2022 Track & Field Schedule/Results

Men's place finishes
GPAC: 4th indoor | 3rd outdoor
NAIA: 36th indoor | T-47th outdoor

Women's place finishes
GPAC: 1st indoor | 1st outdoor
NAIA: 3rd indoor | 4th outdoor

INDOOR

Date	Meet	Location	Results
Dec. 10-11	Bulldog Early Bird Meet	Seward, Neb.	Results
Jan. 14-15	University of Nebraska Graduate Classic	Lincoln, Neb.	Results
Jan. 15	Scott Nisely Memorial Classic	Crete, Neb.	Results
Jan. 22	Concordia Polar Dog Invite	Seward, Neb.	Results
Jan. 29	Fred Beile Classic	Crete, Neb.	Results
Feb. 4	Concordia University Classic	Seward, Neb.	Results
Feb. 4-5	Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational	Lincoln, Neb.	Results
Feb. 12	Concordia University Indoor Invite	Seward, Neb.	Results
Feb. 18-19	GPAC Indoor T&F Championships	Crete, Neb.	Results
Mar. 3-5	NAIA Indoor T&F National Championships	Brookings, S.D.	Results

OUTDOOR

Date	Meet	Location	Results
March 26	Doane Icebreaker Throws Meet	Crete, Neb.	Results
March 26	Grand View Viking Relays	Des Moines, Iowa	Results
April 2	UNK-Hastings Central Nebraska Challenge	Kearney, Neb.	Results
April 8-9	Concordia Outdoor Invite	Seward, Neb.	Results
April 15	University of Nebraska-Kearney Invite	Kearney, Neb.	Results
April 21-23	Jim Dutcher Invite	Crete, Neb.	Results
April 29-30	Drake Relays	Des Moines, Iowa	Results
April 28	Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolf Invite	Lincoln, Neb.	Results
May 6-7	GPAC Outdoor T&F Championships	Crete, Neb.	Results
May 13	Concordia Twilight Meet	Seward, Neb.	Results
May 14	UNK Loper Twilight Meet	Kearney, Neb.	Results
May 25-27	NAIA Outdoor T&F National Championships	Gulf Shores, Ala.	Results

2021-22 Roster

MEN
Name	Event	ID	OD	Hometown	Previous School
Logan Adam	Throws	Jr.	Jr.	Crete, Neb.	Crete
Brayden Adams	Mid-Distance	Jr.	So.	Omaha, Neb.	Elkhorn
Andy Amos	Throws	Jr.	Jr.	Mountain Grove, Mo.	Mountain Grove
Connor Asche	Throws	Fr.	Fr.	Geneva, Neb.	Fillmore Central
Zackry Axiotes	High Jump	Fr.	Fr.	Omaha, Neb.	Elkhorn South
Hunter Bartels	Throws	So.	Jr.	Imperial, Neb.	Chase County
Zach Bennetts	Pole Vault/Horizontal Jumps	Jr.	Jr.	Denton, Neb.	Lincoln Southwest
Chase Berry	Pole Vault	So.	So.	Seward, Neb.	Seward
Dagne' Buck	Throws	Jr.	Jr.	Plumas Lake, Calif.	Whitney
Matt Caruso	Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Omaha, Neb.	Millard North
Zach Christensen	Throws	Jr.	Jr.	Hastings, Neb.	Adams Central Jr-Sr
Zach Cloud	Mid-Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Grand Island, Neb.	Grand Island Central Catholic
Mark Cooke	Sprints/Hurdles	Jr.	Sr.	Edison, N.J.	Stevens HS / Eastern Michigan Univ.
Owen Dawson	Distance/Steeplechase	So.	Fr.	Cedar Falls, Iowa	Valley Lutheran
Brett Determan	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Cedar Falls, Iowa	Valley Lutheran
Jack Ellis	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Bend, Ore.	Trinity Lutheran
Aaron Everett	Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Milwaukee, Wis.	Milwaukee Lutheran
Kameron Farmer	Hurdles/Sprints	So.	So.	Leander, Texas	Rouse
Jonathyn Fosler	Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Milford, Neb.	Homeschooled
Jayson Frank	High Jump/Horizontal Jumps	Fr.	So.	Sterling, Colo.	Sterling
Marc Freiberg II	Hurdles/Sprints/Jumps	So.	So.	Seward, Neb.	Seward
Zack Gentry	Javelin	Jr.	Jr.	San Antonio, Texas	Lutheran
Jacob Glines	High Jump/Sprints	Jr.	Jr.	Lincoln, Neb.	Lincoln Lutheran
Thomas Gorline	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	St. Louis, Mo.	Westminster Christian
Cameron Gray	Mid-Distance	So.	Sr.	Riverside, Calif.	Woodcrest Christian / Riverside City College
Charlie Hayden	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Elkhorn, Neb.	Elkhorn South
Ricky Herman	Distance	Jr.	Jr.	Springfield, Mo.	Central
Ethan Ideus	Mid-Distance	Fr.	So.	Seward, Neb.	Seward
Quinton Janecek	Sprints	So.	Fr.	Gering, Neb.	Gering
Jacob Jennings	Jumps	Sr.	Sr.	Shawnee, Kan.	De Soto
Zachary Johnson	Mid-Distance	So.	So.	Aberdeen, S.D.	Central
Shane Jones-Trammell	Throws	So.	Fr.	Roseville, Calif.	Roseville
Cade Kleckner	Sprints	Jr.	Sr.	Colorado Springs, Colo.	Pine Creek
Brady Klute	Throws	So.	So.	Hampton, Neb.	Hampton
Peter Kreutzer	Throws	Fr.	So.	Kearney, Neb.	Kearney
Grant Lammers	Mid-Distance	Jr.	Jr.	Blair, Neb.	Blair
Wyatt Lehr	Distance	Jr.	Jr.	Lamar, Colo.	Lamar High School
Wyatt Loga	High Jump/Horizontal Jumps	So.	So.	Bee, Neb.	Malcolm
Joe McFarland	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Columbus, Neb.	Columbus
Austin Meisel	Sprints	Jr.	Jr.	Jefferson City, Mo.	Calvary Lutheran
Maccoy Menke	Mid-Distance	So.	So.	Lawrence, Neb.	Blue Hill HS / Univ. of Nebraska
Colton Meyer	Hurdles/Sprints	So.	So.	Eagle, Neb.	Lincoln Lutheran
Teagan Meyer	Hurdles/Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Alta, Iowa	Alta-Aurelia
Ben Moll	Throws	Fr.	So.	Seward, Neb.	Lincoln Lutheran
Ethan Pankow	Mid-Distance	Jr.	Jr.	Milwaukee, Wis.	Milwaukee Lutheran
Nathan Pennekamp	Distance/Steeplechase	Fr.	Fr.	Fort Wayne, Ind.	Concordia Lutheran
Sam Plante	Mid-Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Elkhorn, Neb.	Elkhorn South
Zach Potratz	Distance	Sr.	Sr.	Seward, Neb.	Seward
Connor Powers	Hurdles/Long Jump	Fr.	Fr.	Neenah, Wis.	St. Mary Catholic
Joel Rathe	Sprints/Horizontal Jumps	Fr.	So.	Sterling, Neb.	Sterling
Thad Rathjen	Mid-Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Osceola, Neb.	Osceola
JP Reynolds	Mid-Distance	Sr.	Jr.	Nuevo, Calif.	Woodcrest Christian
Calvin Rohde	Distance/Steeplechase	Fr.	So.	Reed City, Mich.	Reed City
Xavier Ross	Sprints	Jr.	So.	Melrose Park, Ill.	Timothy Christian
Austen Rozelle	Throws	Jr.	So.	Wauneta, Neb.	Wauneta-Palisade / McCook CC
Evan Schmidt	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Firth, Neb.	Norris HS
Darien Semedo	Throws	Fr.	So.	Sacramento, Calif.	Capital Christian
Camden Sesna	Distance/Steeplechase	So.	So.	Kearney, Neb.	Kearney Catholic
Jackson Smith	Mid-Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Waukee, Iowa	Waukee / Grand Canyon University
Tra Smith	Horizontal Jumps	Fr.	Fr.	Omaha, Neb.	Boys Town
Grant Stadler	Pole Vault	Jr.	Jr.	Columbus, Neb.	Columbus Senior
Colby Sugden	Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Adams, Neb.	Freeman
Brennan Taylor	Mid-Distance	Fr.	So.	Seward, Neb.	Seward
Josh Taylor	Sprints/Javelin	So.	So.	Geneva, Neb.	Fillmore Central / Dakota Wesleyan
Parker Vyhlidal	Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Lincoln, Neb.	Lincoln
Kadin Vrbas	Sprints	Fr.	So.	Imperial, Neb.	Chase County
Tyler Walford	Throws	Fr.	Fr.	Lincoln, Neb.	Ellsworth
Logan Walgate	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	St. Charles, Mo.	Lutheran
Micah Willweber	Distance	Fr.	So.	Kailua, Hawaii	Kalaheo
Ryan Wokutch	Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Paola, Kan.	Paola
Christopher Wren	Throws	So.	So.	Fair Oaks, Calif.	Bella Vista
Zach Zohner	Pole Vault	Fr.	So.	Battle Creek, Neb.	Battle Creek

WOMEN
Name	Event	ID	OD	Hometown	Previous School
Lauren Ada	Mid-Distance	Fr.	So.	De Soto, Kan.	The Lutheran HS of Kansas City
Emily Agena	Throws	So.	So.	Sterling , Neb.	Sterling Public
Brittney Aitken	Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Cozad, Neb.	Cozad
Jordyn Anderson	Throws	Jr.	Jr.	Plainview, Neb.	Plainview
Elena Batenhorst	Sprints/Horizontal Jumps	Fr.	Fr.	Columbus, Neb.	Columbus
Jordin Battaglia	Hurdles/Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Seward, Neb.	Seward
Rachel Battershell	Hurdles/Sprints	Jr.	Jr.	Wheatland, Wyo.	Wheatland Senior
Keri Bauer	Sprints/Mid-Distance	Jr.	Sr.	Pleasanton, Neb.	Pleasanton
Erin Boggs	PV/Hurdles/HJ/Multis	Fr.	Fr.	Bertrand, Neb.	Bertrand
Kaylee Boyle	Hurdles/Multi-Events	Jr.	Jr.	Scribner, Neb.	Scribner Snyder
Jamey Broman	Horizontal Jumps	Jr.	Jr.	Geneva, Neb.	Fillmore Central
Brynna Bruxellas	Horizontal Jumps/High Jump	Fr.	So.	Falls City, Neb.	Falls City
Olivia Buschow	Throws	So.	So.	Blue Hill, Neb.	Blue Hill
Greta Corneliusen	Horizontal Jumps	Fr.	Fr.	Colorado Springs, Colo.	The Classical Academy
Amira Cummings	Sprints/Pole Vault	Fr.	So.	Cheyenne, Wyo.	Cheyenne East
Mickey Curl	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Colorado Springs, Colo.	The Classical Academy
Abigail Dawson	Distance	So.	Fr.	Grand Island, Neb.	Heartland Lutheran
Lauren Dawson	Steeplechase	Fr.	So.	Cedar Falls, Iowa	Valley Lutheran
Morgan De Jong	Throws	Sr.	Sr.	Orange City, Iowa	Moc-Floyd Valley
Abi DeLoach	Distance	Jr.	Jr.	Kearney, Neb.	Kearney
Gabby Diamond	Sprints/Horizontal Jumps	Sr.	Sr.	Bennington, Neb.	Bennington
Jenna Esch	Sprints/Mid-Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Hastings, Neb.	Saint Cecilia
Faith Espinosa	Hurdles/High Jump/Multis	Fr.	Fr.	Clarinda, Iowa	Clarinda
Mackenzie Ferrel	Throws	Jr.	Sr.	Lincoln, Neb.	Lincoln North Star
Abigail Gerber	Throws	Fr.	So.	Columbus, Neb.	Columbus
Peyton Gissler	Distance	Fr.	So.	Malcolm, Neb.	Malcolm
Rylee Haecker	Mid-Distance	Fr.	So.	Davenport, Neb.	Raymond Central
Kylahn Heritage	Distance	So.	So.	Nampa, Idaho	Melba
Jordyn Hilyard	Mid-Distance	Jr.	Jr.	Holdrege, Neb.	Holdrege
Sara Huss	Throws	Fr.	So.	Fairbury, Neb.	Fairbury
Keali Ingram	Hurdles	Fr.	Fr.	Lancaster, Texas	Lancaster
Ellie Jander	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	St. Louis, Mo.	Lutheran HS North
Rhaya Kaschinske	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Fort Wayne, Ind.	Concordia Lutheran
Jordan Koepke	Sprints/Hurdles	Fr.	Fr.	Gulf Breeze, Fla.	Gulf Breeze
Mackenzie Koepke	High Jump	-	Sr.	Lincoln, Neb.	Lincoln Lutheran
Skylar Kreifels	Sprints	Fr.	So.	Lincoln, Neb.	Lincoln East
Averie Lambrecht	Horizontal Jumps	Fr.	So.	Waverly, Neb.	Waverly
Sarah Lewis	Hurdles/Sprints	Jr.	Jr.	Mason City, Neb.	Ansley Public
Emily Loseke	Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Leigh, Neb.	Clarkson-Leigh
Elle Luehr	Throws	Jr.	Sr.	Wood River, Neb.	Wood River Rural
Erin Mapson	Pole Vault	Jr.	Jr.	Lincoln, Neb.	Lincoln East
Amie Martin	Distance	So.	So.	Arnold, Mo.	Fox C-6
Anna McCoy	Hurdles	Fr.	So.	Grand Island, Neb.	Grand Island
Abigail Meier	Distance	So.	So.	Lawrence, Kan.	Lawrence Free State
Taylor Moes	Horizontal Jumps	So.	So.	Elm Creek, Neb.	Elm Creek
Hannah Mulligan	Sprints	Jr.	Jr.	Hastings, Neb.	Adams Central
Hannah Mundt	Steeplechase	So.	So.	Blue Springs, Mo.	The Lutheran HS of Kansas City
Hannah Newton	High Jump/Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Crete, Neb.	Crete
Katelyn Nix	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Fort Wayne, Ind.	Concordia Lutheran
Grace Oberg	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Kearney, Neb.	Kearney Catholic
Cora Olson	Sprints/Horizontal Jumps	Jr.	Jr.	Trimont, Minn.	Martin County West
Allison Owings	Throws	So.	So.	Imperial, Neb.	Chase County
Erin Painter	Throws	Fr.	So.	Ainsworth, Neb.	Ainsworth
Grace Pennekamp	Steeplechase	Fr.	So.	Fort Wayne, Ind.	Concordia Lutheran
Mary Pennekamp	Steeplechase	Fr.	So.	Fort Wayne, Ind.	Concordia Lutheran
Jacee Pfeifer	Sprints	Jr.	Jr.	Holdrege. Neb.	Holdrege
Kamryn Pokorney	Throws	Fr.	So.	Shelby, Neb.	Shelby-Rising
Josie Puelz	Pole Vault/Hurdles	So.	So.	Lincoln, Neb.	Lincoln Lutheran HS
Sarah Ragland	Throws	Sr.	Sr.	Rocky River, Ohio	Lutheran West
Aubrey Rathke	Mid-Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Fremont, Neb.	Fremont
Sydney Reichert	Pole Vault	Fr.	So.	Benkelman, Neb.	Dundy County Stratton
Grace Reiman	Steeplechase	Fr.	So.	Hastings, Neb.	Adams Central
Grace Reimer	High Jump/Hurdles	Fr.	So.	Hartland, Wis.	Lake County Lutheran
Kellie Rhodes	Sprints	Fr.	So.	Mullinville, Kan.	Kiowa County
Amy Richert	Hurdles/High Jump/Multis	Fr.	So.	Gresham, Neb.	Nebraska Lutheran
Kaia Richmond	Distance/Steeplechase	Fr.	Fr.	Langley, Wash.	South Whidbey
Faith Riggle	Throws	Fr.	So.	Scribner, Neb.	Scribner-Snyder
Malia Rolf	Steeplechase	Fr.	So.	Seward, Neb.	Seward
Isabelle Salters	Horizontal Jumps/Multis	Fr.	Fr.	Valentine, Neb.	Valentine
Taberah Schmidt	Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Damascus, Ore.	Clackams / Western Oregon Univ.
Kaitlyn Schuur	Pole Vault	Fr.	Fr.	Chandler, Minn.	Southwest Minnesota Christian
Gemma Seevers	Horizontal Jumps	Fr.	So.	Seward, Neb.	Seward
Katie Severt	Sprints/Horizontal Jumps	So.	So.	Coralville, Iowa	Iowa City West
Abigail Shay	Pole Vault	Fr.	So.	Wray, Colo.	Shay Academy
Amanda Steinke	High Jump/Hurdles/Triple Jump	Fr.	Fr.	Milwaukee, Wis.	Milwaukee Lutheran
Trinity Tuls	Sprints	Fr.	Fr.	Columbus, Neb.	Columbus
Jaiden Tweton	Mid-Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Ashland, Neb.	Ashland-Greenwood
Ellee VanBuskirk	Pole Vault	Fr.	Fr.	Omaha, Neb.	Millard North
Kailey Weichel	Mid-Distance	Jr.	Jr.	Plymouth, Neb.	Tri Country Public
Lainey Werts	Mid-Distance	Fr.	So.	St. Edward, Neb.	St. Edward
Faith Williamson	Mid-Distance	Fr.	Fr.	O'Neill, Neb.	St. Mary
Abi Wohlgemuth	Throws	Fr.	Fr.	Lincoln, Neb.	Lincoln Lutheran
Courtney Wright	Distance	Fr.	Fr.	Perryville, Mo.	Perryville

STAFF

Matt Beisel, Head Coach (6th Year)

Ed McLaughlin, Assistant Coach

Mark Samuels, Assistant Coach

Benjamin Hinckfoot, Assistant Coach

Jason Berry, Assistant Coach

Sam Liermann, Graduate Assistant Coach

Sophie Harano, Graduate Assistant Coach

Season Preview: 2022 Concordia Indoor Track & Field

MEN
Head Coach: Matt Beisel (6th year)
2021 Indoor Finishes: 3rd (GPAC); 12th (NAIA)
2021 Outdoor Finishes: 4th (GPAC); T-28th (NAIA)
2021 All-Americans returning (indoor/outdoor): Zach Bennetts, Chase Berry, Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Wyatt Loga, Colton Meyer, Chris Wren.
2021 All-Americans lost (indoor/outdoor): *Jacob Cornelio, Cody Williams.
2021 Indoor National Qualifiers returning: Zach Bennetts, Chase Berry, Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Wyatt Loga, Maccoy Menke, Colton Meyer, Calvin Rohde, Camden Sesna, Chris Wren, Zach Zohner.
*National Champion
--NOTE: list of national qualifiers includes athletes who traveled to the 2021 NAIA indoor meet.

WOMEN
Head Coach: Matt Beisel (6th year)
2021 Indoor Finishes: 1st (GPAC); 3rd (NAIA)
2021 Outdoor Finishes: 1st (GPAC); 3rd (NAIA)
2021 All-Americans returning (indoor/outdoor): Jordyn Anderson, *Rachel Battershell, Keri Bauer, Morgan De Jong, Rylee Haecker, Kylahn Heritage, Sarah Huss, Mackenzie Koepke, Sarah Lewis, Elle Luehr, Erin Mapson, Jacee Pfeifer, *Josie Puelz, Sarah Ragland, Grace Reiman, Amy Richert.
2021 All-Americans lost (indoor/outdoor): Emily Loy, Kennedy Mogul, Sydni Schernikau, *Addie Shaw, *Liz Stottlemyre.
2021 Indoor National Qualifiers returning: Rachel Battershell, Keri Bauer, Jamey Broman, Oliva Buschow, Amira Cummings, Morgan De Jong, Abby Gerber, Rylee Haecker, Kylahn Heritage, Sarah Lewis, Elle Luehr, Erin Mapson, Jacee Pfeifer, Josie Puelz, Sarah Ragland, Grace Reiman, Amy Richert, Katie Severt, Lainey Werts.
*Past National Champion
--NOTE: list of national qualifiers includes athletes who traveled to the 2021 NAIA indoor meet.

Outlook
It’s meet week for the perennially strong Concordia University Track & Field programs, which are getting set to host the Concordia Early Bird meet. The women’s program has rattled off a string of five-straight GPAC titles while consistently earning top 10 finishes at the national championships. On the men’s side, the Bulldogs are making strides towards claiming a banner of their own. Head Coach Matt Beisel enters his sixth season as leader of the Bulldogs.

Between the men’s and women’s teams, Concordia returns 22 athletes who garnered All-America awards at the 2021 indoor and/or outdoor national meets. More significant than that, the Bulldogs like where they’re at in terms of building a program that not only competes at a high level, but also represents what it means to be a Concordia student-athlete.

Said Beisel, “The type of kid who says ‘yes’ to Concordia Track & Field typically is the kind of kid who cares more about other people than themselves. They’re not all inwardly focused and about themselves. I think organically that creates a great team dynamic. Most of these kids have a strong faith background. I love the fact that they make it a priority to do Bible studies together, to go to chapel together and go to Praise together outside of practice. It helps cement those relationships and those friendships. When you bring all that to competition, suddenly really great chemistry happens. That ends up helping us competitively.”

Women
The Concordia women spent most of the 2021 outdoor season ranked No. 1 in the NAIA by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. While the Bulldogs came up short of winning their first team national title since 2016, they can look back at the 2021 indoor and outdoor campaigns and consider them a resounding success. Concordia continued its reign atop the GPAC and placed third nationally for both indoor and outdoor.

The Bulldogs have said goodbye to two past national champions (Addie Shaw and Liz Stottlemyre) from last year’s outdoor roster but return a pair of athletes that have already put themselves among the program’s all-time greats – national champs Rachel Battershell and Josie Puelz. Plus, there’s plenty of depth to go with them.

“I feel like we’re in a good position,” Beisel said. “We did graduate some heavy hitters, but at the same time, we’re returning other really talented, accomplished athletes, and we have some freshmen and transfers coming in who I think will be immediate contributors. You really can’t tell what’s going to happen between now and indoor nationals and now and May, but I’m really hopeful on both sides that we’re going to be able to continue to compete for a conference title and place really well at nationals.”

Beisel is now a six-time GPAC Coach of the Year while having helped build the women’s program into a power, along with longtime assistant coaches Ed McLaughlin, Mark Samuels and Jason Berry. New to the staff last season, Benjamin Hinckfoot rounds out the group of full-time coaches. Success not only comes from Concordia’s ability to develop national champions, but also in its blossoming of athletes in all event groupings. The Bulldogs wound up with 34 all-conference individuals at the 2021 indoor conference meet.

It makes sense to begin the discussion with Battershell and Puelz, two names that litter the program record books. Battershell repeated as the NAIA indoor 400-meter national champion while Puelz accomplished the rare feat of sweeping NAIA pole vault national titles. The incredible Battershell is an eight-time All-American who is frequently pushed by good friend Sarah Lewis (six-time All-American) in the 400 meter and hurdle events. Stars like Battershell, Lewis and Puelz are each model student-athletes and play a big role in what makes the program special.

“I’m constantly amazed by the dedication of my teammates and the positivity,” Puelz said. “I’m always so grateful for it. We have people who show grit and power through difficult things. Little pieces at a time are what makes the difference over time. People like Sarah Lewis, Rachel Battershell and Hannah Mulligan – there are so many people that make you want to be a better person and a better athlete. I think that’s what is unique about our women’s team – how positive and encouraging and inspiring each of them are. It helps us grow as a team and be better teammates. We get to see that pay off in things like championships at GPAC and nationals, all that good stuff.”

Puelz leads a strong group of vaulters that includes four-time All-American Erin Mapson and returning national qualifier Amira Cummings. On the track, Battershell and Lewis are joined by fellow All-Americans in Keri Bauer (4x400m relay), Rylee Haecker (1,000m; DMR), Kylahn Heritage (DMR), Jacee Pfeifer (4x400m relay) and Grace Reiman (DMR). Haecker recently qualified for nationals in cross country. Considering the depth, the Bulldogs should put together one of the nation’s top 4x4’s once again.

The throws are always a strength at Concordia. No one individual can replace Addie Shaw, an 11-time All-American and two-time discus national champion. However, both Elle Luehr (shot put) and Sarah Ragland (weight throw) garnered All-America awards at last season’s indoor national meet. The Bulldogs also bring back All-American throwers in Jordyn Anderson, Morgan De Jong and Sarah Huss and national qualifiers Olivia Buschow and Abby Gerber while continuing to develop younger long-tossers on their way up. De Jong is the reigning GPAC weight throw champion.

As a multi-event athlete, Amy Richert is a budding star who earned outdoor All-America awards last season in both the heptathlon and high jump as a freshman. The Gresham, Neb., native has the ability to break program multi-event records and rise up the national ranks. Hinckfoot has a deep jumps group to work with that also includes national qualifiers in Jamey Broman and Katie Severt. Meanwhile, Cora Olson is looking to get back to nationals. Olson is often one of the team’s top point scorers at the conference meet with her ability to place highly in a large number of sprint and jumps events. Also a member of the basketball team, Mackenzie Koepke was an outdoor All-American in the high jump.

There are many others who figure to contribute to Concordia’s bid for more GPAC titles. Said Beisel, “From a women’s side, I think we’re in great shape to repeat another indoor and outdoor title. Then with nationals, we ended up a little short. We thought we could win a title and we ended up in third for both indoor and outdoor. We learned some lessons from that. What we’re doing now is focusing on the here and now and taking it a week at a time. We have to handle it a piece and a step at a time and not overthink it.”

Men
The Concordia men are hoping to close the gap near the top of the GPAC and win the program’s first conference title since the 2015 GPAC outdoor meet. The Bulldogs turned in 2021 GPAC placements of third for indoor and fourth for outdoor. Among the highlights from a year ago, Concordia finished 12th in the NAIA at the indoor national meet. Seven athletes who earned 2021 All-America awards are back in the fold, helping lessen the blow of the departures of past stars in Jacob Cornelio (two-time national champion) and Cody Williams.

Without Cornelio, Beisel hopes new national title contenders will emerge. A major strength will be the team’s depth of runners in the 400 meters.

“We work just as hard to recruit and develop the guys,” Beisel said. “We’ve come up a little short in the conference. We haven’t won a conference title since I’ve come here, but not because we haven’t done everything we can. Doane has just stayed a step ahead of us and congratulations to their staff for doing a great job. We always want to be top three and we really want to win. The question is how long will that take to happen? Hopefully this year.”

Returners in Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner and Colton Meyer each contributed to an All-America finish in the indoor 4x400 meter relay last season. Jennings and Kleckner both transitioned nicely to the track after having begun their Concordia careers in other sports. Kleckner progressed throughout indoor and outdoor season and made his way to outdoor nationals in the 200 meters. He also teamed up with Jennings, Meyer and Joel Rathe on a GPAC championship winning outdoor 4x100 meter relay. Adding to this group is the addition of transfer Mark Cooke, who has the talent to rewrite school records.

The Bulldogs will also benefit greatly from the healthy return of Xavier Ross, a Chicago-area native who raced to 2020 indoor All-America status in the 400 meters. With Ross back in the fold, it will be a challenging task just to figure out the best combination of four runners for the team’s 4x4.

Said Kleckner, “We now have that confidence. I wouldn’t say we were lacking confidence at the beginning of last year, we just weren’t sure where we stood among other teams in the country and other teams in our conference. We return three of the four guys on our 4x4 relay and we have Xavier Ross coming back. We’re deep in the 400 now – I think that was part of the problem last year. We had some injuries that bogged us down a little bit. As long as we have a healthy year, we can go above and beyond what we did last year. I think we can repeat as All-Americans indoor and be in a good spot to be All-Americans outdoor as well.”

Watch out for the pole vault group, which gets a major boost from former Doane star Tyce Hruza, the 2020 NAIA indoor national runner up as a freshman. Hruza adds to what was already a talented bunch, featuring past All-Americans in Zach Bennetts and Chase Berry as well as national qualifier Zach Zohner.

Based on last season, Chris Wren (weight throw All-American) may take over as the new leader of the throws group. A young bunch progressed steadily during an outdoor season that saw Wren qualify for nationals along with Andy Amos, Dagne’ Buck and Ben Moll. Freshmen like Connor Asche also figure to make an impact.

Elsewhere on the track, the distance crew believes it can contribute in a significant way. Both Calvin Rohde and Camden Sesna were all-conference honorees in cross country and national qualifiers. Freshman Sam Plante has the potential to make his mark as well. Beisel believes the pieces are there for a much stronger for 4x800 meter relay this winter. As for the jumps, Wyatt Loga garnered All-America status last season in the high jump while Cade Lutz was an all-conference performer in the triple jump.

The hope is that it all adds up to improved results. Said Beisel, “I see some really cool things happening. We do testing a couple of times during the fall with things like standing long jump and shot put. We saw phenomenal marks not only from our returning athletes but also from a great freshman class that came in this year. We had a lot of good things happen and we’re excited about what the distance and mid-distance athletes can contribute at the conference and national levels.”

Added Kleckner, “We have all the pieces to go far. As long as we compete to our ability, we’re going to show the country what we can do.”

In closing
The standing goals for the program are to compete for GPAC and NAIA national titles every season. The pursuit begins this weekend as the Bulldogs host the Concordia Early Bird Meet (Dec. 10-11).

Says Beisel of the program goals, “Win conference, win nationals – it’s pretty simple. It doesn’t mean we’ll get it, but that’s what every ounce of our effort goes towards – in recruiting, in developing these kids and all the work we do leading up to it. As a staff and as a program, we always want to be in a position to win national titles and to win conference titles. Our women have had success on the conference side the last five times we’ve done it. There are great teams in the conference that really challenge us, so there’s nothing ever guaranteed. We’re in a great position.”

Meet Info: 2021 Concordia Early Bird

Dec 9

SEWARD, Neb. – For the third year in a row, the Concordia University Track and Field program will host the Concordia Early Bird Meet to kick off the season. This year’s meet will take place Friday and Saturday inside the Walz Fieldhouse. Friday happenings will feature multi-events exclusively before an action-packed Saturday including a full slate of running and field events. The Bulldogs will be joined at the Early Bird by athletes from seven competing institutions.

Concordia Early Bird – Dec. 10-11
Walz Fieldhouse | Seward, Neb.
Meet Schedule | PDF
Live Results: Black Squirrel

Live Streaming Links

· Running Events: https://www.youtube.com/c/BulldogTrackandField

· Men’s & Women’s High Jump: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCnWh95Lz6dW3OUosomZyoA

· Women’s Long Jump / Triple Jump (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 & Men’s Long Jump / Triple Jump (infield jumping events): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIerIQe-tQv53fnpGwp_wTQ

Competing Teams
Benedictine College (Kan.)
Concordia University
Doane University
Dordt University
Kansas Wesleyan University
Midland University
Mount Marty University
Northwestern College

This will mark the start of year six for Matt Beisel as head coach of Concordia Track & Field. A detailed season preview can be found HERE. Between the men’s and women’s teams, the Bulldogs return 22 athletes who garnered All-America awards at the 2021 indoor and/or outdoor national championships. That list includes two-time NAIA national champions in Rachel Battershell (400 meters) and Josie Puelz (pole vault). Concordia is also looking forward to the Bulldog debut of transfer Tyce Hruza, the 2020 NAIA indoor pole vault national runner up.

