For the seventh straight year, the Bulldog Early Bird Meet (Dec. 12-13) will signal the beginning of indoor season for Concordia University, Nebraska Track & Field. As the fall semester speeds towards final exam week, Head Coach Matt Beisel can sense the anticipation throughout the roster of more than 160 athletes. At this point in the year, there’s an appetite for competition, a curiosity to find out where they stand and a hunger to learn how much they’ve grown over the past year.
Beisel just completed his 10th season as cross country head coach and has now shifted focus to indoor track. As cross country runners have competed this fall, other Concordia athletes have worked behind the scenes to strengthen bonds while focusing on the processes they hope lead to strong results this winter. The fall has allowed time for 54 newcomers to make themselves more comfortable.
Says Beisel, “There’s so much positive energy and culture on our team where people have each other’s backs and are looking out for each other. I see God working in their lives. I see it every year with Concordia track – we outperform expectations. I think it’s because of the positive team environment where you’re not just doing it for yourself, you’re doing it because you don’t want to let these people down who are so important to you. It’s impossible to predict what it’s looking like for this year, but I think we’re top three in the conference again for men and women. That’s always the hope.”
For programs that have won two national championship banners over the past decade, expectations remain high. This past 2024-25 season of indoor/outdoor track, nine Bulldog athletes came away with at least one All-America award. The women’s program concluded the spring of 2025 with a top 10 team national finish. Continuity will carry into 2026 as Beisel’s staff continues to feature full-time assistants Ed McLaughlin and Mark Samuels along with veteran pole vault coach Jason Berry. The staff also includes Darien Semedo, Steve Hoger and Greta Corneliusen.
WOMEN
Head Coach: Matt Beisel (10th year); 12x GPAC Coach of the Year
2025 Indoor Finishes: 3rd (GPAC); 20th (NAIA)
2025 Outdoor Finishes: 2nd (GPAC); 9th (NAIA)
Past All-Americans returning (indoor/outdoor): Kayla Kirchner (3); Josi Noble (1); Adrianna Rodencal (4); Zoey Walker (1).
2025 All-Americans lost (indoor/outdoor): Abby Gerber (4); Isabelle Salters (2); Gretchen Stottlemyre (1); Trinity Tuls (5); Abi Wohlgemuth (2).
2025 National Qualifiers returning (indoor/outdoor): Harper Boche; Brittni Kinne; Kayla Kirchner; Adysen McCarter; Addie Reimer; Adrianna Rodencal; Cambria Saunders.
--NOTE: list of national qualifiers includes athletes who traveled to the 2025 NAIA indoor/outdoor meets.
Women’s Outlook
The reign atop the GPAC finally ended in 2025 as the Concordia women posted GPAC placements of third for indoor and second for outdoor. Under Beisel’s direction, the Bulldogs claimed 11 consecutive GPAC team championships, spanning the 2019 indoor through 2024 outdoor seasons. In the first nine years of Beisel’s tenure, the women’s program has placed in the top 10 nationally a total of 13 times in 17 national meets. On six occasions, Concordia has earned team trophies for top-four NAIA finishes.
In other words, the Bulldogs have become known as a perennial powerhouse on a national level. From where he sits in December, Beisel believes Concordia will be duking it out with rival Doane once again for GPAC supremacy. It should be noted that Dordt placed as the league’s runner up to Doane at the 2025 GPAC indoor meet.
“That’s been a great rivalry going back decades,” said Beisel of the rivalry with Doane. “(The GPAC championship) is something both teams really want. Having a top two or three conference team means you’re going to be nationally relevant because the GPAC is so strong and well-represented at nationals. If you’re placing well individually in our conference, you’re probably looking at being a national qualifier. Some years the pieces fall into place. It’s impossible to predict what could happen, but I do think we’re a top 10 contender at nationals and maybe top 15 for the guys. That’s always the hope to get a bunch of people there, take care of business and see how it shakes out.”
