2006 - Cross Country schedule

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 9 Blue-White Intrasquad Seward, Neb
Sept. 16 Woody Greeno Invitational Lincoln, Neb.
Sept. 23 Griak Invitational St. Paul, Minn.
Sept. 30 Hastings Short Course Hastings, Neb.

OCTOBER

Oct. 7 Concordia Invitational Seward, Neb
Oct. 14 Mount Marty Invitational Yankton, S.D.
Oct. 28 GPAC Championships Blair, Neb.

NOVEMBER

Nov. 4 NAIA Region III Meet Sioux Falls, S.D.
Nov. 18 NAIA National Meet Louisville, Ky.


All Home Meets in BOLD

686_Complete_Team.jpg

2006 - Cross Country roster

 Men:

Name Year Hometown High School
Zach Baedke Fr. Fremont, Neb. Fremont
Keegan Bloomfield Fr. Blair, Neb. Blair
Craig Dannehl So. Bertrand, Neb. Bertrand
Chris Dehning So. McAllen, Texas Memorial
Nathan Dreher So. Brighton, Colo. Fort Lupton
Bryan Felker So. O'Neill, Neb. O'Neill
David Goeglein Fr. Kansas City, Mo. KC Lutheran
Zane Grabau Fr. Waterville, Min.. Waterville-Elysian-Morris
Jon Grotefendt Fr. Marine, Ill. Metro East Lutheran
Ben Harms So. Sioux Falls, S.D. Washington
Kyle Johnson Sr. O'Neill, Neb. O'Neill
Kurt Jostes St. Norfolk, Neb. Norfolk
Zach Meineke Fr. Denver, Colo. Denver Lutheran
Joshua Meyer Fr. Seward, Neb. Seward
Chris Mizel Sr. Rock Springs, Wyo. Rock Springs
Kyle Ross Fr. Orange, Calif. Lutheran High
Jake Schmidt St. Hickman, Neb. Norris
Scott Schwalenberg Fr. Columbus, Neb. Columbus
Thomas Stollee So. Perham, Minn.  
Lucas Tanney Jr. Davenport, Iowa Christ Lutheran
Chris Tegtmeier Fr. Fairbury, Neb. Faairbury
Luka Thor So. Lincoln, Neb. Lincoln Northeast
Jordan Tucker So. Omaha, Neb. Millard West
Jeff Westover So. Wahoo, Neb. Wahoo
Andrew Yeager Jr. McCook, Neb. McCook

 

Women:

Name Year Hometown High School
MaryLou Andrews Fr. Aurora, Neb. Aurora
Mattie Clark Jr. Ord, Neb. Ord
Kayla Engel So. Columbus, Colo. Scotus
Taylor Felix Fr. Seward, Neb. Seward
Hannah Ferry Fr. Milwaukee, Wis. Milwaukee Lutheran
Renae Fowler So. Ainsworth, Neb. Ainsworth
Michelle Greidl So. Tomball, Texas Concordia Lutheran
Emily Hansen Fr. Hickory, N.C. St. Stephens
Janie Hansen Sr. Norfolk, Neb. Norfolk
Emly Hartmann Jr. Seward, Neb. Seward
Ann Hershberger Fr. Superior, Neb. Superior
Angela Matthews Sr. Westland, Mich. Westland Lutheran
Rebecca Mol Fr. Flint, Mich. Kearsley
Renae Probanz Fr. Hastings, Neb. Hastings
Megan Polson So. Centennial, Colo.. Denver Lutheran
Hilary Powell Sr. Columbus, Neb. Columbus
Samantha Raffety So. Minden, Neb. Minden
Melissa Ruegg Sr. St. Peters, Mo. Lutheran High
Katie Swanson So. Columbus, Neb. Scotus
Kayla Thole Sr. Perryville, Mo. Perryville
Jacque Wiseman So. LaGrande, Ore. LaGrande

2006 - Cross Country coaching staff

Head coach: Kregg Einspahr

Assistant coach: Suzanne Weeder-Einspahr

Thor headlines All-GPAC team

The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) has released the 2006 all-conference cross country honors. Five Bulldog runners were named GPAC Cross Country All-Conference selections.

