HASTINGS, Neb. – Day two of the 2025 GPAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, characterized by perfect weather conditions, saw junior Adrianna Rodencal put on a show and help lead Concordia University, Nebraska Track & Field to a conference runner-up claim on the women’s side. Rodencal took home GPAC Female Outstanding Athlete of the Meet accolades for the fourth time in her career while posting three of the Bulldogs’ combined eight GPAC event titles on the weekend. On the men’s side, Concordia placed fourth as Nathan Baldwin won the conference discus title on Saturday.
Head Coach Matt Beisel’s nationally ranked squads emerged from the championship meet in Hastings with point totals of 163 for the women and 103 for the men.
“We knew we had more potential to put points on the board (at outdoor conference),” Beisel said. “Getting conference runner up is a big deal to all of us. We did it with God’s grace and a lot of hard work on the part of the women. We were able to hold off Dordt after the 5k went in our favor. With the men, we gave it everything we had to try to get third and beat Midland. We ended up in fourth, but not for a lack of outstanding effort on the part of our guys. We had all these conference champions – and to be a conference champion is such a difficult thing.”
For the second time in her career, Rodencal has swept GPAC indoor/outdoor athlete of the meet awards. Her 2025 conference outdoor titles came in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles and in the 200 meters. The other Bulldogs to rise to the top of the podium this weekend included Baldwin, Emery Gutz (javelin), Jonny Jurchen (5,000-meter race walk), Mayson Ostermeyer (pole vault) and Abi Wohlgemuth (hammer). Concordia athletes also combined for eight conference runner-up finishes.
The weekend for Rodencal demands further examination. On Friday, she ran the prelims of the 100 hurdles and 100 meters with the hurdles yielding a GPAC meet record of 13.63. Rodencal came back on Saturday and broke another conference meet record by clocking in at 58.90 in the 400 hurdles (also a school record). The Lincoln Lutheran alum took first in the two hurdles events and in the 200 meters (24.69) and placed second as part of the 4x100-meter relay (46.80), third in the 100 meters (12.12) and sixth in the long jump (17’ 10 ¼”). It all added up to a whopping 41 team points from the remarkable Rodencal, a 10-time GPAC champion in her career.
Day two GPAC titles on the men’s side came courtesy of Baldwin in the discus and Jurchen in the race walk. Baldwin gave the Concordia throws crew a third championship on the weekend as he spun the discus a distance of 169’ 2,” resulting in his first career GPAC title. Austen Rozelle placed fourth in that same event. Also in Saturday’s throwing events, the Bulldogs emerged with two second-place claims in the shot put: Connor Asche (PR of 53’ 6 ¼”) on the men’s side and Abby Gerber (45’ 9 ¾”) on the women’s side. The men’s shot came away with 15 team points after adding the efforts of Baldwin (fourth) and Carson Fehlhafer (seventh).
In the 5,000-meter race walk, Jonny “The Jet” Jurchen automatically qualified for nationals with his personal best of 23:47.39. A special freshman season already included a GPAC indoor race walk title and All-America medal for the Seward native Jurchen. He was backed in the event on Saturday by teammate Luke Hammang, who posted a NAIA B standard of 24:03.73 and placed second.
The list of Bulldog runners up at the GPAC Championships included the women’s 4x1 and 4x4 relays, Asche and Gerber in the shot put, Hammang in the race walk, Matthew Boyer in the javelin, Kiki Nyanok in the long jump and Adysen McCarter in the triple jump. Both Nyanok and McCarter made significant pushes to win GPAC titles. A freshman from Overton, Neb., McCarter eclipsed her own school record in the triple jump by landing at 39’ 1 ¾,” a mark that pushes her to No. 14 on the NAIA national list. The triple jump was a fruitful event on Saturday as Concordia went 2-5-7 courtesy of McCarter, Josi Noble and Hayley Miles.
The 4x1 school record came in at 46.80 (now No. 13 on the national list) and included McCarter, Kayla Kirchner, Emily Loseke and Rodencal. In closing out the meet on the women’s side, the 4x4 ran 3:56.97 as Rodencal sat it out – a well-earned break. The 4x4 was made up of Trinity Tuls, Tayden Kirchner, Isabelle Salters and Kayla Kirchner. In the open 400 meters, Kayla Kirchner (third), Tuls (fourth), Loseke (seventh) and Isabelle Salters (eighth) each scored team points.
Breaking things down further, not previously mentioned Bulldogs who placed third in an event were Baldwin (hammer), Easton Fries (400 hurdles), Miles (long jump) and Addie Reimer (heptathlon). Four Concordia athletes scored in the heptathlon as Reimer was joined with medals by teammates Emma Kucera (fifth), Noble (seventh) and Kennedee Canales (eighth). Reimer’s 4,204 points put her No. 18 on the national list.
The GPAC Championships of 2025 saw the Bulldogs place in the top three in both indoor and outdoor for women and fourth in both indoor and outdoor for men. From an overall perspective, the weekend in Hastings went about as well as Beisel and his staff could have hoped it would.
Said Beisel, “In every conference meet, anything can happen. You’re always going to have some really good things happen, and you’re going to have some disappointments. You never know who it’s going to be. When you have a letdown, you have to clear your mind and focus back on the team. Our athletes absolutely did that the whole day. They were lining the fences, cheering and screaming. I’m excited to see what the Twilight meet brings and then on to nationals. I’m very grateful for our coaches and how they work and work and put everything into these athletes.”
2025 GPAC Outdoor Champions
· Nathan Baldwin – Discus (169’ 2”)
· Emery Gutz – Javelin (188’ 8”)
· Jonny Jurchen – 5,000m Race Walk (23:47.39)
· Mayson Ostermeyer – Pole Vault (15’ 9”)
· Adrianna Rodencal – 100m Hurdles (13.66 in finals); 400m Hurdles (58.90); 200 Meters (24.69)
· Abi Wohlgemuth – Hammer Throw (180’)
NOTE: All athletes who earn top eight individual finishes – and all athletes who contribute to top three relays – are recognized as GPAC All-Conference award winners. A full list of Concordia’s all-conference honorees will be posted in a later release.
Another two meets remain prior to the national championships. Coming up on Friday, May 9, the Bulldogs will host the annual Concordia Twilight. Select Concordia athletes will also compete at the Loper Twilight Meet on May 10 as a final chance opportunity for national qualifying marks.