SEWARD, Neb. – The fourth and final home meet of the 2023-24 indoor season is on tap for Friday as Concordia Track & Field will welcome athletes from eight institutions to the Walz Fieldhouse. The first action is slated to get underway at 12 p.m. CT with field events. The gun will go off for running events at 2 p.m. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s program also hosted the Bulldog Early Bird Meet (Dec. 8-9), the Polar Dog Invite (Jan. 19) and the Concordia Classic (Jan. 26-27). Last week, groups of Bulldogs competed at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational and the Fred Beile Classic.
Concordia Classic
Friday/Saturday (Jan. 26-27) | Walz Fieldhouse
--Meet Schedule (PDF) | Live Results
--Live Streams:
· Running Events (and Friday Women’s Pentathlon): https://www.youtube.com/c/BulldogTrackandField
· Men’s & Women’s High Jump (Men’s Heptathlon): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCnWh95Lz6dW3OUosomZyoA
· Women’s Jumps (north runway): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWMXJ0G97vIWXuBqGS3Iww
· Men’s & Women’s Throwing Events: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqn-dBHnX9YmlOunOX9cweA
· Men’s & Women’s Pole Vault: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIerIQe-tQv53fnpGwp_wTQ
· Men’s Jumps (infield jumping events): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIerIQe-tQv53fnpGwp_wTQ
Competing Institutions
Bellevue University
Benedictine College (Kan.)
College of Saint Mary
Concordia University
Doane University
Grand View University (Iowa)
Hastings College
Wayne State College
The season tally of automatic national qualifying standards has grown to 26 when combining Concordia men’s and women’s athletes (full list below). Some of the biggest thrills last week came from the distance crew as it put five new NAIA auto times on the board courtesy of Kylahn Freiberg (mile and 3,000 meters), Rylee Haecker (mile), Julie McIntyre (5,000 meters) and Calvin Rohde (mile). Impressively, the Nampa, Idaho, native Freiberg is qualified for nationals in three individual races and as part of the women’s 4x800 meter relay that holds down the NAIA’s No. 1 ranking.
In the pole vault, Zach Zohner continues to stand at No. 1 nationally with his personal best of 17’ ¾” that came at the Concordia Classic. Zohner was recognized last week with two separate NAIA national athlete of the week awards. Other Bulldogs who possess top three national marks include Freiberg (No. 3 in the mile), Haecker (No. 2 in the 1,000 meters) and Chris Wren (No. 3 in the weight throw). Also notable, Jenna Esch has qualified in the 400 and 600 meters and as part of three different relays (4x4, 4x8 and DMR).
Automatic National Qualifiers (26)
· Women’s 4x400m Relay (3:53.06) – Esch, Kirchner, Tuls, Koepke
· Women’s 4x800m Relay (9:08.93) – Esch, Freiberg, McIntyre, Haecker
· Women’s Distance Medley Relay (12:11.86) – Haecker, Salters, Esch, McIntyre
· Amira Cummings – Pole Vault (11’ 8 ½”)
· Jenna Esch – 400 Meters (56.89); 600 Meters (1:33.52)
· Kylahn Freiberg – Mile (5:00.45); 3,000 Meters (10:09.36); 5,000 Meters (17:40.14)
· Abigail Gerber – Weight Throw (53’ 10 ½”); Shot Put (45’ 9”)
· Rylee Haecker – 1,000 Meters (2:54.91); Mile (5:04.85)
· Jordan Koepke – 600 Meters (1:35.56)
· Julie McIntyre – 5,000 Meters (17:47.74)
· Hayley Miles – Long Jump (19’ 4 ¼”)
· Kamryn Pokorney – Weight Throw (53’ 7 ¾”)
· Josie Puelz – Pole Vault (11’ 8 ½”)
· Joel Rathe – Long Jump (23’ 6 ¾”)
· Sydney Reichert – Pole Vault (11’ 8 ½”)
· Adrianna Rodencal – 60 Hurdles (8.57)
· Calvin Rohde – Mile (4:12.15)
· Chris Wren – Weight throw (64’ 5”)
· Zoey Walker – High Jump (5’ 6”)
· Abi Wohlgemuth – Weight Throw (58’ 10 ¼”)
· Zach Zohner – Pole Vault (17’ ¾”)
In last week’s USTFCCCA team rankings, the Bulldogs landed at No. 2 on the women’s side and at No. 10 on the men’s side. The coaches’ organization also unveiled new event squad rankings on Monday. In those event rankings, Concordia came in at No. 1 in the men’s pole vault and women’s pentathlon. The Bulldogs boast NAIA second-ranked event squads for the women’s pole vault, women’s weight throw and men’s weight throw. The full USTFCCCA rankings can be viewed HERE.
The all-time Concordia Track & Field performance lists are updated periodically and are available to the public HERE. Current Bulldogs who own school indoor records are Hayley Miles (long jump), Josie Puelz (pole vault), Amy Richert (pentathlon) and Adrianna Rodencal (60 hurdles).
Once the Concordia Invite wraps up, the focus will shift to the 2024 GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. The schedule for the conference meet can be found HERE. Mount Marty will serve as the host of the meet.