SEWARD, Neb. – Track & field season is here. The Concordia University, Nebraska Track & Field programs will kick off the 2025-26 campaign by hosting the Bulldog Early Bird Meet on Friday and Saturday. The Walz Fieldhouse will house athletes from many GPAC and NAIA institutions in the region over the two-day meet, which will include a women’s pentathlon and men’s heptathlon. The bulk of the meet will unfold on Saturday when field events and running events go off at noon.
Head Coach Matt Beisel’s programs are coming off 2025 seasons that saw the women post GPAC place finishes of third (indoor) and second (outdoor) while the men finished fourth in the GPAC both indoor and outdoor. Behind an incredible junior season from Adrianna Rodencal, the women’s team placed 20th at the NAIA outdoor national meet.
Concordia Bulldog Early Bird Meet
Friday/Saturday (Dec. 12-13) | Walz Fieldhouse
--Meet Schedule (PDF) | Live Results
--Live Streams: Concordia Sports Network
Competing Institutions
Complete field TBA
The Bulldog Early Bird will be the first of four home meets hosted by the Bulldogs this indoor season. Other home meets include the Concordia Polar Dog Invite (Jan. 23), Concordia Classic (Jan. 30-31) and Concordia Indoor Invite (Feb. 14). The Bulldogs will remain in the state of Nebraska for indoor competition all the way up until the 2026 GPAC Indoor Championships take place in Sioux Center, Iowa, home to Dordt. The indoor national meet is slated to take place at the Alachua County Sports & Events Center at Celebration Pointe in Gainesville, Fla., March 5-7, 2026.
Beisel enters his 10th season as head coach. He’s presided over 12 total GPAC team championships (11 in track & field and one in cross country) during his tenure. There are a combined 18 athletes (seven women and 11 men) returning that qualified for the 2025 indoor and/or outdoor national meets. This season’s roster is made up of more than 160 athletes, including 54 newcomers.
The returning All-Americans from last season include Kayla Kirchner and Rodencal on the women’s side and Nathan Baldwin, Jonny Jurchen and Mayson Ostermeyer on the men’s side. Rodencal collected four All-America awards in 2025 (national runner up in the 400 hurdles) and emerged as the GPAC Women’s Athlete of the Year for indoor and outdoor. For a detailed preview of the 2025-26 indoor track seasons, click HERE.
The Bulldog Early Bird Meet will give way to final exams week and Christmas break. The indoor season will resume with the Scott Nisely Classic (Jan. 17) and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Graduate Classic (Jan. 16-17) after New Year’s.