Bulldog Weekly Report (Jan. 30)

By Jacob Knabel on Jan. 30, 2018 in Football

Bulldog Athletic Association Athletes of the Week

Female: Anna Baack, Track & Field

Baack, a Seward High School product, vaulted a personal best of 11’ 6 ½” at the Concordia Classic, assuring her a trip to the indoor national championships. The freshman from Seward, and daughter of head athletic trainer Randy Baack, ranks seventh on the national list in the pole vault.

Male: Kyle Pierce, Basketball

Pierce, who hails from Haxtun, Colo., totaled 41 points, 21 rebounds and eight steals over three games last week for the Bulldogs (16-7), who claimed a key GPAC win at Hastings. In that victory, Pierce put up a career high 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Pierce is averaging 11.3 points and 6.8 rebounds this season.

Previous athletes of the week
Jan. 23 – Jacob Cornelio (track & field) / Dani Hoppes (basketball)
Jan. 16 – Josiah McAllister (track & field) / Brenleigh Daum (basketball)
Jan. 9 – Jared Woods (wrestling) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
December Athletes of the Month: Cordell Gillingham (basketball) / Philly Lammers (basketball)
Dec. 12 – Cordell Gillingham (basketball) / Taylor Cockerill (basketball)
Dec. 5 – Brevin Sloup (basketball) / Sydney Feller (basketball)
November Athletes of the Month: Tarence Roby (football) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 28 – Jake Hornick (basketball) / Quinn Wragge (basketball)
Nov. 14 – Cameron Devers (wrestling) / Jeannelle Condame (soccer)
Nov. 7 – Tarence Roby (football) / Emily Deschaine (cross country)
October Athletes of the Month: Ryan Durdon (football) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)
Oct. 31 – Ryan Durdon (football) / Kaitlyn Radebaugh (soccer)
Oct. 24 – Marcelo Hernandez (soccer) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)
Oct. 17 – Carlos Ferrer (soccer) and Grady Koch (football) / Sami Birmingham (soccer)
Oct. 10 – Micah Lehenbauer (soccer) / Kaitlyn Radebaugh (soccer)
Oct. 3 – Micah Lehenbauer (soccer) / Maria Deeter (soccer)
September Athletes of the Month: Tarence Roby (football) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)
Sept. 26 – Kordell Glause (football) / Emily Deschaine (cross country)
Sept. 19 – Lewis Rathbone (soccer) / Victoria Cera (soccer)
Sept. 12 – Tarence Roby (football) / Murphy Sears (golf)
Sept. 5 – Jack Bennett (soccer) / Lindsey Carley (soccer)

News and notes:

Volleyball embracing opportunity under new head coach: A new season of Bulldog volleyball is still several months out, but the offseason will be a crucial time for the program under first-year head coach Ben Boldt. The players provided their insight on Coach Boldt and the opportunity that will greet them under new leadership. Last week the program held its first official practices since Boldt came on board at the beginning of this semester. For more on the vibe inside the program, click HERE.

Dance and cheer competes at CIT: The basketball teams were not the only Bulldogs to take the court at Concordia University, Wisconsin last week as part of the Concordia Invitational Tournament. Head coach Mandi Maser’s programs also took part in what was the first official CIT cheer and dance competition. While up against the Concordias of Ann Arbor, Chicago and Wisconsin, the CUNE cheer team placed second (score of 56.75) while its dance squad finished fourth (score of 63.3). Maser’s teams also competed last week at Hastings on Jan. 24 with the dance team defeating Jamestown and the cheer squad coming up short versus the Broncos.

Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its third year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT on KTMX-FM 104.9 Max Country. The weekly feature can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the Max Country app. Throughout the 2017-18 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Tyler Cavalli serves as the host of the coaches’ show as well as the play-by-play voice for football and basketball. Frank Greene is again calling volleyball action.

Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting http://www.cune.edu/csn at game time. Check team schedules/results pages for webcast dates. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted.

