Head Coach: Emilie Ashenbach (7th season at CUNE; 3rd season as head coach)
2025 GPAC Finish: 4th/8
2025 Cheer All-GPAC: Riley Bennett (First Team); Bri Hoyle (First Team).
2025 GPAC Championships Returners, competition roster: LaCole Anno (Sr.); Mikah Culler (Jr.); Bri Hoyle (Sr.); Lauryn Stanley (Sr.); Mya Stover (Jr.).
2025 Average Competition Score: 74.26 (39th in NAIA)
Outlook
The 2026 edition of Concordia University, Nebraska Competitive Cheer is shaping up to look much different than the squad that finished the 2025 campaign at the GPAC Championships. A revamped competition roster has been injected with a dose of youthful energy as Head Coach Emilie Ashenbach welcomed in a strong class of freshmen. Optimism permeates within the Bulldogs as the entire NAIA world adjusts to new scoring rules heading into the 2026 season.
Ashenbach enters her third season as head coach (and her seventh season overall at Concordia) hopeful the program can build upon a positive finish to last season. However, many dynamics have changed, leaving for a degree of uncertainty as the first competition nears.
“We have a very young team this year, but that hasn’t limited our competitiveness,” Ashenbach said. “We’ll be competing with 10 athletes on the mat – with five freshmen and two sophomores who are competing for the first time. Those two sophomores have been huge leaders in establishing our team mentality and culture, helping set expectations and keep everyone accountable. Despite their age, this group has an extremely competitive mindset and strong work ethic, and it’s been exciting to watch their growth both on and off the mat.”
In other words, there will be many new faces on the mat when the Bulldogs open the 2026 season later this month. Of the nine Concordia athletes who competed at the 2025 GPAC Championships, five returned to the 2025-26 roster. Last season’s team landed in fourth place in the conference and averaged a score of 74.26 across seven official routines. The team’s score of 80.83 in the finals of the GPAC Championships represented a season best.
A senior out of Lincoln East High School, Bri Hoyle is now a two-time GPAC All-Conference honoree after earning first team accolades in 2025. Some of the other more experienced upperclassmen on this year’s roster include seniors LaCole Anno, Lauryn Stanley and Ara Maxwell, as well as juniors Mikah Culler, Kalynn Jeardoe and Mya Stover. Cadence Fulfs and Meghan Strater are also part of the senior class.
Among the freshmen, Red Oak, Iowa, native Brinkly Sallach has been particularly impressive leading into the second semester. Ashenbach says that Sallach has brought positive energy to the team as an outgoing personality. Sallach has quickly improved her stunting skills despite limited previous experience in that aspect of the sport.
Says Sallach of her first college semester, “I’ve learned there’s a lot of strong leadership on our team, even though we’re super young. We’re very determined and we set high expectations. We did a book reading about our mindset. We’re super strong in our mindset and we’re going to keep pushing even when it gets tough.”
After battling through injuries as a freshman, sophomore Adelyn Opp has returned to form and is eager to get back on the competition mat. Opp and Sallach both provided their thoughts on what the team’s them of “above the line” means to them.
Said Opp, “Above the line is a great theme, especially for this year. It helps me remember to keep pushing, even when it gets hard. We want to have an above-the-line mindset and attitude. We’re not doing it for us as individuals. We’re doing it for the team and for God and pushing to be the best we can no matter what.”
The theme provides a mantra to rally around with a dual purpose of building camaraderie. As Ashenbach explains, “One of our biggest points of emphasis this season has been team culture and identity. We’ve focused heavily on our core values and our mindset, and because of that intentional focus, we’ve built a stronger bond as a team. That connection, trust and shared purpose will help us perform at a higher level this season and continue to positively impact the future of this program.”
Sallach is joined in the freshman class by Giavanna Doyle, Sarah Felten, Karmen Fitch, Katie Merten and Sophia Schneider. Ashenbach says the group is already displaying stellar leadership while growing in confidence. The class will be a major part of the present and future for Concordia Cheer.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Hoyle leads the way as a seasoned competitor. She spent a year away from the program before returning last season. Said Ashenbach of Hoyle, “I want her to keep investing in her skill development, continue supporting and helping her stunt group improve, and bring the same care and preparation she shows behind the scenes into competition. She takes a lot of pride in being ready when it counts, and I expect her to be dependable under pressure. Bri will be pursuing all-conference honors again this season with her sights set on an All-American opportunity.”
The Bulldogs will find out a lot about themselves at the Dordt Invite on Jan. 24. For more than half of the competition roster, that outing will signal a collegiate debut.
Said Sallach, “I’m just hoping to go out with confidence. A lot of us are freshmen or in our first year actually competing at the college level. I’m hoping we go out as a unit and compete together and compete for a bigger purpose than ourselves. That’s something we’ve talked about a lot in our devotionals – doing things for the glory of God. I know there are other people who don’t have the same ability to be able to compete. We want to do that for those people. We always want to go out and make all of our stunts.”
Two weeks of practice remain before that first public appearance. The team arrived a week ahead of the second semester in order to get a jump on preparation. “It’s kind of crunch time now,” Opp said. “Coming back a week early, we always work super hard to get that down. All the pieces are starting to come together. We have all the skills. It’s about putting it into a routine.”
Ashenbach will be looking for more than just high scores and lofty placements as the 2026 season gets underway.
In summary, Ashenbach offered, “This season will be a success if we continue to grow each week, compete with confidence, and raise the standard of this program. I’m competitive and I want to see us perform at a high level, but sustained success comes from doing things the right way. If we show up prepared, compete hard and leave this season stronger, more disciplined and more competitive than when we started — while staying true to who we are — then it will be a successful year.”
The 2026 Concordia Cheer competition schedule can be found HERE. There will be six events leading up to the 2026 GPAC Cheer Championships hosted by Northwestern on March 6. The Bulldogs will host the Concordia Invitational on Feb. 7.