Led by the school record breaking Adrianna Rodencal, the Bulldogs placed top 20 nationally at both the 2025 NAIA indoor and outdoor meets. A four-time NAIA All-American in 2025, Rodencal is joined on the 2025-26 roster by three-time All-American Kayla Kirchner, a fellow senior and 4x400-meter relay teammate. Additional upperclassmen Josi Noble and Zoey Walker own one career All-America honor to their credit. This past cross country season, sophomore (from an eligibility standpoint) Keeli Green raced to an All-America award on the trails of Tallahassee, Fla.
In total, there are more than 70 athletes on a women’s roster that appears to be well-rounded across all event areas. The returning national qualifiers not mentioned above include throwers Harper Boche and Brittni Kinne, triple jump school record holder Adysen McCarter, multi-event standout Addie Reimer and versatile athlete Cambria Saunders. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs said goodbye to 2025 All-Americans Abby Gerber, Isabelle Salters, Trinity Tuls and Abi Wohlgemuth, each of whom graduated and completed their eligibility.
“Last year was a bit bittersweet getting second place (in the GPAC),” Rodencal said. “Coming into this fall training, me and a bunch of the other seniors – both guys and girls – we have a fire under our butts when we do our practices. We’re going to show up and give our all. We sat down and talked about that. We have tried to do a lot of team bonding and have showed the underclassmen that we want this. It’s definitely doable that we can get stuff done. We have that fire.”
A Lincoln Lutheran High School alum, Rodencal raised her game to new heights as a junior. Included in her four All-America awards was a national runner-up claim in the 400-meter hurdles. She also swept GPAC indoor/outdoor Athlete of the Year awards and broke school records in the 60-meter hurdles (8.44), 100-meter hurdles (13.37), 400-meter hurdles (58.90) and 4x100-meter relay (47.32). Rodencal also set new GPAC meet standards in every hurdles event.
What more could one possibly ask for? Athletes like Rodencal are always motivated to accomplish the next great thing. Winning a national title is not out of the question for Rodencal.
“Being able to accomplish that as a junior after missing the mark just barely the first two years, I’m very grateful for that,” Rodencal said. “I hit the mark that I had been going for, so I had to sit back this summer and let myself take it in and fully absorb it. I haven’t changed my goals – not big changes. I want to focus this year on having fun and enjoying time with my teammates. The next big step would be national champion. Coach (Samuels) and I have talked about that. It’s a big ask, but we both came into this year wanting that. I know we can push to do that, so that’s the next big step this year.”
Rodencal and Kirchner will most certainly headline a 4x4 that will be reshaped after the graduation of Salters and Tuls. Now brimming with confidence, the Arlington, Neb., native Green has the ability to score big points as one of the GPAC’s best distance runners. Green placed 26th at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships. That distance crew has also featured the likes of sophomores Annaka Schlachter and Alison Stepanek.
Based on the 2025 GPAC indoor meet, other top returners are McCarter and Reimer. McCarter placed as the conference triple jump runner up both indoor and outdoor while Reimer landed in second in the pentathlon. McCarter’s outdoor triple jump PR of 39’ 1 ¾” eclipsed a school standard that had been in place since 2010.
McCarter is one of the leaders of a deep jumps crew that returns additional 2025 All-GPAC honorees in Jaelynne Kosmos, Hayley Miles, Noble, Kiki Nyanok and Reimer. Noble and Reimer are part of a multi-events crew that brings back fellow all-conference award winners in Kennedee Canales and Emma Kucera.
In the throws, Boche and Kinne will attempt to return to nationals. Another All-GPAC award winner is Carissa Kolle (discus). As for the pole vault, both Lillee Richard and Kayla Svoboda placed in all-conference territory at the 2025 indoor and outdoor GPAC meets. The vault has been a fruitful event historically for Concordia, which enters the season’s first meet believing it has the makings of another strong overall team.
