SEWARD, Neb. – The third-straight home meet of the 2023-24 indoor season trudged on well into the evening on an action-packed Saturday (Jan. 27) inside the Walz Fieldhouse. When the dust settled on the annual Concordia Classic, the Concordia University Track & Field squads combined for eight performances that met the automatic national qualifying standard and 13 event championships. Fresh NAIA ‘A’ standards were put on the board by Rylee Haecker and her teammates in the distance medley relay. Meanwhile, Zach Zohner broke 17 feet in the pole vault. Athletes from 10 institutions were present at the meet.
Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads entered the weekend with NAIA national rankings (according to the USTFCCCA) of third on the women’s side and seventh on the men’s side. The list of automatic national qualifying marks has reached 21 for the season.
“We recruit kids that are hungry and have really high expectations for themselves,” Beisel said. “It is just a matter of continuing to get in a groove for training after coming off a break. We had big stuff happen and this was a huge meet compared to last week. Next week, we have Doane, University of Nebraska and our last home meet (the week after). Then, it's quack quack, GPAC.”
The eight-time All-American Haecker of Davenport, Neb., enjoyed a big day. As part of the distance medley relay, Haecker ran the leadoff 1,200-meter leg before handing off to Isabelle Salters for the 400 meters, Jenna Esch for the 800 meters and Julie McIntyre for the 1,600 meters. By the time McIntyre crossed the finish line, the Bulldog grouping recorded a time of 12:19.70 (converted to 12:11.86 for the national list) that now ranks No. 3 in the NAIA. Individually, Haecker also won the Concordia Classic 1,000 meters in 2:56.82 while jumping to No. 2 on the national list.
Said Haecker, “Coach Beisel chose who was healthy and who he thought would put together a good relay for the ‘A’ standard. Thankfully, we got another one under the belt. We will see what happens come nationals, but we are super excited.”
The 2023 NAIA indoor pole vault national runner up, Zohner pushed himself to fourth on the program’s all-time pole vault list by clearing 17’ ¾” on Saturday. Zohner moved back up to No. 1 in the NAIA with that mark. He was the winner of a competition that included teammates Jax Jacobson (14’ 9”) and Mayson Ostermeyer (14’ 3 ¼”). The crew continues to rise while working with assistant coach Jason Berry.
Said Zohner, “Jason has been there the whole way. I can think back to sophomore year, where indoor season I no heighted every meet except about two or three. He just kept working on the same things with me. Jason was on the list too. He was about six or so. I passed him last year at indoor nationals. It has been a big honor working up to that.”
There were others who also repeated automatic national qualifying standards, such as the women’s 4x400 meter relay, Esch in the 400 meters, Abigail Gerber in the shot put, Adrianna Rodencal in the 60 hurdles and Abi Wohlgemuth in the weight throw. A couple of fresh ‘B’ standards were delivered by the men’s distance medley relay and Erin Boggs in the pole vault (11’ 4 ½”). The men’s DMR featured Trey Robertson, Colby Sugden, Trevor Kuncl and Calvin Rohde (also a third-place finisher in the 3,000 meters). Elsewhere on the track, freshman Caleb Schlichting placed first in the 3,000-meter race walk (17:50.59). In the women’s mile, Hannah Beintema (5:20.54) and Keegan Beisel (5:27.10) placed second and third, respectively.
The jumps group produced two Concordia Classic winners as Joel Rathe (23’ 3 ¼”) and Hayley Miles (18’ 2 ¼”) made for a sweep in the long jump. Both are already qualified for nationals. A fine all-around jumper, Josi Noble emerged as the meet champion in the women’s pentathlon as she piled up 3,200 points. She now ranks top 10 nationally in the event. Noble was followed in the pentathlon by Zoey Walker (3,164), Faith Espinosa (2,997) and Elena Batenhorst (2,964). In the men’s heptathlon, Jackson Lindburg led the way for Concordia with 4,030 points.
As for the throws, Gerber and Wohlgemuth were the headliners while Darien Semedo placed fourth in the men’s shot put and Connor Asche was the runner up in the men’s weight throw. The crew has combined for five ‘A’ standards on the season.
Automatic National Qualifiers
· Women’s 4x400m Relay (3:59.73); Jenna Esch; Kayla Kirchner; Trinity Tuls; Adrianna Rodencal
· Women’s DMR (12:19.70); Rylee Haecker, Isabelle Salters, Jenna Esch, Julie McIntyre
· Jenna Esch – 600 Meters (1:36.00)
· Abigail Gerber – Shot Put (45’ 7 ¾”)
· Rylee Haecker – 1,000 Meters (2:56.82)
· Adrianna Rodencal – 60 Hurdles (8.59)
· Abi Wohlgemuth – Weight Throw (57’ 9 ½”)
· Zach Zohner – Pole Vault (17’ ¾”)
Concordia Classic Event Champions
· Women’s 4x400m Relay (3:59.73); Jenna Esch; Kayla Kirchner; Trinity Tuls; Adrianna Rodencal
· Women’s DMR (12:19.70); Rylee Haecker, Isabelle Salters, Jenna Esch, Julie McIntyre
· Jenna Esch – 400 Meters (58.80); 600 Meters (1:36.00)
· Abigail Gerber – Shot Put (45’ 7 ¾”)
· Rylee Haecker – 1,000 Meters (2:56.82)
· Hayley Miles – Long Jump (18’ 2 ¼”)
· Josi Noble – Pentathlon (3,200)
· Joel Rathe – Long Jump (23’ 3 ¼”)
· Adrianna Rodencal – 60 Hurdles (8.59)
· Caleb Schlichting – 3,000m Race Walk (17:50.59)
· Abi Wohlgemuth – Weight Throw (57’ 9 ½”)
· Zach Zohner – Pole Vault (17’ ¾”)
The Bulldogs will venture away from the Fieldhouse next weekend for the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational (Feb. 2-3) and the Fred Beile Classic (Feb. 3) hosted by Doane. One home meet remains on the 2023-24 indoor schedule – the Concordia Indoor Invite on Feb. 9.