NAIA Releases: 2025 men’s qualifiers | 2025 women’s qualifiers
SEWARD, Neb. – As officially announced on Tuesday (Nov. 11) by the NAIA National Office, two athletes will represent Concordia University, Nebraska Cross Country at the 2025 NAIA Cross Country National Championships. Keeli Green on the women’s side and Vaughn Hendrickson on the men’s side have officially been named national qualifiers. The disappointment for the Bulldogs comes in learning that the men’s program did not receive an at-large bid to the national meet.
Head Coach Matt Beisel’s programs came away from the 2025 GPAC Championships with placements of third for men and fifth for women. A strong performance for the men that yielded four top 15 (All-GPAC) individual placements gave the Bulldogs a compelling case to be included in the national championships field. However, the final at-large bid went to Aquinas College (Mich.), based on the final NAIA Coaches’ poll released on Tuesday. Aquinas came in at No. 26 while Concordia landed at No. 30. Both Dordt and Concordia were excluded from the team qualifying field despite placing second and third, respectively, in the GPAC.
Green and Hendrickson led the way for the Bulldogs at the conference meet. Hendrickson placed third in the conference with an 8K time of 24:52.77. Meanwhile, Green placed fourth with a 6K time of 21:48.15. Other All-GPAC honorees for the men were Trey Robertson (11th; 25:25.72), Trevor Kuncl (13th; 25:26.77) and Aidan Limback (15th; 25:30.39). Green, Hendrickson and Robertson have each won two all-conference awards in their careers. Hendrickson was the 2024 GPAC cross country champion.
A native of Fort Wayne, Ind., Hendrickson burst onto the national scene as a freshman. At the ’24 national championships in Columbia, Mo., Hendrickson clocked a personal best 8K time of 24:37.2 and placed 36th overall, earning him an NAIA All-America medal. Meanwhile, Green ran at the 2023 NAIA national meet in Fort Vancouver, Wash., and placed 177th (24:19.3 6K). The Concordia women placed 18th nationally as a team in 2023.
The 2025 NAIA Cross Country National Championships will take place on Friday, Nov. 21 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla. The women’s race is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. ET (7:30 a.m. CT) in Tallahassee with the men to follow at 9:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. CT). For more information on the national meet, visit the NAIA website HERE.
2025 NAIA National Qualifiers
Keeli Green | Arlington, Neb.
-Placed 4th at the 2025 GPAC Championships with a 6K time of 21:48.15.
-Will make second career cross country nationals appearance; placed 177th at the 2023 NAIA National Championships (6K time of 24:19.3).
Vaughn Hendrickson | Fort Wayne, Ind.
-Placed 3rd at the 2025 GPAC Championships with an 8k time of 24:52.77.
-Will make second career cross country nationals appearance; earned All-America status at the 2024 NAIA National Championships while placing 36th (24:37.2 8K).
2025 GPAC All-Conference
Keeli Green | Arlington, Neb.
-Placed 4th at the 2025 GPAC Championships with a 6K time of 21:48.15; 2x All-GPAC award winner.
Vaughn Hendrickson | Fort Wayne, Ind.
-Placed 3rd at the 2025 GPAC Championships with an 8k time of 24:52.77; 2x All-GPAC award winner (2024 GPAC champion).
Trevor Kuncl | Mullen, Neb.
-Placed 13th at the 2025 GPAC Championships with an 8k time of 25:26.77.
Aidan Limback | West Des Moines, Iowa
-Placed 15th at the 2025 GPAC Championships with an 8k time of 25:30.39.
Trey Robertson | Wallace, Neb.
-Placed 11th at the 2025 GPAC Championships with an 8k time of 25:25.72; 2x All-GPAC award winner (2024 GPAC runner up).