Bulldog Weekly Report (May 2)

By Jacob Knabel on May. 2, 2017 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week

Male: Josh Prater, Baseball

A key piece in Concordia’s GPAC title run, Prater (Colorado Springs, Colo.) tossed a seven-inning, two-hit shutout in the opening contest of last week’s four-game series at Dakota Wesleyan. A reliable lefty starter, Prater ranks second among all GPAC pitchers with a 2.07 ERA. He is 5-3 with 50 strikeouts in 61 innings this season.

Female: Allie Brooks, Track & Field

Brooks, a Seward native, went to the prestigious Drake Relays last week and broke her own school record in the outdoor pole vault by clearing 12’ 9 ½.” That height puts her at No. 2 on the NAIA national list. Brooks also owns the program indoor pole vault (12’ 10 ¾”) and was the GPAC indoor champion in the event.

Woodward makes lasting impact: As one of the top two-way players in program history, Michaela Woodward has impacted the Concordia softball program in a big way. The native of Cortland, Neb., will graduate college in three years and move on to nursing school in Phoenix, Ariz. For more on the journey of the first team all-conference performer, click HERE.

Folkerts tabbed Omaha World-Herald honorary captain: All-American Chandler Folkerts headlined the list of Concordia basketball players named to the Omaha World-Herald’s NAIA All-Nebraska teams that were announced over the weekend. Folkerts received top billing as the honorary captain of the men’s team. Both Seth Curran and Eli Ziegler garnered honorable mention accolades. On the women’s side, both Philly Lammers and Quinn Wragger were placed on the first team and Mary Janovich was chosen to the second team. Chosen for honorable mention status were Dani Andersen, Shelby Quinn and Erin Vieselmeyer. Read the Omaha World-Herald story HERE.

Wrestling places sixth on NWCA All-Academic Team list: For the third time in four years, the Concordia wrestling program has notched a top 10 finish on the National Wrestling Coaches Association list of NAIA All-Academic teams. The Bulldogs came in at No. 6 with a collective GPA of 3.22. Head coach Andrew Nicola’s squad also led the nation with five All-Academic individuals: seniors Foster Bunce, Ken Burkhardt Jr. and Ceron Francisco, junior Kirk Kaliszewski and sophomore Alexander Reimers.

Find Bulldog gear at BulldogFanShop.com: BulldogFanShop.com is the official marketplace for Concordia Bulldogs athletic gear. For sale are many types of clothing apparel as well as drinkware, decals, collectibles and other accessories.

How to purchase Cultivating Men of Faith and Character: The book, Cultivating Men of Faith and Character: The History of Concordia Nebraska Football, remains available for purchase online HERE. For more than 90 years, the Concordia football program has cultivated men of faith and character. This journey through the program’s entire history takes a narrative, coach-by-coach approach in bringing back to life the memorable plays, players and moments in Bulldog football history. Win or lose, Christian character has guided a storied football tradition in Seward, home to the “college in the cornfield.”

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 6 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is in its second year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 6 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 TuneIn Radio app and searching “Max Country.” Throughout the 2016-17 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be 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.

