RESULTS | Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Senior Adrianna Rodencal realized a dream on Saturday (March 7) at the 2026 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships. She’s been a GPAC champion (11x), the GPAC Athlete of the Year (4x), an All-American (make it 5x) and a whole lot of other things. She’s now a national champion. Rodencal completed the 60-meter hurdles in a blazing fast personal best time of 8.25 before the tears of joy welled up in her eyes. The accomplished Rodencal was one of three athletes from Concordia University, Nebraska Track & Field to collect All-America medals over the course of the three-day national championship meet.
Head Coach Matt Beisel and his staff traveled with 21 qualifying athletes to the site of the meet, Alachua County Sports & Events Center at Celebration Pointe in Gainesville, Fla. The Bulldogs finished with 10 team points on the women’s side (T-31st place) and nine points on the men’s side (T-33rd place).
Naturally, Rodencal’s exploits stand out as the highlight of the weekend. Said Beisel, “Adrianna has always had high expectations. You can have high expectations and not do the things you need to do to achieve those expectations. Here’s somebody that lives the lifestyle, takes care of the details, plans ahead, develops the proper mindset and is then able to reach these heights … She’s a great example to the rest of our athletes. You’ve got this ability, now here’s how you go about maximizing your chances at achieving success.”
Winning a national title remained as one of the final boxes for Rodencal to check off in her astounding collegiate career. The Lincoln Lutheran High School alum ran a preliminary 60 hurdles time of 8.38 on Friday, backing up her top national seed. A day later, Rodencal returned to the track for the finals, proceeding to glide over the five hurdles before outkicking runner up Akeelah Knox (8.44) of Central Methodist (Mo.). Rodencal’s 8.25 was a tick faster than her previous PR of 8.26 clocked back at the Sevigne Husker Invite. She is the first athlete in Concordia Track & Field history to win a national title in the 60 hurdles and the fifth individual Bulldog women’s athlete in history to earn an indoor national championship. Rodencal is coached in her events by assistant Mark Samuels.
Four other Concordia athletes were in action on day three – all in the field events. The closest to claiming an All-America award was senior Evan Hill in the pole vault. Hill tied for the eighth best mark (15’ 9”) in the competition but placed 11th based on the field series results. Meanwhile, fellow Bulldog vaulter Jax Jacobson placed 17th his clearance of 14’ 11.” Elsewhere, sophomore Nathan Baldwin placed 15th in the men’s shot put (51’ 11 ¾”) and Makenna Starkey wound up in 17th place in the women’s high jump (5’ 3 ¼”).
A qualifier in both throwing events, Baldwin made his final attempt in the weight throw count on Friday when he unleased a personal best of 63’ 4” (sixth best on the school’s all-time list). The effort pushed him into third place and onto the All-America podium. The other men’s All-American on the weekend was sophomore Jonny Jurchen, who broke the school 3,000-meter racewalk record in a time of 12:14.38. Jurchen was joined in the finals of the racewalk by teammate Jack Habegger.
Beisel noted the work of several athletes in his post-meet remarks. The men’s 4x800-meter relay group put forth a strong effort on day one in running a season best time. The crew was made up of Keith Siek, Trenton Kumm, Lucas Corwin and Justin Sherman. Meanwhile, the athletes who came away disappointed will be highly motivated for outdoor season.
Said Beisel, “We had some really good things happen and we had some disappointments. That’s nationals for you. Overwhelmingly, we feel good about what happened this week, even with people who didn’t advance (or become All-Americans). As a freshman, Jack Habegger had the fastest ninth-place racewalk time ever in the NAIA. Jonny set a school record and made All-American again … Most of them are young and have the ability to learn lessons from it and apply it to outdoor. Nathan Baldwin had one of the coolest performances. On his last throw in the finals, he went from ninth to third. It’s an exciting thing to watch. I’m also proud of the 4x8 guys because we saw such big improvements from all four of them.”
With spring break coming up next week on the Concordia campus, Bulldog athletes will take a breather before shifting focus to the outdoor campaign. The first outdoor meet on the slate is the UNK-Hastings Central Nebraska Challenge on March 28.
2026 NAIA Indoor All-Americans
· Nathan Baldwin: weight throw (3rd; 63’ 4”)
· Jonny Jurchen: 3,000-meter race walk (6th; 12:14.38)
· Adrianna Rodencal: 60-meter hurdles (1st; 8.25)