Women’s Basketball

  • The weekend yielded the 28th Concordia Invitational Tournament title in program history. After claiming a 79-70 win at No. 11 Hastings on Jan. 24, the Bulldogs journeyed to CIT in Mequon, Wis., where they defeated Concordia University, Ann Arbor, 104-66, and Concordia University, Chicago, 102-56. With three more victories, head coach Drew Olson’s squad stayed unbeaten at 24-0 overall. With a 14-0 conference mark, the Bulldogs own a two-game lead over second-place Northwestern atop the league standings. For more information on Concordia women’s basketball, click HERE.
  • While CIT is a highly anticipated event each year, CUNE’s most challenging test of last week came at Hastings. Senior guard Mary Janovich (game high 18 points, four steals) turned in perhaps her best performance of the season in helping the Bulldogs overcome a halftime deficit to claim their 10th win this season over teams currently inside the top 25 of the national rankings. CUNE earned a regular-season sweep of the Broncos (9-5 GPAC), who have been virtually eliminated from the GPAC championship race.
  • Olson has guided the Bulldogs to nine CIT championships over his 12 seasons as head coach. All of CUNE’s CIT championships have come since 1983 (event began including women’s teams in 1973). Carl Everts served as head coach for the program’s first CIT titles. Olson and four additional coaches in school history have won CIT championships: Everts (seven), Mark Lemke (four), Micah Parker (four) and Todd Voss (four). The program’s 28 CIT titles are far and away the most in event history, exceeding No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul (eight), no longer active in CIT.
  • CIT has been non-competitive for most of the past five years, during which the Bulldogs have gone 10-0 with an average margin of victory of 30.8 points. CUNE’s last four CIT games have ended with an average score of 100.5 to 62.3. The program’s most recent CIT loss came by a 73-69 score at home to Concordia-Ann Arbor in the championship game in a matchup between two nationally-ranked teams. CUAA has captured the two most recent CIT titles (2011, 2013) that were not won by the Bulldogs.
  • Senior Dani Hoppes had little trouble adapting to an unfamiliar arena – Concordia-Wisconsin’s R. John Buuck Field House. Hoppes nailed six of her first seven attempts from 3-point range in the win over CUAA and went 10-for-19 from beyond the arc for the tournament. Not only did Hoppes rack up 36 points on the weekend, she also played stellar defensively. She helped hold down CUAA star Kari Borowiak, who went 1-for-8 from the field in another blowout CIT win for the Bulldogs.
  • Sophomore Philly Lammers joined Hoppes with CIT all-tournament honors. The Omaha native totaled 15 points, three rebounds and three steals in just 17 minutes of action in the CIT opener. The next day, Lammers went for 16 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes of playing time. The opposing Concordias just didn’t have anyone capable of defending Lammers, who made 13-of-19 shot attempts on the weekend. Lammers has proven she doesn’t need to play big minutes to attain big numbers. She’s averaging 12.8 points and 8.3 rebounds over 23.2 minutes per outing.
  • Sophomore Colby Duvel is one of the team’s unsung heroes. She led the team in rebounding at CIT, collecting 12 and 13 rebounds, respectively, over the two games. She added 10 points in the championship game win to allow her to earn the first double-double of her career. Duvel has been the team’s second leading rebounder this season with an average of 6.1 boards per contest. The native of Max, Neb., also averages 5.7 points.
  • CIT seems to bring out the best in Quinn Wragge, who fought through sickness to make the trip to Wisconsin. After putting up seven points, four assists in three rebounds in the first game of CIT, Wragge ramped up her scoring in the championship. She made 11-of-13 shots and tallied 24 points. In six career CIT games, Wragge has amassed 102 points (17.0 per game). She missed out on all-tournament honors due to the limit of not more than two from one team. Wragge collected CIT MVP honors in 2016 and 2017.
  • Now it’s back to the GPAC grind with only six games remaining in the regular season. Up next is Wednesday’s trip to Midland (11-14, 6-9 GPAC) for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff in Fremont. Then on Saturday, the Bulldogs will attempt to extend a 30-game home win streak when No. 10 Northwestern (17-5, 12-2 GPAC) visits Seward for a 2 p.m. CT game on Saturday. CUNE will aim for season sweeps of both opponents.