Baseball

  • It’s been a long time coming. For the first time since 1986, the program has captured a conference championship. The Bulldogs rose to the occasion during last week’s stretch run, winning five of six games to clinch the GPAC regular-season title. Over the final six games of the regular season, Concordia took two games from Hastings at home and then went on the road and won three of four from Dakota Wesleyan. Third-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s squad enters the postseason at 30-19 overall after finishing 19-9 in GPAC play. For more information on the Bulldog baseball program, click HERE.
  • The program’s first GPAC title comes with a No. 1 seed in this week’s conference tournament and an automatic berth in the opening round of the national championships, which will play out May 15-18. The Bulldogs have never before played at the national tournament. The 2017 campaign continues to be a groundbreaking season. Concordia has also reached the 30-win mark for the first time ever.
  • Dupic has transformed a program that endured a 16-30 record the year prior to his arrival. Since then, the Bulldogs improved to 26-18 in 2015, 28-27 in 2016 and 30-19 so far in 2017. All three of those win totals broke school records. Concordia, Midland and Morningside are the only teams in the GPAC that have now produced three-consecutive winnings seasons. The 84 combined wins for the Bulldogs since the start of 2015 are easily the most in a three-year period in school history.
  • Concordia has liked its chances any time it has either of its top three starting pitchers on the mound: Josh Prater (5-3, 2.07 ERA, 61 innings), Wade Council (6-1, 2.22 ERA, 48.2 innings) and Jason Munsch (5-1, 2.96 ERA, 45.2 innings). Prater, Council and Nick Little (5-3, 4.34 ERA, 58 innings) combined to throw three complete games without allowing a single earned run in the series at Dakota Wesleyan. According to the GPAC leaderboard (which requires one inning pitched per team game played), Prater ranks No. 2 in the conference in ERA. Just 1/3 inning shy of qualifying, Council would rank No. 3.
  • Senior Tyler Nelson has emerged as a key piece in the team’s late season run. The native of La Porte, Texas, has earned more regular work in left field and has responded with the bat. Last week he went 7-for-17 (.412) with five runs, five RBIs, two doubles and a triple. His two-run double in the sixth inning of the 10-8 victory over Hastings on April 25 proved to be the game winner. Those efforts last week helped raise his season average to .353. He also sports an impressive .466 on-base percentage.
  • Based on available data, Concordia has played arguably the best defensively of any team in the conference. Despite its pitchers having the highest strikeout rate in the league (6.45 per game), the Bulldogs have managed to top the GPAC in putouts per game (22.6) and assists per game (9.6) while ranking second in opponents’ batting average (.261). In other words, Concordia has done a superb job of turning batted balls into outs.
  • Individual single-season school records have now been broken in 2017 by Christian Montero (18 doubles) and Casey Berg (50 runs scored). Also during Dupic’s time at Concordia, Alex Alstott set a new program standard by hitting 13 triples in 2015. Offensively, the 2016 team holds school records for runs scored (395), hits (505) and home runs (38) in a season. The 2017 pitching staff recently broke the school record for strikeouts in a season. Bulldog pitchers have now fanned 316 hitters in 2017.
  • Berg’s season rates as one of the best offensive years in school history. At the close of the regular season, Berg is hitting .346 with an on base of .445 and a slugging of .564 to go along with 16 doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 33 RBIs. He’s taken a team high 27 walks and has also stolen 10 bases.
  • The conference tournament seeding and pairings will be announced later today (May 1). What is for sure is that Concordia will be the No. 1 seed and will host a four-team pod with action beginning on Thursday. The Bulldogs will be at home Thursday at 6 p.m. CT against the No. 8 seed in the field. The tournament features a double-elimination format.

