Bulldog Weekly Report (May 3, 2016)

By Jacob Knabel on May. 3, 2016 in Athletic Announcements

Bulldog Booster Club Athletes of the Week

Male: Josh Slechta, Track & Field

Slechta, who hails from Kennard, Neb., rose to the top of the school record books in the discus with his first-place toss of 179’ 9” at last week’s Nebraska Wesleyan Spring Invite. The senior and 2015 NAIA weight throw national champion also owns the program record in the hammer throw (210’ 10”), an event he currently leads the nation in.

Female: Amy Ahlers, Golf

Ahlers, a native of Albion, Neb., ended her junior season on Monday by shooting a 79 at GPAC Qualifier No. 4. She finished third in the conference, making her a three-time all-GPAC performer. She concluded the campaign with a program record single-season average of 80.8. She won three events this season, giving her six tournament victories for her career.

News and notes:

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

GPAC week for spring sports: Not only is it finals week on campus, it’s also GPAC week for Concordia spring sports. GPAC tournament schedules for the sports of baseball, softball and men’s and women’s tennis were announced early this week by the conference. Click the links below for more details.
-Baseball
-Softball
-M / W Tennis
-Outdoor Track & Field 

Owens thriving in sophomore season for Bulldog softball: Sophomore third baseman Autumn Owens is enjoying a season that ranks historically impressive for Bulldog softball players. The slugger from Henderson, Nev., is one home run off the program single-season record and carries an 11-game hitting streak into postseason action. For more on Owens, click HERE.

Volleyball releases details on 2016 recruiting class: Head coach Scott Mattera’s volleyball program will welcome a class of 10 recruits this fall. The group includes seven student-athletes from the state of Nebraska and one apiece from Michigan, Missouri and Texas. For more on the newest members of the program, click HERE.

Pieces coming together during spring season for women’s soccer: Head coach Greg Henson likes the depth and technical skill of his 2016 roster. We recap the spring season for the Bulldog women’s soccer program HERE.

Fall schedules announced: Fall 2016 schedules have now been announced for the sports of football, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball. For complete schedules, click below.
-Football
-Men’s Soccer
-Women’s Soccer
-Volleyball

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

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

Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting http://www.cune.edu/csn at game time. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.

Baseball

  • Concordia concluded the regular season last week with two more doubleheader splits within conference play. After split at Hastings on April 28, the Bulldogs turned around the next day and hosted Nebraska Wesleyan in their final home appearance of the year. Each of last week’s four GPAC games were decided by margins of two runs or less (three by one run). Second-year head coach Ryan Dupic’s program will enter the postseason with records of 26-25 overall and 11-9 in league play. To read recaps of recent action, click HERE.
  • Via the 4-3 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan, the Bulldogs equaled the school record for wins in a single season, tying the 2015 team that went 26-18 overall. Dupic’s tenure has already produced two of the five 20-win seasons in the program’s history. The other three came under previous head coach Jeremy Geidel, who led Concordia to win totals of 25 (2012), 22 (2005) and 20 (2004). Dupic’s two-year mark is head coach is now 52-43.
  • The 11-9 league record marks the first winning GPAC mark for the program since the 2005 squad went 15-9 in conference play. The 2004 team went 12-10. The number of conference games played has varied from as few as 20 games to as many as 28 contests (The 2001 Bulldogs were 14-14 in conference play). With only 20 combined GPAC wins over the three years prior to 2016, Concordia failed to reach the conference tournament each season during that stretch.
  • Lefty Josh Prater put together a memorable performance out of the bullpen in the 3-2, 12-inning victory at Hastings. Prater entered a tie game (2-2) with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the fifth. He promptly struck out the first two hitters he faced and proceeded to throw the final 7.2 innings while striking out nine and allowing just two walks and a hit. The native of Colorado Springs now owns a scoreless streak of 12.2 innings. His career best scoreless streak last 23.2 innings (spanning the end of the 2015 season and ending on March 7, 2016).
  • First baseman Kaleb Geiger has climbed all the way to No. 2 on the team’s single-season RBI list after driving in six more runs over last week’s action. Now up to a team high 47 RBIs, Geiger ranks fifth among GPAC players in that category. The native of Sedalia, Colo., needs five more RBIs to break the school record of 51 held by Concordia Athletic Hall of Famer Jarrod Pimentel (1999-2002). Geiger is slugging .638 and owns a 1.100 OPS on the year.
  • Right-hander Nic Seaman also earned a win in relief last week. The native of Storm Lake, Iowa, shut down Nebraska Wesleyan over 3.2 innings after taking the ball from starter Neil Ryan. Seaman scattered three hits, two hit batsmen and a walk on the way to his second career win as a Bulldog. The winning run was pushed across in the bottom of the sixth on Logan Ryan’s RBI fielder’s choice. Seaman closed out the victory with a 1-2-3 seventh.
  • Center fielder Alex Alstott recorded the game-winning RBI in the marathon win at Hastings. He singled in Alex Cargin in the top of the 12th. It was a solid final week of the regular season for the senior from Fort Dodge, Iowa, who went a combined 6-for-17 (.353). He scored four runs and drove in four. He doubled three times in the game 2 loss at Hastings. Batting .188 on April 16, Alstott pushed his average up to .246 in a two-week span.
  • For the second-consecutive year, Concordia pitchers have broken the school record for strikeouts recorded in a single season. In 2015 Bulldog hurlers punched out a total of 270 hitters. With 14 more Ks in the doubleheader with Nebraska Wesleyan, Concordia ran its strikeout total to 276. Ace starter Mark Harris is the team leader with 47 strikeouts in 53 innings. Six Bulldog pitchers have at least 20 strikeouts on the year.
  • The program’s postseason drought ends on Thursday when fifth-seeded Concordia takes on fourth-seeded Northwestern (22-25, 11-9 GPAC) at 3 p.m. in Fremont, Neb., as part of the Midland Bracket. Win or lose, the Bulldogs will play again on Friday at either 12 p.m. or 3 p.m. The eight-team league tournament features a double-elimination format and is broken into two pods of four teams. Briar Cliff serves as the other host. The complete tournament slate can be viewed HERE.

