SEWARD, Neb. – It’s GPAC week for Concordia University, Nebraska Cross Country. With five regular season meets in the books, the Bulldogs are gearing up for Saturday’s GPAC Cross Country Championships at Mahoney State Park in Ashland, Neb., the same location of the 2024 GPAC Championships. The race is slated to begin with the women’s 6k at 10:45 a.m. followed by the men’s 8k at 11:30 a.m.
Meet Info – 2025 GPAC Cross Country Championships
--Saturday, Nov. 8 | Women’s 6k – 10:45 a.m., Men’s 8k – 11:30 a.m.
--Mahoney State Park | Ashland, Nebraska
--Results: Black Squirrel Timing
--Live Video: GPAC Network
--Tickets: Must be purchased in advance at: https://apps.omahasports.org/upcoming-events?EV=340.
Head Coach Matt Beisel’s programs enter the GPAC Championships with conference rankings of No. 3 on the men’s side and No. 4 on the women’s side. In the NAIA coaches’ polls released on Oct. 30, Concordia received votes on the men’s side but went unmentioned on the women’s side. In the newly developed Cross Country Ratings (XCRI) Index calculated by the USTFCCCA, the Bulldogs sport NAIA ratings of 32nd for women and 33rd for men. Notably, Keeli Green is ranked by the XCRI as the No. 9 runner in the NAIA (best among GPAC competitors). Trey Robertson is Concordia’s top-rated men’s runner at No. 103 in the nation. The XCRI can be found HERE.
As part of the 2025 regular season, the Bulldogs competed in five meets while often going up against strong NCAA Division II and NAIA opposition. The men’s team turned in place finishes of fourth out of 25 at the Augustana Twilight, ninth out of 17 at the Greeno/Dirksen Invite, fourth out of nine at the Briar Cliff Invite, seventh out of 16 at the Holiday Inn Express Classic and sixth out of 26 at the Blazing Tiger Classic. Meanwhile, the women placed eighth out of 26 at the Augustana Twilight, eight out of 16 at the Greeno/Dirksen Invite, sixth out of 10 at the Briar Cliff Invite, 14th out of 17 at the Holiday Inn Express Classic and ninth out of 27 at the Blazing Tiger Classic.
Of the 20 Bulldogs entered into the 2025 GPAC Championships, seven ran at the 2024 conference meet. Three Concordia competitors earned 2024 All-GPAC awards, including men’s conference champion Vaughn Hendrickson and runner up Trey Robertson. Aidan Limback just missed out on all-conference honors as he placed 16th (top 15 are All-GPAC). On the women’s side, Keegan Beisel placed ninth and picked up an All-GPAC medal of her own. As a team, the Bulldogs posted 2024 GPAC finishes of third for men and fourth for women. At the 2023 conference meet, Keeli Green placed third and Hannah Beintema placed 13th in earning GPAC medals.
In 2025, Concordia runners have combined for five GPAC Runner of the Week awards. Green has raked in three weekly awards (Sept. 10, Oct. 8 and Oct. 29). Meanwhile, Robertson (Sept. 10) and Hendrickson (Oct. 29) garnered one GPAC weekly honor apiece.
Top individuals by meet, 2025 (women):
Augustana Twilight: Keeli Green – 17:31.9 (5k); 4th place
Greeno/Dirksen: Keeli Green – 18:21.78 (5k); 9th place
Briar Cliff Invite: Keeli Green – 22:00.31 (6k); 9th place
Holiday Inn Classic: Annaka Schlachter – 23:09.90 (6k); 64th place
Blazing Tiger: Keeli Green – 21:34.52 (6k); 3rd place
Top individuals by meet, 2025 (men):
Augustana Twilight: Trey Robertson – 19:22.8 (4 miles); 15th place
Greeno/Dirksen: Trey Robertson – 25:42.04 (8k); 15th place
Briar Cliff Invite: Trey Robertson – 25:50.34 (8k); 9th place
Holiday Inn Classic: Trey Robertson – 25:23.97 (8k); 22nd place
Blazing Tiger: Vaughn Hendrickson – 24:49.43 (8k); 3rd place
In the history of Concordia Cross Country, the program has claimed a combined 12 team conference championships and 26 individual conference titles. Prior to Hendrickson in 2024, the most recent individual GPAC champions were Sarah Kortze (2012) for the women and Colin Morrissey (2012) for the men. The 2009 season marked the most recent time the Bulldogs sent their men’s and women’s teams to the national meet in the same year. During Beisel’s tenure (2016-present), the women’s team celebrated a conference championship in 2019 and runner-up team finishes were claimed by the men in 2022 and the women in 2023. The program has had an All-American in back-to-back years via Kylahn Freiberg in 2023 and Hendrickson in 2024.
Official qualifiers for the 2025 NAIA Cross Country National Championships will be announced once all conference meets have concluded. The national meet is set to be held at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla., on Nov. 21. More details on the meet can be found via the NAIA website HERE.
2025 Concordia GPAC Championship Rosters
Women (6k PR)
Izzi Brumbaugh (24:06.4)
Lilly Dall (24:46.1)
Lydia Edmonds (24:06.9)
Keeli Green (21:34.6)
Rachel Harris (24:06.0)
Macee Ripke (24:06.6)
Ashley Robertson (23:17.3)
Annaka Schlachter (23:09.9)
Annika Staab (23:35.9)
Alison Stepanek (23:55.7)
Alternate: Hannah Beintema (22:32.4)
Men (8k PR)
Abram Chance (26:10.5)
Charlie Evans (26:53.8)
Vaughn Hendrickson (24:37.2)
Trevor Kuncl (25:35.5)
Aidan Limback (25:21.4)
Jessup Pederson (27:13.1)
Trey Robertson (24:49.8)
Justin Sherman (26:22.7)
Keith Siek (26:42.9)
Ransom Watts (26:21.4)
Alternate: Ethan Sholey (27:02.2)
Concordia Cross Country History
All-time team conference championships
Men (8): 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1997, 2004, 2009, 2012 (titles in 1969 and 1970 were won in the Tri-State Conference)
Women (6): 1995, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2019
All-time individual conference champions
Men (19)
Dan Cloeter (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973)
Dave Cloeter (1975)
Kregg Einspahr (1979, 1980, 1981)
Brandon Seifert (1997, 1998, 1999)
Andrew Walquist (2003, 2004)
Luka Thor (2006)
Zach Meineke (2008, 2009)
Dana Schmidt (2010)
Colin Morrissey (2012)
Vaughn Hendrickson (2024)
Women (7)
Sharon Holthaus (1980)
Amy Luft (1997)
Stacey Hain (1998)
Molly Engel (2002, 2003, 2004)
Sarah Kortze (2012)