Softball

  • The regular season is now in the books for the Bulldogs, who tied for second place in the final GPAC standings. In last week’s action, Concordia took a pair from visiting College of Saint Mary and then trekked to Dordt, where it split a twin bill in Sioux Center, Iowa. The game 1 defeat at Dordt was enough for Hastings to slip past the Bulldogs and earn the No. 2 seed. Fourth-year head coach Todd LaVelle’s squad ends the regular season with records of 32-12 overall and 14-6 in the GPAC. For more information on the Concordia softball program, click HERE.
  • The 32 overall wins equal a high water mark for victories during LaVelle’s tenure. The 2014 squad, the first in program history to reach the national tournament, went 32-16 overall. The Bulldogs will need to make a postseason run in order to chase down the 2005 school wins record holder (36-19). LaVelle has now presided over three of the seven teams in school history to reach the 30-win plateau.
  • The numbers reveal that the 2017 team is the best offensive squad that LaVelle has coached at Concordia. Among all NAIA softballs squads, the Bulldogs rank 14th in runs per game (6.4), 27th in hits per game (9.2), 28th in slugging percentage (.462) and 35th in batting average (.325). Concordia muscled up for three long balls in the 13-2 game 2 rout at Dordt over the weekend.
  • Sophomore second baseman Leah Kalkwarf still shows few signs of slowing down. She went 5-for-9 with a home run, four runs and three RBIs at Dordt. Over the last 17 games, she’s gone 28-for-54 (.518) with 20 runs scored, 19 RBIs, 11 doubles, a triple and two home runs. Her batting average has soared from .276 to .369. She’s now within shouting distance of Megan Ruppert (.373) for the team lead in average. Kalkwarf has taken over the team RBI lead with 37.
  • With Autumn Owens having been sidelined by injury recently, Michaela Woodward is now a threat to break the program’s single-season home run record. Woodward homered once in both of last week’s doubleheaders, bringing her season home run total to eight. She’s just one shy of the record shared by Owens and alum Clarissa Eloge. During Woodward’s career, she’s hit .367 with 17 home runs and 103 RBIs over 139 games. In the circle, she’s nearing milestones of 50 career wins and 500 innings pitched.
  • A 6-for-12 surge last week by Kylie Harpst has pushed her batting average up to .308 for the year. Harpst especially went off in game 2 at Dordt, going 4-for-5 with three runs and five RBIs. She was just a double short of hitting for the cycle. Harpst now has a team high six triples, which ranks in a tie for fourth on the program’s all-time single-season list. Harpst is a career .356 hitter in her two seasons at Concordia.
  • In addition, Harpst threw two complete games while earning a pair of wins in the circle last week. In a 6-3 triumph over College of Saint Mary, Harpst allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits and one walk. Harpst had similar success at Dordt, firing seven innings and allowing two runs on eight hits and one walk. The native of Lincoln, Neb., now owns a season record of 11-2. She owns a season ERA of 3.02 in 88 innings of work.
  • Perhaps the team’s most improved player, Jamie Lefebure has made big gains at the plate this season. After batting .175 in 40 games as a freshman in 2016, the native of Crete, Neb., has boosted her average all the way up to .323. She’s also scored 28 runs and has driven in 19 teammates over 43 games, mostly at shortstop. Lefebure went 3-for-8 in the doubleheader at Dordt.
  • It’s conference tournament time. The complete pairings were announced on April 29. As the No. 3 seed, the Bulldogs will be at Hastings on Friday to take on sixth-seeded Dakota Wesleyan (19-32, 9-11 GPAC) at 12 p.m. CT. Concordia will then play at either 4 or 6 p.m. depending on the result of its first game. The tournament schedule can be viewed HERE.