On the women’s side, the Bulldogs have won five GPAC titles in a row. The 2021 team placed third at both the NAIA indoor and outdoor national championships and was ranked No. 1 in the NAIA for the majority of the outdoor season. Meanwhile, the men turned in 2021 GPAC place finishes of third for indoor and fourth for outdoor. They placed 12th nationally at the 2021 NAIA indoor meet.

The indoor schedule will keep Concordia in the state of Nebraska all the way up until the national meet. The Bulldogs are also scheduled to host the Concordia Polar Dog Invite (Jan. 22), the Concordia Classic (Feb. 4) and the Concordia Invite (Feb. 12). Doane will serve as the host of the GPAC indoor championship meet (Feb. 18-19).

Concordia Early Bird yields eight auto marks, 12 event titles

Dec. 11

SEWARD, Neb. – The 2022 indoor season is officially underway for Concordia University Track and Field. The program welcomed athletes from nine opposing institutions during the two-day Concordia Early Bird Meet (Dec. 10-11) held inside the Fieldhouse. The yields for the Bulldogs included eight automatic national qualifying marks and 12 event championships. From an individual perspective, Sarah Lewis stole the show by qualifying for nationals in each of her three events on Saturday.

This was a quality start for Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads, who aspire to compete for conference titles this winter. The Early Bird simply serves as an appetizer for the main course coming up after New Year’s.

Said Beisel, “This is one of those meets every year where we really have some big things to celebrate and some things where maybe we wanted a little bit more. I saw that in multiple different events. Overall, I think we’re in a good place going into Christmas break. I had several people say that they are motivated to work hard over the next four weeks … Sarah Lewis had a phenomenal day. I could go on and on. I’ll learn a lot more as I dig into the results.”

It makes sense to start with Lewis, the native of Mason City, Neb. She clocked a personal best of 8.87 in the 60 meter hurdles and then an indoor PR of 58.10 in the 400 meters. Lewis won the Early Bird title in the 60 hurdles while placing second in the 400 meters. Her time in the hurdles represented a meet record. She wasn’t done yet. Lewis teamed up with Jordan Koepke, Trinity Tuls and Jacee Pfeifer for a national qualifying time of 3:56.83 in the 4x400 meter relay (also a meet record). That was done without two-time 400 meter national champion Rachel Battershell in the mix.

Lewis likely could not have dreamed up a better start to the season. Said Lewis, “I’m really blessed. There was a lot of hard work that went into the fall. I had some nerves and concerns about hitting PR’s that I hit last year. After today, it’s an overwhelming sense of blessing and God’s work through the team and through me.”

The crew of throwers came away with three auto marks in the weight throw, courtesy of Andy Amos, Morgan De Jong and Chris Wren. In addition, Olivia Buschow popped off a weight throw mark that met the ‘B’ national reporting standard. Both De Jong and Wren will look to repeat as NAIA weight throw All-Americans this season. Said Wren, “I wanted a little more, but I’ll take what I can get. God is good. I’ve been praying about it and I got it right out of the gate, so I don’t have to worry about it next semester. I just have to work on improving.”

While making her first meet appearance since completing a sweep of 2021 NAIA pole vault national titles, Josie Puelz once again vaulted over 13 feet (13’ 2 ¼”) and won the Early Bird competition. In addition, Amira Cummings (two-time national qualifier) cleared an automatic national qualifying height of 11’ 6 ½.” Between the men’s and women’s pole vault crews, Concordia will expect to earn additional national qualifying marks next semester.

In action on Friday, Amy Richert (2021 All-American) made a run at the school record in the pentathlon, piling up 3,386 points. That total was just shy of the program standard of 3,410 points by Jessica Deterding. Based on the current leaderboard, Richert now ranks No. 2 nationally in the pentathlon. She was the Early Bird champion in both the pentathlon and the high jump. A complete list of event winners can be found at bottom.

“I just wanted to go out there, have fun and compete,” Richert said. “Winning was just icing on the cake. I was really, really trying to get it (the school record). Now it just gives me more motivation in pushing to work harder and hopefully get past it.”

Buschow (52’ 10 ¾” in the weight throw) was one of three Bulldogs to record a ‘B’ standard mark on Saturday, joining Wyatt Loga (6’ 7” in high jump) and Calvin Rohde (8:38.77 in 3,000 meters). Rylee Haecker just missed a ‘B’ time in the 1,000 meters while finishing in first place in 3:04.96.

In another noteworthy effort, Cora Olson turned in winning races and meet records in the 60 meter dash (7.91) and in the 200 meter dash (25.93). Olson was also one of six Bulldogs to compete in the women’s long jump, an event won by Jamey Broman (17’ 7 ½”). Elsewhere on the track, the men’s 4x400 meter relay clocked in at 3:26.45, a time that will surely improve. The 4x4 group featured Mark Cooke, Maccoy Menke, Jacob Jennings and Colton Meyer. A transfer, Cooke made his Concordia debut on Saturday. He also placed second in the 400 meters in a time of 50.46.

The Bulldogs will be idle over the Christmas/semester break and then eventually kick things back into gear for the Scott Nisely Memorial Classic (hosted by Doane) and the University of Nebraska Graduate Classic the weekend of Jan. 14-15. Concordia is slated to host three additional meets this indoor season.

Automatic National Qualifying Marks

· Women’s 4x4 – Koepke, Lewis, Tuls, Pfeifer (3:56.83)

· Andy Amos – weight throw (57’ 10 ¼”)

· Amira Cummings – pole vault (11’ 6 ½”)

· Morgan De Jong – weight throw (55’ 5”)

· Sarah Lewis – 60 hurdles (8.87); 400 meters (58.10)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (13’ 2 ¼”)

· Amy Richert – *pentathlon (3,386 pts)

· Chris Wren – weight throw (61’ 8 ½”)

*Met minimum national reporting standard of 2,950 in the pentathlon.

Early Bird Event Champions

· Women’s 4x4 (Koepke, Lewis, Tuls, Pfeifer)

· Women’s 4x8 (Haecker, Reiman, Richmond, Kaschinske)

· Jamey Broman (long jump)

· Rylee Haecker (1,000 meters)

· Sarah Lewis (60 hurdles)

· Cora Olson (60 meters; 200 meters)

· Josie Puelz (pole vault)

· Grace Reiman (3,000 meters)

· Amy Richert (pentathlon; high jump)

· Kailey Weichel (600 meters)

Lewis honored as GPAC Track Athlete of the Week

Dec. 15

SEWARD, Neb. – Courtesy of her series of national qualifying performances at the Concordia Early Bird Meet, Sarah Lewis has been named the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Women’s Track Athlete of the Week, as announced by the conference on Wednesday (Dec. 15). This marks the first release of conference track and field awards for the 2021-22 indoor season. As a program, Concordia Track and Field raked in a total of 13 GPAC athlete of the week honors during the 2021 indoor/outdoor seasons.

At the Early Bird, Lewis (Mason City, Neb.) clocked times of 8.87 in the 60 meter hurdles and 58.10 in the 400 meters and collaborated on a 4x400 meter relay time of 3:56.83. Each of those times came in under the NAIA automatic national qualifying standard. The performances in the 60 hurdles and 400 meters represented personal bests that currently rank second and third, respectively, on the program’s all-time lists. Lewis is a six-time NAIA All-American.

It’s worth noting that the times for the 400 meters and 4x400 meter relay were converted for a 300-meter track when added to the NAIA national performance lists. Lewis currently sports NAIA national ranks of:

· 2nd in the 4x400m relay (3:53.73)

· 3rd in the 400 meters (57.34)

· 8th in the 60 hurdles (8.87)

Lewis and the Bulldogs will resume the indoor season after the Christmas break with meets scheduled for the weekend of Jan. 14-15.

Meet Info: Graduate Classic/Nisely Memorial

Jan. 13

SEWARD, Neb. – More than a month has gone by since Concordia University Track & Field opened the 2021-22 indoor season by hosting the Bulldog Early Bird Meet (Dec. 10-11). The break will end this weekend as the Bulldogs will take part in both the University of Nebraska Graduate Classic and the Scott Nisely Memorial Classic hosted by Doane. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads will quickly ramp things up by competing in meets in each of the next six weeks – all in eastern Nebraska.

January 14-15 Meets

University of Nebraska Graduate Classic (Jan. 14-15)
--Watch Live | Live Results | Meet Info

Doane University Scott Nisely Memorial Classic (Jan. 15)
--Doane Sports Network | Live Results

Concordia has entered a number of its top athletes into the Graduate Classic held inside the Devaney Center. The complete list can be viewed below. The field of competitors at the Graduate Classic will include two-time 400 meter national champion Rachel Battershell, who did not compete at the Early Bird Meet. Battershell will run the open 400 meters and join December GPAC Athlete of the Week Sarah Lewis in the 4x400 meter relay. Lewis has already qualified for nationals in two individual events. The majority of Bulldogs will be at Fuhrer Field House in Crete for the Nisely Memorial Classic.

Concordia athletes combined for eight automatic national qualifying marks and three ‘B’ national qualifying standards at the Early Bird. Here is the list of those marks:

· Women’s 4x400m relay – A (3:53.73)

· Andy Amos – A, weight throw (57’ 10 ¼”)

· Olivia Buschow – B, weight throw (52’ 10 ¾”)

· Amira Cummings – A, pole vault (11’ 6 ½”)

· Morgan De Jong – A, weight throw (55’ 5”)

· Sarah Lewis – A, 400 meters (57.34); A, 60 hurdles (8.87)

· Wyatt Loga – B, high jump (6’ 7”)

· Josie Puelz – A, pole vault (13’ 2 ¼”)

· Amy Richert – No. 4 in NAIA in pentathlon (3,407)

· Calvin Rohde – B, 3,000 meters (8:38.77)

· Chris Wren – A, weight throw (61’ 8 ½”)

Graduate Classic Entrants

Friday, Jan. 14

Men’s High Jump
Jacob Glines
Wyatt Loga

Women’s Pole Vault
Josie Puelz
Amira Cummings

Women’s 60m Hurdles
Sarah Lewis
Amy Richert
Kailee Boyle

Women’s 60m Dash
Brittney Aitken
Emily Loseke
Hannah Mulligan

Women’s 400m Dash
Rachel Battershell
Sarah Lewis
Trinity Tuls

Men’s 400m Dash
Mark Cooke
Grant Lammers
Colton Meyer

Women’s 1000m Run
Rylee Haecker

Men’s 1000m Run
Sam Plante
Calvin Rohde

Women’s Mile Run
Grace Reiman

Men’s Mile Run
Camden Sesna

Saturday, Jan. 15

Women’s 600m Run
Jacee Pfeifer

Women’s 200m Dash
Brittney Aitken
Emily Loseke
Hannah Mulligan

Men’s 200m Dash
Jacob Jennings
Cade Kleckner

Women’s Distance Medley Relay
Haecker, Bauer, Reiman, Heritage

Men’s Distance Medley Relay
Sesna, Lammers, Plante, Rohde

Women’s 4x4 Relay
Pfeifer, Lewis, Tuls, Battershell

Men’s 4x4 Relay
Kleckner, Jennings, Cooke, Meyer

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will host the Concordia Polar Dog Invite on Jan. 22. The tentative schedule can be viewed HERE.

The Puelz legacy of excellence

Jan 14

It was a moment of indescribable joy shared between father and daughter. It’s the type of moment you would live in forever if it was possible. John Puelz wrapped up daughter Josie in a bear hug as her mother Angie and many other family members looked on. The achievement that had just occurred on that date, May 26, 2021, was much too big to fully grasp in that very instance.

There were many more hugs to come for Puelz, who had just made her mark as the most accomplished women’s pole vaulter in Concordia Track & Field history. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Josie could only celebrate with her teammates and coaches in the immediate aftermath of her first national title back in March 2021. The opportunity to share national title No. 2 with family made this one sweeter.

Said Puelz after winning the outdoor pole vault national championship, “It’s so special. It’s means so much more than I could have ever imagined. They all drove down here (to Gulf Shores, Ala.) to watch and that means so much to me that they are willing to support me in everything that I do.”

Roughly 30 years after John Puelz starred on the hardwood for the Bulldogs, Josie has brought the Puelz name back to the forefront in a big way (Josie’s brother Josh is now a freshman on the men’s basketball team). One would be hard-pressed to find a more successful father-daughter duo in the history of Bulldog Athletics. John took his place in the Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016, 24 years after wrapping up a collegiate career that saw him pile up 1,955 career points and help guide the Bulldogs to an NAIA national semifinal appearance.

Two years into her collegiate career, Josie has already stated a compelling case for future Hall of Fame induction. The Lincoln Lutheran High School alum not only swept 2021 NAIA indoor and outdoor pole vault national titles, but also broke the program indoor and outdoor pole vault records, has won two GPAC titles and was named the 2021 State College Female Athlete of the Year by the Lincoln Journal Star.

What makes the accolades all the more special are the people, the relationships and the journey behind them.

John’s hoops glory

In a way, the success of John and the Concordia Men’s Basketball teams of the early 1990s paved the way for Josie and the star Bulldogs of today. After beginning his college career at the University of Nebraska, John transferred to Concordia prior to the 1988-89 season. He had landed at a program coming off an 11-19 record during the ’88-89 campaign. At the time, the Bulldogs had never reached the national tournament.

Said John, “I’m so thankful that I ended up there because it really guided me to where I am today. I’m so thankful for President (Orville) Walz and (Brian) Friedrich because they loved athletics, especially basketball. They always seemed to be so involved in basketball. Concordia is an avenue as a witness to kids. The seed was planted there for me. It wasn’t until many years after I graduated that it hit me what my priorities should be.”

On the court, Puelz’s priority was to chuck it from the cheap seats. The Lincoln native was pouring in 3-point shots at a high volume – before it was cool. Puelz racked up 353 career 3-point field goals (a program record) and finished his career as the program’s second all-time leading scorer (now No. 4). Along the way, John formed close bonds with teammates such as Kyle Karsten, Matt List, Devin Smith, Todd Voss, Mike Works and others.

It just so happens that Voss is the uncle and Smith the Godfather of Josie. Surely Josie has heard some of the stories from those glorious days on the hardwood – like the time John dropped 28 points in the 1992 NAIA national quarterfinal victory over MidAmerica Nazarene. However, the memories of specific games are not necessarily what are discussed the most inside the Puelz family.

Said Josie, “I don’t think he shares a whole lot about his time at Concordia. He played a lot of video games with his buddies. He felt so blessed. He talks about the relationships he was able to build here and the experience he had after he transferred after his first year at UNL. It was a big life changing choice for him to come here and be surrounded by believers. That’s what he talks about the most.”

It just isn’t in John’s nature to boast about the accolades or the accomplishments. However, his time as a Bulldog was something to be celebrated. Prior to the 1991-92 season, anyone who mentioned Concordia and national championship in the same sentence would have been met with a look of bewilderment. With the help of John Puelz, that team changed the game and the narrative for Concordia Athletics. He was named an Honorable Mention All-American that season after averaging 16.0 points per game.

In 2016, John took his place among the all-time greats when he made his acceptance speech at that year’s Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony. Josie, Josh and the rest of their siblings took pride in seeing their father honored in that fashion. Said Josie, “We were all just so proud of him. I hear stories about my dad being this great athlete in college, but I wasn’t there to witness that. It’s just great to reflect on the past and celebrate what people have accomplished. That being my dad makes your heart warm. You become proud of your parents for the things they get recognized for. It was just really special.”

John did not ask for the spotlight be shined upon him, but the Hall of Fame induction gave him an opportunity to show his appreciation for what Concordia means to him. “If it wasn’t for Concordia and God, it would have been difficult (to get to where I am now),” Puelz said. “It wasn’t such a top-rate basketball program when I came on board. God led me there for reasons that I didn’t realize until years later. Concordia Athletics just does so much for kids.”

Josie’s journey

Josie grew up rooting for the Bulldogs. Her earliest memories of Concordia involve going to basketball games when her uncle Todd Voss coached the Bulldog women’s team. Recalls Josie, “I remember coming into his office and he would have pretzels in his bottom drawer. After every game I was like, ‘Can we please go get pretzels?’ That’s the first time I remember acknowledging it as a school. I don’t even remember how old I was.”

Those were the days before Josie knew anything about pole vaulting. She wouldn’t have had any idea that she would one day claim the ultimate prize in something vastly different than basketball. With the nudging of her mother Angie, Josie (and her siblings) frequently attended sports camps put on by Lincoln Public Schools. It wasn’t like Josie’s arm had to be twisted. She was a born competitor as the daughter of two college athletes. Josie had to be involved in at least one sport throughout the fall, winter and spring seasons.

Said her father, “She loves the competition and that pushes her. Angie was the same way. Angie has a deep, competitive spirit to her. I think Josie got it from two avenues on that.” Smiling as he said it, John continued, “Josie is sweet just like her mom – I’m not.”

Josie took an early liking to gymnastics, which happens to translate well to pole vaulting. It was eighth grade when she first gave vaulting a try, at the urging of LPS pole vault coach Chris Johnson. It wasn’t long before Josie became hooked. Instead of skying towards a basketball hoop, Josie would begin focusing more of her athletic pursuits on attempting to sky above bars.

“I fell in love with it,” she said. “I spent a whole week just digging into the technique – and trying stuff out was awesome. I didn’t have facilities or a coach at Lincoln Lutheran so I took private lessons with volunteer assistants at UNL. Once a week I would get to go practice and rent poles out. That was how I started the winter of my freshman year. That’s the condensed version of a lot of decision making and a lot of question-asking to see how it would all happen. It’s something I love so much.”

Good genes may have helped, but so too has Josie’s relentless desire to be the best. There are moments of adversity for any athlete, but Josie has enjoyed a storybook run through her high school and collegiate careers. She can think back fondly to the high school state track championships her senior year when she took home four gold medals while leading the Warriors to a team state championship. As she put it, “I can’t remember ever smiling as much as I did that day.”

Naturally, Josie was going to have some options when it came to a college decision. John knew Concordia would be a great fit for his daughter, but he got out of the way and let Josie make the call. The family prayed about it and ultimately, “God led her there.” Josie wasn’t going to choose Concordia simply because her dad had been a successful basketball player at the school. She saw how faith was at the core of the track and field program and wanted to be part of it.

Strong faith might even be one of the secrets to Josie’s success. Pole vault coach Jason Berry had a good idea of what Concordia was being blessed with when Josie made her college decision official. Said Berry before Josie had ever attempted a vault in college, “She’s lived on a stage where she’s been a state champ and had the target on her back. She understands the pressure and how to deal with a pressure moment.”

As a sophomore in 2021, Josie never backed down from the pressure. She rose higher than any female Bulldog vaulter ever had before, clearing school records of 13’ 4 ½” in indoor and 13’ 7 ¼” in outdoor. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Josie’s family was not allowed to be physically present for the NAIA indoor national meet when she won the first national title of her career. With fans allowed to attend the outdoor national championship meet in May 2021, the entire Puelz family made it a priority to be there.

John, Angie and a large group of supporters had a front row seat to witness national title No. 2 for Josie. Said John, “The indoor thing really was difficult because we wanted to be there to support here. We ended up watching it on the computer. It was nice to be able to support her in person in her quest to get the national championship. It was such a cool thing to be right there. It was very emotional for us. I think it was down to three vaulters. She has always been one to overcome expectations. All of our kids are that way. It was a very emotional experience and very happy we were able to be there in person and be a part of it.”

Winning is far from the only thing that makes Josie one of the best to ever wear Bulldog blue. Well-rounded as an impeccable student and caring person, her status as an Academic All-American and homecoming queen are simply byproducts of her actions. But she isn’t one to revel in her own accomplishments. As she enters 2022, Josie remains motivated. Said Josie, “I’m never settling for what I’ve reached. I always want to push for more. Nothing’s ever perfect. There’s always room to grow. That’s what I keep in mind.”

Making Concordia their big time

Josie knows her parents would be proud of her no matter where she went to college, but there’s something uniquely special that is still unfolding regarding the Puelz connection to Concordia. This is the place they chose to make their big time. When her brother Josh settled on Concordia, Josie saw it as a cause for celebration and joked that, “I’m probably more excited about him being here than he is. I’m so proud of him.”

John gushes when discussing the growth he’s seen in Concordia in the years since his graduation in 1992. He may enjoy ribbing his former teammate turned Director of Athletics Devin Smith, but John has sincerely glowing remarks in regards to what Smith has done to transform the athletic department, now one of the exemplary outfits in the NAIA. John has noticed how Smith carefully considers everything that goes into each decision, both big and small.

John has had a role in this himself – and now so too does Josie. There just aren’t many better ambassadors for Concordia Athletics.

Says John, “Her faith is basically everything to her. She’s there to share what she has with other people. She’s been such a blessing to us. She’s very humble in everything she does. She’s put in a lot of hard work. Some people don’t even realize the amount of hard work she puts in with academics and athletics. She’s at home during break doing workouts. It makes me hurt seeing the workouts she does.”

There’s going to be more to this story as Josie and her brother Josh continue on at Concordia, but the legacy for the Puelz family is rock solid. No matter what heights Josie reaches, her humility, her faith and her competitive fire will never be shaken. In turn, Concordia will always have a soft spot within her heart. Said Josie when discussing the support of her family, “They know how much I enjoy being at Concordia and what this school has done for me.”

Haecker qualifies for nationals as Bulldog return to action

Jan. 14

LINCOLN, Neb. – An automatic national qualifying time produced by Rylee Haecker emerged as the big moment of the day as Concordia University Track & Field got back to action on Friday (Jan. 14) at the Graduate Classic hosted by the University of Nebraska. Haecker was one of 17 Bulldogs to compete in the two-day meet, which features athletes from six NCAA Division I schools. The bulk of action for Concordia took place on the track.

The Graduate Classic is part of an active weekend for Head Coach Matt Beisel’s programs, which will be out in full force on Saturday.

A 2021 indoor All-American, Haecker placed second in the 1,000 meters on Friday while striding to a personal best time of 2:58.77 inside the Bob Devaney Center. Haecker beat out opponents from the likes of Nebraska, Creighton and Nebraska-Omaha. Elsewhere in distance events, Grace Reiman ran a PR of 5:22.09 in the mile and Calvin Rohde put forth a ‘B’ national qualifying standard of 2:30.21 in the 1,000 meters.

In the women’s pole vault, Josie Puelz placed second while clearing 12’ 5 ½,” which meant she eclipsed the national qualifying standard for a second time this indoor season. The only other field events participation for the Bulldogs occurred in the men’s high jump, which saw Wyatt Loga place seventh (6’ 4 ¾”).

Concordia entered three athletes in both the men’s and women's 400 meter races. This marked the first time out this season for two-time national champion Rachel Battershell. She placed fifth in a time of 58.91 with teammate Sarah Lewis (59.38) close behind. On the men’s side of things, Colton Meyer (50.19) and Mark Cooke (50.50) were neck and neck as the top Bulldogs. Concordia also got three solid times in the 60 meter dash via the likes of Emily Loseke (8.18), Hannah Mulligan (8.24) and Brittney Aitken (8.24).

Action will pick back up on Saturday from both Lincoln and Crete. Doane will host the Scott Nisely Memorial Classic inside the Fuhrer Field House. For more information on both meets, click HERE.

Concordia athletes total six auto marks, nine event titles while ringing in 2022

Jan. 15

CRETE/LINCOLN, Neb. – The indoor track season is in full swing once again as Concordia University Track and Field opened the calendar year 2022 at two separate weekend meets: the Graduate Classic (Jan. 14-15) hosted by the University of Nebraska and the Scott Nisely Memorial Classic (Jan. 15) hosted by Doane. When the dust settled, Bulldog athletes had combined for nine event championships, six performances that met the automatic national qualifying standard and another seven marks that were recognized as ‘B’ standards. Fresh automatic national qualifying marks were turned in this weekend by Rylee Haecker and Sarah Ragland.

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads had most recently competed at the Concordia Early Bird Meet back on Dec. 10-11. Concordia’s season total for NAIA auto marks now stands at 10.

“After a really great start at the Early Bird, we had four weeks until we saw the athletes again,” Beisel said. “They trained on their own, and they did a great job of it. When you’re out of it that long, you get a little rusty. We told them they were going to work hard this week and it might only be a few people that have amazing days. Most of them are going to look at this and know they have better things in them down the road. We had some really good performances and a lot of mostly solid efforts from the rest of our team. We give thanks to God for the blessings He gave us these last two days.”

It was a fine weekend for Haecker (Davenport, Neb.), who on Friday ran a national qualifying time of 2:58.77 in the 1,000 meters and placed second at the Graduate Classic. She returned to Lincoln on Saturday and joined Grace Reiman, Keri Bauer and Kylahn Heritage for a distance medley relay finish in 12:28.44 (‘B’ standard). That time put the group above relays from NCAA Division I Nebraska-Omaha and Saint Louis.

Haecker is a returning indoor All-American with potential for even better in 2022. Said Beisel, “Rylee had a set of incredible performances. As her coach, I’m really, really happy for her. She was able to come back today and be a key part of our DMR, which ran faster than they did all of last year. Her 1,600 leg of 5:08.6 was incredible. One of the things I love about her is how earnest she is in her faith in Christ.”

Throws coach Ed McLaughlin is rounding together a nice collection of national qualifiers in the weight throw. At the Nisely Classic, Andy Amos, Morgan De Jong and Chris Wren again hit the ‘A’ standard in the event while Ragland threw 55’ 5” for a fresh auto mark. De Jong turned in a season best of 55’ 10 ½” and won the women’s weight throw and Wren was the men’s runner up with his PR of 64’ 1 ¾.” Meanwhile, Brady Klute popped off a ‘B’ mark in the weight throw. In the shot put, Jordyn Anderson notched a ‘B’ standard of 43’ 7 ¾” and placed third at the Nisely Classic.

Haecker and many other of the program’s top runners were at the Devaney Center for the Graduate Classic. Calvin Rohde starred on the men’s side by clocking a ‘B’ standard and personal best of 2:30.21 in the 1,000 meters (seventh place out of 22). He came back on Saturday and won the mile at Doane in 4:24.48. Also at Nebraska, Cade Kleckner (22.84) and Jacob Jennings (23.04) recorded solid times in the 200 meters.

Shifting back to the women’s side, the Graduate Classic saw the season debut of two-time national champion Rachel Battershell, who clocked in at 58.91 in the 400 meters and helped lead the 4x400 meter relay to a finish in 3:58.70. That group included Jacee Pfeifer, Sarah Lewis and Trinity Tuls. The athletes represented the Bulldogs in the women’s 200 at the Devaney Center: Emily Loseke (26.82), Brittney Aitken (26.94) and Hannah Mulligan (27.07). At the Nisely Classic, Cora Olson won the 200 meters in a time of 26.67.

Between the men’s and women's high jumps, Concordia came away with three ‘B’ standards thanks to the efforts of Wyatt Loga, Hannah Newton and Amy Richert. A Crete native, Newton won the contest on the women’s side. As for the long jump, Olson led the way by placing third (17’ 8 ¾”).

Each of the event champions is listed below. Among other noteworthy performances, Josie Puelz cleared the automatic qualifying standard in the pole vault on Friday. In addition, Beisel made special mention of senior Grant Lammers, who ran personal bests in the 400 and 600 meter races this weekend. In the women’s 600 meters, Lainey Werts clocked a strong time of 1:44.56 and was the Nisely Classic winner.

The Bulldogs will be back at home next Saturday (Jan. 22) to host the Concordia Polar Dog Invite. It will be one of four home indoor meets this season.

Weekend Highlights

Automatic National Qualifying Marks

· Andy Amos – Weight Throw (56’ 10 ¼”)

· Morgan De Jong – Weight Throw (55’ 10 ½”)

· Rylee Haecker – 1,000 Meters (2:58.77)

· Josie Puelz – Pole Vault (12’ 5 ½”)

· Sarah Ragland – Weight Throw (55’ 5”)

· Chris Wren – Weight Throw (64’ 1 ¾”)

Event Champions (all at Nisely Classic)

· Elena Batenhorst – 400 Meters (1:04.34)

· Morgan De Jong – Weight Throw (55’ 10 ½”)

· Jack Ellis – 3,000 Meters (9:33.28)

· Wyatt Loga – High Jump (6’ 7”)

· Hannah Newton – High Jump (5’ 5”)

· Cora Olson – 200 Meters (26.67)

· Sam Plante – 800 Meters (2:03.42)

· Calvin Rohde – Mile (4:24.48)

· Lainey Werts – 600 Meters (1:44.56)

Meet Preview: 2022 Concordia Polar Dog

Jan. 18

SEWARD, Neb. – The second home meet of the 2021-22 indoor season will unfold on Saturday as Concordia University Track & Field hosts the Concordia Polar Dog Invite. Athletes from nine different institutions will be on hand for a meet that will include a women’s pentathlon and the usual lineup of field and running events. This will mark the third weekend of competition this indoor season for Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads, which took part in the Graduate Classic and Scott Nisely Memorial Classic last week. The Bulldogs also hosted the Concordia Early Bird Meet on Dec. 10-11.

Meet Info

Concordia Polar Dog
Saturday, Jan. 22 | Fieldhouse | 10 a.m. CT
LINKS
--Live Results (Black Squirrel Timing)
--Tickets (also sold on site)
--Event Schedule (PDF)

Live Streaming Links

· Running Events: https://www.youtube.com/c/BulldogTrackandField

· Men’s & Women’s High Jump: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCnWh95Lz6dW3OUosomZyoA

· Women’s Long Jump / Triple Jump (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 & Men’s Long Jump / Triple Jump (infield jumping events): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIerIQe-tQv53fnpGwp_wTQ

Competing Teams
Benedictine College (Kan.)
College of Saint Mary
Concordia University
Concordia University-Irvine (Calif.)
Doane University
Hastings College
Kansas Wesleyan University
Tabor College (Kan.)
York College

Through two weekends of action, Bulldog athletes have combined for 19 national qualifying standards, including 10 that met the criteria for an ‘A’ mark and nine that met the criteria for a ‘B’ mark. Fresh NAIA auto marks were added to the list last week courtesy of Rylee Haecker in the 1,000 meters and Sarah Ragland in the weight throw. Below is a summary of marks that currently rank within the top 10 on the NAIA national leaderboard. With her time of 2:58.77 in the 1,000 meters, Haecker moved to No. 5 on the program’s all-time list in that category. In addition, Chris Wren whirled a personal best of 64’ 1 ¾,” in the weight throw, pushing him up to No. 4 on the program’s career list.