MEN
Head Coach: Matt Beisel (10th year); 12x GPAC Coach of the Year
2025 Indoor Finishes: 4th (GPAC); 56th (NAIA)
2025 Outdoor Finishes: 4th (GPAC); 67th (NAIA)
Past All-Americans returning (indoor/outdoor): Nathan Baldwin (1); Jonny Jurchen (1); Mayson Ostermeyer (2).
2025 All-Americans lost (indoor/outdoor): None; (May 2025 graduate Austen Rozzelle was a past All-American).
2025 National Qualifiers returning (indoor/outdoor): Nathan Baldwin; Matthew Boyer; Liam Fagan; Carson Fehlhafer; Luke Hammang; Vaughn Hendrickson; Jonny Jurchen; Sam Olson; Mayson Ostermeyer; Trey Robertson; Justin Sherman.
--NOTE: list of national qualifiers includes athletes who traveled to the 2025 NAIA indoor/outdoor meets.
Men’s Outlook
The Concordia men’s program has placed fourth or better in each of the past 13 conference meets dating back to the 2019 indoor season. The 2025 Bulldogs landed at exactly No. 4 at the indoor and outdoor GPAC meets. After graduating the likes of national champions Chris Wren and Zach Zohner after the 2023-24 seasons, Concordia slipped back from a national perspective in 2024-25. The Bulldogs hope to creep back closer to the NAIA’s top 10 after an offseason of recruitment and development.
Head Coach Matt Beisel enters his 10th season at the helm of his alma mater. There were positive happenings in the fall for the cross country team that narrowly missed out on a team at-large bid to the national meet.
“It’s hard to predict,” Beisel said. “We were a little down in the relays outdoor last year. We had a guys 4x4 that has been one guy short of a really good national 4x4 for a few years now. With this year, I think we have 4x4s and 4x8s that could make it (to nationals). Where are we going to be strongest? We’re going to find out, but I think this is the deepest group of middle distance runners we’ve had in years. We have returners who have really developed and also some real talent in the freshman class. It's impossible to go through every event area and say what’s going to happen. We have a lot of really dedicated guys who are committed to being the best they can be.”
The three Bulldogs who earned All-America medals for indoor and/or outdoor last season are all back: Nathan Baldwin (discus), Jonny Jurchen (racewalk) and Mayson Ostermeyer (two-time pole vault All-American). Meanwhile, sophomore Vaughn Hendrickson was a 2024 cross country All-American (and now a two-time cross country national qualifier). The hope now is that Concordia has compiled the depth needed to stack more points at the conference and national meets. From a conference perspective, the Bulldogs trailed the likes of Doane, Dordt and Midland in the battle for GPAC supremacy in 2025.
Other returning national qualifiers include Matthew Boyer (javelin), Liam Fagan (DMR), Luke Hammang (racewalk), Hendrickson (DMR), Sam Olson (racewalk), Trey Robertson (DMR) and Justin Sherman (DMR). Unfortunately, 2025 GPAC indoor shot put champion Carson Fehlhafer will be unable to compete due to an injury suffered during football season. His throwing teammates will look to pick up the slack.
A native of Sutton, Neb., Baldwin burst onto the scene last season and was a GPAC champion and All-American in the discus. Said Baldwin, “Everyone’s definitely been working pretty hard. Josiah (Edwards) got in the weight room and has gotten really strong. I think it’s working out pretty well for him. I’m hoping he’ll get to nationals. I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes it. Riley Prochnow has been working hard. Those are the guys I know most about. I know Sawyer Deters has struggled with injuries, but he’s getting back in the groove … It’s really nice being around really good throwers. It kind of brings out the best in you. It’s nice being around a bunch of other guys who are passionate about throwing and are really good.”
The throws crew includes school javelin record holder Matthew Boyer (219’ 1”) and 2025 GPAC javelin champion Emery Gutz. The aforementioned Edwards was a sixth-place conference finisher in the weight throw. Baldwin says that this season will be a success for the group if they all are able to hit personal bests.
