SEWARD, Neb. – For the second time this indoor season, the Concordia University Track & Field program is gearing up to host a meet. The Bulldogs will welcome Doane and Hastings to the Walz Fieldhouse on Friday for the Concordia Polar Dog Invite. The first action is set to go off at 4 p.m. CT. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s program also hosted the Concordia Early Bird Meet back on Dec. 4-5. Please note that fans are not allowed to attend indoor meets in 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
MEET INFO
Concordia Polar Dog Invite
Friday, Jan. 22
Fieldhouse | Seward, Neb.
Meet Schedule
Live Results: Black Squirrel
Meet Program
Live Stream Info
All streaming links will be free to access.
--Running Events: https://www.youtube.com/c/BulldogTrackandField
--Sprints Starting Line: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCnWh95Lz6dW3OUosomZyoA
--Women’s Long Jump / Triple Jump (north runway): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWMXJ0G97vIWXuBqGS3Iww
--Women’s & Men’s Throwing Events: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqn-dBHnX9YmlOunOX9cweA
--Vertical Jumps & Men’s Long Jump / Triple Jump (infield jumping events): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIerIQe-tQv53fnpGwp_wTQ
The Polar Dog will look different than it did a year ago when Concordia University-Irvine, MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) and Mount Marty were also part of the field. All meets this year are being condensed in order to meet current facility capacity limits. The Early Bird meet featured athletes from nine different institutions, however, some teams brought only a select number of competitors. Concordia, Doane and Hastings will each bring extensive group of athletes to this Friday’s meet.
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is scheduled to release an initial set of 2021 NAIA indoor national rankings next Wednesday (Jan. 27). Many track and field teams around the NAIA have yet to compete this season, but the early returns have been solid for the Bulldogs, who currently boast 43 total marks that rank in the top 10 of the NAIA national performance lists. That number includes five Concordia athletes with top-ranked marks in the NAIA: the men’s 4x800 meter relay, Chase Berry (pole vault), Morgan De Jong (weight throw), Josie Puelz (pole vault) and Cody Williams (pole vault/heptathlon).
This will be the third meet so far this season for the Bulldogs, who hosted the Early Bird meet and then competed at Doane’s Scott Nisely Memorial Classic last week. At the Nisely Memorial, Concordia athletes combined for 12 event championships, including two apiece for Sarah Lewis (400 meters; 60 hurdles) and Kylahn Heritage (mile; 3,000 meters). Newly hired Ben Hinckfoot (former seven-time All-American) made his Concordia assistant coaching debut last week. Before the NAIA changed the format for the indoor national meet, the Bulldogs posted what were then recognized as nine automatic national qualifying marks at the Early Bird meet.
Not unlike past years, Concordia will see a lot of rival Doane this indoor season. The Bulldogs will either be at home or at Doane for all six 2020-21 indoor meets prior to the GPAC Championships hosted by Dordt. On the same national performance lists referenced above, Doane and Hastings both boast 25 top 10 national marks. The Tigers own two No. 1 national marks courtesy of Jacob Heitkamp (high jump) and Allison Skala (shot put) while Paul Plowcha of the Broncos paces the nation in the 60 meter hurdles.
Concordia will be back at Doane the weekend of Jan. 29-30 for the Fred Beile Classic. The Bulldogs will return home to host the Concordia Classic on Feb. 5 and the Concordia Invite on Feb. 13.