· No. 1 – Women’s Distance Medley Relay (12:28.44)

· No. 1 – Rylee Haecker (1,000 meters | 2:58.77)

· No. 2 – Women’s 4x400 Relay (3:53.73)

· No. 2 – Morgan De Jong (Weight Throw | 55’ 10 ½”)

· No. 2 – Josie Puelz (Pole Vault | 13’ 2 ¼”)

· No. 3 – Hannah Newton (High Jump | 5’ 5”)

· No. 3 – Amy Richert (High Jump | 5’ 5”)

· No. 4 – Sarah Lewis (400 meters | 57.34)

· No. 4 – Sarah Ragland (Weight Throw | 55’ 5”)

· No. 4 – Amy Richert (Pentathlon | 3,407)

· No. 4 – Calvin Rohde (1,000 meters | 2:30.21)

· No. 4 – Chris Wren (Weight Throw | 64’ 1 ¾”)

· No. 6 – Amira Cummings (Pole Vault | 11’ 6 ½”)

· No. 9 – Andy Amos (Weight Throw | 57’ 10 ¼”)

· No. 9 – Jordyn Anderson (Shot Put | 43’ 7 ¾”)

· No. 9 – Sarah Lewis (60 hurdles | 8.87)

The following active Bulldogs own Polar Dog meet records: Rachel Battershell (400 meters), Haecker (1,000 meters), Xavier Ross (400 meters) and Josie Puelz (pole vault). Additionally, the returning 4x800 meter relay team of Haecker, Kylahn Heritage, Grace Reiman and Keri Bauer set a new meet standard in 2021 while Jacee Pfeifer, Lewis and Battershell were part of a Polar Dog meet record 4x4 in 2020.

Concordia-Irvine will make a return to Seward once again. The program is guided by CUNE alum Keegan Bloomfield. As usual, Doane will be on hand. The Tigers currently boast two athletes with NAIA No. 1 ranked marks: Lindsay Adams (pentathlon) and Alivia Baucom (shot put). GPAC foes College of Saint Mary and Hastings will also have athletes on hand on Saturday.

Remaining regular season meets following the Polar Dog will include the Fred Beile Classic (Jan. 29), the Concordia Indoor Classic (Feb. 4), the Sevigne Husker Invitational (Feb. 4-5) and the Concordia Indoor Invite (Feb. 12).

De Jong garners GPAC weekly award

Jan. 19

SEWARD, Neb. – A season best effort at last week’s Scott Nisely Memorial Classic has led to Concordia University’s Morgan De Jong being named the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week, as announced on Wednesday (Jan. 19). De Jong is the second Bulldog to collect the award this indoor season, joining Sarah Lewis (Dec. 15). De Jong owns one of 10 automatic national qualifying standards produced by Concordia athletes so far this season.

In a winning performance at the Nisely Classic, De Jong landed a weight throw of 55’ 10 ½,” a mark that currently leads the GPAC and ranks second among all NAIA throwers. A native of Orange City, Iowa, De Jong’s all-time best in the event was 57’ 9 ¾” achieved at the 2020 NAIA National Championships. De Jong is the reigning GPAC weight throw champion and is a two-time All-American in the event. At last season’s indoor national meet, De Jong placed fifth in the weight throw and helped the Bulldogs to a team national finish of third place.

De Jong and the Bulldogs will return to action this Saturday when they host the Concordia Polar Dog Invite. The tentative meet schedule can be found HERE.

2021-22 GPAC Athlete of the Week awards
Jan. 19 – Morgan De Jong (field)
Dec. 15 – Sarah Lewis (track)

De Jong and the Bulldogs will return to action this Saturday when they host the Concordia Polar Dog Invite. The tentative meet schedule can be found HERE.

2021-22 GPAC Athlete of the Week awards
Jan. 19 – Morgan De Jong (field)
Dec. 15 – Sarah Lewis (track)

Polar Dog results in three new auto marks, 10 event titles

Jan. 22

SEWARD, Neb. – Athletes from eight institutions were part of the mix on Saturday (Jan. 22) as the Concordia University Track & Field programs hosted the annual Polar Dog Invite inside the Walz Fieldhouse. The final results for the Bulldogs featured three fresh automatic national qualifying standards (seven total ‘A’ marks), 10 event titles and a pair of meet records. The new auto marks were turned in by the women’s 4x800 meter relay, Erin Mapson and Calvin Rohde.

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads have made it through three weekends of indoor competition and have combined for 13 automatic national qualifying standards. The Polar Dog marked the second home meet of the indoor season.

“From what I saw, performances were better than last week for the majority of the team,” Beisel said. “At the same time, there were some athletes who didn’t get everything they wanted. Of course I love that these guys and gals have high expectations for themselves. We’re training pretty hard right now and getting back in the groove. For them to perform at such a high level is a testament to their work ethic and ability. I was really happy with all of my middle distance and distance groups.”

It’s been quite a month for Rylee Haecker, who last week locked in her spot at nationals in the 1,000 meters. On Saturday, the Davenport, Neb., native contributed to the 4x8 that placed first in a time of 9:36.04, a meet record by more than eight seconds. Haecker blazed to a split of under 2:20. The 4x8 group included Haecker, Grace Reiman, Keri Bauer and Grace Oberg (in that order). Haecker later returned to the track and beat out a field of 23 runners in the mile, clocking a personal best time of 5:18.69.

Said Haecker of the 4x8, “It’s super exciting. This is what we’ve been working for since cross. It’s exciting to see the progress we’ve made and know that we have so much more in us … all Glory to God for sure.”

A cross country national qualifier this past fall just like Haecker, Rohde (Reed City, Mich.) has translated his success to the track. Rohde entered the day having already recorded ‘B’ standards in the 1,000 and 3,000 meters. On Saturday, he broke through in the mile with a national qualifying time of 4:18.43 (converted to 4:15.18 for a 300 meter track). A second-year competitor, Rohde has raised his game.

“I definitely knew I could put a good time down just based on workouts,” Rohde said. “But seeing it in reality is a great feeling. It’s one thing to say, it’s another thing to do it. I did what I planned to do today. I came through 800 meters right where I wanted to. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without training with Camden (Sesna) and all my other teammates and without Coach (Beisel) being there and pushing me.”

Mapson became the third Concordia women’s pole vaulter to qualify for nationals when she cleared 12’ ½” and won the competition at the Polar Dog. Teammates Amira Cummings and Josie Puelz had qualified at previous meets. This was a major confidence booster for Mapson, a four-time All-American who knows how to rise to the occasion.

“This year has definitely been a quicker process (to get to this point), which is a relief,” Mapson said. “It’s been a lot of fun to have a little more confidence early on in the season. It was good to go out and just have fun and do what I know I can do.”

In the weight throw, the Bulldogs are getting consistently excellent marks out of the likes of Andy Amos, Morgan De Jong, Sarah Ragland and Chris Wren. Each of them again hit the ‘A’ standard on Saturday. Ragland emerged as the winner on the women’s side with a season best of 56’ 2.” In addition, Abigail Gerber popped off a PR of 53’ ¾,” missing the ‘A’ standard by mere centimeters. Finally, Jordyn Anderson also whirled a new ‘B’ standard with a toss of 51’ 10” in the weight throw. Amos and Anderson both landed in third place in the shot put at the Polar Dog.

Other Polar Dog event titles were produced by Rachel Battershell (400 meters), Gabby Diamond (triple jump), Jacob Jennings (400 meters), Wyatt Loga (high jump) and Zach Zohner (pole vault). This was Diamond’s first time attempting the triple jump at a college meet. Event runners up included Brittney Aitken (200 meters), Jacee Pfeifer (600 meters), Joel Rathe (long jump), Sydney Reichert (pole vault), Amy Richert (pentathlon), Faith Williamson (1,000 meters) and Wren (weight throw). Richert finished with a pentathlon point total of 3,378, just off her personal best of 3,407 that currently ranks No. 4 in the NAIA.

Beisel made special mention of the work of Aitken, who ran 8.01 in the 60 meters and 26.89 in the 200 meters. On the men’s side of the 200, Cade Kleckner ran 22.81 and placed third while Ryan Wokutch (also a member of the men’s soccer team) ran 23.35 in his first ever college meet. In the 400 meters, Jennings and Mark Cooke (third place) clocked times of 50.58 and 51.31, respectively.

Remaining regular season meets will include the Fred Beile Classic (Jan. 29), the Concordia Indoor Classic (Feb. 4), the Sevigne Husker Invitational (Feb. 4-5) and the Concordia Indoor Invite (Feb. 12). Next week’s Beile Classic will be hosted by Doane.

Meet Highlights

Automatic National Qualifying Standards

· *Women’s 4x800 Meter Relay (9:36.04); Haecker, Reiman, Bauer, Oberg

· Andy Amos – Weight Throw (57’ 10 ½”)

· Morgan De Jong – Weight Throw (54’ 4”)

· *Erin Mapson – Pole Vault (12’ ½”)

· Sarah Ragland – Weight Throw (56’ 2”)

· *Calvin Rohde – Mile (4:18.43)

· Chris Wren – Weight Throw (61’ 8 ¼”)

*Fresh auto marks

Event Champions

· Women’s 4x800 Meter Relay (9:36.04); Haecker, Reiman, Bauer, Oberg

· Rachel Battershell – 400 meters (59.81)

· Gabby Diamond – Triple Jump (35’ 8”)

· Rylee Haecker – Mile (5:18.69)

· Jacob Jennings – 400 Meters (50.58)

· Wyatt Loga – High Jump (6’ 5”)

· Erin Mapson – Pole Vault (12’ ½”)

· Sarah Ragland – Weight Throw (56’ 2”)

· Calvin Rohde – Mile (4:18.43)

· Zach Zohner – Pole Vault (14’ 9”)

Lewis' call to Concordia a blessing for all sides

Jan. 15

It didn’t happen by accident. Christmas break had come and gone her senior year of high school and Sarah Lewis thought she had the next four years of her life figured out. She would follow the path of her father and attend Biola University in La Mirada, Calif. An athletic scholarship was waiting out west for Lewis, a standout in both track and volleyball.

So that obviously didn’t happen. Lewis had never officially signed with Biola. Late in the game, something was calling the Mason City, Neb., native to stay close to home. Concordia Head Track & Field Coach Matt Beisel had reached out with an opportunity she had to consider.

Recalls Lewis, “As soon as I came on my visit with my dad, it was very obvious that I didn’t want to go anywhere else. The community was huge and the track team seemed really cool. The professors I met in business were very personal and it felt like they really cared. I loved the community feel and I like a small college. The faith part of it was also huge. No matter what, I can talk to anyone here about my faith. I didn’t see a point in visiting anywhere else.”

The fit has been a near perfect one for Lewis, a business student who earns high marks in the classroom and has collected six All-America awards during a highly successful collegiate career. Lewis is one of the key components that has elevated the Bulldogs to a status as the top program in the GPAC and one of the very best in the NAIA. As an individual, Lewis has exemplified the greater purpose served by Concordia Track & Field. She’s unwavering in her faith and unrelenting in her competitive pursuits.

When the current indoor season began in mid-December, Lewis stole the show, something that’s no easy task on a team with returning national champions like Rachel Battershell and Josie Puelz. Lewis ran personal bests in both the 400 meters and the 60 meter hurdles while striding to automatic national qualifying times in both events at the Concordia Early Bird Meet. As a result, Lewis was named the GPAC Track Athlete of the Week. Indeed, Lewis can claim to be one of the very best 400 meter runners and hurdlers in all of the NAIA.

While Battershell has garnered plenty of attention with her school record performances and two 400 meter national titles, Lewis need not be overshadowed. In fact, Lewis and Battershell have grown about as close as possible over four seasons training, sweating, laughing and winning together. They share in each other’s glory. They could just about fill all closets of the house they share together with their medals. For the record, Lewis does keep her medals in a closet. Quite frankly, the relationships formed are more important than the accolades.

“Coming in freshman year, Rachel and I were the only freshmen on the 4x4,” Lewis said. “It was really easy to bond because we run the same events. We both run hurdles, the open 400 and the 4x4, so we practice together and we lift together. It just made sense that we were together all the time. She pushes me and I push her. The friendship formed very quickly. We live together in the same house and she’s a future bridesmaid of mine.”

An alum of Ansley-Litchfield High School, Lewis says that “as long as I can remember, I’ve just loved to run.” She believes she ran in a meet for the first time while in third grade and became hooked. As a high school athlete, Lewis competed all four years in track, volleyball and basketball and earned recognition as a National Honor Society student. She says her parents are both athletic, but Lewis is the first of her family members to compete in a sport at the collegiate level.

She’s surely done her family proud while making a home at Concordia, roughly a two-hour drive from her hometown. Coach Beisel and his staff are thankful to have Lewis as a role model for what success looks like for a Bulldog student-athlete. It goes beyond the medals and the trophies.

Said Beisel, “Sarah brings joy with her wherever she goes. I love being around her – she’s like a power outlet to everyone in her presence. She has a magnetic personality and a huge heart and is a pivotal leader on our team. Coming out of the smaller environment at Ansley-Litchfield High School, where she was able to accomplish some big things in the hurdles at the state level, she had a lot of room to grow and develop as an athlete in a big environment like this. It’s been so much fun seeing her rapid progression to All-American athlete and school record holder. I’m grateful to God that He brought her to us.”

The impact Lewis had was immediate. As a freshman in 2019, Lewis helped the 4x4 break the indoor school record and earn All-America honors. It was the first time she had ever run on a 300 meter track. Another big breakthrough came last season when Lewis put herself on the podium in an individual event – the 400 hurdles. (A fun fact about Lewis is that she is listed on each of the top 11 indoor 4x400 meter relays in program history). For Lewis, every meet stirs up a certain level of nervousness, but also brings about clarity and purpose. This is why you train, the reason why you suffer through painstaking workouts.

Said Lewis recalling her first trip to nationals, “It’s so fun to run against such great competition and be there to represent our school and who we are. Then being able to do as well as we do. We broke the school record in the 4x4 my freshman year. I just remember feeling overly blessed. It was overwhelming peace and joy.”

Lewis is in a place where she knows she can trust her training – and then give “all glory to God.” There will likely be more glory to come for Lewis, who has a full indoor and outdoor season still in front of her. She wants nothing more than to soak up another trip to Brookings, S.D., and Gulf Shores, Ala., sites for the NAIA national championships.

A soon-to-be chief financial officer with a wedding in her near future, Lewis knows she’ll miss this when it’s gone. More championships would be nice, but it’s the people who have made it special. Lewis knows that God led her here for a reason.

“What I’ll remember most are the day-to-day practices,” Lewis said. “Those big moments are phenomenal. Getting trophies and plaques at nationals is amazing, but I’ll remember how hard the coaches work to help us and my teammates pushing me in practice every day. I’ll remember all the 300 meter workouts that we do that just break you down mentally and physically – but then you do it again. I’ll remember practice and how much fun we have with it. The championships are great, but I’ll remember the people the most.”

Bulldogs land at No. 2 for women, 18th for men in initial indoor rankings

Jan. 26

SEWARD, Neb. – Concordia University Track & Field landed men’s and women’s teams inside the top 20 of the initial NAIA National Rating Index for the 2022 indoor season. In calculations released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Wednesday (Jan. 26), the Bulldogs appeared at No. 2 on the women’s side and at No. 18 on the men’s side. The rankings are comprised solely of marks from the 2022 indoor track & field season.

Through three weekends of indoor competition, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads have accumulated a combined 13 automatic national qualifying marks. Below is a summary of Concordia marks that have been reported to the national list.

· Women’s 4x400m relay – A (3:53.73)

· Women’s 4x800m relay – A (9:29.48)

· Women’s distance medley relay – B (12:28.44)

· Andy Amos – A, weight throw (57’ 10 ½”)

· Jordyn Anderson – B, shot put (43’ 7 ¾”); B, weight throw (51’ 10”)

· Olivia Buschow – B, weight throw (52’ 10 ¾”)

· Amira Cummings – A, pole vault (11’ 6 ½”)

· Morgan De Jong – A, weight throw (55’ 10 ½”)

· Abigail Gerber – B, weight throw (53’ ¾”)

· Rylee Haecker – A, 1,000 meters (2:58.77)

· Brady Klute – B, weight throw (54’ 7 ½”)

· Sarah Lewis – A, 400 meters (57.34); A, 60 hurdles (8.87)

· Wyatt Loga – B, high jump (6’ 7”)

· Erin Mapson – A, pole vault (12’ ½”)

· Hannah Newton – B, high jump (5’ 5”)

· Josie Puelz – A, pole vault (13’ 2 ¼”)

· Sarah Ragland – A, weight throw (56’ 2”)

· Amy Richert – No. 4 in NAIA in pentathlon (3,407); B, high jump (5’ 5”)

· Calvin Rohde – A, mile (4:15.18); B, 1,000 meters (2:30.21); B, 3,000 meters (8:38.77)

· Chris Wren – A, weight throw (64’ 1 ¾”)

From the USTFCCCA release: “The Concordia women come in at No. 2 with 15 top-10 marks on the Descending Order List. The field events alone combine for eight of those marks – three in the pole vault, two in the high jump and weight throw, and one in the pentathlon. The Bulldogs also have three relays ranked in the top three, including the nation’s fastest DMR.”

Lofty national team rankings are nothing new for Concordia Track & Field. The women’s program has an active streak of placing in the top 10 nationally at six-straight NAIA Indoor National Championships. During the 2021 track seasons, the Bulldog women placed third in the NAIA for both indoor and outdoor while the men finished 12th indoor and 28th outdoor. Both programs have won an NAIA team national title in recent history – 2015 outdoor (men) and 2016 outdoor (women).

The Bulldogs will resume the indoor season on Saturday at the Fred Beile Classic hosted by Doane. A schedule of events can be viewed HERE.

Meet Info: 2022 Fred Beile Classic

Jan. 28

SEWARD, Neb. – The fourth weekend of indoor competition will feature the Concordia University Track & Field squads at the Fred Beile Classic hosted by Doane. Action is scheduled to get started at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday from Fuhrer Field House in Crete, Neb. The Bulldogs were also in Crete two weeks earlier for the Scott Nisely Memorial Classic.

Meet Info – Fred Beile Classic
Saturday, Jan. 29 | Fuhrer Field House
LINKS
--Live Results
--Live Streaming (running events only)
--Event Schedule (PDF)

On Wednesday, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released the first NAIA National Rating Index of the 2022 indoor season. The Bulldogs landed at No. 2 on the women’s side and No. 18 on the men’s side. For more details on how the ratings system works, click HERE. So far this season, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads have combined for 13 marks that have met the NAIA automatic national qualifying standard. The plan is to add to that total this weekend.

Sarah Lewis has already qualified for nationals in both the 60 meter hurdles and the 400 meter dash. The six-time NAIA All-American has been a role model within the program for more than just her athletic success. Check out a recently released feature article on Lewis HERE.

In next week’s action, the Bulldogs will be back at home to host the Concordia Classic on Feb. 4. Select members of the program will also take part in the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational (Feb. 4-5). For the tentative Concordia Classic schedule, click HERE.

Men's DMR, Gerber and Loga join qualifying field at Beile Classic

jan. 29

CRETE, Neb. – The list of national qualifiers continues to grow for Concordia University Track & Field. The Bulldogs added three fresh automatic national qualifying performances on Saturday (Jan. 29) while in action at the Fred Beile Classic hosted by Doane. The new auto marks were turned in by Concordia’s men’s distance medley relay and by Abigail Gerber and Wyatt Loga. In addition, Bulldog athletes combined for eight Beile Classic event championships.

Through four weekends of indoor competition, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads (ranked No. 2 in the NAIA on the women’s side and No. 18 on the men’s side) have collected 16 ‘A’ standards. Fortunately, there’s still time for those still on the hunt for berths to the national meet.

“There were a lot of personal bests,” Beisel said. “We get midway through the season and this is when we want to see the times begin to drop and the marks get bigger. We began to see some of that today, as compared to last week. I had a lot of fun seeing progress being made. We’re not yet where we think we’re going to be, but it was a good day. There are kids who won’t get the spotlight but did some great things and had personal bests.” Beisel went on to laud the efforts of the three new national qualifying performances.

One of the day’s biggest thrills came early in the afternoon when the quartet of Camden Sesna, Grant Lammers, Sam Plante and Calvin Rohde blazed to a distance medley relay time of 10:19.32 (converted to 10:11.03 for the national list). That time put the group in first place and broke the Fuhrer Field House record. Sesna ran a 3:12 split in the 1,200 meters, Lammers galloped 400 meters in 50.98, Plante paced 800 meters in 1:59.34 and Rohde polished it off with a 4:16 in the 1,600 meters. Rohde is also an individual national qualifier in the mile.

It could be argued that the weight throw has been Concordia’s most consistently excellent event area this season. The usual suspects again hit the ‘A’ standard at Doane: Andy Amos (4th place; 56’ 6 ¾”), Morgan De Jong (2nd place; 55’ 9”), Sarah Ragland (event champ; season best of 57’) and Chris Wren (2nd place; 63’ 7”). This time around, Gerber also broke through by sending the weight throw sailing 53’ 4 ¼” (fourth place) for a personal best. On the men’s side of things, Dagne’ Buck notched a ‘B’ standard of 53’ 8 ¼.” In the shot put, Jordyn Anderson eclipsed the ‘B’ standard and Amos was the top Bulldog for the men.

In the high jump, Loga will be headed to nationals for the third time in his career. In a strong competition at the Beile Classic, the Bee, Neb., native cleared 6’ 8 ¼” and placed third (based on the sequence of successful jumps). Teammate Jacob Glines got over the bar at 6’ 5.” On the women’s side of the high jump, Concordia’s Hannah Newton, Grace Reimer and Amy Richert all eclipsed 5’ 3.”

Elsewhere on the track, sophomore Rylee Haecker just keeps doing her thing. She clocked another ‘A’ standard in the 1,000 meters, finishing in a first-place time of 2:58.37 (No. 1 in the NAIA). The Bulldog women claimed a series of Beile Classic titles courtesy of the women’s 4x400 meter relay, Keri Bauer (800 meters) and Jacee Pfeifer (600 meters). The 4x4 team was made up of Rachel Battershell, Trinity Tuls, Jordan Koepke and Emily Loseke and clocked a ‘B’ standard of 4:02.99. In the open 400 meters, Sarah Lewis, Battershell, Tuls and Koepke placed second through fifth while all finishing in under 1:01. Battershell is still working her way towards the ‘A’ standard. Also noteworthy, Kylahn Heritage made her return and placed third in the 1,000 meters (3:07.46).

The Concordia men’s 4x4 wrapped up the meet by outrunning groups from Doane, Bethany and York. The Bulldog foursome of Cade Kleckner, Jacob Jennings, Xavier Ross and Mark Cooke recorded a time of 3:24.21, just shy of the ‘B’ standard. Jennings placed third in the open 400 in a time of 50.94. A runner-up finish on the track was turned in by Micah Willweber in the mile (4:42.21). Grace Reiman placed second in the women’s 3,000 meters (11:13.43).

In the pole vault, Erin Mapson took home a meet title for the second week in a row. The four-time NAIA All-American cleared a season best of 12’ 1 ½” at the Beile Classic. On the men’s side, Chase Berry (14’ 9”) and Zach Bennetts (14’ 3 ¼”) are hoping to add themselves to the national qualifying field in the coming weeks. Berry came close in his attempts at the ‘B’ standard on Saturday. Bennetts and Berry were both indoor All-Americans a year ago.

The Bulldogs will be back inside their own Fieldhouse next Friday (Feb. 4) to host the Concordia Classic. The meet will mark the third of four home meets this indoor season. Select Concordia athletes will also compete at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational (Feb. 4-5) hosted by the University of Nebraska. Only two weekends of indoor season remain prior to the GPAC Championships.

Meet Highlights

Automatic National Qualifying Standards

· *Men’s Distance Medley Relay (10:19.32); Sesna, Lammers, Plante, Rohde

· Andy Amos – Weight Throw (56’ 6 ¾”)

· Morgan De Jong – Weight Throw (55’ 9”)

· *Abigail Gerber – Weight Throw (53’ 4 ¼”)

· Rylee Haecker – 1,000 Meters (2:58.37)

· *Wyatt Loga – High Jump (6’ 8 ¼”)

· Erin Mapson – Pole Vault (12’ 1 ½”)

· Sarah Ragland – Weight Throw (57’)

· Chris Wren – Weight Throw (63’ 7”)

*Fresh auto mark

Event Champions

· Men’s Distance Medley Relay (10:19.32); Sesna, Lammers, Plante, Rohde

· Men’s 4x400 Meter Relay (3:24.21); Kleckner, Jennings, Ross, Cooke

· Women’s 4x400 Meter Relay (4:02.99); Battershell, Tuls, Koepke, Loseke

· Keri Bauer – 800 meters (2:22.94)

· Rylee Haecker – 1,000 meters (2:58.37)

· Erin Mapson – Pole Vault (12’ 1 ½”)

· Jacee Pfeifer – 600 meters (1:40.61)

· Sarah Ragland – weight throw (57’)

Meet Preview: 2022 Concordia Classic

Feb. 1

SEWARD, Neb. – For the third time this season, Concordia University Track & Field will play the role of meet host. The Bulldogs will welcome athletes from 14 institutions for Friday’s Concordia Classic, which is slated to get started with field events at 12 p.m. CT. The field of teams includes GPAC rivals in Briar Cliff, College of Saint Mary, Doane, Hastings and Mount Marty. Earlier this season, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s programs also hosted the Concordia Early Bird (Dec. 10-11) and the Concordia Polar Dog Invite (Jan. 22). Select Bulldog athletes will also be headed to the University of Nebraska for the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational (Feb. 4-5).

Meet Info

Concordia Classic
Friday, Feb. 4 | Fieldhouse | 12 p.m. CT
LINKS
--Live Results (Black Squirrel Timing)
--Tickets (also sold on site)
--Event Schedule (PDF)

Live Streaming Links

· Running Events: https://www.youtube.com/c/BulldogTrackandField

· Men’s & Women’s High Jump: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCnWh95Lz6dW3OUosomZyoA

· Women’s Long Jump / Triple Jump (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 & Men’s Long Jump / Triple Jump (infield jumping events): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIerIQe-tQv53fnpGwp_wTQ

Competing Teams
Bellevue University
Benedictine College (Kan.)
Briar Cliff University
College of Saint Mary
Concordia University
Doane University
Friends University (Kan.)
Hastings College
MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.)
Missouri Valley College
Mount Marty University
Nebraska Wesleyan University
University of Nebraska-Kearney
York College

In last week’s action at the Fred Beile Classic hosted by Doane, Concordia competitors achieved nine performances that met the automatic national qualifying standard and produced eight event titles. Fresh ‘A’ standards were turned in by the men’s distance medley relay, Abigail Gerber in the weight throw and Wyatt Loga in the high jump. Those efforts push the total number of ‘A’ standards this season for Bulldog athletes to 16. Below is a summary of Concordia marks that currently rank in the top five on the NAIA national lists.

· Rylee Haecker – No. 2 in 1,000 meters (2:56.45)

· Josie Puelz – No. 2 in pole vault (13’ 2 ¼”)

· Sarah Ragland – No. 2 in weight throw (57’)

· Women’s 4x400 meter relay – No. 3 (3:53.73)

· Women’s 4x800 meter relay – No. 3 (9:29.48)

· Men’s distance medley relay – No. 4 (10:11.03)

· Morgan De Jong – No. 4 in weight throw (55’ 10 ½”)

· Chris Wren – No. 4 in weight throw (64’ 1 ¾”)

· Erin Mapson – No. 5 in pole vault (12’ 1 ½”)

· Hannah Newton – No. 5 in high jump (5’ 5”)

· Amy Richert – No. 5 in high jump (5’ 5”) / No. 5 in pentathlon (3,407)

Based on the NAIA national lists prior to the Beile Classic, the Bulldogs earned NAIA National Rating Index positions of No. 2 on the women’s side and No. 18 on the men’s side, according to U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association calculations. The GPAC was well-represented in those rankings. Other men’s top 25 teams in the GPAC were No. 2 Dordt, No. 4 Doane, No. 7 Mount Marty, No. 13 Midland and No. 24 Briar Cliff. Top 25 women’s teams include No. 5 Hastings, No. 6 Doane, No. 8 Dordt and No. 23 Northwestern.

Additional information on the Sevigne Husker Invite will be released later in the week. Live video and results can be found on the University of Nebraska website HERE.

The Concordia Indoor Invite on Feb. 12 will serve as the final meet prior to the 2022 GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships (Feb. 18-19). The schedule of events for the conference meet can be viewed HERE.

Ragland tabbed GPAC Field Athlete of the Week

Feb. 2

SEWARD, Neb. – Following a season best performance at the Fred Beile Classic, Concordia University senior Sarah Ragland has been named the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Women’s Field Athlete of the Week, as announced by the conference on Wednesday (Feb. 2). This marks the first career GPAC weekly award for Ragland. She is the third member of the NAIA second-ranked Bulldog Women’s Track & Field team to garner such an honor this indoor season, joining Morgan De Jong (Jan. 19) and Sarah Lewis (Dec. 15).

A native of Rocky River, Ohio, Ragland won the weight throw competition at last week’s Beile Classic with her toss of 57 feet. That mark ranks No. 1 in the GPAC and No. 2 in the NAIA this season. Ragland’s personal best of 57’ 9” in the weight throw ranks ninth on the program’s all-time list. She is a two-time NAIA All-American having earned one plaque apiece in the weight and hammer throws.

Ragland and company will return to action this weekend with the Concordia Classic (Feb. 4) and the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational (Feb. 4-5).

2021-22 GPAC Athletes of the Week
Feb. 2 – Sarah Ragland (field)
Jan. 19 – Morgan De Jong (field)
Dec. 15 – Sarah Lewis (track)

Mapson climbs school pole vault list; five new 'B' standards achieved

Feb. 4

SEWARD, Neb. – Members of the Concordia University Track & Field program showcased their talents at both the Concordia Classic and the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational on Friday (Feb. 4) and emerged with five fresh ‘B’ standard national qualifying performances. In one of the day’s biggest highlights, Erin Mapson cleared a personal best in the pole vault while winning the competition at the Concordia Classic. She was one of many Bulldogs to post PR’s as the indoor season begins to near the finish line.

Head Coach Matt Beisel walked away with plenty to be pleased with considering the high level of competition seen at both the Concordia Classic and Husker Invite. There were athletes from 14 different collegiate institutions on hand inside the Walz Fieldhouse for a meet that finished up at 9:45 p.m.

“As I looked through the results initially, I saw quite a few personal bests in a number of different event areas, including the four new ‘B’ marks,” Beisel said. “A large percentage of our middle and long distance runners had personal bests or big season bests. That tells me we’re doing the right things and putting out good marks. The competition tonight was deep and strong, and it was helpful to everybody. Even though there were a few disappointments, there was a lot more good to take away from this that will help us plan and prepare for next week.”

Mapson has put together an impressive three-week run that has included pole vault event titles at the Polar Dog Invite, Beile Classic and Concordia Classic. On Friday, the four-time All-American cleared 12’ 9 ½” and moved up to third on the program’s all-time women’s indoor pole vault list behind only Josie Puelz (13’ 4 ½”) and Allie Brooks (13’ 4 ¼”). Meanwhile, Puelz placed second at the Concordia Classic after having sat out the previous two weeks. Puelz eclipsed 12’ 2 ½” and placed second to Mapson. On the men’s side, Chase Berry found himself in a battle with three University of Nebraska-Kearney competitors and came away with a season best ‘B’ standard of 15’ 3.”