Wrestling

  • One of the season’s most pivotal days occurred this past Saturday (Jan. 27) when the Bulldogs went up against four conference opponents as part of the GPAC Duals hosted by Briar Cliff in Sioux City, Iowa. Concordia came up one victory shy of running the table while earning wins over Jamestown, 20-18, Doane, 30-9, and Hastings, 27-18. The day concluded with a 33-14 loss at the hands of Briar Cliff. With two duals left on the schedule, second-year head coach Andrew Nicola’s squad stands at 7-7 overall and at 4-2 in GPAC action. For more information on Bulldog wrestling, click HERE.
  • The 3-1 day was a solid response to a 31-12 home loss to Midland on Jan. 12. That defeat had ended the program’s streak of 22 GPAC dual wins in a row. Though the streak is dead, Concordia still has an outside shot at sharing the conference dual title. It will need Briar Cliff (6-1 GPAC) to drop its final conference dual and then defeat both Northwestern and Morningside to wrap up dual action. The Bulldogs have won three-straight GPAC dual and postseason championships.
  • Senior Jerry Stepps III emerged as the team’s lone individual to go a perfect 4-0 at the GPAC Duals. Stepps III wrestled in only eight matches last season as a junior, but has become a fixture in the dual lineup this season. Ranked sixth in the GPAC at 125 pounds, Stepps III defeated the conference’s third-rated Jesus Barajas of Jamestown and fifth-rated Isiah Lysius of Briar Cliff as part of his run in Sioux City. A St. Louis, Mo., native, Stepps III owns records of 15-15 overall and 10-4 in dual meets.
  • Collectively, Concordia wrestlers won 21 of 40 matches at the GPAC duals, going 8-2 vs. Doane, 5-5 vs. both Hastings and Jamestown and 3-7 vs. Briar Cliff. The Bulldogs combined for five pins on the day with three of them coming against Hastings: Josh Nelsen (197), Stepps III (125) and Giovanni Castillo (133). The 30 team points against Doane marked Concordia’s second highest total of the season (defeated Dakota Wesleyan, 55-0, on Nov. 30.
  • Of the 12 Bulldogs to see action at Briar Cliff, 11 recorded at least one victory and seven turned in two or more victories. The seven Concordia representatives with multiple wins at the GPAC duals were Stepps III (4-0), Nelsen (3-1), Castillo (2-0), Deandre Chery (2-0), Cam Devers (2-2), Michael Duffy (2-2) and Darrin Miller (2-2). Walker Fisher, Chris Kimball, Keanu Tom and Jared Woods earned one victory apiece.
  • The race for team wins lead continues to heat up. Entering the week, 12 Bulldogs owned 10 or more victories: Devers (22-7), Chery (21-12), Miller (21-12), Fisher (20-8), Miller (20-14), Cody Lambert (16-16), Woods (15-14), Stepps III (15-15), Kimball (13-14), Blake Castillo (12-11), Tyler Jorgensen (11-11) and Jon Lado (10-5). A sophomore from Miami Gardens, Fla., Chery pushed his team high pin count to 12 with another one at the GPAC Duals.
  • Nicola did the best to maximize his chances last week despite some holes in the dual lineup. Kimball split his four matches between the 141 and 149-pound weights while Devers did the same. Additionally, Miller and Nelsen alternated between the 184 and 197-pound weight classes. Miller and Nelsen enjoyed reasonable success, going a combined 5-3.
  • The regular season is beginning to wind down for the program. Concordia will host Northwestern (8-4, 4-1 GPAC) at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday as a prelude to Saturday’s Morningside Open in Sioux City. The Bulldogs’ final dual is set to take place Feb. 8 when they again visit Morningside (5-4, 5-1 GPAC). In the most recent GPAC rankings, Concordia checked in at No. 4 behind Morningside, Midland and Briar Cliff.