Softball

  • Due to the rain out of Concordia’s scheduled regular-season finale with Dordt (April 30), just two games were played since the most recent edition of the weekly report. For the eighth time out of 10 conference doubleheaders, the Bulldogs settled for a split while up against College of Saint Mary. Third-year head coach Todd LaVelle’s squad rebounded from a 5-1 game 1 loss for a 10-0 blowout win in game 2 in Omaha. Concordia now enters this week’s GPAC tournament at 29-16 overall and 10-10 in league play. To read recaps of recent action, click HERE.
  • Concordia’s 29 victories tie for sixth most in a single-season in program history. Under LaVelle, the Bulldogs have won at least 29 games each season. They posted 32 wins on the way to the program’s first-ever national tournament appearance in 2014. The school record for most wins in a season is held by the 2005 team that went 36-19 overall. Five teams in Concordia softball history have reached the 30-win mark.
  • Sophomore third baseman Autumn Owens continues to wreak havoc upon GPAC pitchers. She’s now hit safely in 11-straight games following another big week. Over last week’s four games, Owens went a combined 8-for-13 with a home run, two doubles and six RBIs. On the year, the native of Henderson, Nev., owns team highs for home runs (eight), RBIs (43), total bases (93) and slugging percentage (.699). During her active 11-game hitting streak, Owens is 15-for-34 (.441) with two home runs and eight RBIs. She is just one home run off the program single-season record of nine (Clarissa Eloge – 2009 and 2010).
  • Junior Kylie Harpst closed the regular season out strong in the circle. She did not surrender a single earned run last week while working 9.2 innings. In the victory at College of Saint Mary, she tossed a three-hit shutout and did not walk a single batter. She leads Bulldog pitchers with a 3.31 ERA and 13 wins on the year. At the plate, Harpst continues to climb the program’s single-season hits list. Her 60 hits tie for the sixth most ever by a Bulldog. She’s bidding to become the program’s first player to hit above .400 since Eloge in 2010.
  • Harpst and Owens have been part of a “big four” in Concordia’s lineup this season. Harpst (.403), Owens (.398), Michaela Woodward (.388) and Taylor Huff (.363) are each batting above .350 with a combined 21 home runs (out of the team’s 25). The productive quartet has the Bulldogs highly rated nationally in several offensive categories, including 13th in slugging percentage (.498), 14th in hits per game (9.7), 17th in runs per game (6.6) and 17th in batting average (.340).
  • Over the past three seasons, Concordia has gone a combined 32-28 in GPAC regular-season play. It has then picked up its play significantly in the postseason, going a combined 10-3 in GPAC tournament play over the last two years. The Bulldogs have met Morningside in the GPAC final two years running. Concordia was the conference tournament runner up in 2014 and then the tournament champion in 2015.
  • The Bulldogs have turned over their roster significantly from the group that started the GPAC title-clinching win last year at Morningside. The top three hitters in that lineup (May 2, 2015) – Diana Mendoza, Julia Tyree and Woodward – are all back in addition to Owens. The rest of the lineup will have a completely different look when the tournament opens up on Wednesday.
  • Woodward is unlikely to repeat her feat of tossing every single inning at last year’s GPAC tournament. The native of Cortland, Neb., was the unofficial MVP of the conference tourney. She went 5-1 and worked 39.2 innings, allowing 19 runs on 36 hits. At the plate, she went 9-for-20 and hit a three-run homer in the title-clinching win at Morningside. She was then named a second team all-conference selection.
  • The GPAC tournament gets started on Wednesday as fifth-seeded Concordia opens up the Morningside Bracket at 10 a.m. against fourth-seeded Hastings (35-19, 12-10 GPAC) in Sioux City, Iowa. The Bulldogs are guaranteed to play twice on Wednesday as part of the double-elimination format. A win over Hastings would put the Bulldogs in a 2 p.m. contest. A loss and Concordia would drop to an elimination game at 4 p.m. Doane is the host of the other four-team pod. The complete league schedule can be viewed HERE.