Ten Bulldogs were present at the Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb., where the annual Husker Invite featured a wealth of NCAA Division I competitors. There were no new ‘A’ standards, although reliable standouts Morgan De Jong, Sarah Ragland and Chris Wren each eclipsed the auto mark in the weight throw, as they have consistently this indoor season. Wren placed 16th out of 29 competitors while De Jong and Ragland landed at 13th and 15th, respectively, out of 21 throwers.

On the Devaney track, all three Concordia runners in the 400 meters clocked in under a minute: Rachel Battershell (58.26), Trinity Tuls (59.71) and Jordan Koepke (59.91). Battershell just missed the ‘B’ standard as she continues to strive for the NAIA auto time of 57.63. Elsewhere, Brittney Aitken ran 8.11 in the 60 meters, Amy Richert finished in 9.63 in the 60 meter hurdles and Jacee Pfeifer clocked a 600 meters of 1:37.73.

The top-rated weight throw crew in the NAIA also got a new ‘B’ standard thanks to Abi Wohlgemuth’s toss of 52’ 10 ¼.” Between the Concordia men and women, the program has piled up 10 weight throw marks that have met at least the ‘B’ standard this season. On the NAIA national leaderboard entering the weekend, Ragland and De Jong ranked second and third, respectively, on the women’s side and Wren ranked fourth on the men’s side. In the shot put, the most significant toss was turned in by Abigail Gerber. She achieved a ‘B’ mark of 42’ 9.”

Hoping to close the night out with an automatic national qualifying time, the Bulldog men’s 4x400 meter relay came up a couple seconds short of that goal. It finished in 3:23.31 in an entertaining race that saw Mount Marty, Doane and Nebraska Wesleyan claim the top three finishes. Concordia’s 4x4 of Cade Kleckner, Jacob Jennings, Xavier Ross and Mark Cooke will get another shot at a qualifying time in Lincoln on Saturday.

Once a GPAC cross country runner up, Kylahn Heritage continues to trend positively. She came in under the ‘B’ standard in the one mile with her time of 5:14.17 (converted to 5:11.10 on the national list) – good for second place at the Classic. Beisel lauded Heritage for her determination in fighting through injury that plagued her in cross country as well. Heritage now has the top mile among Concordia women this season. In the women’s 1,000 meters, Grace Reiman led a pack of six Bulldogs by finishing in 3:06.28 (fourth place). Beisel referred to Reiman’s effort as a “mentally tough race.”

In the men’s 4x800 meter relay, the top three groups all broke the previous meet record. Concordia’s foursome of Calvin Rohde, Camden Sesna, Sam Plante and Charlie Hayden paced the track in 8:03.01. Plante ran a 1:57 split for the 4x8 and ran a personal best in the 600 meters. Rohde and Sesna will get back to work in individual events in Lincoln on Saturday.

In the jumps, Jacob Glines has continued to be one of the top dawgs. He placed sixth in the high jump while clearing 6’ 3 ¼.” In the women’s long jump, senior Gabby Diamond came close to the ‘B’ standard with her mark of 17’ 9.” Joel Rathe long jumped 21’ 4” and placed sixth in the men’s competition.

Action will continue on Saturday for Bulldogs who have been entered into the Husker Invite. Heat sheets can be found HERE. Following this weekend, Concordia will look ahead to its own Concordia Indoor Invite on Feb. 12. The tentative schedule for that meet can be found HERE.

Said Beisel, “Some of today was about getting marks that could move them up in the seedings for conference. We had some compete in events for the first time this season that they didn’t have a mark in. It was an assessment on how we’re going to do relays. Any time you take kids to UNL, it’s about getting them on a big stage and getting them mentally ready for an atmosphere similar to nationals. Having them compete on back-to-back days gets them ready for competing in prelims and finals (at nationals).”

Friday Highlights

Automatic National Qualifying Standards

· Morgan De Jong – weight throw (55’)

· Erin Mapson – pole vault (12’ 9 ½”)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (12’ 2 ½”)

· Sarah Ragland – weight throw (54’ 4”)

· Chris Wren – weight throw (60’ 3 ¼”)

New ‘B’ standards: Rachel Battershell (400 meters; 58.26); Chase Berry (pole vault; 15’ 3”); Abigail Gerber (shot put; 42’ 9”); Kylahn Heritage (mile; 5:14.17); Abi Wohlgemuth (weight throw; 52’ 10 ¼”).

CONCORDIA CLASSIC RESULTS

HUSKER INVITE RESULTS (DAY 1)

Relays, mid/long-distance runners highlight second day of Husker Invite

Feb. 5

LINCOLN, Neb. – After hosting the Concordia Classic and competing on day one of the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational on Friday, Concordia University Track & Field wasn’t quite finished with the weekend. Sixteen Bulldogs were in action on Saturday for the second and final day of the Husker Invite at the Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb. Among the biggest highlights, three Concordia individuals achieved personal bests on the track and both 4x400 meter relays produced strong times.

Thanks to the men’s 4x4 clocking a ‘B’ standard on Saturday, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads wound up with five fresh ‘B’ marks for the weekend.

The men’s 4x4 at the Husker Invite featured Xavier Ross, Mark Cooke, Cade Kleckner and Jacob Jennings. Collectively, they turned in a time of 3:19.18, placing fourth out of 13 relays, including six from the NCAA Division I level. Jennings’ split of 49.22 was best on the team. That same group had run a 3:23.31 on the home indoor track on Friday.

Also some of top Bulldog cross country runners, Grace Reiman, Calvin Rohde and Camden Sesna clocked new PR’s on Saturday. Reiman ran 5:20.59 in the mile (second place out of five), Rohde completed the mile in 4:16.35 (seventh out of 18) and Sesna paced the 3,000 meters in 8:43.44 (ninth out of 13). Rohde already owned an ‘A’ standard in the mile.

As for the women’s 4x4, the group included Jacee Pfeifer, Jordan Koepke, Trinity Tuls and Rachel Battershell. They finished in 3:52.96, which would top the previous season best of 3:53.73 (prior to conversion). Koepke managed the fastest split with a 57.18 split. Battershell was close behind with a 57.26 split.

Other Bulldogs who competed on Saturday were Brittney Aitken (26.75 in 200m), Gabby Diamond (34’ 5 ¾” in triple jump), Kleckner (22.99 in 200m), Wyatt Loga (6’ 4 ¾” high jump), Hannan Newton (no height in high jump) and Amy Richert (5’ 1 ¼” high jump).

The Bulldogs will play the role of meet host for the final time this indoor season when they put on the Concordia Indoor Invite next Saturday (Feb. 12). That meet will be the precursor to the GPAC Championships coming up Feb. 18-19 at Doane. The tentative Concordia Invite schedule can be found HERE.

Saturday Highlights

· Men’s 4x400m relay – placed fourth (3:19.18); ‘B’ standard

· Women’s 4x400m relay – placed third (3:52.96)

· Grace Reiman – mile PR of 5:20.59

· Calvin Rohde – mile PR of 4:16.35

· Camden Sesna – 3,000 meter PR of 8:43.44

Meet Preview: 2022 Concordia Indoor Invite

Feb. 8

SEWARD, Neb. – For the fourth and final time this indoor season, the Concordia University Track & Field program will play the role of meet host. The Bulldogs are getting set to put on the annual Concordia Indoor Invite, which is slated to feature athletes from 13 colleges and universities. Previously this season, Head Coach Matt Beisel and company have hosted the Bulldog Early Bird (Dec. 10-11), the Concordia Polar Dog Invite (Jan. 22) and the Concordia Classic (Feb. 4).

Meet Info

Concordia Invite
Saturday, Feb. 12 | Fieldhouse | 12 p.m. CT
LINKS
--Live Results (Black Squirrel Timing)
--Tickets (also sold on site)
--Event Schedule (PDF)

Live Streaming Links

· Running Events: https://www.youtube.com/c/BulldogTrackandField

· Men’s & Women’s High Jump: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCnWh95Lz6dW3OUosomZyoA

· Women’s Long Jump / Triple Jump (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 & Men’s Long Jump / Triple Jump (infield jumping events): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIerIQe-tQv53fnpGwp_wTQ

Competing Teams
Bellevue University
Benedictine College (Kan.)
Bethel College (Kan.)
College of Saint Mary
Concordia University
Doane University
Friends University (Kan.)
Grand View University (Iowa)
Hastings College
Kansas Wesleyan University
Mid-America Nazarene University
Southwestern College (Kan.)
York College

Among the highlights from last week, the Bulldogs turned in fresh NAIA ‘B’ standard marks during competition at the Concordia Classic and the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite. Those marks came courtesy of Rachel Battershell (400 meters), Chase Berry (pole vault), Abigail Gerber (shot put), Kylahn Heritage (mile) and Abi Wohlgemuth (weight throw). In addition, Erin Mapson produced a new personal best in the pole vault by clearing 12’ 9 ½,” which puts her No. 3 on the program’s all-time indoor list. Through five weekends of indoor meets, Concordia athletes have combined for 16 ‘A’ standards and 16 ‘B’ standards. Below is a summary of the automatic national qualifying marks.

· Men’s distance medley relay (9:29.48)

· Women’s 4x400m relay (3:52.96)

· Women’s 4x800m relay (9:29.48)

· Andy Amos – weight throw (57’ 10 ½”)

· Amira Cummings – pole vault (11’ 6 ½”)

· Morgan De Jong – weight throw (55’ 10 ½”)

· Abigail Gerber – weight throw (53’ 4 ¼”)

· Rylee Haecker – 1,000 meters (2:56:45)

· Sarah Lewis – 400 meters (57.34); 60 hurdles (8.87)

· Wyatt Loga – high jump (6’ 8 ¼”)

· Erin Mapson – pole vault (12’ 9 ½”)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (13’ 2 ¼”)

· Sarah Ragland – weight throw (57’)

· Calvin Rohde – mile (4:15.18)

· Chris Wren – weight throw (64’ 1 ¾”)

In the NAIA national ratings index released last week by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, the Bulldogs landed at No. 2 on the women’s side and at No. 17 on the men’s side. In addition, Concordia boasted the NAIA’s No. 1 event squads for the men’s weight throw, women’s weight throw, women’s pole vault, pentathlon and women’s 1,000 meters. The Bulldogs also ranked No. 2 in the women’s shot put.

The Concordia Invite will serve as one last opportunity to improve marks and seeding for the 2022 GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. The conference meet will be hosted by Doane on Feb. 18-19. The event schedule can be found HERE.

Mapson vaults way to GPAC Field Athlete of the Week award

Feb. 9

SEWARD, Neb. – A personal best performance paved the way for Erin Mapson to be named the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Women’s Field Athlete of the Week, as announced by the conference on Wednesday (Feb. 9). Mapson is the fourth different member of the Concordia University Women’s Track & Field team to garner a GPAC weekly award this indoor season. Previous winners included Sarah Lewis (Dec. 15), Morgan De Jong (Jan. 19) and Sarah Ragland (Feb. 2).

One of the NAIA’s elite vaulters, Mapson cleared a PR of 12’ 9 ½” at last week’s Concordia Classic while winning the competition. That mark moved the Lincoln East High School alum up to No. 3 on the program’s all-time indoor women’s pole vault list and pushed her to No. 3 on the current NAIA national leaderboard. Mapson has taken first place in the pole vault at each of the past three meets. Her career accolades have included four NAIA All-America awards, a 2019 GPAC outdoor pole vault title and recognition as a CoSIDA Academic All-American.

Mapson and the Bulldogs will return to action this Saturday when the program hosts the annual Concordia Invite. The meet schedule can be found HERE.

2021-22 GPAC Athletes of the Week
Feb. 9 – Erin Mapson (field)
Feb. 2 – Sarah Ragland (field)
Jan. 19 – Morgan De Jong (field)
Dec. 15 – Sarah Lewis (track)

Season's final home meet results in four new 'A' standards, nine event titles

Feb 12

SEWARD, Neb. – The pieces are coming together at just about the right time for athletes from the nationally ranked Concordia University Track & Field squads. While hosting their final home meet of the 2022 indoor season, the Bulldog men’s and women's teams combined for four fresh automatic national qualifying standards and nine event championships as part of the annual Concordia Indoor Invite. Saturday (Feb. 12)’s meet featured athletes from 13 institutions.

Heading into the conference meet, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s program has totaled 20 ‘A’ standards on the season. The goal is to peak next week. Concordia sports current NAIA national rankings of second on the women’s side and 20th on the men’s side (according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association).

“In most of our event areas, we saw some big marks happen and some big improvements,” Beisel said. “This is where we want to be as we head into the GPAC meet. There are always some people who didn’t have their best day, but I think they took it with a good attitude. Everyone had lessons that they learned and now they know what to do differently next time. I think that’s really important going forward.”

A lot was accomplished on the track on Saturday. Rylee Haecker (800 meters), Jordan Koepke (600 meters) and Calvin Rohde (1,000 meters) each hit new NAIA auto times in starring performances. A freshman from Gulf Breeze, Fla., Koepke ran the 600 meters for the first time in her life and won the race with a time of 1:36.02. In that same event, teammates Keri Bauer (1:37.69) and Jacee Pfeifer (1:38.12) ran solid times (‘B’ standards) and placed second and third, respectively.

Well-rounded as an athlete, Koepke has been a key piece of the 4x400 meter relay that has also qualified for nationals. Said Koepke, “Everyone pushes everyone. Even in the 600, my teammates really wanted to win, and they were so excited for me for doing well. I know that the more we push each other and are excited for each other doing well, we’ll succeed more at conference.”

Haecker is now a national qualifier in both the 800 and 1,000 meter runs. The Davenport, Neb., native clocked in at 2:17.91 on Saturday while taking first place in the 800. Haecker and Rohde have carried over their success from cross country season. Rohde can also boast a pair of individual national qualifying times on the season. The Reed City, Mich., native completed the 1,000 meters in 2:31.05 and was the Concordia Invite champion.

The results continue to indicate the powerhouse stature of the women’s program. One of the nation’s top pentathlon athletes, Amy Richert added her name to the qualifying field in the long jump by landing at 18’ 5 ¾” (second place). She entered the day ranked fifth nationally in the pentathlon while also holding a top 10 NAIA mark in the high jump. Three of Richert’s teammates also reached 17 feet or better in the long jump (Gabby Diamond, Katie Severt and Jamey Broman). On the men’s side of the jumps, All-American Wyatt Loga cleared 6’ 5” in the high jump and placed third at the Concordia Invite.

In the throws, sophomore Abigail Gerber shined. She popped off a personal best of 55’ 9 ¾” in the weight throw and seized first place at the meet. She was also the runner up in the shot put with an indoor PR (43’ 3 ¼”). On the men’s side, Andy Amos was the team’s top performer in the shot put while Brady Klute paced the Bulldogs in the weight throw, an event which also saw Ben Moll notch a fresh ‘B’ mark. Concordia held back some of its top throwers. Gerber took advantage of the moment for the NAIA’s top-rated weight throw crew.

Said Gerber, “It’s really nice having that environment where you’re being pushed. You have that healthy competition where you’re just pushing each other to be the best you can be … You work so hard in practice all year just to get those big throws. When it finally happens in the meet – it’s what you’ve been working for. It’s just relief.”

An entertaining battle took place in the women’s pole vault as accomplished Bulldogs Josie Puelz and Erin Mapson went toe-to-toe. Both All-Americans cleared 12’ 8 ¼” and just missed out on their attempts at 13 feet. This was a low pressure meet with both having already been qualified for nationals. On the men’s side, Zach Bennetts placed first with a season best of 15’ 3,” good for a ‘B’ standard. Bennetts and Chase Berry have both produced ‘B’ standards this season.

Additional first-place races were achieved by Rachel Battershell (400 meters), Kylahn Heritage (mile) and Xavier Ross (400 meters). Battershell shaved her time down to 58.69 for a season best that again moves her a tad closer to the ‘A’ standard. For Heritage, her mile of 5:13.82 was also a season best and met the ‘B’ standard. Meanwhile, Ross ran the 400 in 50.04, beating out teammate Jacob Jennings (50.46) for the win. Battershell and teammates Sarah Lewis, Trinity Tuls and Emily Loseke went 1-2-3-4 in the women’s 400.

The list of runners up at the Concordia Invite included Battershell (200 meters), Bauer (600 meters), Gerber (shot put), Jennings (400 meters), Lewis (400 meters), Mapson (pole vault), Grace Reiman (1,000 meters) and Richert (60 hurdles – PR). In addition, cross country national qualifier Camden Sesna ran a mile of 4:26.16 and placed third. In the 60 meter dash, Brittney Aitken ran 7.90 in the prelims and wound up in third place.

There was a strategy behind the way the Bulldogs approached the meet. They did not enter any relays and put select athletes into unfamiliar events. Said Beisel, “We put some people in new events to add some depth, such as Jordan Koepke in the 600 and Rachel Battershell and Jenna Esch in the 200 – and Mark Cooke in the 200. We wanted to get some marks so we have more options to consider going into the conference in order to maximize our point scoring potential.”

It’s time to shift complete focus to the 2022 GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. The Concordia women’s program will enter next week having won five-straight GPAC championship meets. Meanwhile, the men’s program turned in 2021 GPAC placements of third for indoor and fourth for outdoor. Doane will host the 2022 conference meet next Friday and Saturday (Feb. 18-19). The meet schedule can be found HERE.

Meet Highlights

Automatic National Qualifying Standards

· Abigail Gerber – weight throw (55’ 9 ¾”)

· *Rylee Haecker – 800 meters (2:17.91)

· *Jordan Koepke – 600 meters (1:36.02)

· Erin Mapson – pole vault (12’ 8 ¼”)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (12’ 8 ¼”)

· *Amy Richert – long jump (18’ 5 ¾”)

· *Calvin Rohde – 1,000 meters (2:31.05)

*Fresh ‘A’ standard

Event Champions

· Rachel Battershell – 400 meters (58.69)

· Zach Bennetts – pole vault (15’ 3”)

· Abigail Gerber – weight throw (55’ 9 ¾”)

· Rylee Haecker – 800 meters (2:17.91)

· Kylahn Heritage – mile (5:13.82)

· Jordan Koepke – 600 meters (1:36.02)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (12’ 8 ¼”)

· Calvin Rohde – 1,000 meters (2:31.05)

· Xavier Ross – 400 meters (50.04)

Meet Preview: 2022 GPAC Indoor Championships

Feb. 14

SEWARD, Neb. – After six weekends of regular season action, members of the Concordia University Track & Field program are gearing up for the 2022 GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. The conference indoor meet is headed back to Doane for the first time since 2018. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads are coming off 2021 GPAC indoor placements of first on the women’s side and third on the men’s side. The Bulldog women’s program has won each of the past five GPAC championship meets, a run that began with the 2019 indoor season.

Fans who plan to attend the meet this Friday and Saturday must pre-purchase online tickets in order to be admitted. The link to purchase tickets can be found below.

MEET INFO

2022 GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships
Friday/Saturday, Feb. 18-19
Fuhrer Field House | Crete, Neb.
Event Schedule (PDF)
Live Coverage
--Video Streams:
Friday combined events
Heptathlon/running events/high jump/pole vault
Long jump/triple jump/shot put/weight throw
--Results: Black Squirrel
--Admission: $10 for adults/senior citizens, $3 for K-12; only those with NAIA passes and GPAC student ID’s will be admitted free of charge.
**TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED ONLINE

So far this indoor season, Concordia athletes have combined for 20 performances that have met the automatic national qualifying standard. Rylee Haecker, Sarah Lewis and Calvin Rohde have each qualified for nationals in multiple individual events. Based on this season’s marks, the Bulldogs garnered NAIA national ratings index positions of No. 2 on the women’s side and No. 20 on the men’s side (released by the USTFCCCA last week). In last week’s ratings, the GPAC was well-represented in the top 25 with five men’s teams and four women’s teams making appearances. All four women’s teams were ranked among the top seven of the NAIA.

Between men and women, the Bulldogs boast 41 marks that rank among the top five of the GPAC across all event groupings. That list includes conference leaders in the women’s 4x400 meter relay, Zach Bennetts (pole vault), Chase Berry (pole vault), Rylee Haecker (1,000 meters), Hannah Newton (high jump), Josie Puelz (pole vault), Sarah Ragland (weight throw) and Amy Richert (high jump). The following Concordia athletes rank No. 2 in the GPAC: the men’s distance medley relay, Haecker (800 meters), Kylahn Heritage (mile), Sarah Lewis (400 meters and 60 hurdles), Erin Mapson (pole vault) and Cora Olson (200 meters).

At the 2021 GPAC indoor meet hosted by Dordt, the following Bulldogs earned GPAC titles: Rachel Battershell (400 meters), Morgan De Jong (weight throw), Heritage (1,000 meters) and Cody Williams (heptathlon). A two-time NAIA national champion, Battershell has collected eight career GPAC event championships (including relays). Twelve Concordia athletes on the current roster have taken home a first-place medal at the conference meet. That group features pole vaulters Erin Mapson and Josie Puelz, who are the clear favorites in that event. The Bulldogs expect to stack points in the pole vault, in the relays and in the weight throw, among other areas.

The Concordia men’s program last celebrated a GPAC title at the 2015 conference outdoor meet. The Bulldogs swept GPAC men’s indoor and outdoor championships in 2014. Since then, Doane has been a dominant force on the men’s side. However, Dordt broke up Doane’s stranglehold on the top spot in the conference by taking the title in 2021. At the 2021 GPAC indoor championships, the Concordia women racked up 217 points while running away from second-place Hastings (137). The Dordt men’s winning point total rested at 184, beating out second-place Doane (152).

During the GPAC era (2000-present), Concordia Track & Field has totaled a combined 12 team conference championships. The program has also produced 26 runner-up team finishes over that same stretch. Beisel has been awarded GPAC Women’s Coach of the Year honors following each of the past five conference titles won by the Bulldog women. The most recent GPAC Athletes of the Year for Concordia were Rachel Battershell (2020 indoor) on the women’s side and Cody Williams (2019 outdoor) on the men’s side.

Once the GPAC championships are in the books, focus will shift to the 2022 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships (March 3-5). The Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings, S.D., will be the venue for the national meet for the third time. For additional meet info, check out the NAIA track and field page HERE.

Concordia all-time conference titles

MEN – indoor: 2014 | outdoor: 2014, 2015
WOMEN – indoor: 2010, 2019, 2020, 2021 | outdoor: 1998, 2010, 2012, 2019, 2021

Concordia all-time conference runner-up finishes

MEN – indoor: 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 | outdoor: 2002, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017
WOMEN – indoor: 2003, 2005, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016 | outdoor: 2005, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

Current Bulldogs with GPAC titles
Rachel Battershell – 8 (2021 outdoor 400 hurdles; 2021 outdoor 4x400m relay; 2021 indoor 400 meters; 2020 indoor 60 hurdles; 2020 indoor 400 meters; 2020 indoor 4x400m relay; 2019 indoor 4x400m relay; 2019 outdoor 400 meters)
Keri Bauer – 1 (2021 outdoor 4x400m relay)
Morgan De Jong – 1 (2021 weight throw)
Kylahn Heritage – 2 (2021 indoor 1,000 meters); 2020 indoor 3,000 meters)
Jacob Jennings – 1 (2021 outdoor 4x100m relay)
Cade Kleckner – 1 (2021 outdoor 4x100m relay)
Sarah Lewis – 3 (2021 outdoor 4x400m relay; 2020 indoor 4x400m relay; 2019 indoor 4x400m relay)
Erin Mapson – 1 (2019 outdoor pole vault)
Colton Meyer – 1 (2021 outdoor 4x100m relay)
Jacee Pfeifer – 2 (2020 indoor 4x400m relay; 2019 indoor 4x400m relay)
Josie Puelz – 2 (2021 outdoor pole vault; 2020 indoor pole vault)
Joel Rathe – 1 (2021 outdoor 4x100m relay)

Richert breaks program pentathlon record on day one of GPAC meet

Feb. 18

CRETE, Neb. – As the standout amongst five Concordia University Track & Field Athletes in action on Friday (Feb. 18), Amy Richert emerged with a new school record in the pentathlon. Richert placed second in the event while leading the way for the Bulldogs on the first day of the 2022 GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Doane. She was joined in all-conference territory by teammates Elena Batenhorst and Kaylee Boyle.

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s women’s team entered the meet ranked No. 2 in the NAIA. The Bulldogs are hoping to extend their streak of GPAC championships to six by the conclusion of the weekend. They are on the board with 12 team points on day one of the conference meet.

Richert finished with 3,479 points in the pentathlon, surpassing the former program standard of 3,410 by Jessica Deterding in 2019. The native of Gresham, Neb., clocked a fresh NAIA ‘B’ national qualifying standard in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.14. Richert also equaled a season best in the high jump while clearing 5’ 5.” With her school record point total, Richert exceeded the 3,407 points she posted at the Concordia Early Bird back in December.

Batenhorst placed sixth and Boyle eighth as Concordia outperformed its projected point total in the pentathlon. Batenhorst collected 3,156 points, a figure that would put her in the top 13 nationally based on the NAIA leaderboard coming into the day. By day’s end, Boyle had accumulated 2,904 points. The two additional Bulldogs in the event were Isabelle Salters (ninth; 2,692) and Faith Espinosa (13th; 2,134).

Things will heat up on Saturday from the Fuhrer Field House in Crete, Neb. For Concordia, action will begin at 12 p.m. CT when the first field events get started. For complete meet information, including live coverage and results, check out the meet preview HERE.

Puelz breaks meet record, women win sixth-straight GPAC title; men place fourth

Feb. 19

CRETE, Neb. – On the women’s side of things, Concordia University Track & Field has built a dynasty. Inside Fuhrer Field House on the Doane campus, the Bulldogs celebrated their sixth-straight GPAC title. The Concordia women accumulated 194.5 points while beating out second-place Hastings (163) at the 2022 GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. Meanwhile, the Bulldog men placed fourth with 67 points.

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads combined for a total of six GPAC event championships. In another ‘wow’ moment for Josie Puelz, she broke her own school record and the GPAC meet record in the pole vault. Other conference champions were Zach Bennetts (pole vault), Morgan De Jong (weight throw), Rylee Haecker (mile and 1,000 meters) and Jordan Koepke (600 meters).

“God is so good,” Beisel said. “He has blessed this team so richly, and the athletic performances are a small part of that. Each of these men and women who make up our teams and our staff are remarkable in so many ways, and I’m just thankful I get to be part of it at this time in our school history. Our men fought hard and placed fourth – it was a dogfight between us, Mount Marty and Midland. Our men put together some fantastic races at the end with Camden Sesna getting third in the 3K and our 4x4 taking second.

“Our women put together another championship meet. We went 1-2 in the weight throw, the pole vault and the mile and broke two school records. We had a lot of fun. Now on to nationals!”

After Amy Richert broke the school pentathlon record on Friday, it was Puelz’s turn on Saturday. Her vault of 13’ 5” eclipsed the previous GPAC indoor meet record of 12’ 10 ¾” that had been set in 2011. With Puelz leading the way, the Bulldogs produced 25 team points as Erin Mapson placed second, Sydney Reichert fifth and Erin Boggs sixth. A two-time national champion, Puelz has now won three career GPAC pole vault championships. Bennetts cleared 15’ 3” in the men’s pole vault for the second-straight week and made it a Concordia sweep of GPAC pole vault titles.

A first time GPAC individual champ, Haecker pulled off the impressive double in taking titles in the mile and 1,000 meters. She hit the ‘A’ standard again in the 1,000 with her time of 2:58.03. That came after she had won the mile in 5:13.25. In addition, teammate Kylahn Heritage placed second in the mile and sixth in the 1,000 in helping pile up team points. Grace Reiman finished seventh in the 1,000.

Concordia continues to own the NAIA’s top-rated weight throw groups for both men and women. On the women’s side, De Jong won the GPAC weight throw title for the second year in a row while teammate Sarah Ragland placed as the runner up. They tossed out marks of 56’ 7 ½” and 56’ 1,” respectively. In a conference incredibly stacked in the men’s weight throw, Chris Wren (63’ 11”) placed third and Andy Amos (57’ 7 ¾”) placed seventh while both again hitting the ‘A’ standard. Wren was also sixth in the shot put.

A week after running the 600 meters for the first time (and clocking an ‘A’ standard), Koepke emerged as somewhat of a surprise winner in the 600. She won it with a time of 1:36.34. The 600 meters yielded three All-GPAC finishers as Keri Bauer (fifth), Jacee Pfeifer (sixth) and Grace Oberg (eight) placed top eight.

Two brand new automatic marks were recorded on Saturday as accomplished Rachel Battershell (eight-time GPAC champion) ran the 400 meters in 57.52 and placed second. In the women’s shot put, Jordyn Anderson notched a personal best of 44’ 3 ¼.” Teammate Abby Gerber narrowly missed out on the ‘A’ standard and placed third in the shot put.

All four Concordia relays finished within the top three. To summarize:

· Men’s 4x400 meter relay – 2nd (3:22.38): Cade Kleckner, Jacob Jennings, Colton Meyer and Xavier Ross.

· Women’s 4x400 meter relay – 2nd (3:59.42): Battershell, Sarah Lewis, Koepke and Trinity Tuls.

· Men’s 4x800 meter relay – 3rd (8:08.76): Sam Plante, Cameron Gray, Ethan Ideus and Micah Willweber

· Women’s 4x800 meter relay – 2nd (9:57.59): Oberg, Kaia Richmond, Faith Williamson and Rhaya Kaschinske

A star on the track all indoor season, Calvin Rohde placed fourth in both the mile and the 1,000 meters while earning 10 team points. As mentioned by Beisel, Sesna put together a strong effort in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:56.62 that was good for third place. In other noteworthy efforts, Sarah Lewis placed third in the 60 hurdles and fourth in the 400 meters. Lewis again came in under the ‘A’ standard in the hurdles while running 8.99. On the men’s side of the 400, Jennings (fifth), Ross (seventh) and Meyer (eighth) each placed in all-conference territory.

After finishing runner up in the pentathlon, Richert also placed fourth in the high jump, fifth in the long jump and sixth in the 60 hurdles. That added up to 20 team points from Richert. Also in the jumps, Wyatt Loga placed fourth in the men’s high jump while three Concordia women placed in the top eight of the triple jump: Gabby Diamond (third), Katie Severt (seventh) and Cora Olson (eighth).

All that’s left of the 2022 indoor season are the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships, which are coming up March 3-5 in Brookings, S.D. To date, Bulldog athletes have combined for 22 performances that have met the automatic national qualifying standard. Official national qualifiers will be announced next week.

GPAC Champions

· Zach Bennetts – pole vault (15’ 3”)

· Morgan De Jong – weight throw (56’ 7 ½”)

· Rylee Haecker – mile (5:13.25); 1,000 meters (2:58.03)

· Jordan Koepke – 600 meters (1:36.34)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (13’ 5”)

Automatic National Qualifying Standards

· Women’s 4x400m relay (3:59.42); Battershell, Lewis, Koepke, Tuls

· Andy Amos – weight throw (57’ 7 ¾”)

· *Jordyn Anderson – shot put (44’ 3 ¼”)

· *Rachel Battershell – 400 meters (57.52)

· Morgan De Jong – weight throw (56’ 7 ½”)

· Rylee Haecker – 1,000 meters (2:58.03)

· Jordan Koepke – 600 meters (1:36.34)

· Sarah Lewis – 60 hurdles (8.99)

· Erin Mapson – pole vault (12’ 6 ¼”)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (13’ 5”)

· Sarah Ragland – weight throw (56’ 1”)

· Calvin Rohde – mile (4:18.85)

· Chris Wren – weight throw (63’ 11”)

*Fresh NAIA auto mark

New school records: Josie Puelz, pole vault (13’ 5”); Amy Richert, pentathlon (3,479 points)

NOTE: All-conference honors are awarded to individuals who place in the top eight and relays who place in the top three of their events. A complete list of Concordia All-GPAC award winners will be released next week.