Men’s Basketball

  • Last week was a bit of a mixed bag for the Bulldogs, who offered up a surprisingly comfortable road win over Hastings, 93-83, on Jan. 24 before shifting focus to the 67th annual Concordia Invitational Tournament. CIT in Mequon, Wis., arrived with heartbreak when the Bulldogs suffered a 56-54 loss to Concordia University, Ann Arbor on the day’s opening event. CUNE salvaged the weekend with a 95-87 victory over Concordia University, Chicago. The 2-1 week left fifth-year head coach Ben Limback’s squad at 16-7 overall and at 7-5 in conference play (fourth place). For more information on Bulldog men’s basketball, click HERE.
  • CUNE carried momentum into CIT by blitzing the Broncos with an incredible first half-shooting performance. At one point in the contest, the Bulldogs were 17-for-23 from the floor and 7-for-9 from 3-point range. The starting five for CUNE combined to go 33-for-49 (.673) from the field. A monster game from Kyle Pierce (career high 21 points, 10 rebounds, three steals) helped the Bulldogs build a lead as large as 24 points. The Bulldogs inflicted that damage upon a Hastings squad that entered the game ranked second in the GPAC in field goal percentage defense (.434).
  • Despite the tough beat last week, the program continues to hold the CIT all-time record for most titles with 27. CUNE had hoped to record its third-consecutive CIT title under Limback’s direction. Limback also guided CU-Ann Arbor to CIT championships in 2006 and 2007. In the 2006 CIT final, Limback earned a head-to-head win over his former coach, Grant Schmidt, the winningest coach in CUNE men’s basketball history. Since taking over as head coach prior to the 2013-14 season, Limback has a record of 8-2 at CIT.
  • Sophomore Clay Reimers represented the Bulldogs on the CIT all-tournament team. His value to the team was again made obvious during last week’s loss. Foul trouble forced him to the bench early in the second half. During that stretch, the Cardinals built a lead as large as 11 points. In the final minute, Reimers tied the game with a tip in basket. Over two games at CIT, Reimers totaled 24 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots. He’s averaging 15.9 points and 8.5 rebounds this season.
  • The loss to CUAA was the outlier of the week – and essentially the season. CUNE’s 54 points were a season low. Two days after the starters made more than two-thirds of their shot attempts, they went just 16-for-40 (.400) from the floor, including 4-for-18 (.222) from 3-point range. The lone starter to equal or surpass his season average point total was Cordell Gillingham, who put up 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting.
  • On a positive note, many of the same players who struggled on day one of CIT ramped up their production on day two. Sophomore point guard Jake Hornick was a prime example of that point. After going 1-for-5 from the floor (six points) versus CU-Ann Arbor, Hornick produced 21 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in the victory over CU-Chicago. Throughout this season, Hornick has been a steadying force at the point, averaging 15.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists.
  • A look at the GPAC standings reveals that nothing is off the table for the Bulldogs (7-5 GPAC), who sit behind Briar Cliff (10-3 GPAC), Morningside (10-3 GPAC) and Northwestern (8-4 GPAC) and just ahead of Dakota Wesleyan (7-6 GPAC) and Hastings (6-6 GPAC). CUNE still has one meeting left with each of the teams in front of it in the conference race. The program’s most recent top-four GPAC finish occurred in 2009-10 when the Bulldogs tied for fourth with a 12-6 league mark.
  • The stretch run will provide opportunities for what this team is lacking so far: a signature win over a ranked opponent. Judging by the previous three seasons, CUNE is about due for one. The 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 teams each knocked off at least one top 25 opponent. The ’16-17 edition racked up five victories over foes that carried national rankings at the time games were contested.
  • The Bulldogs will close the month of January with a trip to Midland (12-12, 4-10 GPAC) for an 8 p.m. CT tipoff on Wednesday. Three days later, Concordia will host 11th-ranked Northwestern (18-4, 8-4 GPAC) with a chance to avenge a Dec. 15 loss in Orange City, Iowa. Tipoff from Walz Arena is set for 4 p.m. CT on Saturday.