A senior from Crofton, Neb., Ostermeyer headlines the pole vault group. He swept GPAC indoor and outdoor vault titles in 2025 and is looking to battle through injuries of his own. Ostermeyer (16’ 6 ¾” PR) was joined with GPAC all-conference honors last season by Evan Hill. Meanwhile, Jax Jacobson is another vaulter who continues to make strides.
One of Seward’s own, Jonny “The Jet” Jurchen has stepped up to lead a revitalized racewalk crew at Concordia. Jurchen became the GPAC meet indoor and outdoor record holder as part of a wildly successful freshman campaign that saw him earn an All-America medal. His indoor personal best stands at 13:27.23 (3,000-meter racewalk). Racewalk teammates Luke Hammang and Sam Olson are also returning All-GPAC and national qualifying performers.
A year ago, Beisel’s squad qualified a distance medley relay for the indoor national meet. All four legs are back (in order): Robertson, Fagan, Sherman and Hendrickson. The GPAC cross country all-conference honor roll this fall included Hendrickson and Robertson, in addition to Trevor Kuncl and Aidan Limback. At the 2025 GPAC indoor meet, Robertson starred as an all-conference performer in the mile, 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. Additionally, Lucas Corwin was a 2025 GPAC indoor all-conference honoree in the 600 meters. Fagan, Perry Chadwick and Matthew Wing were part of an indoor All-GPAC 4x4 team.
In the jumps, Aaron Spivey is a four-time All-GPAC award winner in the triple. Amongst that group, Myles Sadd (long jump) has also been an all-conference athlete. Concordia hopes to continue to expand this group and make a leap forward in the multi-events.
Preparation began when classes resumed in August. The results in cross country provide optimism. As Beisel said, “We had the best men’s team performance from a time standpoint since probably 2012. These guys are going to be competitive at the GPAC level (in track). The distance crew wants to be impact players to help our track teams score as many points as possible. They set goals for that so they can be part of the team effort that helps us win conference championships.”
Final Thoughts
Coach Beisel:
On the upperclassmen in the program: “I have so much respect for them. As I’ve gotten to know them better over the years, I see how much they’ve grown maturity-wise, spiritually and leadership-wise. We have 170 kids on our team and I’ve met with almost every one of them at least once if not more. I ask them a lot of questions about who they want to be as a team member and what are some of the expectations they have from a performance standpoint. A lot of them have talked about how they want to lead by example or lead verbally or get others into their Bible studies. Adrianna talked early in the fall about ways to get everyone on the same page within their event group. There’s nothing preventing you from getting everyone together and asking what they want to get out of this. They did it. I see fruits coming out of that. Some of the most important memories that I have from my time here were not things my coaches told me to do. It was all things within our training group. We’ve got married kids on our team. They’re young adults forging their way in the world. There’s a lot of maturity in our juniors and seniors. You look at some of our sophomores too, there’s a lot of leadership. You couldn’t ask for more.”
On the upcoming Bulldog Early Bird Meet: “All of us are pumped to see where we’re at. When you have more than 100 people training (outside of cross country) all fall and they’re ready to see what they’re capable of, this is what they’ve been working towards. Then they have finals and go on break for three-and-a-half weeks before we start competing again. Everybody has expectations and is curious to see what they can do. We have quite a big group of men’s multi-event athletes. I’m curious to see how things go with our pentathletes and heptathletes. There are a lot of newcomers who are having a lot of fun with it. We always like to walk away with some national qualifiers and some good marks. When you compete at the Early Bird, you’re going to learn one of two things – you’re either in a good place or you’re not where you want to be. Either way, that motivates them. The motivation comes from looking at that first meet and saying, is that the trajectory I want my season to be on? What do I need to do to continue that or change that? That’s what a smart thinking athlete will do.”
2025-26 Schedule: To view the complete Concordia Track & Field schedule, click HERE.