Forty-six Bulldogs earn All-GPAC honors; Beisel, Puelz collect major awards

Feb. 24

SEWARD, Neb. – For their performances at the 2022 GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, 46 Bulldogs were recognized as all-conference athletes in one or more events. All-GPAC awards are handed out to the top eight place finishers in individual events and to athletes who contribute to relays that place within the top three at the conference championships. Honors for the 2022 GPAC track season were officially announced by the conference on Thursday (Feb. 24). The complete list of Concordia All-GPAC athletes can be found at bottom.

After leading the Concordia University Women’s Track & Field program to a sixth-straight GPAC title, Head Coach Matt Beisel was selected as the 2022 Jim McMahon GPAC Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year. Beisel has been named the GPAC Coach of the Year six times for track and field and once for cross country. At last week’s conference championship meet, the women claimed the title while winning six GPAC event titles and racking up 194.5 points. Meanwhile, the men placed fourth with a total of 67 points.

Following another record-breaking performance, Josie Puelz was honored with the 2022 GPAC Indoor Women’s Field Performance of the Meet. In the process of winning her third career GPAC pole vault title, Puelz cleared 13’ 5” at the 2022 conference meet. That mark represented both a school record and GPAC meet record. The Lincoln Lutheran High School alum now owns school records in both the indoor and outdoor pole vault and holds GPAC conference meet indoor and outdoor records. Her all-time best in the pole vault was 13’ 7 ¼” at the 2021 conference outdoor meet.

The all-conference list below includes additional 2022 GPAC indoor champions in Zach Bennetts (pole vault), Morgan De Jong (weight throw), Rylee Haecker (mile and 1,000 meters) and Jordan Koepke (600 meters). Conference runner-up placements were claimed by the men’s 4x400 meter relay, the women’s 4x400 meter relay, the women’s 4x800 meter relay, Jordyn Anderson (shot put), Rachel Battershell (400 meters), Kylahn Heritage (mile), Erin Mapson (pole vault), Sarah Ragland (weight throw) and Amy Richert (pentathlon). Like Puelz, Richert broke a school record. Her point total of 3,479 in the pentathlon is a new program standard.

Seventeen Bulldogs garnered all-conference recognition in multiple events. The individual point scorers on the women’s side were Haecker and Richert with 20 apiece. De Jong and Sarah Lewis both contributed 11 points. On the men’s side, Bennetts and Calvin Rohde paced the squad with 10 points each while Chris Wren was close behind with nine.

On Friday, the NAIA will officially announce qualifiers for the 2022 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships. The national meet will be staged at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings, S.D., March 3-5.

2022 GPAC Indoor Track & Field All-Conference Award Winners

MEN

· Andy Amos – weight throw (7th)

· Zach Bennetts – pole vault (1st)

· Cameron Gray – 4x800m relay (3rd)

· Ethan Ideus – 4x800m relay (3rd)

· Jacob Jennings – 4x400m relay (2nd); 400 meters (5th)

· Cade Kleckner – 4x400m relay (2nd); 200 meters (7th)

· Wyatt Loga – high jump (4th)

· Colton Meyer – 4x400m relay (2nd); 400 meters (8th)

· Sam Plante – 4x800m relay (3rd)

· Joel Rathe – long jump (8th)

· Calvin Rohde – 1,000 meters (4th); mile (4th)

· Xavier Ross – 4x400m relay (2nd); 400 meters (7th)

· Darien Semedo – shot put (8th)

· Camden Sesna – 3,000 meters (3rd)

· Micah Willweber – 4x800m relay (3rd)

· Chris Wren – weight throw (3rd); shot put (6th)

WOMEN

· Brittney Aitken – 60 meters (5th)

· Jordyn Anderson – shot put (2nd)

· Elena Batenhorst – pentathlon (6th)

· Rachel Battershell – 400 meters (2nd); 4x400m relay (2nd); 200 meters (8th)

· Keri Bauer – 600 meters (5th)

· Erin Boggs – pole vault (6th)

· Kaylee Boyle – pentathlon (8th)

· Morgan De Jong – weight throw (1st); shot put (8th)

· Gabby Diamond – triple jump (3rd)

· Abigail Gerber – shot put (3rd)

· Rylee Haecker – 1,000 meters (1st); mile (1st)

· Kylahn Heritage – mile (2nd); 1,000 meters (6th)

· Rhaya Kaschinske – 4x800m relay (2nd)

· Jordan Koepke – 600 meters (1st); 4x400m relay (2nd)

· Sarah Lewis – 4x400m relay (2nd); 60 hurdles (3rd); 400 meters (4th)

· Emily Loseke – 400 meters (6th)

· Erin Mapson – pole vault (2nd)

· Hannah Newton – high jump (6th)

· Grace Oberg – 4x800m relay (2nd); 600 meters (8th)

· Cora Olson – 200 meters (4th); triple jump (8th)

· Jacee Pfeifer – 600 meters (6th)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (1st)

· Sarah Ragland – weight throw (2nd)

· Sydney Reichert – pole vault (5th)

· Grace Reiman – 1,000 meters (7th)

· Amy Richert – pentathlon (2nd); high jump (4th); long jump (5th); 60 hurdles (6th)

· Kaia Richmond – 4x800m relay (2nd)

· Katie Severt – triple jump (7th); long jump (8th)

· Trinity Tuls – 4x400m relay (2nd)

· Faith Williamson – 4x800m relay (2nd); 800 meters (8th)

Beisel recognized as NAIA Midwest Region Coach of the Year by USTFCCCA

Feb. 24

SEWARD, Neb. – On the same day he was named the 2022 Jim McMahon GPAC Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year, Matt Beisel was also honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The coaches organization selected Beisel as the 2022 NAIA Midwest Region Women’s Coach of the Year, as announced on Thursday (Feb. 24). Beisel was one of five head coaches in the entire NAIA to garner the award.

Currently in his sixth season heading the cross country and track & field programs, Beisel has collected his sixth career Midwest Region Coach of the Year accolade. The award comes on the heels of the Concordia women winning their sixth-straight GPAC title. In the process of piling up 194.5 points at last week’s conference meet, four Bulldogs won conference event titles: Morgan De Jong (weight throw), Rylee Haecker (mile and 1,000 meters), Jordan Koepke (600 meters) and Josie Puelz (pole vault). A total of 30 Concordia women earned all-conference accolades in one or more events. The women’s program (ranked No. 2 in the USTFCCCA national ratings index) will also send 20 athletes to the 2022 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships.

Beisel has been honored with seven career GPAC Coach of the Year awards (including one in cross country). During Beisel’s tenure, the women’s track and field program has placed 12th or better at every single national meet (nine total). In 2021, the Bulldog women placed third in the NAIA for both indoor and outdoor, earning team trophies for both national meets. Along the way, Beisel’s staff for his entire tenure has included assistants Ed McLaughlin, Mark Samuels and Jason Berry. In addition, Ben Hinckfoot joined the staff in January 2021.

Beisel and the Bulldogs are preparing for the national indoor meet, which will take place in Brookings, S.D., March 3-5.

Track program announces 2022 indoor nationals team

Feb. 24

SEWARD, Neb. – The field of 2022 NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships Qualifiers was unveiled on Friday (Feb. 25) by the NAIA. In conjunction with that release, the Concordia University Track and Field program has announced a nationals team of 34 individuals (including 20 women and 14 men). The event will run March 3-5 at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings, S.D. This will mark the third time the NAIA national indoor meet has taken place at this location.

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads are coming off conference places finishes of first for the women and fourth for the men at last week’s GPAC Championships. In the most recent NAIA ratings released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, Concordia appeared at No. 2 on the women’s side while falling just out of the top 25 on the men’s side.

The Concordia women have the potential to score big points at the national meet with five current NAIA top four national marks thanks to Josie Puelz (No. 1 in the pole vault), the 4x400 meter relay (No. 3), Erin Mapson (No. 3 in the pole vault) Rylee Haecker (No. 4 in the 1,000 meters) and Sarah Ragland (No. 4 in the weight throw). Puelz will be attempting to defend her sweep of 2021 NAIA indoor/outdoor pole vault national championships. Meanwhile, Rachel Battershell is the defending NAIA 400 meter indoor national champion. Also at the 2021 NAIA indoor meet, Ragland placed third in the weight throw, Mapson took fourth in the pole vault, the 4x4 finished fifth and Haecker placed eighth in the 1,000. As a team, the women placed third nationally at both the 2021 NAIA indoor and outdoor meets.

On the men’s side, the Bulldogs would be happy to duplicate last year’s NAIA indoor team finish of 12th. Returning All-Americans from last year’s indoor nationals include Zach Bennetts (pole vault), Chase Berry (pole vault), Wyatt Loga (high jump) and Chris Wren (weight throw). In addition, Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner and Colton Meyer are back after contributing to a 4x4 that placed eighth last season. Berry is a two-time All-American in the pole vault.

The list of Bulldogs making their first-ever national championship appearance includes Mark Cooke, Grant Lammers and Sam Plante on the men’s side and Elena Batenhorst, Jordan Koepke, Hannah Newton, Grace Oberg and Trinity Tuls on the women’s side.

For additional details on the national meet, visit the NAIA website HERE.

2022 Concordia indoor national qualifiers

(Current national seeding in parentheses)
*2021 NAIA indoor national qualifier

MEN

· Andy Amos, junior
-Weight Throw (23rd, 57’ 10 ½”)

· *Zach Bennetts, junior
-Pole Vault (12th, 15’ 3”)

· *Chase Berry, sophomore
-Pole Vault (12th, 15’ 3”)

· Mark Cooke, junior
-4x400m Relay (16th, 3:19.18)

· *Jacob Jennings, senior
-4x400m Relay (16th, 3:19.18)

· *Cade Kleckner, senior
-4x400m Relay (16th, 3:19.18)

· Grant Lammers, junior
-Distance Medley Relay (14th, 10:11.03)

· *Wyatt Loga, sophomore
-High Jump (9th, 6’ 8 ¼”)

· *Maccoy Menke, sophomore
-4x400m Relay (16th, 3:19.18)

· *Colton Meyer, sophomore
-4x400m Relay (16th, 3:19.18)

· Sam Plante, freshman
-Distance Medley Relay (14th, 10:11.03)

· *Calvin Rohde, sophomore
-Distance Medley Relay (14th, 10:11.03)
-Mile (28th, 4:15.18)

· *Camden Sesna, sophomore
-Distance Medley Relay (14th, 10:11.03)

· *Chris Wren, sophomore
-Weight Throw (5th, 64’ 1 ¾”)

WOMEN

· Jordyn Anderson, junior
-Shot Put (13th, 44’ 3 ¼”)

· Elena Batenhorst, freshman
-Pentathlon (16th, 3,177)

· *Rachel Battershell, junior
-4x400m Relay (3rd, 3:52.96)
-400 Meters (8th, 56.77)

· *Keri Bauer, senior
-4x800m Relay (9th, 9:29.48)
-600 Meters (15th, 1:36.51)

· *Amira Cummings, sophomore
-Pole Vault (10th, 11’ 6 ½”)

· *Morgan De Jong, senior
-Weight Throw (6th, 56’ 7 ½”)

· *Abby Gerber, sophomore
-Weight Throw (8th, 55’ 9 ¾”)
-Shot Put (14th, 44’)

· *Rylee Haecker, sophomore
-1,000 Meters (4th, 2:56.11)
-4x800m Relay (9th, 9:29.48)

· *Kylahn Heritage, sophomore
-4x800m Relay (9th, 9:29.48)
-Mile (36th, 5:10.44)

· Jordan Koepke, freshman
-4x400m Relay (3rd, 3:52.96)
-600 Meters (6th, 1:34.86)

· *Sarah Lewis, junior
-4x400m Relay (3rd, 3:52.96)
-400 Meters (13th, 57.34)
-60 Hurdles (13th, 8.87)

· *Erin Mapson, junior
-Pole Vault (3rd, 12’ 9 ½”)

· Hannah Newton, freshman
-High Jump (12th, 5’ 5”)

· Grace Oberg, freshman
-4x800m Relay (9th, 9:29.48)

· *Jacee Pfeifer, senior
-4x400m Relay (3rd, 3:52.96)
-600 Meters (17th, 1:36.94)

· *Josie Puelz, sophomore
-Pole Vault (1st, 13’ 5”)

· *Sarah Ragland, senior
-Weight Throw (4th, 57’)

· *Grace Reiman, sophomore
-4x800m Relay (9th, 9:29.48)

· *Amy Richert, sophomore
-Pentathlon (2nd, 3,500)
-High Jump (12th, 5’ 5”)
-Long Jump (13th, 18’ 5 ¾”)

· Trinity Tuls, freshman
-4x400m Relay (3rd, 3:52.96)

Day 1 Recap: Richert earns All-America award, relays blaze

Mar. 3

BROOKINGS, S.D. – The opening day of the 2022 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships is one worth celebrating for Concordia University Track & Field. School record holder Amy Richert collected her third career All-America award while three Bulldog relays qualified for the finals of their events. As the feel-good story of Thursday (March 3), the 16th-seeded Concordia men’s 4x400 meter relay clinched a spot in the finals while competing without two of the team’s top 400 meter runners. The national meet is being staged at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings, S.D.

The performances on Thursday mean that Head Coach Matt Beisel’s program is set up to claim All-America awards from three relays by the time the weekend concludes. The GPAC champion Bulldog women are coming off 2021 NAIA national finishes of third for both indoor and outdoor.

“We’re proud of every one of these kids for their outstanding effort today,” Beisel said. “This is the way we wanted to kick off the national championships – with momentum, with great things happening that we can feed off of in the coming days. It was great to see Amy make All-American for the first time in the pentathlon and then getting three relays in the finals puts us in position to score points. We know that we can step up really well in the finals. Within those relays, everybody ran phenomenal times. They ran lights out and Amy and Elena (Batenhorst) just killed it on the pentathlon. I’m very grateful to God.”

As the first of two heats in the men’s 4x4, the Concordia grouping of Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Colton Meyer and Maccoy Menke had to wait out heat two to find out if its season best performance was good enough to reach the finals. There were hugs all around when they realized they had placed eighth overall with a time of 3:16.54. A late add, Menke ran under 50 seconds for his best ever 400 meter split. The team’s best 4x4 time this indoor season had been a 3:19.18 That quartet will be back on the track at 5:15 p.m. CT on Saturday for the finals of the event.

Said Kleckner, “It was a culmination of everything we had worked for all year. We have had a lot of trails this year – things just haven’t gone our way with guys being hurt and not running well or bad handoffs. We knew we had the team to do it, we just had to put it together. Today we finally put a good race together at the biggest meet of the year and got ourselves into the finals.”

Richert had earned an All-America award in the outdoor heptathlon, but never in the pentathlon. She finished the day with 3,382 points, putting her in sixth place. Richert made up some ground in the shot put as part of a strong outing. In her first career appearance at nationals, Batenhorst placed 15th (3,121).

Said Richert, “It’s awesome. I came in just really wanting to compete and get after it with my teammates. I am very thankful that I had Elena with me. It’s an awesome experience.”

The finals qualifications on the women’s side of the relays were less of a surprise, based on national seedings. In the women’s 4x4, the veteran trio of Rachel Battershell, Sarah Lewis and Jacee Pfeifer entered this meet with a combined 19 career All-America awards to their credit. They were joined on Thursday by freshman Jordan Koepke and together they collaborated on a time of 3:50.84, good for a season best and the No. 5 time in the prelims. Koepke ran the fastest split in her first go-round at a national championship meet.

It was Keri Bauer (2:14 split) who provided the biggest boost to a 4x800 meter relay that booked it around the track in 9:16.51 (fourth best in school history), far outrunning the team’s season best of 9:29.48. As the anchor leg, Bauer was preceded by Rylee Haecker, Kylahn Heritage and Grace Reiman. The Bulldogs placed third overall in the prelims, just narrowly finishing behind Friends University (9:16.35) and Taylor University (9:16.48). Haecker, Heritage and Reiman were each part of an All-America distance medley relay a year ago.

Seventeen Bulldogs are scheduled to be in action on Friday as part of day two at the national meet. The second day will kick off at 12 p.m. CT with Andy Amos and Chris Wren in the weight throw and Heritage in the mile. The complete Friday schedule for Concordia competitors can be found below.

2022 NAIA Indoor All-Americans

· Amy Richert – pentathlon (6th)

Friday (March 4) Concordia Schedule:

Men’s Weight Throw (Friday, 12 p.m.) – Andy Amos, Chris Wren

Women’s Mile Run (Friday, 12 p.m.) – Kylahn Heritage

Men’s Mile Run (Friday, 12:20 p.m.) – Calvin Rohde

Women’s 60m Hurdles (Friday, 12:35 p.m.) – Sarah Lewis

Women’s Long Jump (Friday, 1 p.m.) – Amy Richert

Women’s 400m Dash (Friday, 1:05 p.m.) – Rachel Battershell, Sarah Lewis

Women’s 600m Run (Friday, 1:45 p.m.) – Keri Bauer, Jordan Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer

Men’s High Jump (Friday, 2 p.m.) – Wyatt Loga

Women’s Pole Vault (Friday, 3 p.m.) – Erin Mapson, Josie Puelz

Women’s Weight Throw (Friday, 3 p.m.) – Morgan De Jong, Abby Gerber, Sarah Ragland

Women’s 1,000m Run (Friday, 3:15 p.m.) – Rylee Haecker

Women's 4x800m Relay (Friday, 5:20 p.m.) - Rylee Haecker, Kylahn Heritage, Grace Reiman, Keri Bauer

DAY 1 RESULTS

Day 2 Recap: Puelz wins third national title, Concordia women lead NAIA standings

Mar. 4

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Josie Puelz rose to the top of the mountain once again while boosting the Bulldog women’s team into first place at the end of two days at the 2022 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships. Following Amy Richert’s All-America effort in the pentathlon on Thursday, nine additional Concordia athletes were officially recognized as All-America award winners on Friday (March 4). More than 30 Bulldog athletes made the trip to the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings, S.D., site of the national meet.

After six events scored, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s women’s team sits in first place on the NAIA national leaderboard. Meanwhile, the men have totaled 8.5 points and are situated in 11th place. The finals of nearly all running events will take place on Saturday. In addition, to Puelz in the pole vault, All-Americans on Friday included Keri Bauer, Morgan De Jong, Rylee Haecker, Kylahn Heritage, Wyatt Loga, Erin Mapson, Grace Reiman and Chris Wren.

“I always feel a lot of joy when I see these kids who work so hard end up accomplishing what they did today,” Beisel said. “I was incredibly grateful to God for the gifts we’ve been given. As a coach, I love seeing the togetherness our team shows with each other. They were cheering for each other and praying for each other. I’m grateful we get to work with such great young men and women.

The expectations are enormous for Puelz, who somehow keeps meeting them. It came down to Puelz, Mapson and Laikyn Kulman of Aquinas College (Mich.) as the three finalists. With everyone else eliminated, Puelz cleared 13’ ¼” and then went over 13’ 5 ¼” in the process of breaking her own school record – again. She also took three shots at 13’ 9 ¾,” which would have broken the NAIA indoor national championship meet record. As for Mapson, she battled through a sore hamstring on her way to placing third with a vault of 12’ 4 ½.” Puelz and Mapson put 16 team points on the board with their placements.

Said Beisel, “Nothing is guaranteed and Josie knows that better than anybody. To have our vaulters go first and third was fantastic and a huge piece of the scoring we needed in order to walk away with a team trophy.”

There really are no limits for the Lincoln Lutheran alum Puelz. At this point, it’s just a matter of keeping her mental edge. Said Puelz, “It is what you make of it. There certainly is a lot of pressure and expectations that come with it, so that caused a little bit of stress. Having Erin here to be encouraged by so my focus isn’t on myself is just wonderful. It made today really good.”

Concordia’s women’s 4x800 meter relay far exceeded its ranking of ninth nationally coming into the meet. The group showed that Thursday’s season best (fourth fastest time in school history) was no fluke. On Friday, Haecker, Heritage, Reiman and Bauer combined on a time of 9:16.78, putting them in third place (six team points). It’s been a particularly stellar meet for the Davenport, Neb., native Haecker, who also clocked a personal best time of 2:55.36 in the prelims of the 1,000 meters (third fastest). She will run in the finals of the event on Saturday.

On the men’s side of things, two Bulldogs are officially All-Americans. Wren claimed an All-America award in the weight throw for the second year in a row while landing a mark of 65’ 2.” Teammate Andy Amos placed 16th (56’ ½”). Both Wren and Amos understand what it’s like competing against elite competition, as they do all season within the GPAC. Five of the top six in the weight throw were from GPAC schools.

Said Wren, “In the finals, six of us were from the GPAC. It was a good representation of the GPAC. Same people, different meet. It was a lot of fun … It was good to do it again (get on the podium). We’ll see if we can keep it up.”

Another who outperformed his seed mark was Loga, a native of Bee, Neb. Loga tied for fifth on a day when he was successful on each of his three attempts in the high jump. He cleared 6’ 8 ½” before coming up short in his effort to break the school record. Loga is a two-time NAIA All-American.

Concordia had three competitors on the women’s side of the weight throw. De Jong briefly led the competition in the third flight before finishing in fifth place with a mark of 57’ 5 ¾.” The GPAC champion De Jong has claimed three All-America plaques in her five career trips to national meets. Teammates Sarah Ragland (11th; 54’ 2 ½”) and Abby Gerber (scratch) fell shy of reaching the finals.

While still relatively new to the 600 meters, Koepke has proven a natural at it. The Gulf Breeze, Fla., native secured a spot in Saturday's finals by clocking in at 1:34.60 on Friday. That time allowed her to win heat one and was good for the third fastest time in the prelims. Koepke will also run as part of the 4x400 meter relay on Saturday. Also in the 600 meters, Bauer placed 11th (1:35.70) and Jacee Pfeifer finished 16th (1:44.56).

A two-time national champion in the 400 meters, Rachel Battershell came on strong as the indoor season progressed after she fought through injury. On the same track she broke the 400 meter school record in 2020, Battershell ran a time of 57.44 this time, placing her 17th. Teammate Sarah Lewis also ran the 400 and crossed the finish line in 58.35 (20th) place. As part of the 60 meter hurdles, Lewis finished in 9.10 and placed 27th.

The Bulldogs had a competitor in both the men’s and women's miles. A star on the track all season, Calvin Rohde placed 13th while finishing in 4:16.44. On the women’s side, the former All-GPAC cross country runner Heritage turned in a PR of 5:07.63 and placed 12th. Heritage picked up an All-America award as part of the 4x8.

Finally, Richert returned to action in the open long jump on Friday and landed in at 17’ 4” (22nd). The previous day, the Gresham, Neb., native placed sixth in the pentathlon. Richert will also compete in the high jump on Saturday.

“I’m so excited to see what’s going to happen on Saturday,” Beisel said. “This is a lot more fun than last year when the men and women were segregated (due to COVID-19 protocols). It’s just been a lot of fun. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

2022 Indoor All-Americans

· Keri Bauer – 4x800m relay (3rd)

· Morgan De Jong – weight throw (5th)

· Rylee Haecker – 4x800m relay (3rd)

· Kylahn Heritage – 4x800m relay (3rd)

· Wyatt Loga – high jump (5th)

· Erin Mapson – pole vault (3rd)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (1st)

· Grace Reiman – 4x800m relay (3rd)

· Amy Richert – pentathlon (6th)

· Chris Wren – weight throw (4th)

Saturday (March 5) Concordia Schedule

· Women’s Shot Put | 11 a.m. – Jordyn Anderson, Abby Gerber

· Men’s Pole Vault | 1:15 p.m. – Zach Bennetts, Chase Berry

· Women’s 600 Meters (finals) | 1:25 p.m. – Jordan Koepke

· Women’s High Jump | 1:30 p.m. – Hannah Newton, Amy Richert

· Women’s 1,000 Meters (finals) | 2:25 p.m. – Rylee Haecker

· Women’s 4x400m Relay (finals) | 4:55 p.m. – Sarah Lewis, Jordan Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer, Rachel Battershell

· Men’s 4x400m Relay (finals) | 5:15 p.m. – Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Colton Meyer, Maccoy Menke

Day 3 Recap: Women claim third place trophy; 18 Bulldogs grab All-America awards

Mar. 5

BROOKINGS, S.D. – The elite nature of Concordia University Track & Field on the women’s side is firmly established. By weekend’s end, the program celebrated a third straight top-four NAIA indoor national finish. Lifted by the pole vault national title from Josie Puelz and four third-place event finishes, the Bulldogs took home the third-place team trophy from the 2022 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships. Meanwhile, the Concordia men’s team placed 36th in the three-day meet held at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings, S.D.

When the dust settled, 18 Bulldogs earned All-America awards in at least one event. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s women’s team accumulated 45 points while the men’s team tallied 9.5 points.

“It’s all God,” Beisel said. “It’s been going through my head every single day. We have had so many cool things happen. We want the best to happen at the most important meets. Day after day, athlete after athlete, event after event, we saw personal bests and near school records. They knocked it out of the park. We’re so proud of them. To get third again, I’m not taking that for granted. This is something that is a true blessing. On the guys’ side we had great performances. It wasn’t enough to get us on the trophy stand, but that is to come. We are always working towards that.”

Officially, nine more Bulldogs became All-Americans on the third and final day of the meet. That list included the 4x400 meter relays of Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Colton Meyer and Maccoy Menke on the men’s side and Sarah Lewis, Jordan Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer and Rachel Battershell on the women’s side. In addition, Koepke and Rylee Haecker garnered All-America placements in individual races while both coming within an eyelash of new school records.

Koepke of Gulf Breeze, Fla., is already a star as a freshman. She ran a personal best of 1:34.60 in the prelims of the 600 meters on Friday. She came back on Saturday with an even faster time of 1:33.24, putting her third in the NAIA (.02 seconds out of second). It was the second best 600 meters ever run by a Bulldog. The school record of 1:32.92 is held by Kim Wood.

Said Koepke, “I couldn’t believe it. I was really tired coming into today after the 4x4 and the 600 (prelims) the past two days. Still being kind of new to this, I just gave it everything that I had and it worked out. I was beyond excited and thankful for everything.”

She still had enough left in the tank to run a stellar leg for the 4x4 that closed out the meet. The women’s 4x4 relay clocked a finals time of 3:48.85 and placed fifth. Only the 3:47.39 run by the Bulldogs in 2020 ranks higher on the school’s all-time list. Battershell, Lewis and Pfeifer were also part of that performance two years ago. Between the three of them, they possess a combined 22 career All-America awards (nine for Battershell).

As for the men’s 4x4, that group put it together at the right time. Concordia had entered the meet seeded 16th and managed to make the finals with a season best prelims time of 3:16.54. A finals time of 3:17.65 put the Bulldogs in eighth place. For a group not expected to be there on Saturday evening, it was a rewarding feeling.

Said Jennings, “We were coming in ranked 16th out of 16. I knew we didn’t have a lot of expectations on us, but everybody ran some of the best races they’ve ever had. It all just came together on the right day, right time.”

In her second collegiate season, Haecker put forth an indoor campaign to remember. The GPAC champion in both the mile and the 1,000 meters, Haecker clocked a personal best in the 1,000 on Saturday by finishing in 2:53.68. That time put her in third place at the national meet and was just off the school record of 2:53.46 by Kim Wood in 2015. A day earlier, Haecker also helped the 4x800 meter relay to a third-place claim. Haecker’s career All-America count has grown to four.

Said Haecker, “God is good. This atmosphere is so fun with great competition that we don’t really see often. It’s fun to go out and compete with them and to compete for each other. We changed our training up a little bit (compared to last year). I kept putting in work. Eighth-place finish (in 2021) – I wasn’t satisfied with that. I always had that in the back of my mind in outdoor and during our cross training. I wanted to get back and better my placement. Thanks be to God.”

Returning All-Americans from last year’s national indoor meet, Zach Bennetts and Chase Berry were in action in the pole vault. Bennetts cleared 14’ 11,” 15’ 3” and 15’ 5” before coming up short on 15’ 7.” He wound up in ninth place based on number of attempts and just missed out on another All-America plaque. Meanwhile, Berry vaulted 14’ 11” before three unsuccessful tries at 15’ 3.”

In Saturday’s women’s shot put competition, Jordyn Anderson (41’ 7”) placed 14th and Abby Gerber placed 15th (41’ 4 ¼”). Both came up short of qualifying for the finals. Two GPAC throwers wound up with All-America honors in the shot put (including the national champion). The Concordia throws crew came away from the weekend with two All-America awards, courtesy of Morgan De Jong and Chris Wren in the weight throw.

As part of her grueling weekend that saw her compete in the pentathlon (All-American) on Thursday and the long jump on Friday, Amy Richert gave it her best shot in the high jump but came up empty on three tries at 5’ 3.” In her first experience at nationals, Hannah Newton was also unable to clear the opening height in the high jump.

On Saturday, Keri Bauer and Jacob Jennings were named Concordia’s 2022 NAIA Champions of Character honorees. A national qualifying member of each men’s and women's team was recognized with the award, which recognizes student-athletes who represent exemplary character in regards to the NAIA’s five core values.

Members of Concordia Track & Field will enjoy a few weeks break from competition before returning to action for outdoor season with the Grand View Vikings Relays on March 26. The national meet for outdoor will again be held in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 25-27.

2022 Indoor All-Americans

· Rachel Battershell – 4x400m relay (5th)

· Keri Bauer – 4x800m relay (3rd)

· Morgan De Jong – weight throw (5th)

· Rylee Haecker – 1,000 meters (3rd); 4x800m relay (3rd)

· Kylahn Heritage – 4x800m relay (3rd)

· Jacob Jennings – 4x400m relay (8th)

· Cade Kleckner – 4x400m relay (8th)

· Jordan Koepke – 600 meters (3rd); 4x400m relay (5th)

· Sarah Lewis – 4x400m relay (5th)

· Wyatt Loga – high jump (5th)

· Erin Mapson – pole vault (3rd)

· Maccoy Menke – 4x400m relay (8th)

· Colton Meyer – 4x400m relay (8th)

· Jacee Pfeifer – 4x400m relay (5th)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (1st)

· Grace Reiman – 4x800m relay (3rd)

· Amy Richert – pentathlon (6th)

· Chris Wren – weight throw (4th)

Eighteen Bulldogs collect 2022 indoor All-America honors

Mar. 8

SEWARD, Neb. – Courtesy of their performances at the 2022 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships, 18 Bulldogs have earned All-America honors (full list below). In order to receive an All-America plaque, a top eight placement at the national championship meet is required. The list of Concordia University Track & Field All-Americans in 2022 includes three-time pole vault national champion Josie Puelz. In addition, Jordan Koepke and Erin Mapson placed third in individual events at last week’s national meet.