Track & Field

  • The third meet of the indoor season took place last week with the Bulldogs serving as the host for the second time already in 2018. Head coach Matt Beisel’s squads competed against 12 schools in a large meet held inside the Fieldhouse. Concordia turned in four new automatic national qualifying marks and also won three events at the Concordia Classic that played out Jan. 26-27. The Bulldogs have also participated in the Nisely Memorial Classic (Jan. 13) and the Polar Dog Invite (Jan. 19). For more information on Concordia track and field, click HERE.
  • Nearly half (four of 10) of Bulldog national qualifying marks have come from the women’s shot put alone. Entering last week, Samantha Liermann, Johanna Ragland and Adrianna Shaw had already hit the ‘A’ standard. At the Concordia Classic, junior Jazzy Eickhoff joined the party by throwing out a mark of 44’ 7 ½.” Eickhoff placed seventh in the event, which saw Shaw, Liermann and Ragland go 1-2-3. On the national list, Shaw (46’ 11”), Liermann (46’ 10 ¼”), Ragland (45’ 1 ½”) and Eickhoff (44’ 7 ½”) rank third, fourth, seventh and 12th, respectively.
  • One of the weekend’s most thrilling moments came via the women’s pole vault when freshman Anna Baack eclipsed the automatic national qualifying clearance of 11’ 6 ½.” The Seward High School product wasn’t necessarily expected to qualify for nationals as rookie, especially given how recently she suffered a torn ACL as a prep. The daughter of head athletic trainer Randy Baack, Anna currently ranks seventh on the national leaderboard in the pole vault.
  • Perhaps one day Baack will reach the heights currently achieved by junior McKenzie Gravo, who placed first in the pole vault at the Concordia Classic with a season best mark of 12’ 4 ½.” Already a three-time NAIA All-American, the native of Henderson, Nev., bumped herself up to No. 2 on the national list. As a freshman in 2016, Gravo swept GPAC indoor and outdoor pole vault titles.
  • Baack is not the only freshman standout. Cody Williams (Imperial, Neb.) will be joining her at the indoor national championships thanks to his high jump of 6’ 7” at the Concordia Classic. Williams already appears to be one of the program’s top all-around athletes. In addition to his high jump mark, Williams racked up 4,723 points in the heptathlon. He now ranks third nationally in first among GPAC athletes in the heptathlon.
  • Adrianna Shaw proved she’s more than just a shot put specialist. A 2017 indoor national runner up in the shot put, Shaw hit the exact threshold needed for the ‘A’ standard in the weight throw with her mark of 53’ 1 ¾” at the Concordia Classic. While Shaw ranks 17th nationally in the event, she has leapfrogged Liermann in the shot put on the national list.
  • Such strong performances in the women’s side could push the Bulldogs up the national rankings that are disseminated by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA). Last week the organization released its first set of 2018 NAIA national rankings, which showed the Concordia women at No. 12. Bulldog female athletes have now combined to produce a total of eight automatic national qualifying marks. Two other Concordia athletes have reached the ‘B’ standard: Jodi Fry (shot put) and Leah Larson (triple jump).
  • The men turned in some notable accomplishments on the track. For the first time this season. The Bulldogs ran off a distance medley relay team. The quartet of Thomas Taylor, Jake Rodgers, Patrick Wortmann and Josiah McAllister finished in 10:25.39, good for a ‘B’ standard time that was just off the ‘A’ standard (10:24). Additionally, McAllister won the 1,000 meter race with a ‘B’ standard of 2:33.58 at the Concordia Classic.
  • For the second time this season, the Bulldogs will head over to Doane’s Fuhrer Field House where Saturday’s Fred Beile Invitational will unfold. Each of Concordia’s six large-scale meets prior to the national championships are set to take place at either Concordia or Doane. The Bulldogs will host the Concordia Indoor Invitational on Feb. 10.