9 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.), 25-12, defeated Life Pacific University (Calif.), 31-17, and fell to Arizona Christian University, 22-21. Head coach Levi Calhoun’s squad is now 5-2 in duals (3-0 GPAC) on the season. For more information on Concordia wrestling, click HERE.
· Over the 40 individual matches that took place in Vegas, the Bulldogs won 18 of them between the 12 wrestlers who made the trip. At 157 pounds, Gabe Crawford led the way by going 3-1. Six other Concordia grapplers registered with exactly two victories: Issiah Burks (165), Deandre Chery (174), Darrin Miller (184/197), Zack Moistner (133), Michael Stann (285) and Jason Watkins (184). Two pins apiece were notched by Burks and Stann. A native of Temecula, Calif., Stann’s pins both came against ranked foes: No. 18 Josh Sapien of Vanguard and No. 19 Garrette Branson of Embry-Riddle.
· Ranked 14th nationally at 125 pounds, Ybarra continues to lead the team in wins. He is now 12-6 after earning a victory in Vegas over Roberto Pinto of Life Pacific. Next in line in terms of wins are Chris Kimball (10-6 at 141), Chery (9-4 at 174), Gad Huseman (9-7 at 141/149), Darrin Miller (8-2 at 184), Gabe Crawford (7-6 at 157), Demitrius Miller (7-6 at 285) and Jason Watkins (7-6 at 184/197). Ybarra has been the team’s most successful wrestler in tournaments having turned in place finishes of third at the Dakota Wesleyan Open and fifth at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Open.
· New national rankings were released on Jan. 3. Not only did the Bulldogs check in at No. 18 as a team, they boasted six individuals with NAIA rankings: Ybarra (14th at 125), Moistner (18th at 133), Kimball (16th at 141), Chery (ninth at 174), Darrin Miller (16th at 184) and Stann (17th at 285). From a conference perspective, Concordia continues to rank atop the GPAC. A dozen Bulldogs are ranked in the top six of their respective weight classes on the conference level. Three of them carry No. 1 rankings in the GPAC: Ybarra (125), Chery (174) and Miller (184).
· Through the three GPAC dual victories, the Bulldogs have won 23 of the 30 individual matches. Individual Concordia wrestlers with 3-0 conference marks are Chery (174), Kimball (141) and Ybarra (125). The 55-point margin of victory over Midland marked the largest spread in a Bulldog dual win since it defeated Dakota Wesleyan 58-0 last season. The 2018-19 squad also notched conference blowout wins over Hastings, 42-6, Jamestown, 40-0, and Doane, 44-9.
· In the current GPAC standings, Concordia is the only team with three conference wins on the board. At 2-0, Briar Cliff also appears to be a threat in the GPAC title race. Since the start of the 2014-15 season, the Bulldogs are 36-4 in conference duals. That stretch included three-straight seasons of 7-0 GPAC dual records from 2014-15 through 2016-17. The run also has included four GPAC regular-season titles and three GPAC/NAIA North Qualifier championships.
· The experience in Vegas just before Christmas will likely stand as a memorable one for all dozen Concordia wrestlers who made the trip. Said Calhoun, “It was a good experience overall. We got here and did some go-karting, which is really fun. The guys got to walk down the Vegas strip, see the lights and all the stuff. We had quite a few families here from California and a few others. We had a pretty decent support system for all our duals, which was nice to see. It was a pretty cool event to come and compete at.”
· The break in the schedule will come to an end this week. The Bulldogs will host Ottawa University (Kan.) at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday. The Braves, a member of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, are 5-1 in duals this season and are ranked just outside of the NAIA top 20 poll. Some members of the team will also compete at Saturday’s Cusatis Open hosted by Hastings. That tournament is set to get underway at 9 a.m. CT.
Track & Field
· The indoor season officially got started in the month of December for the first time since 2012. While hosting the Concordia Early Bird Meet the weekend of Dec. 13-14, Bulldog athletes combined for nine automatic national qualifying marks, 13 ‘B’ standard qualifying marks and three totals in the multi-events that met the minimum qualifying standard and one school record was broken courtesy of sophomore Rachel Battershell. This marks Matt Biesel’s fourth season as head coach at Concordia. For more on Bulldog track and field, click HERE.
· Both the men’s and women’s teams have been ascending over the past few seasons. For just the second time in school history, the Concordia women swept conference titles by winning the 2019 indoor and outdoor GPAC championship meets. Led by the likes of three-time shot put national champion Samantha Liermann, the Bulldogs posted 2019 national finishes of ninth for indoor and fifth for outdoor. Meanwhile, the men turned in GPAC placements last year of second for indoor and third for outdoor. They took ninth place at the 2019 NAIA indoor national meet.
