2026 Concordia Competitive Cheer Schedule
SEWARD, Neb. – The 2026 Concordia University, Nebraska Competitive Cheer schedule featuring seven regular season events has been announced. The Bulldogs are scheduled to begin the new campaign by hosting the CUNE Blue and White Showcase on Jan. 21. That event will kick off a season Head Coach Emilie Ashenbach’s program hopes will come with a trip to Topeka, Kan., site of the 2026 NAIA Competitive Cheer & Dance National Championships.
This past 2025 season, Ashenbach’s Bulldogs placed fourth at the GPAC Championships while led by First Team All-GPAC performers in Riley Bennett and Bri Hoyle. The team’s average score last season finished at 74.26 (39th in the NAIA).
The Bulldog dance and cheer programs began hosting their own invite in 2019 and then switched to a duals format in 2022. This season’s largescale home event will revert back to an invitational as Ashenbach and Coach Mandi Maser look forward to hosting the Concordia Cheer & Dance Invitational on Feb. 7. As part of that weekend, the Bulldogs will compete at the York Cheer & Dance Invitational on Feb. 6.
The ’26 slate also features trips to three GPAC campuses for invites, including the Dordt Invitational (Jan. 24), Northwestern Invitational (Feb. 13-14) and Midland Invitational (Feb. 21). Additionally, Concordia will be headed to Salina, Kan., for the Kansas Wesleyan Invite on Jan. 30.
For the first time in the event’s history, Northwestern will host the GPAC Championships. The cheer portion of the conference competition will unfold on March 7. For those who qualify, the 2026 season will reach its conclusion with the NAIA National Championships on March 27-28. The location will be the Stormont Vail Events Center in Topeka.