SEWARD, Neb. – For the third year in a row, Concordia University has been named a Gold Level Champions of Character Five-Star Institution, as announced by the NAIA on Thursday (Aug. 30). This also marks the ninth-consecutive year that the Bulldogs have achieved one of the three levels of five-star institutions.
Every year, each NAIA institution and conference demonstrate their progress in pursuing character-driven athletics. The Champions of Character Scorecard measures growth in training, promotion, conduct in competition and commitment in five key areas with a possibility of earning 100 points. Institutions can be recognized as Champions of Character Five-Star Institutions at three different levels: Gold (90-100 points), Silver (75-89 points) and Bronze (60-74 points).
This year 171 NAIA institutions earned the Five-Star Institution Award. Included were 74 institutions at the gold distinction level, 62 at the silver distinction level and 35 at the bronze distinction level.
Concordia athletics is also the NAIA all-time leader for number of Scholar-Athletes and annually ranks as one of the NAIA’s leaders in number of Scholar-Teams. In 2017-18, 20 Bulldog teams hit the mark required to earn distinction as a Scholar-Team. Of the 20 Concordia Scholar-Teams, 14 of them turned in GPA of 3.3 or better. Tops among these high achieving squads was the women’s outdoor track and field program that produced a collective 3.71 GPA.
In addition, seven Bulldog student-athletes garnered both CoSIDA Academic All-District and CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades in 2017-18. Samantha Liermann, a two-time shot put national champion, was tabbed the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for track and field/cross country.