SEWARD, Neb. – For the second time in 2018, a thrower from the Concordia University track and field programs has been tabbed winner of a GPAC weekly award. On Wednesday (April 11), the conference named junior Samantha Liermann the GPAC Hauff Mid-America Sports Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week. Teammate Adrianna Shaw earned the same award on Jan. 31 as part of the indoor season.
Each of the three marks Liermann turned in at last week’s Concordia Outdoor Invite were either season or personal bests. She placed second in the shot put, fifth in the hammer throw and sixth in the discus at the meet. She pushed her NAIA best shot put mark to 48’ 9 ½”, added a fresh automatic national qualifying toss in the hammer (166’) and achieved a personal best ‘B’ standard in the discus (140’ 3”). The Wisner, Neb., native currently ranks in the top 10 nationally in all three events.
Liermann captured shot put national titles at the 2017 outdoor and 2018 indoor NAIA championships. She has six career All-America awards to her credit, including five in the shot put.
Select members of the program will be in action on Thursday at the NAIA Midwest Quad hosted in Des Moines, Iowa by Grand View University. The first events are slated to begin at 10 a.m. CT.