Among the 2022 Bulldog All-Americans, Rachel Battershell leads the way in terms of most career All-America awards with nine. Other current Concordia athletes with at least three career All-America plaques are Sarah Lewis (seven), Jacee Pfeifer (six), Erin Mapson (five), Rylee Haecker (four), Josie Puelz (four), Morgan De Jong (three) and Amy Richert (three).

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads earned 2022 NAIA indoor national finishes of third on the women’s side and 36th on the men’s side. The women’s program has placed inside the top four of each of the past three NAIA indoor national championships.

2022 Indoor All-Americans

Rachel Battershell
2022 Indoor Placement: 5th in 4x400m relay (3:48.85)
Career All-America Awards: 9 (2 national titles)
National Meet Appearances: 6

Keri Bauer
2022 Indoor Placement: 3rd in 4x800m relay (9:16.78)
Career All-America Awards: 2
National Meet Appearances: 3

Morgan De Jong
2022 Indoor Placement: 5th in weight throw (57’ 5 ¾”)
Career All-America Awards: 3
National Meet Appearances: 5

Rylee Haecker
2022 Indoor Placements: 3rd in 1,000 meters (2:53.68); 3rd in 4x800m relay (9:16.78)
Career All-America Awards: 4
National Meet Appearances: 2

Kylahn Heritage
2022 Indoor Placement: 3rd in 4x800m relay (9:16.78)
Career All-America Awards: 2
National Meet Appearances: 3

Jacob Jennings
2022 Indoor Placement: 8th in 4x400m relay (3:17.65)
Career All-America Awards: 2
National Meet Appearances: 3

Cade Kleckner
2022 Indoor Placement: 8th in 4x400m relay (3:17.65)
Career All-America Awards: 2
National Meet Appearances: 3

Jordan Koepke
2022 Indoor Placements: 3rd in 600 meters (1:33.24); 5th in 4x400m relay (3:48.85)
Career All-America Awards: 2
National Meet Appearances: 1

Sarah Lewis
2022 Indoor Placement: 5th in 4x400m relay (3:48.85)
Career All-America Awards: 7
National Meet Appearances: 6

Wyatt Loga
2022 Indoor Placement: 5th in high jump (6’ 8 ½”)
Career All-America Awards: 2
National Meet Appearances: 3

Erin Mapson
2022 Indoor Placement: 3rd in pole vault (12’ 4 ½”)
Career All-America Awards: 5
National Meet Appearances: 5

Maccoy Menke
2022 Indoor Placement: 8th in 4x400m relay (3:17.65)
Career All-America Awards: 1
National Meet Appearances: 3

Colton Meyer
2022 Indoor Placement: 8th in 4x400m relay (3:17.65)
Career All-America Awards: 2
National Meet Appearances: 4

Jacee Pfeifer
2022 Indoor Placement: 5th in 4x400m relay (3:48.85)
Career All-America Awards: 6
National Meet Appearances: 6

Josie Puelz
2022 Indoor Placement: 1st in pole vault (13’ 5 ½”)
Career All-America Awards: 4 (3 national titles)
National Meet Appearances: 4

Grace Reiman
2022 Indoor Placement: 3rd in 4x800m relay (9:16.78)
Career All-America Awards: 2
National Meet Appearances: 2

Amy Richert
2022 Indoor Placement: 6th in pentathlon (3,382)
Career All-America Awards: 3
National Meet Appearances: 3

Chris Wren
2022 Indoor Placement: 4th in weight throw (65’ 2”)
Career All-America Awards: 2
National Meet Appearances: 3

Season Preview: 2022 Concordia Outdoor Track & Field

Mar. 22

Head Coach: Matt Beisel (6th year)
2022 Indoor Finishes: 4th (GPAC); 36th (NAIA)
2021 Outdoor Finishes: 4th (GPAC); T-28th (NAIA)
2022 Indoor All-Americans: Jacob Jennings (4x400m relay); Cade Kleckner (4x400m relay); Wyatt Loga (high jump); Maccoy Menke (4x400m relay); Colton Meyer (4x400m relay); Chris Wren (weight throw).

WOMEN
Head Coach: Matt Beisel (6th year)
2022 Indoor Finishes: 1st (GPAC); 3rd (NAIA)
2021 Outdoor Finishes: 1st (GPAC); 3rd (NAIA)
2022 Indoor All-Americans: Rachel Battershell (4x400m relay); Keri Bauer (4x800m relay); Morgan De Jong (weight throw); Rylee Haecker (1,000m; 4x800m relay); Kylahn Heritage (4x800m relay); Jordan Koepke (600m; 4x400m relay); Sarah Lewis (4x400m relay); Erin Mapson (pole vault); Jacee Pfeifer (4x400m relay); Josie Puelz (pole vault – national champ); Grace Reiman (4x800m relay); Amy Richert (pentathlon).
2021 Outdoor All-Americans returning: Jordyn Anderson (shot put); Rachel Battershell (400m; 4x400m relay); Keri Bauer (4x400m relay); Sara Huss (discus); Mackenzie Koepke (high jump); Sarah Lewis (400 hurdles; 4x400m relay); Erin Mapson (pole vault); Jacee Pfeifer (4x400m relay); Josie Puelz (pole vault – national champ); Sarah Ragland (hammer throw); Amy Richert (heptathlon; high jump).

Outlook
Ever since the 2022 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships wrapped up on March 5, the focus for Concordia University Track & Field has shifted to outdoor season. Following eight weekends of indoor competition, Bulldog athletes got only a short break before ramping things back up for the start of outdoor action this week. Typically, the dynamics of outdoor season have favored the Bulldogs and their perennially strong group of throwers. Championship aspirations are the norm for a women’s program that has celebrated titles at each of the past six GPAC championship meets.

This past indoor season, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads turned in national place finishes of third on the women’s side and 36th on the men’s side. The Bulldogs also put forth GPAC placements of first for the women and fourth for the men.

One incredible streak remains intact entering outdoor season. Concordia has placed at least one athlete on the national championship podium in each of the past seven NAIA outdoor national meets. The Bulldogs hope to extend that streak while making progress from the indoor season.

Said Beisel following indoor nationals, “We learned some things about ourselves this indoor season, on both the men’s and women's sides, that are going to make a huge difference when it comes to outdoor. The question on the women’s side is – can we win (the national title)? For the men, can we move up? We add in the hammer, the javelin, the discus and other events we don’t have for indoor.”

Led by the likes of Rachel Battershell and Josie Puelz, the women’s program remains a behemoth on the national stage. Dating back to 2014, the Bulldogs have placed no lower than 12th at any national championship meet. What Puelz has achieved is something truly special. While winning her third career pole vault national title a few weeks ago, Puelz became the third Concordia female athlete in school history to win at least three individual national titles, joining Carol Bailey (eight) and Samantha Liermann (three). Puelz already owns school records in the indoor and outdoor pole vault.

The women’s roster is loaded with veteran performers who are used to winning at an exceptionally high level. Current Bulldogs who possess multiple career All-America awards include Battershell (nine), Sarah Lewis (seven), Jacee Pfeifer (six), Erin Mapson (five), Rylee Haecker (four), Puelz (four), Morgan De Jong (three), Amy Richert (three), Keri Bauer (two), Kylahn Heritage (two), Jordan Koepke (two), Sarah Ragland (two) and Grace Reiman (two).

Puelz and Mapson give the Bulldogs the nation’s best one-two punch in the women’s pole vault. Everyone expects a lot from Puelz, and yet she always seems to come through with the spotlight on her. Said Puelz after her third national title, “It is what you make of it. There certainly is a lot of pressure and expectations that come with it, so that caused a little bit of stress. Having Erin here to be encouraged by so my focus isn’t on myself is just wonderful.”

While Battershell and Puelz have made their mark as national champions, observers should watch out for rising stars in Haecker, Koepke and Richert. At indoor nationals, Haecker and Koepke both turned in third-place finishes in individual events while also helping relays to All-America claims. As for Richert, she’s one of the team’s best all-around athletes and is coming off a sixth-place finish in the heptathlon a year ago. In addition, Battershell and Lewis have more hurdles events to shine in during outdoor season.

On the men’s side of things, the Bulldogs showed improvement at indoor nationals while outperforming the projections. As one of the best feel-good stories of that meet, the 4x400 meter relay persevered through injuries and other unique circumstances and placed eighth (seeded 16th). The All-American 4x4 included Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Maccoy Menke and Colton Meyer. In addition, Wyatt Loga (high jump) and Chris Wren (weight throw) garnered All-America awards. There’s a big void to fill with two-time national champion Jacob Cornelio having exhausted his eligibility at the 2021 outdoor national meet.

Concordia is happy to have Jennings around for one more outdoor season. Said the former Bulldog Basketball player, “I had the option to be done last year, but I just thought, why not? This is a really special thing. I’m not going to be able to do this again. It’s with a group of people that I really, really like. I can be myself and just have lots of fun. This is a great set up for outdoor and I’m really excited about what we can do.”

The men’s squad is deep with 400 meter runners, brings back two past pole vault All-Americans (Zach Bennetts and Chase Berry) and boasts a couple of cross country national qualifiers (Calvin Rohde and Camden Sesna) as starring distance runners. Rohde put together a fine indoor season that saw him qualify for nationals individually in the 1,000 meters and the mile. Sesna is a strong candidate to reach nationals in the steeplechase. In the throws, Andy Amos, Dagne’ Buck, Ben Moll and Wren are each returning national qualifiers from last outdoor season.

On the women’s side of the throws, Concordia should have plenty of depth once again. Also a member of the volleyball team, Sara Huss earned an All-America award in the discus. In addition, Sarah Ragland will look to move up after placing third nationally in the hammer throw in 2021. Other returning throws national qualifiers from the 2021 outdoor season are Jordyn Anderson (shot put All-American), De Jong, Abigail Gerber, Elle Luehr, Alli Owings and Erin Painter. This group said goodbye to national champions Addie Shaw and Liz Stottlemyre.

In outdoor track, the throwing events include the shot put, discus, hammer and javelin. On the track, the steeplechase is unique to outdoor and so are the longer hurdle events, the 4x100 meter relay and the 10k. With the combined depth across the board for Concordia, the men’s and women’s teams could push the number of athletes (37) they sent to Gulf Shores, Ala., in 2021. Throughout most of the 2021 outdoor season, the Bulldog women were ranked No. 1 in the NAIA by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Including the conference and national championships, Concordia is scheduled to appear at 11 meets throughout the 2022 outdoor season. It all starts on Saturday (March 26) with the Grand View Viking Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. There will be two home meets: the Concordia Outdoor Invite (April 8-9) and the Concordia Twilight Meet (May 13). Doane will host the GPAC outdoor championship meet and Gulf Shores will again be the destination for nationals.

Distance crew, throwers open outdoor season on chilly Saturday

DES MOINES, Iowa / CRETE, Neb. – A crew of distance runners and throwers braved the elements on Saturday (March 26) while kicking off the 2022 Concordia University Track & Field outdoor season. With Bulldogs competing at both the Grand View University Viking Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, and the Doane Icebreaker Thrower Meet in Crete, Neb., the highlights included a strong performance by All-American Rylee Haecker and four ‘B’ standard national qualifying marks by Concordia throwers. The Bulldogs chose to hold back many of their sprinters and power athletes due to the cold and windy weather.

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads are coming off NAIA indoor national placements of third on the women’s side and 36th on the men’s side. This first official day of the outdoor season served as merely an appetizer for what’s to come.

A winner on the track in the 1,500 meters, Haecker came up just shy of a ‘B’ standard while clocking in with a personal best of 4:49.72 at the Viking Relays. She beat out a field of 20 runners. In another PR effort, Keri Bauer ran the 400 meters in 1:00.22 and took first place. Also noteworthy on the women’s side, seven Bulldogs ran the 3,000 meter steeplechase with Grace Reiman coming in as the runner up in a time of 12:43.23. Behind her in third place was teammate Katelyn Nix (13:26.37). In the 10,000 meters, Abi DeLoach ran a PR of 41:39.83.

On the men’s side of the action in Des Moines, Nathan Pennekamp put together a strong steeplechase race and placed second in a time of 10:41.86. Meanwhile, Charlie Hayden led the way in the 10k with his time of 35:40.27. In the 1,500 meters, Concordia’s most prominent men’s distance runners, Calvin Rohde and Camden Sesna, placed second (4:04.90) and fifth (4:05.93), respectively in a large field of 46 competitors. The time for Rohde represented a personal best.

The throws meet hosted by Doane included athletes solely from Concordia, Doane and Hastings. Both Jordyn Anderson (shot put) and Sara Huss (discus) emerged as event champions. The four ‘B’ standards were turned in by Anderson (shot put), Mackenzie Ferrel (hammer), Sarah Ragland (hammer) and Chris Wren (hammer). Ragland was the Icebreaker runner up in the hammer. Their specific marks in those events are listed below. A total of 27 Bulldogs competed at the Icebreaker Meet on Saturday. A year ago, Anderson and Huss both earned outdoor All-America awards.

Concordia will hope for more favorable weather next Saturday (April 2) when it will be at the Central Nebraska Challenge co-hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney and Hastings. The meet is scheduled to get underway at 11 a.m. CT from Kearney, Neb.

‘B’ standards achieved at Doane Icebreaker

· Jordyn Anderson – Shot Put (43’ 5 ¼”)

· Mackenzie Ferrel – Hammer Throw (160’ 4”)

· Sarah Ragland – Hammer Throw (161’ 6”)

· Chris Wren – Hammer Throw (178’)

Event titles on Saturday, March 26

· Men’s 4x800m Relay (8:20.87)

· Women’s 4x800m Relay (10:07.61)

· Jordyn Anderson – Shot Put (43’ 5 ¼”)

· Keri Bauer – 400 Meters (1:00.22)

· Rylee Haecker – 1,500 Meters (4:49.72)

· Sara Huss – Discus (138’ 11”)

Seven automatic national marks turned in at Central Nebraska Challenge

Apr. 2

KEARNEY, Neb. – In the first full-scale meet of the 2022 outdoor season, members of the Concordia University Track & Field team combined for seven automatic national qualifying marks. Those performances came at Saturday (April 2)’s Central Nebraska Challenge co-hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney and Hastings. The meet featured athletes from 12 different institutions.

A number of athletes from Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads began the campaign last week at the Grand View Viking Relays and Doane Icebreaker Throws Meet. Among the highlights on Saturday, Sara Huss won the discus competition with one of the seven auto marks.

“I was very pleased with the overall performances we had,” Beisel said. “It was a ton of fun. There were some things that didn’t go the way kids wanted, but we also had some phenomenal early season performances with the national marks and some gigantic personal bests. We saw some really good things happen. For our distance and mid-distance runners, we’re in the heaviest training load of our season and they’re still performing out of their heads.”

Four ‘A’ standards were achieved at the Central Nebraska Challenge by throwers, including three in the hammer throw via Morgan De Jong (173’ 3”), Sarah Ragland (166’ 4”) and Chris Wren (185’ 6”). De Jong (personal best) and Ragland placed third and fourth, respectively, in the meet while Wren finished sixth amongst a loaded field. In addition, Mackenzie Ferrel (164’ 4”) narrowly missed out on an auto mark in the hammer and was the women’s top competitor in the javelin. Huss’ winning throw in the discus measured in at 151 feet. Also a member of the volleyball team, Huss was an All-American last season in the discus.

Leading the way on the track, Sarah Lewis locked up a spot at nationals while clocking in at 1:02.70 in the 400 meter hurdles. A series of ‘B’ standard qualifying times were also turned in thanks to the work of Rylee Haecker in the 1,500 meters (4:42.36) and Jordan Koepke in the 400 hurdles (1:04.34). Also in the 1,500 meter race, Kylahn Heritage finished just behind Haecker with a time of 4:45.42. Both Haecker and Heritage have their eyes on qualifying for nationals in the 1,500. On the men’s side of the 400 meters, Xavier Ross (49.16) and Jacob Jennings (49.93) came in under 50 seconds. Rachel Battershell (57.74) and Trinity Tuls (59.46) both ran the 400 in under a minute.

The final two automatic national qualifying efforts came in the pole vault as accomplished vaulters Erin Mapson and Josie Puelz ensured their tickets to Gulf Shores, Ala. Puelz placed second in the competition while clearing 12’ 7 ½” and Mapson skyed over 11’ 11 ¾.” Puelz is fresh off winning her third career pole vault national title this past indoor season. Mapson placed third at nationals and is a five-time All-American.

To close the meet, the Bulldogs got solid performances in the 5,000 meters as both Grace Reiman (19:33.29) and Camden Sesna (15:02.66) placed second in their respective races. Calvin Rohde trailed just behind Sesna and crossed the finish in 15:12.86. Sesna’s time was a personal best by more than 30 seconds and was the fifth fastest in program history. Not previously mentioned top three placements on the track came from Joel Rathe (third in the 100 meters) and Cade Kleckner (third in the 200 meters).

It was an active day for Cora Olson, who placed sixth in the 200 meters and eighth in the long jump and ran a leg for the 4x100 meter relay that clocked in at 48.42. That particular relay also included Battershell, Brittney Aitken and Lewis. On the men’s side of the 4x1, Kleckner, Rathe, Jennings and Colton Meyer finished in 45.04. Beisel believes both 4x1s have the ability to attain national qualifying times in the future. Concordia entered one 4x4 into the meet. The quartet of Keri Bauer, Tuls, Jenna Esch and Lainey Werts finished in 4:03.32. Bauer also ran a solid PR time of 2:17.24 in the 800 meters.

The first outdoor home meet of the 2022 season is coming up next Friday and Saturday (April 8-9). Day one of the meet will feature only the hammer and javelin throws before the bulk of the action kicks into gear on day two. The tentative meet schedule can be found HERE.

‘A’ standards achieved on Saturday

· Morgan De Jong – Hammer Throw (173’ 3”)

· Sara Huss – Discus (151’)

· Sarah Lewis – 400 Hurdles (1:02.70)

· Erin Mapson – Pole Vault (11’ 11 ¾”)

· Josie Puelz – Pole Vault (12’ 7 ½”)

· Sarah Ragland – Hammer Throw (166’ 4”)

· Chris Wren – Hammer Throw (185’ 6”)

‘B’ standards: Rylee Haecker (1,500 Meters); Mackenzie Ferrel (Hammer Throw); Jordan Koepke (400 Hurdles).

NAIA leading Puelz earns GPAC Athlete of the Week award

Apr. 6

SEWARD, Neb. – An NAIA best performance in the pole vault has allowed Josie Puelz to take the honor of GPAC/Huaff Mid-America Sports Women’s Field Athlete of the Week, as announced by the GPAC on Wednesday (April 6). In her very first outing of the 2022 outdoor season, Puelz immediately leapt to the top of the NAIA leaderboard. The announcement marks the third career GPAC weekly award for Puelz. As a team, Concordia University Women’s Track & Field has collected five GPAC Athlete of the Week awards during the 2022 indoor/outdoor seasons.

In action last week at the Central Nebraska Challenge in Kearney, Neb., Puelz cleared 12’ 7 ½” and placed second in the pole vault competition. The school’s all-time record holder in both the indoor and outdoor pole vault, Puelz figures to take aim at her outdoor standard of 13’ 7 ¼” achieved at the 2021 GPAC Championship meet. This past indoor season, Puelz captured the third pole vault national title of her impressive collegiate career. Puelz is the leader of a women’s pole vault crew that is currently ranked as the best in the NAIA. Erin Mapson also qualified for nationals last week.

Puelz and the Bulldogs are getting set to host the Concordia Invite this Friday and Saturday. The meet schedule can be found HERE.

2021-22 GPAC Athletes of the Week
April 6 – Josie Puelz (field)
Feb. 9 – Erin Mapson (field)
Feb. 2 – Sarah Ragland (field)
Jan. 19 – Morgan De Jong (field)
Dec. 15 – Sarah Lewis (track)

Meet Preview: 2022 Concordia Outdoor Invite

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SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University Track & Field program is gearing up for its first home meet of the 2022 outdoor season. Eleven different colleges/universities will be represented at the Concordia Outdoor Invite set for Friday and Saturday. Only select throwing events will take place on Friday before the action ramps up starting at 12 p.m. CT on Saturday. Most events will unfold inside Bulldog Stadium while the throws will be contested in the grass fields east of the stadium.

Meet Info

Concordia Outdoor Invite
Friday, April 8 – 2 p.m. | Throws Areas (east of stadium)
Saturday, April 9 – 12 p.m. | Bulldog Stadium
LINKS
--Live Results (Black Squirrel Timing)
--Day 1 Results
--Tickets (also sold on site)
--Event Schedule (PDF)
--Heat Sheets (PDF)

Competing Teams – National Team Rankings (According to the USTFCCCA)
Benedictine College (Kan.)
College of Saint Mary
Concordia University – 3 (W)
Doane University
Grand View University (Iowa) – 25 (M)
Hastings College – 22 (M) | 18 (W)
Midland University – 9 (M)
Mount Marty University
Nebraska Wesleyan University – 7 (W); NCAA D-III
St. Ambrose University (Iowa)
York College

Through two weeks of indoor competition, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads have combined for seven automatic national qualifying marks and four ‘B’ standards. Below is a list of those marks. With Josie Puelz and Erin Mapson leading the way, Concordia figures to boast the top women’s pole vault crew in the nation just like it did during the indoor season. Puelz is the current NAIA national leader in the pole vault and is fresh off her third NAIA national title in the event. Of the 11 marks put on the national list by Bulldog athletes, six have come from throwers. Though not listed nationally, Camden Sesna (15:02.66) and Calvin Rohde (15:12.86) ran solid times last week in the 5,000 meters.

· Jordyn Anderson – B, shot put (43’ 5 ¼”)

· Morgan De Jong – A, hammer (173’ 3”)

· Mackenzie Ferrel – B, hammer (164’ 4”)

· Rylee Haecker – B, 1,500 meters (4:42.36)

· Sara Huss – A, discus (151’)

· Jordan Koepke – B, 400 hurdles (1:04.34)

· Sarah Lewis – A, 400 hurdles (1:02.70)

· Erin Mapson – A, pole vault (11’ 11 ¾”)

· Josie Puelz – A, pole vault (12’ 7 ½”)

· Sarah Ragland – A, hammer (166’ 4”)

· Chris Wren – A, hammer (185’ 6”)

In the latest ratings released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, Concordia appeared at No. 1 in the event groupings for women’s pole vault, women’s shot put, women’s hammer and men’s hammer. In the overall team NAIA ratings index released by the USTFCCCA on Wednesday (April 6), the Bulldog women moved all the way up to No. 3 nationally. The men could crack next week’s top 25 with a strong performance this weekend. According to the USTFCCCA ratings, there will be a combined six top 25 teams on hand at the Concordia Invite. That includes the NCAA Division III Nebraska Wesleyan women (ranked seventh).

Following the Concordia Invite, the Bulldogs will next look forward to the University of Nebraska-Kearney Invite on April 15. The meet is scheduled to get underway at 11 a.m. CT.

Women's relays thrive; Wren throws big PR at Concordia Invite

Apr. 9

SEWARD, Neb. – In the first home meet of the 2022 outdoor season, Concordia University Track & Field hosted athletes from 11 colleges and universities on a mild and breezy spring Saturday (April 9) at the Concordia Invite. Most notably, the Bulldog women’s 4x800 and 4x400 meter relays blazed and Chris Wren came through with a significant personal best toss in the hammer throw. While up against strong competition, Concordia athletes combined for six event championships and six performances that met the automatic national qualifying standard.

This was the third weekend of outdoor competition for Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads. The Bulldog women entered the meet ranked third nationally (according to the USTFCCCA NAIA ratings index).

“There were a ton of positives,” Beisel said. “We had some warm weather with a little more wind than we would have wanted for anything more than half a lap. It was still pretty good. We were able to get some great performances. We had some ‘A’ marks in the throws that were able to move them forward on the national lists. It was nice to see Chris Wren throw a personal best in the hammer. I was super excited by the women’s 4x8 coming out and setting a stadium record. Our women’s 4x4 wanted to run better, but they got the mark and we can keep building on that.”

The women’s 4x8 helped get the day off to a thrilling start. The quartet of Rylee Haecker, Jenna Esch, Kylahn Heritage (fastest 800 ever) and Keri Bauer didn’t just qualify for nationals, it also broke the Concordia Invite meet and Bulldog Stadium records. The group strode to a time of 9:18.80, breaking the previous stadium standard of 9:20.96 by Morningside in 2013. As of late Saturday night, the Bulldogs owned the nation’s top 4x8 time by nearly four full seconds.

To bookend another fine weekend for the Concordia women, the 4x4 locked up its spot at nationals. The Bulldogs were represented in the event by Sarah Lewis, Jordan Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer and Rachel Battershell. Collectively, they finished in 3:53.07 (fourth fastest in the NAIA in 2022). It wasn’t much of a surprise considering that same group made up the 4x4 that placed fifth nationally this past indoor season.

Fresh off a weight throw All-America award during indoor, Wren reached new ground on Saturday by landing the hammer at 194’ 5,” for a personal best that puts him No. 7 on the program’s all-time list. Wren placed second in the event at the Concordia Invite while pacing the throws group. On the women’s side of the hammer, Ragland was the meet runner up with her season best of 175’ 5.” More ‘A’ standards are likely on the way as the season progresses. The throws crew notched five new ‘B’ marks this weekend courtesy of Andy Amos (hammer), Olivia Buschow (discus), Abby Gerber (hammer) and Alli Owings (shot put and hammer).

The women’s pole vault field was made up of mostly Bulldogs. The competition was won by three-time national champion Josie Puelz, who cleared 12’ 3 ½.” Puelz and Mapson (runner up) again vaulted above the national qualifying standard. Puelz was just named GPAC Field Athlete of the Week this past Wednesday. On the men’s side of the pole vault, Chase Berry placed second while clearing 15’ 1” and Zach Bennetts vaulted 14’ 7 ¼.”

Contributors to the auto time in the 4x4, Lewis (100 hurdles) and Koepke (400 hurdles) clocked ‘B’ standards in their respective hurdle races. Koepke emerged as the Concordia Invite winner in the 400 hurdles while Lewis placed second in the 100 hurdles. Elsewhere on the track, first-place finishes were earned by Heritage (5,000 meters), Camden Sesna (1,500 meters) and Trinity Tuls (400 meters). Heritage’s time of 18:29.11 was a personal best (cross country or track 5K). The men’s 4x100 meter relay is aiming to hunt down a national qualifying mark. The group of Cade Kleckner, Joel Rathe, Jacob Jennings and Mark Cooke hit a ‘B’ standard of 41.61.

There were many other strong efforts on the track. Kleckner posted times of 10.75 in the 100 meters and 21.60 in the 200 meters. Xavier Ross clocked in at 49.81 in the 400 meters. In longer distances, Haecker was the Concordia Invite runner up in the 1,500 meters (4:49.35) and Nathan Pennekamp placed second in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (10:26.47). In the women’s steeplechase, Kaia Richmond placed fourth in a time of 12:29.37. Beisel is a big believer in Richmond’s potential - and that of her teammates - to continue to grow in the event. Also in the women’s 1,500, Bauer (4:59.29) and Rhaya Kaschinske (5:07.38) put together fine races.

The jumpers will have to wait at least another week before reaching national qualifying status. Standouts such as Hannah Newton and Wyatt Loga in the high jump weren’t far from the ‘B’ standard on Saturday. Newton placed fourth on the women’s side while Loga and teammate Jacob Glines both placed fifth on the men’s side. Rathe and Cora Olson (third in the triple jump) were fourth-place finishers in the long jump.

Said Beisel in sum, “It was a lot of good. Overall, I’m extremely happy with it. Some of our kids have bigger things they want to accomplish. We have another opportunity next week at Kearney. I love to see how our teams are progressing.”

Prior to the Easter holiday, the Bulldogs will be in action at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Invite next Friday (April 15). The meet is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CT from Kearney, Neb. Concordia will wait until the Twilight Meet on May 13 before hosting again.

‘A’ standards achieved at Concordia Invite

· Women’s 4x400m Relay (3:53.07); Lewis, Koepke, Pfeifer, Battershell

· Women’s 4x800m Relay (9:18.80); Haecker, Esch, Heritage, Bauer

· Erin Mapson – Pole Vault (11’ 11 ¾”)

· Josie Puelz – Pole Vault (12’ 3 ½”)

· Sarah Ragland – Hammer Throw (175’ 5”)

· Chris Wren – Hammer Throw (194’ 5”)

New ‘B’ standards: Men’s 4x100m Relay (41.61); Andy Amos (Hammer Throw; 182’ 6”); Olivia Buschow (Discus; 139’ 6”); Abby Gerber (Hammer Throw; 159’ 11”); Sarah Lewis (100 Hurdles; 14.59); Alli Owings (Shot Put; 43’ 1 ¾”; Hammer Throw; 163’ 10”).

Concordia Invite Event Champions

· Women’s 4x800m Relay (9:18.80); Haecker, Heritage, Esch, Bauer

· Kylahn Heritage – 5,000 Meters (18:29.11)

· Jordan Koepke – 400 Hurdles (1:04.12)

· Josie Puelz – Pole Vault (12’ 3 ½”)

· Camden Sesna – 1,500 Meters (4:04.85)

· Trinity Tuls – 400 Meters (59.89)

Berry, Koepke turn in new auto marks at Loper Invite

Apr. 15

KEARNEY, Neb. – The yields from a Good Friday (April 15) spent at the University of Nebraska-Kearney’s Loper Invitational included fresh automatic national qualifying performances courtesy of Chase Berry and Jordan Koepke. As part of the meet, the Concordia University Track & Field programs went up against strong NCAA Division II and NAIA competition at Kearney High School. Collectively, Bulldog athletes combined for seven marks that met the automatic standard and Cade Kleckner came up a hair short in the 200 meters.

This was the fourth weekend of outdoor action for Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads. The women’s team entered the meet ranked third in the NAIA, according to the USTFCCCA national rating index. Cold temperatures and significant wind gusts made it a challenge, but it was still a chance to compete.

Said Beisel, “We were glad to get those two new marks and to see Cade get really close. It’s important to get reps in within a competition and to learn how to battle through conditions that aren’t always perfect. Nobody enjoys the cold weather, but we still had a lot of people put up good marks. It was a little hit or miss. We were down a little bit from it might have been on a nicer day. At the same time, we had some good competition there to push us. You have to be able to show you can compete through tough conditions. We got to practice that today in a competition situation.”

An indoor All-American in the 600 meters, Koepke is proving to be a star in a wide range of events. The Gulf Breeze, Fla., native beat out a field of 12 runners in the 400 hurdles with her personal best of 1:02.82 on Friday. That time came close to teammate Sarah Lewis’ PR of 1:02.70 from earlier this season and ranks No. 4 on the program’s all-time 400-hurdle list.

There have been some bumps in the road during Berry’s collegiate career. That’s why it was an emotional experience when the Seward High School product cleared 15’ 9” in the pole vault (second place at the Loper Invite). A two-time All-American, the goal for Berry is to get back up on that podium. Teammate Zach Bennetts placed sixth while vaulting 14’ 11.”