· The nine automatic national marks that were recorded at the Early Bird Meet came from eight different individuals. Senior Adrianna Shaw qualified for nationals in both throwing events with marks of 45’ 11 ¼” in the shot put and 60’ 5 ¼” in the weight throw. The other automatic qualifiers were Allie Brooks (pole vault), Jacob Cornelio (weight throw), Morgan De Jong (weight throw), Gavin DeHaai (pole vault), Liam Hennessy (weight throw), Josie Puelz (pole vault) and Cody Williams (pole vault). All ‘A’ and ‘B’ standard marks produced by Concordia athletes can be viewed below.
· The following Bulldogs notched marks at the Early Bird Meet that appear on the NAIA national list:
o Andy Amos – B, weight throw (54’ 10 ¼”)
o Rachel Battershell – B, 400 meters (59.22); B, 60 meter hurdles (9.02)
o Taylor Beck – B, triple jump (B, 46’ 3 ½”)
o Allie Brooks – A, pole vault (11’ 10 ½”)
o Jacob Cornelio – A, weight throw (64’ 8 ¾”)
o Morgan De Jong – A, weight throw (54’ 8”)
o Gavin DeHaai – A, pole vault (16’ 4 ¾”)
o McKenzie Gravo – B, pole vault (11’ 2 ½”)
o Liam Hennessy – A, weight throw (56’ 7 ½”)
o Kylahn Heritage – B, mile (5:13.84)
o Samuel Joseph – B, triple jump (46’ 4”)
o Wyatt Loga – B, high jump (6’ 7”)
o Emily Loy – No. 4 in NAIA with 3,109 points in pentathlon
o Kennedy Mogul – B, 60 meter hurdles (9.14); No. 1 in NAIA with 3,341 points in pentathlon
o Jerod Peters – B, shot put (51’ 5 ¾”)
o Tucker Platt – B, pole vault (15’ 3”)
o Josie Puelz – A, pole vault (12’ 6 ¼”)
o Adrianna Shaw – A, shot put (45’ 11 ¼”); A, weight throw (60’ 5 ¼”)
o Sam Sisco – pole vault (15’ 3”)
o Cody Williams – A, pole vault (15’ 7”); B, high jump (6’ 7 ½”); No. 2 in NAIA with 5,195 points in heptathlon
· Concordia has the potential to score big points at conference and nationals in the pole vault with a deep and talented group on both sides. Freshman Josie Puelz did not waste any time in beginning her career with a national qualifying clearance of 12’ 6 ¼,” which places her No. 2 on the program’s all-time indoor pole vault list. She also took a shot at the school record held by Allie Brooks and came up just short. Freshmen like Puelz and Chase Berry add to an already accomplished crew. Brooks, Gavin DeHaai, McKenzie Gravo, Erin Mapson, Jordan (Mosier) Metzger, Jacee Pfeifer and Cody Williams have each been All-Americans in the past. DeHaai turned in a personal best clearance of 16’ 5” at the Early Bird.
· It’s very early, but senior Jacob Cornelio is the current national leader in the weight throw. His Early Bird toss of 64’ 8 ¾” was not far off the mark he had at last year’s NAIA indoor national championships when he was the runner up in the event. Winning a national title is about the only thing the native of Elk Grove, Calif., hasn’t accomplished in his career. Cornelio is the reigning GPAC champion in the weight throw and the hammer throw. He ranks No. 2 on the school’s all-time weight throw list behind only Cody Boellstorff (69’ 9”).
· The women’s 60 meter hurdle school record was actually broken twice at the Early Bird. The record was formerly held by Monique Odom, who clocked a time of 9.16 in 1987. Junior Kennedy Mogul came in under that time at 9.14 as part of her run through the pentathlon on Dec. 13. The next day, Battershell finished in 9.02 while running in the prelims. Battershell also ranks second in school history in the 400 meters (personal best is 57.28).
· Williams is going to be quite busy again this indoor season while putting his talents to use in a variety of events. His automatic mark in the pole vault occurred as part of his efforts in the pentathlon. His total of 5,195 in the heptathlon is just shy of the 5,231 points he accumulated at the 2019 NAIA indoor meet when he was the runner up. Williams was also the 2019 GPAC Outdoor Athlete of the Year for earning the most team points at the conference meet.
· The season has been put on hold for Christmas break at Concordia. The action will pick back up the weekend of Jan. 17-18 with the Scott Nisely Invite at Doane and the Graduate Classic at the University of Nebraska. The next home meet will be the Polar Dog Invite on Jan. 25.