Golf

  • The Concordia women competed twice in a five-day stretch over the past week while finishing up the 2015-16 season. Meanwhile, the men have not been in action since April 19 due to the cancelation of the Midland Spring Invite that was rained out on April 30. The women concluded the campaign at sixth in the GPAC standings with a four-round conference score of 354-348-379-348–1,429. For more on head coach Brett Muller’s golf programs: MEN | WOMEN.
  • The Bulldog women slipped one spot in the GPAC standings as compared to their fifth-place finish in 2014-15. Their cumulative total of 1,429 this season was five strokes higher than a year ago. Concordia would have bested its school record GPAC total from last season if not for a 379 in the third qualifier that was caused in part by a disqualification. The team’s 348 at Monday’s GPAC Qualifier No. 4 at Wild Oaks Golf Course in Mitchell, S.D., tied a season conference round low.
  • Junior Amy Ahlers has continued a remarkably consistent career as one of the program’s top golfers ever. On Monday she finished the season with a seven-over-par 79. That effort allowed her to place third on the individual GPAC leaderboard while breaking the school record for lowest single-season average (80.8). As a sophomore she tied the program standard with an average of 82.0. Thanks to another top-10 finish, Ahlers has claimed all-conference recognition for the third-straight year. This season she finished inside the top 10 in 10 of 11 events.
  • Over her three seasons, Ahlers has now turned in GPAC finishes of fourth, second and third, respectively. The Albion, Neb., native and former Boone Central High School standout owns a career collegiate average of 82.4 through 37 career rounds. She owns six career tournament wins. She’s placed inside the top 10 in 23 of 30 career events. Her career low of 71 (one-under-par) came this past Sept. 18 at the Lila Frommelt Fall Classic.
  • Junior Kayla Krueger has moved up slightly on the GPAC leaderboard each of the past two seasons. She went from 16th as a freshman to 14th as a sophomore to 12th this season as a junior. By shooting an 84 on Monday, she rounded out the year with a four-round total of 83-87-88-84–342. That total gives her a good shot at earning all-conference recognition for the second year in a row. She averaged an 86.4 while competing in all 14 rounds this season.
  • Sophomore Ashlen Pospisil was the other Bulldog to place on the GPAC leaderboard. The native of Norfolk, Neb., finished 26th with a cumulative score of 97-93-83-91–364. Her 83 at GPAC Qualifier No. 3 was a career best by five strokes. She completed the year with a season average of 92.5 over 14 rounds.
  • Four additional players competed at GPAC qualifiers throughout 2015-16 for the women. That group included sophomore Emma Jacoby, who turned in scores of 93 and 86 at the first two conference events. She then sat out the spring season. Jacoby was an all-conference performer as a freshman in 2014-15 (tied for seventh).
  • The Bulldog men’s golf team sits in eighth place (312-316-319–947) heading into next week’s GPAC Qualifier No. 4 (May 9) at Two Rivers Golf Club in Dakota Dunes, S.D. Concordia is coming off a school record round of 291 at that same course where it played on April 19. Individually, freshman Nolan Zikas paces Concordia with a 13th-place standing after three qualifier events.