In addition, sophomore Luka Thor was named the 2006 Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Men’s Cross Country Runner-of-the-Year. Thor won the conference meet with a time of 25:42.11 on the 8k course. Thor went on to win the NAIA Region III title the next weekend, out distancing the competition by almost 20 seconds.

Individually for the women’s team two runners earned all-conference honors including Angela Matthews who finished in sixth place at the GPAC meet. Kayla Engelalso garnered accolades for her ninth place finish. As a team the Bulldogs finished as runner up.

On the men’s side three members of the Bulldog’s third place team earned honors for their performances. Thor headlines those earning honors for Concordia. Others earning All-GPAC honors included a pair of freshman, Zach Meineke and David Goeglein. Meineke finished the conference meet in 11th place while Goeglein rounded out the top 15.

Both Bulldog teams are in the top 15 in the most recent NAIA polls as the women made a substantial jump from No. 23 to No. 14. The men moved up one spot to No. 13.

Both squads qualify for NAIA National Championships

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the at-large qualifiers for the 2006 NAIA Cross Country National Championships. Both the Concordia University, Nebraska men’s and women’s teams have qualified for the NAIA National Championships.

The champions of each of the14 NAIA regions automatically qualify for the national championship meet, the next highest 14 rated teams also qualify for the meet.

The Concordia women’s team has had 12 consecutive top 20 team finishes at the NAIA National Championships dating back to 1994. During the run the Bulldogs were runner-up four times, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004. Last year the women placed sixth as a team.

According to the NAIA the Bulldog women’s program is the fifth winningest among current members, trailing Simon Fraser University, Berry College, Malone College and Westmont College. The same publication ranks Concordia as the 10th winningest program all-time in the NAIA.

On the men’s side the Bulldogs look to extend their streak of five consecutive top 20 finishes. The highest finish for the Concordia men came in 2002 as they took sixth place. In the past 10 years the men have had eight top 20 performances.

In addition, sophomore Luka Thor is looking to earn All-America honors for the second straight time. Last year he finished sixth at the meet. Thor was recently named the 2006 Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Men’s Cross Country Runner-of-the-Year. He won the conference meet with a time of 25:42.11 and the NAIA Region III title the next weekend, outdistancing the competition by almost 20 seconds.

Both Bulldog teams are in the top 15 in the final NAIA polls as the women made a substantial jump from No. 23 to No. 14. The men moved up one spot to No. 13.

Thor an All-American for second straight year

For the second consecutive year Luka Thor earned All-American honors at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships. Thor led the men’s squad to a 24th place finish while the women’s team was 20th.

“Luka had a tremendous finish to an outstanding season,” said Head Coach Dr. Kregg Einspahr. “I have always felt that it is difficult to repeat as an All-American at the cross country national championships for a variety of reasons. “

The 2006 NAIA Cross Country National Championships, ran on Saturday Nov. 18, were held at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. Simon Fraser (73) took the women’s team title while Virginia Intermont (67) won the men’s championship.

The top 30 men’s and women’s finishers at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships earn All-America status.

For the women it marks the 13th consecutive top 20 team finish at the NAIA National Championships dating back to 1994. During the run the Bulldogs were runner-up four times, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004.

“We were pleased to have our women finish in the top 20 for the 13th consecutive year,” added Einspahr. “Such a tradition speaks to the tremendous group of women, their work ethic and attitudes, that have been part of our running program over the years.”

Senior Angela Matthews completed the course in a time of 19:32.70, 96th overall, 65th among runners competing with a team, to pace the Bulldogs. The field consisted of 268 runners. The next best finisher for Concordia was Jacque Wiseman (119th overall).

Thor’s time of 25:06.15 on the 8k course was good enough for 13th place and was just four seconds off of placing in the top 10 for a second straight year. Now a two-time cross country All-American, Thor finished sixth place in 2005. David Cheromei of Virginia Intermont won the race with a time of 24:05.15.

We are happy to be a top 25 team at the NAIA. Particularly considering that two of our top five runners in Zach Meineke and Kurt Jostes have never run cross country before,” said Einpshar.” This was a very new experience for them.”

Freshman Zach Meineke was the next to cross the finish line for the Bulldogs taking 119th (26:45.15). The men’s race featured 255 runners.

“Overall I was very pleased to have a chance for these two young teams to experience the national championships,” Einpahr said. “This experience should help tremendously as we look toward future years.”