“Chase deserves special mention,” Beisel said. “He’s had to overcome a lot of stuff. Pole vaulting is mentally a challenging sport and he’s had some setbacks. He’s not complained – he’s battled his way back. It was a triumph for him today. He was pretty emotional afterwards. He gave his dad (pole vault coach Jason Berry) a big hug and gave me a big hug. He was almost over 16 feet. It was a big confidence boost that he needed.”

On the women’s side of the pole vault, Josie Puelz keeps doing Josie Puelz things. She won the competition at the Loper Invite by more than a foot with her season best of 13’ 5 ¼” that pushed her own school record of 13’ 7 ¼.” While doing so, Puelz also padded her lead atop the NAIA national leaderboard. Meanwhile, Erin Mapson again vaulted the ‘A’ standard of 11’ 11 ¾.” Another good sign was the return of Amira Cummings, who cleared 10’ 11 ¾.”

Currently ranked fourth in the NAIA in the discus, Sara Huss is showing consistency in again hitting the ‘A’ standard in the discus. She placed second at the Loper Invite with a mark of 145’ 8” (season best is 151’). In that same event, Olivia Buschow equaled her personal best with another ‘B’ mark of 141’ 6.” Other repeat national qualifying performers were Morgan De Jong (176’ 4”) and Sarah Ragland (169’ 7”) in the hammer. In addition, Abby Gerber was just shy of a ‘B’ mark in the shot put (42’ 5 ½”). Chris Wren led the way in the hammer on the men’s side with a ninth-place claim (171’ 8”). He had turned in a throw of 194’ 5” a week earlier at the Concordia Invite.

A native of Colorado Springs, Colo., Kleckner is moving closer to his personal best of 21.35 in the 200 meters. That time earned him a trip to the national meet a year ago. On Friday, he clocked in at 21.47 (currently 18th on the NAIA national list). Kleckner also ran the leadoff leg for the 4x100 meter relay that finished in 42.37. The group that included Joel Rathe, Jacob Jennings and Xavier Ross ran without any competition in the event. The Bulldogs continue to seek an ‘A’ standard in the event (41.50 required).

A week after the women’s 4x800 meter relay broke the Bulldog Stadium record in the event, the Concordia athletes that made up that quartet ran the open 800 on Friday. That deep bunch included Keri Bauer (2:18.03), Rylee Haecker (2:19.10), Kylahn Heritage (2:21.90) and Jenna Esch (2:23.26). Said Beisel, “We have a lot of depth in the 800. We were able to get some good stuff out of all of them. We wanted to get Kylahn an open 800 mark in case we have her run it at conference.”

Camden Sesna and Calvin Rohde continue to shine as the top distance runners on the men’s side. In the 1,500 meter race at the Loper Invite, Sesna clocked in at 4:01.15 and Rohde followed in 4:02.83. They placed fourth and sixth, respectively, out of 46 runners. On the women’s side of the distance group, Grace Reiman placed second in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 12:24.07.

The jumps group will hopefully have better opportunities yet this spring in warmer weather. Most notably from Friday’s meet, Joel Rathe landed at 22’ 11” for the 24th best long jump in the NAIA this season. All-American Wyatt Loga is still working his way towards the ‘A’ standard in the high jump. He got over the bar at 6’ 2 ¾” and placed ninth at the Loper Invite.

Next on the slate is the Jim Dutcher Classic that will be hosted by Doane over three days (April 21-23). The meet will be the first opportunity this outdoor season for multi-event athletes to showcase their abilities in the heptathlon and decathlon. The schedule for the Jim Dutcher Classic can be found HERE.

‘A’ standards achieved at Loper Invite

· Chase Berry – Pole Vault (15’ 9”)

· Morgan De Jong – Hammer Throw (176’ 4”)

· Sara Huss – Discus (145’ 8”)

· Jordan Koepke – 400 Hurdles (1:02.82)

· Erin Mapson – Pole Vault (11’ 11 ¾”)

· Josie Puelz – Pole Vault (13’ 5 ¼”)

· Sarah Ragland – Hammer Throw (169’ 7”)

New ‘B’ standard: Cade Kleckner (200 meters; 21.47)

Koepke hurdles way to GPAC honors

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SEWARD, Neb. – A personal best in the 400 meter hurdles paved the way for freshman Jordan Koepke to be named the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Women’s Track Athlete of the Week, as announced by the conference on Wednesday (April 20). Koepke is the sixth different athlete from Concordia University Women’s Track & Field to be recognized as a GPAC Athlete of the Week for either indoor our outdoor in 2022. Koepke has garnered her first career GPAC weekly award.

A native of Gulf Breeze, Fla., Koepke has made an immediate impact for the Bulldogs. At last week’s Loper Invitational hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney, Koepke won the 400 hurdle race in a time of 1:02.82 that automatically qualifies her for the national meet. Her time ranks No. 2 in the GPAC (second to teammate Sarah Lewis) and No. 7 on the NAIA national list. It also puts Koepke at No. 4 on the program’s all-time 400 hurdle list. Koepke will have a chance to add to the All-America honors she collected at the NAIA indoor national championships when she placed third in the 600 meters and fifth as part of the 4x400 meter relay.

Koepke and company are slated to be in action this weekend at the Jim Dutcher Classic (April 21-23). Head Coach Matt Beisel’s Concordia women’s team is currently ranked third in the NAIA, according to the USTFCCCA.

2021-22 GPAC Athletes of the Week
April 20 – Jordan Koepke (track)
April 6 – Josie Puelz (field)
Feb. 9 – Erin Mapson (field)
Feb. 2 – Sarah Ragland (field)
Jan. 19 – Morgan De Jong (field)
Dec. 15 – Sarah Lewis (track)

Kleckner breaks 200 meter record; Bulldogs add four fresh 'A' marks at Dutcher Classic

Apr. 23

CRETE, Neb. – A program record that stood for a quarter century was broken on Saturday (April 23) as Concordia University Track & Field concluded the blustery three-day Jim Dutcher Memorial Classic hosted by Doane. By day’s end, Cade Kleckner rose to the top of the program’s all-time 200 meter list as one of four Bulldogs to collect fresh automatic national qualifying marks over the weekend. The three additional new qualifiers were Sarah Lewis (100 hurdles), Alli Owings (discus) and Erin Painter (discus). Among the highlights, Concordia athletes combined for eight Dutcher Classic event titles.

This was the fifth weekend of outdoor competition for Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads, which have run their combined season tally to 15 automatic national qualifying marks. High and steady winds in excess of 30 miles per hour made it a challenge on Saturday.

“I went into this meet with lower expectations than normal because of the predicted high winds,” Beisel said. “We left about 50 percent of our distance runners at home because it would have been counterproductive in this kind of wind. In spite of the wind, lots of good things happened – maybe in part because of the wind. We had some great discus throws. Alli Owings knocked it out of the park with a huge PR. The wind helped the sprinters and the hurdlers because it was giving them a push. Everyone dealt with the weather in a positive way and that’s what I would expect from the caliber of people and athletes that we have.”

A 200 meter national qualifier last season, Kleckner blazed to a time of 21.30 on Saturday while placing second at the Dutcher Classic. A week earlier, the native of Colorado Springs, Colo., clocked a time of 21.47 at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. His latest performance broke the previous school outdoor standard of 21.34 by Frank Wilson back in 1997. Kleckner also moved up to No. 3 on the program’s all-time 100 meter list with his time of 10.69 at the Dutcher Classic.

It was a fruitful Saturday for the women’s discus crew. In the event, Bulldogs Alli Owings (156’ 8”), Sara Huss (152’ 7”) and Erin Painter (150’ 3”) placed second through fourth while each eclipsing the ‘A’ standard. Other noteworthy efforts from the throws group as a whole included a meet title in the hammer throw for Sarah Ragland (166’ 9”) and a fresh ‘B’ mark in the shot put by Kamryn Pokorney. On the men’s side, Chris Wren placed fifth in the hammer with a toss just shy of the ‘A’ standard. He entered the weekend ranked eighth nationally in the hammer. The team’s top men’s discus thrower was Ben Moll, who placed ninth (148’ 5”).

One of the top hurdlers in school history, Sarah Lewis is now qualified for nationals in both the 100 and 400 hurdle events. She ran a personal best of 14.53 in the prelims of the 100 hurdles at the Dutcher Classic. The Mason City, Neb., native also again hit the ‘A’ standard in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:02.71. Lewis was narrowly beaten out by Hastings’ Nisa Thomas (1:02.67) for first place in the 400 hurdles. As part of Lewis’ day, she also ran the third leg for the 4x100 meter relay that placed first with a ‘B’ standard of 48.19. That group featured Rachel Battershell, Brittney Aitken and Cora Olson.

For the second week in a row, three-time national champion Josie Puelz cleared 13 feet in the pole vault. She won the competition at the Dutcher Classic while vaulting 13’ 1 ½.” The Lincoln Lutheran alum remains the NAIA national leader in the event. On the men’s side of the pole vault, Chase Berry and Zach Bennetts both cleared 15’ 5” (‘B’ mark) and placed inside the top four in the event. Berry cleared the ‘A’ standard a week earlier at the Loper Invitational.

Other Concordia winners on the track included Battershell in the 400 meters (58.91), Rylee Haecker in the 1,500 meters (4:49.76), Kaia Richmond in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (12:44.16) and Xavier Ross in the 400 meters (48.76). Battershell was joined by teammates Jenna Esch (59.34), Keri Bauer (59.41) and Trinity Tuls (59.56) as sub one-minute 400 meter runners. On the men’s side of the 4x1, the Bulldogs came up just shy of their season best while clocking a time of 41.81. The 4x1 group featured Kleckner, Joel Rathe, Jacob Jennings and Ross. Rathe was also the Dutcher Classic winner in the long jump with a mark of 22’ 2 ½.”

Already mentioned for her collaboration in the 4x1, Olson just missed the ‘B’ standard in the long jump with her personal best mark of 18’ 5 ¼.” She placed third in the event. The native of Trimont, Minn., placed second in the 200 meters with a time of 25.58. On the men’s side of the jumps, Wyatt Loga placed fifth in the high jump with a mark of 6’ 7.”

The Dutcher Classic provided the first opportunity this season for Concordia athletes to compete in the heptathlon. A 2021 All-American in the heptathlon, Amy Richert led the way for the Bulldogs by placing fourth out of 14 athletes. She totaled 4,163 points. Next in line was indoor pentathlon national qualifier Elena Batenhorst in seventh place (3,899).

Added Beisel, “We had a good time and I was proud of the effort the kids put into it. I’m very excited to see what will happen at Drake and Wesleyan next week.”

As part of next week’s slate, Concordia will be represented at the Drake Relays (April 28-30) and the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolf Invitational (April 28). Those meets will serve as the precursor to the GPAC Championships coming up May 6-7.

‘A’ standards achieved at Dutcher Classic

· Sara Huss – Discus (152’ 7”)

· Cade Kleckner – 200 Meters (21.30)

· Sarah Lewis – 100 Hurdles (14.53); 400 Hurdles (1:02.71)

· Alli Owings – Discus (156’ 8”)

· Erin Painter – Discus (150’ 3”)

· Josie Puelz – Pole Vault (13’ 1 ½”)

· Sarah Ragland – Hammer Throw (166’ 9”)

--Amy Richert met the minimum national reporting standard in the heptathlon with 4,163 points.
--Women's 4x100m relay: new 'B' time of 48.19.
--Zach Bennetts produced a new ‘B’ standard in the pole vault (15’ 5”).
--Jordan Koepke: new 'B' mark in 100 hurdles (14.63).
--Erin Painter: new 'B' mark in hammer (161' 2").
--Kamryn Pokorney: new ‘B’ mark of 43’ 1 ¾” in the shot put.

Dutcher Classic Event Champions

· Women’s 4x100m Relay (48:19); Battershell, Aitken, Lewis, Olson

· Rachel Battershell – 400 Meters (58.91)

· Rylee Haecker – 1,500 Meters (4:49.76)

· Josie Puelz – Pole Vault (13’ 1 ½”)

· Sarah Ragland – Hammer Throw (166’ 9”)

· Joel Rathe – Long Jump (22’ 2 ½”)

· Kaia Richmond – 3,000 Meter Steeplechase (12:44.16)

· Xavier Ross – 400 Meters (48.76)

Meet Preview: Drake Relays/Prairie Wolf Invite

Apr. 23

SEWARD, Neb. – Concordia University Track & Field will be represented at the Drake Relays and the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolf Invite as part of this week’s action. These will be the final outings prior to the 2022 GPAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships coming up May 6-7. The list of Bulldog entries for the Drake Relays includes five athletes competing as individuals and a total of five relays (three women’s and two men’s relays). For most of the team, the Prairie Wolf Invite will be the main focus for this week.

Meet Info

Prairie Wolf Invite (April 28)
12 p.m. | Woody Greeno Track | Lincoln, Neb.
LINKS
--Live Results
--Event Schedule (PDF)

Drake Relays (April 29-30)
Drake Stadium | Des Moines, Iowa
LINKS
--Meet Info
--Live Results
--Tickets
--Event Schedule (PDF)

Concordia entries at Drake Relays

· Women’s CD 4x800m Relay: Rylee Haecker, Kylahn Heritage, Jenna Esch, Keri Bauer (8:50am, Friday)

· Women’s CD 4x100m Relay: Rachel Battershell, Brittney Aitken, Sarah Lewis, Cora Olson (9:14am, Friday)

· Men’s CD 4x100m Relay: Cade Kleckner, Joel Rathe, Jacob Jennings, Xavier Ross (9:30am, Friday)

· Women’s UD/CD Pole Vault: Josie Puelz (1:00pm, Friday)

· Women’s CD 4x400m Relay: Sarah Lewis, Jordan Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer, Rachel Battershell (3:01pm, Friday)

· Men’s CD 4x400m Relay: Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Colton Myer, Xavier Ross (3:23pm, Friday)

· Women’s UD/CD 400m: Rachel Battershell (5:26pm, Friday)

· Men’s UD/CD High Jump: Wyatt Loga (6:00pm, Friday)

· Women’s UD/CD Hammer Throw: Sarah Ragland (11:30am, Saturday)

· Men’s UD/CD Hammer Throw: Chris Wren (2:30pm, Saturday)

Four new automatic national qualifying marks were added last week as Concordia competed at the Jim Dutcher Memorial Classic hosted by Doane. Those marks came courtesy of Cade Kleckner (200 meters), Sarah Lewis (100 meters), Alli Owings (discus) and Erin Painter (discus). Kleckner broke the school record in the 200 meters with his time of 21.30. The previous school standard had been 21.34 set by Frank Wilson in 1997. There were also a number of new ‘B’ standards thanks to the women’s 4x100 meter relay (48.19), Zach Bennetts (pole vault), Jordan Koepke (100 hurdles), Painter (hammer) and Kamryn Pokorney (shot put). Below is a list of the 15 automatic national qualifying performances this season by Bulldogs.

2022 Outdoor ‘A’ Standards

· Women’s 4x400m relay (3:53.07)

· Women’s 4x800m relay (9:18.80)

· Chase Berry – pole vault (15’ 9”)

· Morgan De Jong – hammer (176’ 4”)

· Sara Huss – discus (152’ 7”)

· Cade Kleckner – 200 meters (21.30)

· Jordan Koepke – 400 hurdles (1:02.82)

· Sarah Lewis – 400 hurdles (1:02.70); 100 hurdles (14.53)

· Erin Mapson – pole vault (11’ 11 ¾”)

· Alli Owings – discus (156’ 8”)

· Erin Painter – discus (150’ 3”)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (13’ 5 ¼”)

· Sarah Ragland – hammer (175’ 5”)

· Chris Wren – hammer (194’ 5”)

The Concordia women appeared at No. 4 in last week’s NAIA national ratings index released by the USTFCCCA. In other words, the Bulldogs expect to be in the running once again for a team national trophy. Concordia placed third nationally this past indoor season. As one example of the team’s impressive depth, six different Bulldogs have earned GPAC Athlete of the Week awards during the 2022 indoor/outdoor seasons: Sarah Lewis (Dec. 15), Morgan De Jong (Jan. 19), Sarah Ragland (Feb. 2), Erin Mapson (Feb. 9), Josie Puelz (April 6) and Jordan Koepke (April 20).

In the most recent event squad rankings calculated by the USTFCCCA, Concordia ranked No. 1 nationally in the following event groupings: men’s hammer, women’s pole vault, women’s shot put and women’s hammer. The Bulldogs were also No. 2 in the women’s discus and could rise to No. 1 after this past week’s results. Owings (sixth), Huss (seventh) and Painter (ninth) are all sitting in the top 10 nationally in the discus. While Puelz leads the NAIA in the pole vault, the next highest rating for any Concordia event is the women’s 4x800 meter relay, which is holding down the No. 3 spot (9:18.80) in the NAIA.

The 2022 GPAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be hosted by Doane. More details on the meet will soon be available via the GPAC website HERE.

Jennings living out extended college career to the fullest

Apr. 28

In his words, Jacob Jennings was taking a “risk.” About this same time two years ago, Jennings began transitioning into a sport he had never competed in. He hadn’t bothered to pay much attention to it because he thought it to be a “pretty boring sport.” A pandemic shutdown, a broken foot and a desire to keep competing all led into a brave new world for the native of Shawnee, Kan. Let’s be honest, it wasn’t totally unlike Jennings to reverse course without much notice.

A few years earlier, Jennings was all set to move into a dorm and start classes at a school near his hometown. Then in the spring of April 2020, instead of ending his collegiate athletic career, Jennings had an idea. He was going to stay in school to get his master's degree anyway.

“I reached out to Coach (Matt) Beisel probably in April of 2020,” Jennings said. “I didn’t do track in high school or anything. I was mainly able to play basketball because I was athletic and could guard okay. I was a go-getter. I could jump and run and I was hoping those skills would translate. I just told him my background and we talked – and he said he would love to have me. That summer I worked out and did my own thing. I knew I was going to be working on my MBA. Why not do something? Track seemed like a good fit.”

Jennings is now two full years into a collegiate track career that has seen him go from having no idea what events best suited him to helping two different 4x400 meter relays to All-America awards. Not only that, he’s one of the top open 400 meter runners for Concordia Track & Field and was part of a GPAC champion 4x100 meter relay squad. In other words, he’s become an essential member of the Bulldogs while competing in a sport he previously didn’t understand. He’s also earned an undergraduate degree, finished a master’s and already has a foot in the door in the business world.

It could only be God’s plan. That would explain how Jennings abruptly walked away from the University of Kansas and took up a spot on the Concordia Men’s Basketball team. No, Bill Self didn’t recruit Jennings to play for the Jayhawks – “I wish,” jokes Jennings. But Jennings originally felt like KU was the place for him to grow up and get his education.

Recalls Jennings, “It was a Wednesday morning and I was supposed to move into KU on Thursday. Then school started the following Monday. I decided, along with my parents, to switch at the last minute. I called Coach (Ben) Limback to see if I could still play and he said he would still love to have me. That Wednesday morning I switched and that Friday morning I drove up and moved in for school. It was stressful, but it worked out.”

Jennings eventually worked his way onto the varsity roster and appeared in six games for the 2019-20 Bulldog squad that won the GPAC tournament title and advanced to the national tournament. That was Jennings’ final season of basketball. He broke his foot in February and that could have been the end. It could have been the moment he decided to ride off into the sunset and simply finish out his academic course work. Not only did Jennings give track a try in 2020-21, he enjoyed it so much he chose to run it back again in 2021-22.

“The way that year ended with COVID was so weird,” Jennings said. “I broke my foot in practice that February so I didn’t really get to be involved. It just didn’t finish how I wanted it to. I wanted to do more for myself and really liked the community. With basketball you immediately had 25 friends when you joined the team. I knew a couple track guys, but I was still mostly new to track. The decision this year to come back was because I really grew into that team. It’s really fun to be with your friends every day. I’m half in the workplace and half in college still.”

There’s been a close bond that has formed between Jennings and relay teammates like Cade Kleckner, Colton Meyer, Joel Rathe, Xavier Ross and others. The stories that have brought them together are part of what makes the friendship that much more special. Like Jennings, Kleckner came to track after starting out in another sport (baseball) at Concordia. He’s now the school record holder in the outdoor 200 meters.

Said Kleckner prior to the start of indoor season, “We’re super close. We see each other every day and we practice every day. Those are guys I’m very close with. We’ve grown that bond. Jacob and I came over from different sports. We just didn’t know what we were getting into. We were a young group on the track even though some of us were older academically.”

For Jennings, it will be hard to top the moment that occurred this past March 3 when he and his fellow 4x4 teammates entered the national meet seeded 16th in the NAIA. The Bulldogs appeared to be longshots to even sniff any type of All-America award in the event. They were even down a couple key runners who were unable to be at the meet. Jennings, Kleckner, Meyer and Maccoy Menke beat the odds and placed eighth in the prelims in a performance Jennings will never forget. That put them on the podium once again.

The humble Jennings says that even to this day, he’s still learning the ins and outs of perfecting his craft. Admitted Jennings, “I’m still learning. Just a couple weeks ago I pushed way too hard on the back stretch and had nothing left the last 100. I had a better one at Doane where I maintained speed throughout. There’s definitely technique to it. I didn’t realize that at first. The most unathletic I’ve ever felt was running my first time trial in the 400. I had to learn how to run it better. Coach (Mark) Samuels was telling me things I didn’t understand.”

Through some of those trials, the frustrating moments and the triumphant achievements, Jennings has packed in more experiences than most people will get out of a collegiate athletic career. It’s not the path he could have envisioned years ago, but it’s one he’s thankful for. When track finally does come to a halt, Jennings will still be around the area, working for the Seward Chamber of Commerce. It’s a position that pole vault coach Jason Berry helped connect him with.

For a few weeks longer, the rigors of a full-time job can wait. Says Jennings, “It’s nice to not grow up yet, sort of. I still get to be with my friends every day and get to run.”

Three Bulldogs win events, Berry clears PR at Prairie Wolf Invite

Apr. 28

LINCOLN, Neb. – Some Bulldogs had already started out for the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, but the majority of Concordia University Track & Field athletes were in competition on Thursday (April 28) at the Prairie Wolf Invite hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan University. Several Bulldogs took advantage of warm weather and light winds. The highlights included a trio of event championships and a personal best pole vault performance from Chase Berry, a Seward High School alum who has found his groove.

Head Coach Matt Beisel and company are hoping to boost the combined tally of 15 automatic national qualifying standards produced this season by Concordia athletes. While there were no new ‘A’ standards on Thursday, Camden Sesna and Calvin Rohde came away with personal bests in the 1,500 meters and hit the ‘B’ standard.

The confidence is back for Berry, who vaulted a collegiate personal best of 15’ 9” at the Loper Invitational two weeks ago. On Thursday, Berry cleared 16’ 1 ¾” for a mark that moves him up to No. 3 on the NAIA national list (pending results from other meets this weekend). Berry placed second in the competition at the Prairie Wolf Invite behind only an NCAA Division II competitor. On the women’s side of the pole vault, the Bulldogs held back top vaulters Josie Puelz and Erin Mapson. Erin Boggs led the way for Concordia by placing third with a vault of 11’ 1.”

Cross country national qualifiers Sesna and Rohde appear to be gearing up to score significantly at the conference meet next week. Sesna won the 1,500 meet title at the Prairie Wolf Invite by finishing in 3:55.51. Rohde was hot on his heels and placed second with a time of 3:55.89. Seven Bulldogs ran the event on Thursday.

Additional event titles were claimed at the Prairie Wolf Invite by Sara Huss in the discus (141’ 10”) and Trinity Tuls in the 400 meters (58.98). Kailey Weichel and Emily Loseke placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 400 meters. Another noteworthy effort out of the throws was supplied by Abby Gerber, who landed a new ‘B’ standard of 43’ 9 ¾.” On the men’s side of the shot put, Andy Amos recorded a mark (48’ 11 ½”) about a foot-and-a-half shy of the ‘B’ standard. In the men’s javelin, Logan Adam placed third out of 13 throwers.

Elsewhere in the jumps, Grace Reimer placed third in the high jump (5’ ¼”), Katie Severt placed sixth in the triple jump (35’ 1 ¼”) and seventh in the long jump (17’ 3 ½”) and Jacob Glines finished fifth in the high jump (6’ 5 ½”). Averie Lambrecht also landed at 35’ 1 ¼” in the triple.

Concordia ran just one relay on Thursday (the men’s 4x100) as the program’s top relay runners prep for the Drake Relays. The one relay at the Prairie Wolf Invite featured Kameron Farmer, Jon Fosler, Matthew Caruso and Marc Freiburg. That group finished the 4x1 race in 45.43.

Select Bulldogs will be in action on Friday and Saturday at the 2022 Drake Relays. For a breakdown from a Concordia perspective, check out the meet preview HERE. The link includes information on how to follow live coverage of the Drake Relays, which take place at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

Prairie Wolf Invite Event Champions

· Sara Huss – Discus (141’ 10”)

· Camden Sesna – 1,500 Meters (3:55.51)

· Trinity Tuls – 400 Meters (58.98)

New ‘B’ standards came from Abby Gerber (shot put), Kamryn Pokorney (hammer), Calvin Rohde (1,500 meters) and Camden Sesna (1,500 meters).

PRAIRIE WOLF INVITE RESULTS

Women's 4x8, 4x4 clock new season bests while circling the Blue Oval

Apr. 28

DES MOINES, Iowa – Damp and dreary conditions were not enough to slow down two Bulldog women’s relays that blazed around the Blue Oval at the 2022 Drake Relays on Friday (April 29). Both the women’s 4x800 and 4x400 meter relays that represented Concordia University Track & Field recorded season best times that rank within the top three on the NAIA national lists. Sixteen Bulldogs competed in one or more events in what was the first day of competition for Concordia at the annual event held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads were also in action on Thursday at the Prairie Wolf Invite hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan. The Bulldogs were aiming to put some big-time marks on the board on Friday.

The Concordia women’s 4x8 did just that early in the day when Rylee Haecker, Jordan Koepke, Jenna Esch and Keri Bauer improved on the team’s season best by more than nine seconds. The quartet clocked in at 9:09.24 for the fourth fastest time in school history. The performance placed the Bulldogs in third out of 12 relays in the college division and vaulted them up to No. 2 in the NAIA (based on the leaderboard entering the day). The splits were 2:15.45 for Bauer, 2:15.45 for Haecker, 2:18.18 for Koepke and 2:20.18 for Esch. Koepke stepped into the 4x8 after having been previously scheduled to run only the 4x4.

Koepke and her 4x4 teammates also crushed it. In order, the crew included Sarah Lewis, Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer and Rachel Battershell. Concordia advanced to Saturday’s finals of the event with a season best of 3:49.86 for the third fastest time in program history. That time also ranks No. 3 on the current NAIA national list. The splits were 56.68 for Koepke, 57.54 for Lewis, 57.74 for Pfeifer and 57.91 for Battershell. This marks the first time ever that the Bulldogs have qualified a women’s 4x4 for the finals at the Drake Relays. Concordia placed eighth in the preliminary round.

In the women’s pole vault, Josie Puelz went up against mostly NCAA Division I competition and placed ninth out of 24 athletes at the Drake Relays. Puelz cleared her first height of 12’ 8 ¼” before missing on three tries at 13’ 1 ¼.” Puelz continues to lead the NAIA in the event with her season best of 13’ 5 ¼” accomplished two weeks ago at the Loper Invitational. The Lincoln Lutheran alum was the only NAIA athlete to take part in the pole vault at the Drake Relays.

The 4x100 meter relays came up short of the times they were hoping to achieve. On the women’s side, the combination of Battershell, Brittney Aitken, Lewis and Cora Olson finished in 48.73 (13th place out of 31), just over a half a second slower than Concordia’s season best ‘B’ standard of 48.19. Meanwhile, the Bulldog men’s quartet featured Cade Kleckner, Joel Rathe, Jacob Jennings and Xavier Ross. That group clocked in at 42.33 and placed 19th out of 31 teams. Entering the meet, the team’s season best was a ‘B’ standard of 41.61. Unfortunately, the Concordia men’s 4x4 was a scratch.

Two others who competed as individuals on Friday were Battershell in the 400 meters and Wyatt Loga in the high jump. Battershell ran 1:01.23 in the 400 while Loga missed on his three attempts at clearing 6’ 6 ¾.”

It will be a light Saturday for the Bulldogs from a wholistic team perspective, but the program will be represented at the Drake Relays by the athletes listed below. Sarah Ragland and Chris Wren will be looking to improve upon already existing automatic national qualifying marks in the hammer throw. As a wrap up to the weekend, the women’s 4x4 will take the track one more time at Drake.

Bulldogs competing Saturday at Drake Relays

· Sarah Ragland, Hammer Throw (11:30 a.m.)

· Chris Wren, Hammer Throw (2:30 p.m.)

· Women’s 4x400 Meter Relay – Sarah Lewis, Jordan Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer, Rachel Battershell (4:36 p.m.)

Bulldogs wrap up action at 2022 Drake Relays

Apr. 30

DES MOINES, Iowa – A weekend that included action at the Prairie Wolf Invite and the Drake Relays is in the books for Concordia University Track & Field. On Saturday (April 30)’s final day at the Drake Relays, the Bulldog women’s 4x400 meter relay group ran in the finals of the event while Sarah Ragland and Chris Wren both competed in the hammer throw. Over Friday and Saturday, 18 athletes represented Concordia at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

Full results for Bulldogs at the Drake Relays can be found below. The major highlights of the weekend in Des Moines were the season best performances by the women’s 4x800 and 4x400 meter relays. In the finals on Saturday, the 4x4 clocked a time of 3:53.91 and placed eighth. A day earlier, the 4x4 group that included Sarah Lewis, Jordan Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer and Rachel Battershell finished in 3:49.86. That time currently ranks No. 3 in the NAIA. Meanwhile, the 4x8 crew of Rylee Haecker, Koepke, Jenna Esch and Keri Bauer turned in a time of 9:09.24 on Friday. That time puts the Bulldogs at No. 2 in the NAIA.

Concordia results at Drake Relays

· Women’s 4x800 meter relay – 9:09.24 (3rd / 12 in College Division)

o Rylee Haecker, Jordan Koepke, Jenna Esch, Keri Bauer

· Women’s 4x100 meter relay – 48.73 (13th / 31)

o Rachel Battershell, Brittney Aitken, Sarah Lewis, Cora Olson

· Men’s 4x100 meter relay – 42.33 (19th / 31)

o Cade Kleckner, Joel Rathe, Jacob Jennings, Xavier Ross

· Women’s 4x400 meter relay – 3:49.86 in prelims (8th / 23); 3:53.91 in finals (8th)

o Sarah Lewis, Jordan Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer, Rachel Battershell

· Men’s 4x400 meter relay – DNF

o Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Colton Meyer, Xavier Ross

· Josie Puelz – cleared 12’ 8 ¼” in pole vault (9th / 25)

· Rachel Battershell – ran 1:01.23 in 400 meters (21st / 23)

· Wyatt Loga – NH in high jump

· Sarah Ragland – 163’ 6” in weight throw (24th / 28)

· Chris Wren – NM in weight throw

The 2022 GPAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships are up next. The conference meet will play out next Friday and Saturday (May 6-7) on the Doane campus in Crete, Neb. The Bulldog women’s program will attempt to extend its active streak of six-straight GPAC titles while the men will aim to move up from their fourth-place conference finish this past indoor season.