Track & Field

  • It’s the stretch run of the 2017 outdoor season for the top 10 nationally-ranked Bulldogs. In last week’s action, most of Concordia’s athletes were at the Prairie Wolf Invitational hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan, where the Bulldogs combined for four event titles and a pair of fresh automatic national qualifying marks. Additionally, 12 athletes represented Concordia at the prestigious Drake Relays. For more information on Bulldog track and field, click HERE.
  • Sophomore Allie Brooks has been especially impressive throughout 2017. She continues to reset her own standards in the pole vault. While competing at the Drake Relays, Brooks vaulted 12’ 9 ½”, placing seventh versus a loaded field. Brooks, a third-place pole vault finisher at the indoor national championships, is currently ranked No. 2 on the national list. Teammate McKenzie Gravo, who also competed at Drake, is ranked fourth (12’ 8”).
  • Another of the highlights at Drake was senior Lucas Wiechman’s fifth-place claim in the decathlon. It was Wiechman’s first run at the decathlon this 2017 outdoor season. He totaled 6,586 points and is now ranked fourth nationally in the event. An indoor national champ in the heptathlon, Wiechman also owns automatic national qualifying marks in the pole vault and 110 meter hurdles. Additionally, he ranks No. 9 in the NAIA in the 400 meter hurdles.
  • Heading into the conference championships, Concordia continues to boast some of the nation’s heaviest hitters, possessing eight marks that rank either first or second in the NAIA. Based on the ratings, Lurz is the most well rounded thrower in the nation. He is the national runner up in three events: discus, hammer and shot put. No. 1 marks are held by Cody Boellstorff in the hammer and Kali Robb in the hammer. Robb is also No. 2 in the shot put while Tricia Svoboda is second in the discus. As previously mentioned, Brooks is sitting second in the pole vault.
  • A pair of fresh automatic national qualifying marks were turned in at the Prairie Wolf Invite, courtesy of both Addie Shaw (145’ 3”) and Bethany Shaw (146’ 10”) in the discus. The Shaws finished third and fourth, respectively, in the event by coming through with personal records. Event titles were claimed by three Bulldog throwers: Cody Boellstorff in the hammer (207’ 11”), Jazzy Eickhoff in the javelin (129’ 10”) and Sydney Meyer in the hammer (175’ 5”). Eickhoff’s mark represented a personal best by two-and-a-half feet.
  • On the track, Ben Hulett won the 110 meter hurdles in a time of 15.02, which is 0.17 seconds off his personal best (‘B’ standard qualifying mark). In the 800 meters, Josiah McAllister shaved more than four seconds off his personal best by clocking in at 1:55.04 for a runner-up finish at the Prairie Wolf Invite. On the blue oval in Des Moines, CJ Muller ran a 1:54.16, which fell short of his national qualifying time of 1:51.40.
  • Also at Drake, the Concordia women’s 4x800 meter relay finished eighth out of 18 competitors with a time of 9:28.65. The relay was made up of Marti Vlasin, Quinn Wragge, Alayna Daberkow and Miranda Rathjen. In the men’s 4x4, the quartet of Wiechman, Jake Rodgers, Nathan Matters and CJ Muller registered in at 3:19.29 for 16th place. Elsewhere at Drake, Tricia Svoboda threw 131’ 10” in the discus.
  • Concordia’s national qualifying list includes 28 automatic marks and 12 ‘B’ standard marks. Both Lurz and Robb lead the field with three automatic national throwing marks apiece. Two ‘A’ marks are owned by Boellstorff, Philip Kreutzer, Meyer, Tricia Svoboda and Lucas Wiechman. This list does not include multi event athletes. Wiechman is essentially a lock to make the national field in the decathlon.
    • Women’s 4x800 meter relay (B, 9:28.65)
    • Cody Boellstorff – hammer throw (A, 216’ 6”); discus (A, 162’ 1”); shot put (B, 50’ 8”)
    • Allie Brooks – pole vault (A, 12’ 9 ½”)
    • Jacob Cornelio – hammer throw (A, 180’ 9”); discus (B, 158’ 4”)
    • Jazzy Eickhoff – javelin (B, 129’ 10”)
    • Jacy Embray – discus (A, 142’ 10”)
    • McKenzie Gravo – pole vault (A, 12’ 8”)
    • Taylor Grove – half marathon (A, 1:29:28)
    • Ben Hulett – 110 meter hurdles (B, 14.85)
    • Philip Kreutzer – hammer throw (A, 188’ 7”); shot put (A, 52’)
    • Samantha Liermann – shot put (A, 46’ 8 ¾”); hammer throw (B, 164’ 8”)
    • Zach Lurz – shot put (A, 57’ 6 ½”); hammer throw (A, 206’ 6”); discus (A, 179’ 9”)
    • Sydney Meyer – hammer throw (A, 179’ 3”); javelin (A, 134’ 6”)
    • CJ Muller – 800 meters (A, 1:51.40)
    • Amy Migl – discus (B, 139’ 4”)
    • Johanna Ragland – hammer throw (B, 158’ 6”)
    • Tyrell Reichert – pole vault (A, 15’ 5”)
    • Kali Robb – shot put (A, 48’ ¾”); discus (A, 143’ 8”); hammer throw (A, 190’ 5”)
    • Adrianna Shaw – shot put (A, 45’ 1 ½”); discus (A, 145’ 3”); hammer throw (B, 158’ 2”)
    • Bethany Shaw – discus (A, 146’ 10”)
    • Carley Skorepa – discus (B, 140’ 9”)
    • Jan Steinbrueck – discus (A, 147’ 4”)
    • Tricia Svoboda – discus (A, 158’ 4”); hammer (A, 171’ 8”); javelin (B, 132’ 6”)
    • Lucas Wiechman – 110 hurdles (A, 14.43); pole vault (A, 16’ 7 ¼”); 400 hurdles (B, 54.17); ranked No. 4 nationally in the decathlon (6,586)
  • Conference championship week has arrived. The grand event will be hosted by Midland on Friday and Saturday. The Bulldogs are coming off of GPAC finishes of second (men) and fourth (women) at the indoor conference meet. For more information on this weekend’s championships, click HERE.