Tennis

  • Both squads completed regular-season action last week with GPAC finales at Hastings. The women earned a 5-4 victory while the men dropped a 7-2 decision. The women will enter the conference tournament at 7-14 overall and 5-3 in league play. Meanwhile, the men are 7-11 overall and 1-4 in GPAC action. For more on second-year head coach Joel Reckewey’s tennis programs: MEN | WOMEN.
  • After struggling to a 1-9 record to begin 2016, the Concordia women have caught fire and ride a four-match GPAC win streak into this week’s postseason tournament. The run has included victories over Midland (5-4), Northwestern (6-3), Mount Marty (7-2) and Hastings (5-4). It’s the first four-match conference regular-season win streak since the 2010 team equaled that spurt. That squad, coached by Amy Harms, finished with a conference record of 6-2 (third place).
  • The Concordia doubles teams have been particularly dominant during the active GPAC win streak, winning 10 of 12 doubles matches. The combo of sophomore Annie Horn and freshman Hailey Lemos have collaborated on a 5-1 GPAC record at No. 1 doubles. Together they’ve won four-straight against conference opponents. In addition, freshman Katelinn Wurm has won three of her last four GPAC doubles matches at the No. 2 spot.
  • Singles wins were claimed last week by Horn (No. 2) and Kayla Smock (No. 6) at Hastings. Concordia needed just two singles victories to clinch the team win after having swept through doubles play. In terms of winning percentage, Smock (4-2) and Horn (4-3) have had the most success among Bulldogs in conference singles play.
  • Overall this season, the women sport records of 40-85 (19-29 GPAC) in singles action and 21-39 (14-10 GPAC) in doubles play. Four individuals have five or more singles wins: Horn (8-11), Smock (7-10), Wurm (6-14) and Hannah Boe (5-14). Four Bulldogs have also contributed to five or more doubles victories: Horn (8-12), Wurm (6-14), Lemos (5-5) and Boe (5-11).
  • In the men’s loss at Hastings, freshman standout Willy Pardos suffered his first GPAC singles defeat of the season. He dropped a 7-5, 6-3 decision to Mark Gueswell. Pardos had entered the match with a perfect 4-0 record versus conference opponents in both singles and doubles action. The native of Pamplona, Spain, remains the team leader in both singles (11-6) and doubles (8-8) wins. He shares the singles lead with freshman Gabe Poling (11-7) and the doubles lead with junior Javier Moreno (8-9).
  • Individual victories were claimed last week at Hastings by Thomas Greeff (No. 2) and Poling (No. 5). However, Concordia lost all three doubles matches and saw its overall team losing streak move to three. The Bulldogs’ lone conference win was a 7-2 decision over Nebraska Wesleyan on April 13.
  • Overall in 2016, the men are 44-64 in singles play and 18-33 in doubles action. Five individuals have racked up at least six singles wins apiece: Pardos (11-6), Poling (11-7), Moreno (8-10), Greeff (7-11) and Patricio Esquivel (6-11). Five Bulldogs also have at least five doubles triumphs: Pardos (8-8), Moreno (8-9), Greeff (6-11), Esquivel (5-12) and Poling (5-12).
  • Both GPAC tennis tournaments will be held at the Fremont High School Tennis Complex in Fremont, Neb., on Friday and Saturday. The Concordia men, seeded fifth, will be fourth-seeded Midland (14-10, 2-3 GPAC) at 9 a.m. on Friday. The fourth-seeded women will take on fifth-seeded Hastings (7-12, 5-3 GPAC) at 11:30 a.m. that same day. Winners advance to the semifinals that evening as part of the single-elimination event. Both championship matches will be held on Saturday. The complete tournament schedule can be viewed HERE.

