SEWARD, Neb. – For athletes still seeking automatic national qualifying marks, the meets this week will serve as a last chance. Select members of the Concordia University Track & Field programs will be in action at the Concordia Twilight on Friday and/or the University of Nebraska-Kearney Loper Twilight on Saturday. The Concordia Twilight will mark the second home meet of the 2023 outdoor season for the Bulldogs. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads are coming off GPAC championship outdoor placements of first on the women’s side and third on the men’s side.
This Week
Concordia Twilight
May 11-12, 2023 | Bulldog Stadium
--Meet Schedule (PDF) | Live Results
UNK Loper Twilight
May 13 | Kearney HS (Kearney, Neb.)
--Meet Schedule (PDF) | Live Results
Due to the temporary absence of lights inside Bulldog Stadium, this year’s Concordia Twilight schedule was revised to wrap up the meet prior to dark. The meet will actually get started on Thursday with four of the seven events in the women’s heptathlon. The bulk of the action will take place on Friday with field events getting underway at 12 p.m. CT and running events at 2 p.m. (race walk at 1 p.m.). The UNK Twilight will be smaller in scale but will have events running up until 9 p.m.
Below is a listing of the 13 automatic national qualifying standards achieved by Bulldog athletes through the conclusion of the GPAC Championships. It should also be noted that Lauren Dawson currently possesses the NAIA’s 10th fastest 5,000-meter race walk time (28:34.84) and four Concordia women’s heptathletes hit the minimum national reporting standard (3,900). Others like Wyatt Loga (high jump), Hannah Newton (high jump) and Kayla Svoboda (pole vault) also rank in the top 16 nationally of their respective events.
Concordia ‘A’ standards
· Women’s 4x100m Relay (*47.40)
· Women’s 4x400m Relay (3:49.24)
· Women’s 4x800m Relay (9:20.98)
· Rachel Battershell – 400 Meters (56.10)
· Jenna Esch – 400 Meters (56.70)
· Jordan Koepke – 400 Hurdles (1:02.71)
· Erin Mapson – Pole Vault (11’ 11 ¾”)
· Kamryn Pokorney – Hammer Throw (175’ 6”)
· Josie Puelz – Pole Vault (12’ 9 ½”)
· Adrianna Rodencal – 100 Hurdles (*14.00)
· Darien Semedo – Hammer Throw (184’ 4”)
· Chris Wren – Hammer Throw (197’)
· Zach Zohner – Pole Vault (16’ 5 ¼”)
*School Record
To recap the 2023 GPAC outdoor championships, the Bulldogs won the title on the women’s side (ninth in a row as a program) with 244.5 points while the men placed third with 112 points. The GPAC event champions included the team’s women’s 4x100 meter relay, women’s 4x400 meter relay, Battershell (400 meters), Rylee Haecker (1,500 meters), Hannah Newton (high jump), Josie Puelz (pole vault), Amy Richert (heptathlon) and Zach Zohner (pole vault). School records were broken by the women’s 4x1 and Rodencal. A freshman out of Lincoln Lutheran High School, Rodencal was named the 2023 GPAC Outdoor Female Athlete of the Meet (after collecting that same award for indoor). Fresh automatic national qualifying standards came from the women’s 4x1, Battershell in the 400 meters and Kamryn Pokorney in the hammer throw. Three-time NAIA All-American Chris Wren achieved a personal best of 197 feet in the hammer.
The 2023 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships will be the focus after this weekend’s action concludes. The 2023 outdoor national meet will take place in Marion, Ind., May 24-26. More information on the national championship meet can be found HERE.