Tennis

  • The Bulldogs are looking ahead to postseason play after wrapping up the regular season last week against Hastings teams that swept GPAC tennis championships. On April 25, the men fell by a final of 9-0 in a match that was played Abbott Sports Complex in Lincoln. The following day, the women were defeated 7-2 by the Broncos on the Bulldog Tennis Courts. Both Concordia teams have placed fourth in the final GPAC standings. Head coach Joel Reckewey’s men own records of 9-11 overall and 2-3 in conference play. The women are 8-12 overall and 3-4 in the GPAC. For more on the Concordia tennis programs: MEN | WOMEN.
  • The biggest bright spot for the Bulldogs last week continued to be junior Annie Horn, who polished off a perfect 6-0 GPAC season singles record at the No. 2 spot. Horn did not play in the 9-0 win over Mount Marty, but captured singles wins against opponents from every other women’s tennis team in the conference. Last week she defeated the Broncos’ Madison Fortunato, 6-0, 6-2. Horn’s overall singles record stands at 14-4 heading into the postseason. She’s also 10-8 in doubles (6-0 GPAC).
  • Collectively this season, the Bulldog women are 58-62 in singles and 26-34 in doubles matches. Their conference wins came over Mount Marty, Midland and Northwestern. Meanwhile, the men have produced records of 59-61 in singles and 25-35 in doubles. The men earned conference wins over Midland, Mount Marty and Doane.
  • Behind Horn, Concordia’s next highest win totals have come from Katie Hertz (9-10), Kirsten Wagner (8-9), Kayla Smock (7-9) and Katelinn Wurm (6-10). In doubles play, Horn and Wagner are both 10-8. On the men’s side, Gabe Poling is the leader with a 15-3 mark. Poling’s unblemished mark in the GPAC was finally derailed with a 6-1, 6-0, loss at the hands of Tim Fischer of Hastings. Poling is 4-1 in conference matches. Following behind are Thomas Greeff (10-10), Lucas Zoller (9-10), Javier Moreno (8-8) and Josh Miller (6-8).
  • It’s now conference tournament time. Both teams will be at the Fremont High School Tennis Complex for the event that will take place Friday with the championship matches on Saturday. In men’s action, fourth-seeded Concordia will go up against No. 5 Midland at 9 a.m. CT on Friday in the quarterfinals. On the women’s side, the fifth-seeded Bulldogs will play No. 4 College of Saint Mary at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. Semifinal matches will get underway later that afternoon. The tournament schedule can be viewed HERE.

Golf

  • By today’s (May 2) end, the 2016-17 season will have come to an end for both Bulldog teams. Last week the Concordia men polished off the campaign with a seventh-place GPAC finish (300-343-324-314–1,281) while playing each of the tournament’s final three rounds at Woodland Hills Golf Club in Eagle, Neb. Meanwhile, the women entered the final 54 holes of the GPAC championships with an eighth-place standing (386-378–764). For more information on the Concordia golf programs: MEN | WOMEN.
  • Amy Ahlers carded a four-over-par 76 on Monday at Quail Run Golf Course in Columbus, Neb., giving her a shot at making a run for her first career GPAC title. With two rounds left to be played, Ahlers sat five strokes off the lead with her 83-76–159. The native of Albion, Neb., has turned in previous GPAC finishes of fourth as a freshman, second as a sophomore and third as a junior. She’s won 10 tournaments during her impressive career. Her season 18-hole average now stands at 80.31, a figure that would break her own single-season record.
  • In his last time out as a collegian, senior Jared Knoepfel carded the team’s lowest round on April 25 by shooting a four-over-par 75 (tied for fourth best on the day). Knoepfel placed 26th overall in the GPAC with his four-round total of 84-82-85-75–326. The team’s highest place finishers were freshman Tylar Samek (73-83-79-86–321) at 22nd and sophomore Nolan Zikas (76-91-79-77–323) at 24th. Junior Russell Otten was the other Bulldog to qualify for the individual leaderboard. He placed 33rd (77-92-85-79–333).
  • A 91 in the second round of the championships cost Zikas a shot at repeating a top-10 conference finish. Zikas won or tied for first at both the third and fourth GPAC qualifiers last season as a freshman on his way to a ninth-place claim. Zikas ended up with a team season best average of 76.65 over 17 rounds in 2016-17.
  • Freshman Murphy Sears has put herself in the running for a top-10 conference finish with her two-round score of 85-90–175, which places her in a tie for 11th. Other Bulldogs who qualify for the overall leaderboard are Payton DeMers-Sahling (112-101–213; 43rd) and Madison Pitsch (106-118–224; 44th). Lauren Sperry served the role of the team’s No. 4 golfer on Monday by carding a 111.
  • The men’s team played a total of 17 rounds throughout the 2016-17 season, averaging an 18-hole score of 308.2. That average represented a two-stroke improvement over the 2015-16 average of 310.3. Four Bulldogs managed to finish the season with averages below 80: Zikas (76.65), Otten (77.88), Samek (78.18) and Knoepfel (79.88). Each of them came up short of breaking the school record for lowest single-season average still held by current graduate assistant coach Shawn Rodehorst (75.15).
  • Ahlers can still extend her season should she find a way to claim the individual conference title, which would come with an automatic berth to the national championships. The 2017 NAIA Women’s Golf National Championships will take place May 23-26 at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.