SEWARD, Neb. – The weather forecast has caused a change in plans for the upcoming Concordia Invitational. The Concordia University, Nebraska Track & Field program has announced that the meet will now take place on Monday, April 6. The event schedule is linked below. The Concordia Invite will mark the second full-scale meet of the 2026 outdoor season for Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads. The first events are slated to get underway at 12 p.m. CT on April 6, which is a non-class day on the Concordia campus (due to the Easter holiday).
Concordia Outdoor Invite
Monday, April 6 | Bulldog Stadium
--Meet Schedule (PDF) | Live Results
--Heat Sheets will be linked when available
Competing Institutions
Teams TBA
The outdoor season kicked off for the entire Bulldog men’s and women’s teams on Sunday at the Central Nebraska Challenge co-hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney and Hastings. From a big picture perspective, the highlights were two automatic national qualifying times produced by national champion Adrianna Rodencal and four NAIA ‘B’ standards achieved by Concordia athletes. The early list of Bulldog national qualifying standards (see below) also includes an A standard from Jonny ‘The Jet’ Jurchen, who clocked a 5,000-meter race walk time of 22:28.39 at the Grand View Viking Relays. As a result, Jurchen was named GPAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week.
National Qualifying Standards
· A – Jonny Jurchen: 5,000-meter race walk (22:28.39)
· A – Adrianna Rodencal: 100-meter hurdles (13.55); 400-meter hurdles (59.32)
· B – Women’s 4x100-meter relay (46.99)
· B – Nathan Baldwin: discus (164’ 4”); hammer throw (185’ 3”)
· B – Emry Gutz: javelin (193’ 9”)
The performances on Sunday from Rodencal were a continuation of her standout career. At the Central Nebraska Challenge, she ran 13.55 in the 100-meter hurdles (first place) and 59.32 in the 400-meter hurdles (second place). Rodencal is coming off an indoor season that saw her win the 60-meter hurdle national title in a personal best time of 8.25. She is now a five-time NAIA All-American. At the meet in Kearney, Rodencal also anchored the 4x100-meter relay that earned a B standard of 46.99. Rodencal was joined on the relay by Adysen McCarter, Kayla Kirchner and Kiki Nyanok.
In the throws, Nathan Baldwin starred in Kearney as he landed B marks in the discus (164’ 4”) and hammer (PR of 185’ 3”). Reigning GPAC javelin champion Emry Gutz also hit a B standard with his personal best of 193’ 9” in the javelin. Baldwin is a two-time All-American after he placed third in the weight throw at the 2026 NAIA Indoor Championships.
In the sprints, freshman Avery Eaves continues to excel. He placed second out of 52 athletes in the 100 meters at this past week’s meet. Eaves’ 100-meter time of 10.61 missed Quinton Furr’s school record of 10.60 (2001) by .01 seconds. Eaves also placed ninth in the 200 meters (21.79) and helped the 4x100-meter relay to a winning time of 41.87. A full recap of the meet can be found HERE.
The Central Nebraska Challenge marked the first outing for the Bulldogs since saying goodbye to teammate Matthew Wing, who died in a tragic car accident over spring break. Another teammate, Noah Ramirez, remains hospitalized in the aftermath of that same accident. To honor them, Concordia coaches wore wings and green ribbons at the meet.
Following next Monday’s Concordia Invite, the Bulldogs will continue the outdoor season with the Hastings Invite on April 11. The complete schedule can be found HERE.