Track and Field

  • A host of Bulldogs competed over three days last week with the bulk of the team participating in the Nebraska Wesleyan Spring Invitational on April 28. Nine athletes represented Concordia at the prestigious Drake Relays (April 28-30). The NWU Invite included just three schools, the University of Nebraska Kearney and Nebraska Wesleyan (in addition to Concordia) and saw eight Bulldogs claim event titles. One of them came in school record-breaking fashion. For more on Concordia track and field, click HERE.
  • Senior Josh Slechta, the 2015 NAIA weight throw national champion, now owns two program records after tossing the discus 179’ 9” at the NWU Invite. That mark eclipsed the previous standard held by Corbin Jones (178’ 8” in 2011). Slechta, the current national leader in the hammer, also possesses the school’s hammer throw record with his personal best of 210’ 10.” Slechta, last week’s GPAC field athlete honoree, earned All-America status a year ago for the Bulldogs’ national championship team.
  • The only fresh automatic national mark turned in at the Drake Relays came from the accomplished Kim Wood, who clocked in at 2:10.56 in the 800 meters That time was exactly 0.9 seconds off her school record of 2:09.66 recorded at the 2015 Concordia Twilight meet. Wood continues to seek the program record in the 1,500 meters. Her personal best of 4:38.12 ranks No. 5 on the all-time list, just over four seconds off the record owned by Molly Engel (4:33.98).
  • The men’s 4x400 meter relay of senior Jaap van Gaalen, freshman Nathan Matters, senior Trevor Bresson and junior CJ Muller recorded a season best of 3:17.40 while competing at the Drake Relays. That time put them 1.4 seconds off the NAIA automatic national qualifying time. Entering the weekend, only six 4x4 relays had come in under 3:16. The 4x4 played an instrumental role in last year’s team national title. The title came down to the 4x4, the very last event. Concordia placed sixth for All-America honors.
  • The Bulldogs continue to dominate the national leaderboard in the throws. Concordia possesses four NAIA national leaders: Stephanie Coley (discus), Zach Lurz (shot put), Kali Robb (shot put) and Slechta (hammer). The Bulldogs are also represented by a national runner up in both the women’s shot put (Samantha Liermann) and women’s hammer (King). A native of Billings, Mont., King also ranks third in the javelin, an event she finished fifth in at the Drake Relays last week. Concordia boasts three of the top four marks in each of the following: women’s shot put, men’s hammer and women’s hammer.
  • The most recent winner of the GPAC track athlete of the week award, Bresson ranks second on the GPAC performance list in the 400 hurdles (55.61). He’s also a member of the 4x400 meter relay that now ranks No. 2 on the conference leaderboard behind only Briar Cliff.
  • GPAC indoor titlist and All-American in the pole vault, McKenzie Gravo continues to dazzle in her first collegiate season. For the second-straight week, Gravo cleared 12 feet and earned a meet title. That mark ranks No. 6 on the program’s all-time outdoor pole vault list. She’s had several near misses while making attempts at heights that would break the school record owned by 2015 graduate Cassie Starks (12’ 6 ¼”).
  • Below is the list of 31 automatic national qualifying marks (does not include multi events) and seven ‘B’ standard marks turned in by Bulldog athletes through all competitions this outdoor season. This past week marked the first meet of the season that included multi events. Benjamin Schulteis turned in a fresh automatic national qualifying mark in the hammer throw. That pushes the number of national qualifying marks by Bulldog throwers to 27.
    • Trey Barnes – shot put (A, 55’ 6 ½”); discus (A, 164’ 11”)
    • Allison Brooks – pole vault (B, 11’ 5 ¾”)
    • Kattie Cleveland – discus (A, 145’ 11”); hammer (A, 181’ 9”)
    • Stephanie Coley – shot put (A, 46’ 1 ½”); discus (A, 160’ 3”); hammer (A, 181’ 11”)
    • McKenzie Gravo – pole vault (A, 12’)
    • Liz King – hammer (A, 183’ 9”); javelin (A, 154’ 1”)
    • Philip Kreutzer – shot put (A, 51’ 4 ½”); hammer (A, 177’ 3”)
    • Samantha Liermann – shot put (A, 46’ 6 ¾”); hammer (B, 156’ 4”)
    • Zach Lurz – shot put (A, 59’ 1 ¼”); discus (A, 175’ 11”); hammer (A, 194’ 7”)
    • Sydney Meyer – hammer (A, 175’)
    • Nicole Perry – hammer (A, 165’ 4”)
    • Kali Robb – shot put (A, 47’ 7 ¾”); hammer (A, 172’ 7”); discus (B, 139’ 11”)
    • Jose Rojas – shot put (A, 52’ 9 ½”); discus (A, 162’ 7”); hammer (A, 195’ 2”)
    • Benjamin Schulteis – hammer (A, 172’ 9”)
    • Josh Slechta – discus (A, 17’9 9”); hammer (A, 210’ 10”)
    • Jan Steinbrueck – discus (A, 144’ 5”)
    • Katricia Svoboda – discus (A, 158’); hammer (B, 163’ 6”)
    • Lucas Wiechman – pole vault (A, 15’ 9”); 110 meter hurdles (B, 14.88); ranks No. 6 nationally in the decathlon (6,400 points)
    • Kim Wood – 1,500 meters (A, 4:38.12); 800 meters (A, 2:10.56)
  • The Bulldogs now gear up for the GPAC championships at Hastings on Friday and Saturday. Based on last week’s USTFCCCA national ratings, Concordia ranks first in the conference on the men’s side and second on the women’s side. Head coach Kregg Einspahr’s squads are coming off second- (women) and third- (men) place GPAC finishes at the 2016 indoor conference meet. The Bulldog men have won each of the past two GPAC outdoor titles. To view the event schedule, click HERE.