Flesner makes history as dance program's first-ever All-American

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 13, 2023 in Dance

2023 NAIA All-Americans: Cheer | Dance

SEWARD, Neb. – One of four Bulldogs to earn All-GPAC honors back in February, freshman Ryleigh Flesner has made history for Concordia University Competitive Dance. On Monday (March 13), the NAIA revealed the 2023 All-America teams and named Flesner to the All-America second team. She’s the first Bulldog in either cheer or dance to ever achieve All-America status.

A native of Greeley, Colo., Flesner is studying Exercise Science at Concordia. In her first season as a Bulldog, Flesner helped the Bulldogs achieve school record-breaking scores during the 2023 competition campaign. Concordia finished ranked 13th nationally in average score (81.97). Flesner garnered all-conference accolades along with teammates Katie Birtell, Taylor Larsen and Avery Lewis at the 2023 GPAC Championships. Fleser also helped lead Head Coach Mandi Maser’s squad to its first-ever CIT championship back in late January.

Flesner was one of 30 athletes nationally named to either the first or second team on the All-America lists. The award winners also included a group of honorable mention selections.