Meet Preview: 2022 GPAC Outdoor Championships

May 3

SEWARD, Neb. – It’s conference championship week for Concordia University Track & Field. The 2022 outdoor season to date has seen Bulldog athletes compete at eight different meets over a six-week span. Heading into the GPAC meet, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads have combined for 15 automatic national qualifying standards. Concordia hopes to add to that total at the 2022 GPAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Doane this Friday and Saturday. The Bulldog women have won six-straight GPAC titles.

MEET INFO

2022 GPAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Friday/Saturday, May 6-7
Al Papik Field/Lauritsen Track | Crete, Neb.
Event Schedule (PDF)
Live Coverage
--Video Stream: https://www.youtube.com/user/doaneathletics/live2
--Results: Black Squirrel
--Admission: $10 for adults/senior citizens, $3 for K-12; only those with NAIA passes and GPAC student ID’s will be admitted free of charge.

To recap, Concordia turned in 2022 GPAC indoor placements of first on the women’s side and fourth on the men’s side. The Bulldog women accumulated 194.5 points in the process of extending the program’s streak of GPAC championships. Individual conference titles were claimed by Zach Bennetts in the pole vault, Morgan De Jong in the weight throw, Rylee Haecker in the mile and 1,000 meters, Jordan Koepke in the 600 meters and Josie Puelz in the pole vault. As a result, Beisel was named the GPAC Women’s Coach of the Year and Puelz was honored with the GPAC Women’s Field Performance of the Meet. Puelz broke the GPAC indoor meet record in the pole vault.

Concordia’s returning GPAC champions from the 2021 conference outdoor meet include the men’s 4x100 meter relay (Cade Kleckner, Joel Rathe, Jacob Jennings and Colton Meyer), the women’s 4x400 meter relay (Keri Bauer, Sarah Lewis and Rachel Battershell), Battershell in the 400 hurdles and Puelz in the pole vault. Among returning Bulldogs, Battershell owns the most career GPAC event titles with eight, including three in the 400 meters. Others with multiple career GPAC championships include De Jong (two), Haecker (two), Kylahn Heritage (two), Lewis (three) and Puelz (three).

Below is a listing of Concordia athletes who enter this week’s meet with top-rated marks within the GPAC. The Bulldogs are favored to win titles in the pole vault on both sides and are projected to score bushels of points in events like the women’s discus and women’s hammer. Chase Berry rose all the way to No. 3 on the NAIA men’s pole vault list last week when he cleared a PR of 16’ 1 ¾.” The 1,500 meters could also be a fruitful event for both the men and women as Concordia holds down the Nos. 1 and 2 spots via Haecker and Heritage on the women’s side and Camden Sesna and Calvin Rohde on the men’s side.

Bulldogs with top-rated GPAC marks

· Women’s 4x400m relay – 3:49.86

· Women’s 4x800m relay – 9:09.24

· Chase Berry – pole vault (16’ 1 ¾”)

· Rylee Haecker – 1,500 meters (4:42.36)

· Alli Owings – discus (156’ 8”)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (13’ 5 ¼”)

· Camden Sesna – 1,500 meters (3:55.51)

According to the USTFCCCA, Concordia boasts the NAIA’s top-rated event squads in the women’s pole vault, women’s shot put, women’s discus, women’s hammer throw and men’s hammer throw. Between men and women, the Bulldogs rank inside the top five nationally in 12 event groups. The USTFCCCA also listed the Concordia women as the nation’s fourth-rated team in its most recent NAIA National Ratings Index.

During the GPAC era (2000-present), Concordia Track & Field has combined for 12 GPAC team titles (nine for the women and three for the men). The men’s program last hoisted the GPAC trophy at the 2015 conference outdoor meet. In addition, the Bulldog men’s and women’s programs have combined for 26 conference runner-up finishes during the GPAC era.

The season will continue beyond the GPAC Championships with the Concordia Twilight (May 13) and the UNK Loper Twilight (May 14) meets coming up next week. Those will be the final opportunities for Bulldogs to put national marks on the board heading into the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships held in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 25-27. For additional national meet info, check out the NAIA track and field page HERE.

Concordia all-time conference titles

MEN – indoor: 2014 | outdoor: 2014, 2015

WOMEN – indoor: 2010, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 | outdoor: 1998, 2010, 2012, 2019, 2021

Concordia all-time conference runner-up finishes

MEN – indoor: 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 | outdoor: 2002, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017

WOMEN – indoor: 2003, 2005, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016 | outdoor: 2005, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

Current Bulldogs with GPAC titles
Rachel Battershell – 8 (2021 outdoor 400 hurdles; 2021 outdoor 4x400m relay; 2021 indoor 400 meters; 2020 indoor 60 hurdles; 2020 indoor 400 meters; 2020 indoor 4x400m relay; 2019 indoor 4x400m relay; 2019 outdoor 400 meters)
Keri Bauer – 1 (2021 outdoor 4x400m relay)
Zach Bennetts – 1 (2022 indoor pole vault)
Morgan De Jong – 2 (2022 indoor weight throw; 2021 indoor weight throw)
Rylee Haecker – 2 (2022 indoor mile; 2022 indoor 1,000 meters)
Kylahn Heritage – 2 (2021 indoor 1,000 meters); 2020 indoor 3,000 meters)
Jacob Jennings – 1 (2021 outdoor 4x100m relay)
Cade Kleckner – 1 (2021 outdoor 4x100m relay)
Jordan Koepke – 1 (2022 indoor 600 meters)
Sarah Lewis – 3 (2021 outdoor 4x400m relay; 2020 indoor 4x400m relay; 2019 indoor 4x400m relay)
Erin Mapson – 1 (2019 outdoor pole vault)
Colton Meyer – 1 (2021 outdoor 4x100m relay)
Jacee Pfeifer – 2 (2020 indoor 4x400m relay; 2019 indoor 4x400m relay)
Josie Puelz – 3 (2022 indoor pole vault; 2021 outdoor pole vault; 2020 indoor pole vault)
Joel Rathe – 1 (2021 outdoor 4x100m relay)

Bennetts, Puelz and Ragland win GPAC titles on meet's first day

May, 6

CRETE, Neb. – A trio of Bulldogs seized individual conference titles while punctuating the first of two days at the 2022 GPAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Concordia University Track & Field swept GPAC pole vault titles thanks to Zach Bennetts and Josie Puelz while Sarah Ragland reigned supreme in the hammer throw. In addition, Joel Rathe (long jump) and Chris Wren (hammer) were runners up in their respective events as part of action that took place on the Doane campus in Crete, Neb.

Six events of 22 events were scored on the first day of the championship meet. Heading into Saturday, the Bulldog women are in first place with 48 points (Doane is second with 47 points) and the Concordia men reside in second place, also with 48 points (first-place Doane has 68 points). Head Coach Matt Beisel’s women’s program is aiming to extend its active streak of six-straight GPAC team titles.

A Lincoln Lutheran alum, Puelz keeps building upon a résumé that includes three NAIA national titles in the pole vault. She’s now a four-time GPAC pole vault champion after she rose over 12’ 7 ½” while beating out the next best competitor by nearly a foot. The Bulldogs wound up with 19 team points in the event as Amira Cummings (third), Erin Boggs (tied for seventh) and Sydney Reichert (tied for seventh) each placed in all-conference territory. Cummings hit the ‘B’ national qualifying standard with her vault of 11’ 7 ¾.”

Just like Puelz, Bennetts can now boast of a sweep of 2022 GPAC indoor/outdoor pole vault titles. Bennetts and Jamestown’s Braedon Gumke both cleared 15’ 5” on Friday, but Bennetts earned first place based on his sequence of successful attempts. Concordia put 16 points on the board in the men’s pole vault as Zach Zohner placed third.

The Bulldogs showed their might on both sides of the hammer throw. Ragland’s winning toss landed at 170’ 9,” which again eclipsed the automatic national qualifying standard. It marked the first career GPAC title for the native of Rocky River, Ohio, who happens to also be a two-time All-American. In addition, all-conference placements were turned in via Morgan De Jong (third), Mackenzie Ferrel (sixth) and Alli Owings (seventh) in the hammer. It all added up to 21 team points.

On the men’s side of the hammer, Wren popped off the second best throw of his career as he turned in a mark of 190’ 4.” He was flanked in the event by All-GPAC teammates Andy Amos (fifth), Dagne’ Buck (sixth) and Ben Moll (seventh). Entering the meet, Coach Ed McLaughlin’s crew ranked No. 1 nationally in the hammer (according to the USTFCCCA event squad ratings) for both men and women.

The Sterling, Neb., native Rathe continues to edge close to seven meters in the long jump. He hit 6.93 meters (22’ 9”) on Friday while outperforming his seeding of third entering the met. His personal best in the event remains 22’ 11.” On the women’s side of the long jump, Katie Severt collected an all-conference award by coming in fourth (17’ 10 ¾”).

Rounding out the all-conference placements for the day were Josh Taylor (sixth) and Logan Adam (seventh) in the javelin. Collectively, Concordia athletes combined for 18 All-GPAC awards on the first day of the conference meet.

Also noteworthy, a series of Bulldogs advanced to the finals in either the 100 meter dash or 100 meter hurdles. Finals qualifiers included Cade Kleckner (10.82), Rathe (10.94) and Jacob Jennings (10.97) in the men’s 100 meters, Brittney Aitken (12.40) and Cora Olson (12.51) in the women’s 100 meters and Sarah Lewis (14.65), Jordan Koepke (14.95) and Kaylee Boyle (15.58) in the women’s 100 hurdles.

In the women’s heptathlon, four of the seven events are in the books. The top performers so far for Concordia have been Amy Richert (fourth; 2,648 points), Boyle (sixth; 2,359 points) and Elena Batenhorst (ninth; 2,111 points). On Saturday, the heptathlon will conclude with the long jump, javelin and 800 meter race. Richert is not only looking to place high in the GPAC, but also to boost her chances of reaching the national meet as a heptathlon qualifier. She entered the weekend sitting 18th in the NAIA in the heptathlon.

Action on Saturday at the conference championships will pick up with the heptathlon and decathlon at 9 a.m. CT. The first field events will get underway at 12 p.m. followed by running events at 12:45. More details can be found via the links below.

-Live Results
-Live Stream
-Meet Info

2022 GPAC Outdoor Champions

· Zach Bennetts (Pole Vault)

· Josie Puelz (Pole Vault)

· Sarah Ragland (Hammer Throw)

Championship streak continues for women; Bulldogs cap conference meet with seven event titles

May. 8

CRETE, Neb. – Make it a seven-peat for the Concordia University Track & Field women’s program. Aided by five individual conference champions, the Bulldog women have laid claim to the title of 2022 GPAC outdoor track & field team titlist. Concordia compiled 216 points on the women’s side while holding off second-place Hastings (172 points). Meanwhile, the Bulldog men totaled 129 points and placed third in the conference.

The 2022 GPAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships were held Friday and Saturday (May 6-7) on the Doane campus in Crete, Neb. On day two of the meet, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s program celebrated GPAC individual titles from Keri Bauer (800 meters), Rylee Haecker (1,500 meters), Jordan Koepke (400 hurdles) and Camden Sesna (5,000 meters). On the previous day, Zach Bennetts (pole vault), Josie Puelz (pole vault) and Sarah Ragland (hammer throw) won conference championships.

An excellent weekend was made even sweeter with new school records being set by the women’s 4x400 meter relay, Cade Kleckner (200 meters) and Koepke (400 hurdles). Said Beisel, “We went into this meet with high hopes, big expectations and a lot of prayer. We had some big ups and downs. Our men were projected anywhere from fifth to third and we wanted third. One of the things I’m most proud of is how our men stepped it up and earned third. Top three in the GPAC is legit.

“Our women also brought the heat – seven consecutive GPAC titles. It’s impossible to explain what a big deal this is. I never took it for granted going into the meet. Hastings’ women’s team is a force to be reckoned with, and Doane had a very strong start on Friday. Our depth pulled us through.”

The run of GPAC titles for the women’s program began with the 2019 conference indoor meet and has kept motoring on. It wasn’t just about the individual champions in the latest banner weekend. In Saturday’s action, the Concordia women got major points out of the 400 meters (21), 1,500 meters (20), discus (19) and 400 hurdles (16). Runner up finishes were turned in by Rachel Battershell in the 400, Kylahn Heritage in the 1,500, Cora Olson in the triple jump and Erin Painter in the discus.

A native of Gulf Breeze, Fla., Koepke is already establishing herself as a star while just a freshman. Koepke blazed to a 400 hurdle time of 59.50 and took home the GPAC title. Not only did Koepke break the school record in the event, she also set a new GPAC meet record. The previous school 400 hurdle record had been held by Emily Wolters (1:00.87) since 2009. As of late Saturday night, Koepke ranked No. 2 in the NAIA in the 400 hurdles. Koepke also scored in the 100 hurdles (fourth) and ran the second leg for the record-breaking 4x4. The times for Lewis and Koepke in the 100 hurdles hit the ‘A’ standard.

The women’s 4x4 group also featured Sarah Lewis, Jenna Esch and Bauer. They sped around the track in 3:48.93 and placed second behind only Dordt at the conference meet. The previous program standard of 3:49.27 had stood since the 2009 national championships. Lewis also set a new PR in the 400 hurdles (1:01.91) and placed third – and was a third-place finisher in the 100 hurdles. As for Bauer, she experienced a major breakthrough in the 800 with her personal best championship time of 2:14.01 (No. 3 in school history). She qualified for nationals and moved up to No. 10 in the NAIA in the event.

A senior from Colorado Springs, Colo., Kleckner enjoyed a monster meet. He beat out his own school record in the 200 meters while gliding to a second-place time of 21.16 on Saturday. In addition, Kleckner placed second in the 100 meters (10.73) and capped the meeting with a starring effort on a men’s 4x400 meter relay that got the fresh automatic national qualifying time it was striving for. Kleckner ran the second leg. He followed Jennings and then gave way to Colton Meyer and Xavier Ross. They finished in 3:15.45 and placed third in the conference.

This was a breakthrough day for Ross as well. He ran his 4x4 split in 47.40 and also clocked a 48.04 in the open 400 meters (fourth place) while notching another new automatic qualifying time. Jennings placed eighth in the 400 while putting a conference point on the board.

A national cross country qualifier, Sesna has put together a fine outdoor track season. He racked up 18 team points this weekend while winning the 5k and placing second in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:55.11. Just like usual, teammate Calvin Rohde (3:56.84) was right on his heels in the 1,500. The win in the 5k marked the first career GPAC title for Sesna. Rohde took sixth in the 5k.

Between indoor and outdoor in 2022, Haecker has accumulated three individual GPAC titles. Her winning time in the 1,500 meters on Saturday registered in at 4:41.50. Heritage wasn’t far behind at 4:47.35. Haecker added two more team points with her seventh-place claim in the 800 meters. Haecker is a four-time All-American.

As for the throwers, they combined for 12 All-GPAC placements between the discus and shot put on Saturday. Painter’s runner-up discus toss landed at 138’ 7.” After placing second in the hammer on Friday, Chris Wren notched an eighth-place claim in the discus on Saturday. The hammer was particularly strong for the Bulldogs with four top-eight finishes on both the men’s and women’s sides. Ragland earned her first career GPAC title by taking first in the hammer on Friday.

Among other Saturday notables, Wyatt Loga placed fifth in the GPAC in the high jump with a mark of 6’ 8 ¾.” Thought not an automatic national qualifying mark, it puts Loga in a tie for 12th in the NAIA. Meanwhile, Amy Richert met the ‘B’ standard for the high jump on the women’s side. She was also a fifth-place finisher in the heptathlon. A well-rounded athlete, Olson scored in three separate events. Brittney Aitken scored in both the 100 meters (fifth) and 200 meters (third).

Beisel summed up the meet by saying, “I’m proud of our coaches and have such respect for our athletes. I want to give all credit and glory to Christ. Everything good comes from Him. The school records were exciting and awe-inspiring. We saw a lot of gutsy performances. I love these women and men with my whole heart – so proud of them.”

All-conference accolades are awarded to all athletes who place inside the top eight of individual events. Relays that finish in the top three are also recognized as All-GPAC honorees. The official list of Concordia all-conference award winners will be released next week.

Before shifting focus to the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, the Bulldogs will be in action at the Concordia Twilight Meet (May 13) and the UNK Loper Twilight Meet (May 14) next week. The tentative schedule for the Concordia Twilight can be found HERE.

2022 GPAC Outdoor Champions

· Keri Bauer (800 Meters)

· Zach Bennetts (Pole Vault)

· Rylee Haecker (1,500 Meters)

· Jordan Koepke (400 Hurdles)

· Josie Puelz (Pole Vault)

· Sarah Ragland (Hammer Throw)

· Camden Sesna (5,000 Meters)

School Records Broken

· Women’s 4x400 Meter Relay (3:48.93)

· Cade Kleckner – 200 Meters (21.16)

· Jordan Koepke – *400 Hurdles (59.90)

*Broke GPAC meet record

Meet Preview: 2022 Concordia Twilight

May 10

SEWARD, Neb. – The final home meet of the 2022 track and field season is coming up Friday as the Bulldogs prepare to put on the annual Concordia Twilight. As of Tuesday (May 10), the field of teams and competitors is still being finalized. The Concordia University Track & Field staff reached out to several dozens of schools in the process of mapping out the Concordia Twilight. The meet will get started at 2 p.m. CT on Friday with throwing events. Running events will go off starting at 4:30 p.m.

Head Coach Matt Beisel and company will also take athletes to the Loper Twilight put on by the University of Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday. More details on that meet can be found below.

Meet Info

Concordia Twilight Meet
Friday, May 13 | 2 p.m.
Bulldog Stadium/Throws Areas (east of stadium)
LINKS
--Live Results (Black Squirrel Timing)
--Event Schedule/Heat Sheets (PDF)

Loper Twilight
Saturday, May 14 | 3 p.m.
Kearney High School (Kearney, Neb.)
LINKS
--Live Results
--Event Schedule (PDF)

The Bulldogs are fresh off the 2022 GPAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Concordia emerged from the meet with team place finishes of first on the women’s side and third on the men’s side. The women’s program won each of the past seven GPAC championship meets, a streak that began with the 2019 GPAC indoor championships. At last week’s conference meet hosted by Doane, seven Bulldogs claimed individual GPAC titles: Keri Bauer (800 meters), Zach Bennetts (pole vault), Rylee Haecker (1,500 meters), Jordan Koepke (400 hurdles), Josie Puelz (pole vault), Sarah Ragland (hammer throw) and Camden Sesna (5,000 meters). Koepke broke both school and GPAC meet records with her time of 59.50 in the 400 hurdles. Other school records were also broken by the women’s 4x400 meter relay (3:48.93) and Cade Kleckner in the 200 meters (21.16).

The two twilight meets this week will serve as the last opportunities to achieve automatic national qualifying standards – or to improve upon existing ‘A’ marks. At the close of the conference meet, Concordia athletes have combined for 19 automatic national qualifying performances, as show below. In addition, marks that end up within the final top 16 of the NAIA national leaderboard will become ‘A’ standards. For example, Bennetts (15th in the pole vault), Amira Cummings (15th in the pole vault), Mackenzie Ferrel (15th in hammer), Wyatt Loga (12th in the high jump) and Alli Owings (16th in hammer) are currently ranked in the top 16 nationally with ‘B’ standards in their respective events.

Concordia ‘A’ standards, 2022 outdoor season

· Men’s 4x400 meter relay (3:15.45)

· Women’s 4x400 meter relay (3:48.93)

· Women’s 4x800 meter relay (9:09.24)

· Keri Bauer – 800 meters (2:14.01)

· Chase Berry – pole vault (16’ 1 ¾”)

· Morgan De Jong – hammer throw (176’ 4”)

· Sara Huss – discus (152’ 7”)

· Cade Kleckner – 200 meters (21.16)

· Jordan Koepke – 100 hurdles (14.54); 400 hurdles (59.90)

· Sarah Lewis – 100 hurdles (14.52); 400 hurdles (1:01.91)

· Erin Mapson – pole vault (11’ 11 ¾”)

· Alli Owings – discus (156’ 8”)

· Erin Painter – discus (150’ 3”)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (13’ 5 ¼”)

· Sarah Ragland – hammer throw (175’ 5”)

· Xavier Ross – 400 meters (48.04)

· Chris Wren – hammer throw (194’ 5”)

Koepke deserves additional mention for an incredible freshman campaign. The native of Gulf Breeze, Fla., has taken it up a notch this outdoor season after she won the GPAC indoor 600 meter title and placed third at nationals in the 600. Koepke’s time last week in the 400 hurdles moved her up to No. 2 in the nation. Impressively, she’s also been part of the 4x400 meter relay that broke the outdoor school record and filled in at the Drake Relays for the 4x800 meter relay that currently ranks No. 2 in the NAIA with a time of 9:09.24. Koepke and teammate Sarah Lewis are both qualified for nationals in the 100 and 400 hurdles.

The new ‘A’ standards came last week from the men’s 4x400 meter relay, Keri Bauer (800 meters), Koepke (100 hurdles) and Xavier Ross (400 meters). Interestingly, the men’s 4x4 did not have an official time this season until clocking in at 3:15.45 at the GPAC Championships. That group was made up of Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Colton Meyer and Ross. A former basketball student-athlete, Bauer was a bit of a surprise GPAC champion in the 800 meters. Her time of 2:14.01 was a personal best that ranks No. 3 in school history.

Following this weekend’s action, the focus will shift to the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships to be held in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 25-27. For more information on the national meet, check out the track and field sport pages on the NAIA’s official website: Men | Women.

Beisel, Koepke earn major conference awards; 53 Bulldogs collect All-GPAC honors

May 12

SEWARD, Neb. – For their performances at the 2022 GPAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, 53 Bulldogs were recognized as all-conference athletes in one or more events. All-GPAC awards are handed out to the top eight place finishers in individual events and to athletes who contribute to relays that place within the top three at the conference championships. Honors for the 2022 GPAC outdoor track season were officially announced by the conference on Thursday (May 12).

At last week’s conference outdoor meet, Concordia placed first on the women’s side and third on the men’s side. On the heels of a seventh-straight GPAC title for the women’s program, Head Coach Matt Beisel has been named the 2022 Jim McMahon GPAC Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year. Beisel has been selected as the GPAC Coach of the Year seven times for track and field and once for cross country. The 2022 Bulldog women’s outdoor team landed 34 athletes on the all-conference list (shown below) while racking up 216 points at the GPAC meet.

A standout amongst the all-conference athletes, freshman Jordan Koepke broke school and GPAC meet records with her time of 59.90 in the 400 meter hurdles. Due to that effort, the Gulf Breeze, Fla., native was honored with the 2022 GPAC Outdoor Women’s Track Performance of the Meet award. Koepke also helped the women’s 4x400 meter relay break the school record (3:48.93) and placed fourth with a personal best and automatic national qualifying time in the 100 meter hurdles. Koepke currently ranks second nationally in the 400 hurdles.

In addition to Koepke in the 400 hurdles, individual GPAC titles were won last week by the following Bulldogs: Keri Bauer (800 meters), Zach Bennetts (pole vault), Rylee Haecker (1,500 meters), Josie Puelz (pole vault), Sarah Ragland (hammer throw) and Camden Sesna (5,000 meters). Puelz claimed her fourth career GPAC pole vault title and Coach Jason Berry’s pole vaulters effectively swept 2022 conference men’s and women's pole vault championships for indoor and outdoor.

Twenty-one Bulldogs garnered all-conference accolades in multiple events. Excluding relays, the top individual point scorer for the GPAC championship women’s team was Koepke with 15. Cora Olson was close behind with 14 on the strength of a second-place finish in the triple jump. Sesna paced the men’s team and wound up with 18 points while placing first in the 5,000 and second in the 1,500 meters.

Before focusing on the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, the Bulldogs will host the Concordia Twilight on Friday and then travel to the Loper Twilight hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday.

2022 GPAC Outdoor Track & Field All-Conference Award Winners

WOMEN

· Brittney Aitken – 200 meters (3rd); 100 meters (5th)

· Jordyn Anderson – shot put (6th)

· Rachel Battershell – 400 meters (2nd)

· Keri Bauer – 800 meters (1st); 4x400m relay (2nd)

· Erin Boggs – pole vault (7th)

· Kaylee Boyle – heptathlon (6th); 100 hurdles (8th)

· Olivia Buschow – discus (6th)

· Amira Cummings – pole vault (3rd)

· Morgan De Jong – hammer (3rd)

· Gabby Diamond – triple jump (6th)

· Jenna Esch – 4x400m relay (2nd); 400 meters (3rd)

· Mackenzie Ferrel – hammer (6th)

· Abby Gerber – shot put (8th)

· Rylee Haecker – 1,500 meters (1st); 800 meters (7th)

· Kylahn Heritage – 1,500 meters (2nd); 5,000 meters (3rd)

· Sara Huss – discus (3rd)

· Rhaya Kaschinske – 1,500 meters (7th)

· Jordan Koepke – 400 hurdles (1st); 4x400m relay (2nd); 100 hurdles (4th)

· Sarah Lewis – 4x400m relay (2nd); 100 hurdles (3rd); 400 hurdles (3rd)

· Hanna Newton – high jump (8th)

· Cora Olson – triple jump (2nd); 100 meters (6th); 200 meters (6th)

· Alli Owings – discus (7th); hammer (7th)

· Erin Painter – discus (2nd)

· Jacee Pfeifer – 400 meters (7th)

· Kamryn Pokorney – shot put (7th)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (1st)

· Sarah Ragland – hammer (1st)

· Sydney Reichert – pole vault (7th)

· Grace Reiman – 3,000m steeplechase (8th)

· Amy Richert – heptathlon (5th); high jump (6th)

· Kaia Richmond – 3,000m steeplechase (6th)

· Taber Schmidt – 200 meters (8th)

· Katie Severt – long jump (4th); triple jump (4th)

· Trinity Tuls – 400 meters (4th)

MEN

· Logan Adam – javelin (7th)

· Andy Amos – hammer (5th); shot put (6th)

· Zach Bennetts – pole vault (1st)

· Dagne’ Buck – hammer (6th)

· Jacob Jennings – 4x400m relay (3rd); 100 meters (8th); 400 meters (8th)

· Cade Kleckner – 100 meters (2nd); 200 meters (2nd); 4x400m relay (3rd)

· Wyatt Loga – high jump (5th)

· Colton Meyer – 4x400m relay (3rd)

· Ben Moll – discus (7th); hammer (7th)

· Nathan Pennekamp – 3,000m steeplechase (7th)

· Joel Rathe – long jump (2nd); 100 meters (6th)

· Calvin Rohde – 1,500 meters (3rd); 5,000 meters (6th)

· Xavier Ross – 4x400m relay (3rd); 400 meters (4th)

· Austen Rozelle – discus (5th)

· Darien Semedo – shot put (7th)

· Camden Sesna – 5,000 meters (1st); 1,500 meters (2nd)

· Josh Taylor – javelin (6th)

· Chris Wren – hammer (2nd); discus (8th)

· Zach Zohner – pole vault (3rd)

Four new automatic national qualifying marks notched at Concordia Twilight

SEWARD, Neb. – More than 30 colleges and universities sent athletes to the annual Concordia Twilight Meet in hopes of capitalizing on one of the final pre-nationals track meets in the nation. The season long toil proved worth it on Friday (May 13) for three hammer throwers and one relay for Concordia University Track & Field. The program’s newest national qualifiers include the women’s 4x100 meter relay and throwers Andy Amos, Abby Gerber and Alli Owings in the hammer. Collectively, Bulldog athletes combined for 11 performances that met the ‘A’ standard on Friday.

This will be the final weekend of action prior to the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships (May 25-27). Taking into account last week’s impressive returns at the conference championships, GPAC Women’s Coach of the Year Matt Beisel sees things coming together at the right time.

“There’s been a snowball effect of great things happening and more great things happening,” Beisel said. “Sometimes you just want one more week to see what else you can get in. Today was a great cap to our season with our women’s 4x1 running a fantastic automatic qualifying time and then with what Amy Richert, Andy Amos, Abby Gerber and Alli Owings were able to accomplish. We also saw some personal bests with Rylee (Haecker) and Camden (Sesna) knocking off big PR’s in the 1,500. The energy was awesome and we had beautiful weather today. Everyone cheered each other one – and it was just a lot of fun. For some of the kids this was their last meet of the season. We’ll take a few more to Kearney to try to get some more automatic standards, or improve our seed marks, and then we’ll make our final decisions on Monday as to who ends up going. At that point we’re all in on getting ready for nationals.”

Concordia had already entered the meet with the top-rated men’s and women's hammer throw groups in the NAIA. The gap likely got wider on Friday as Chris Wren (190’ 9”) and Amos (185’ 1”) on the men’s side and Sarah Ragland (174’ 11”), Owings (168’ 2”), Morgan De Jong (167’ 7”) and Gerber (167’ 7”) on the women’s side all hit the ‘A’ standard in the event at the Twilight Meet. For the GPAC champion Ragland and conference runner up Wren, the ‘A’ standard has become a regular achievement. For others like Amos, he had to stick with it mentally and trust that he would get there eventually. Amos won the “College” division of the hammer, discus and shot put competitions on Friday.

“It’s a huge mental battle, especially in track and field” Amos said. “It’s a game of inches. You mess one thing up in a throw and it’s hard to recover from that. Coach McLaughlin and I try to break it down into small things and concentrate on those things each week and improve on those. Then you see what happens at the meet. We were able to do that throughout the whole year and fortunately it came together at this last Twilight Meet.”

Another breakthrough came for a women’s 4x1 that had previously held a ‘B’ standard time of 48.19. They shaved that time down to 47.82 at the Twilight while placing fourth in a loaded field of competitors. Concordia’s 4x1 group featured Rachel Battershell, Brittney Aitken, Sarah Lewis and Cora Olson. Between men and women, the Bulldogs now have qualified four relays for nationals as the women’s 4x1 joins the men’s 4x4, women’s 4x4 and women’s 4x8 in that category.

Speaking of the men’s 4x4, the Bulldogs entered their top four into the Twilight and emerged with a season best of 3:14.81. Based on the leaderboard entering the day, that time would rank inside the top 10 nationally. With Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Colton Meyer and Xavier Ross all in the fold, Concordia will expect to contend for All-America honors in a couple of weeks.

The pole vault fields were light in terms of quantity of athletes, but the competition is always worth watching when Josie Puelz is involved. She again cleared 13 feet (13’ 1 ½”) and took a shot at a season best while coming up short. Puelz continues to lead the nation in the event. Amira Cummings was the Twilight Meet runner up with a ‘B’ standard (11’ 7 ¾”) that just might put her in the national meet. Meanwhile, Chase Berry returned to form and vaulted the ‘A’ standard of 15’ 9” on the men’s side (second place).

Ranked outside of the top 16 in the heptathlon entering the meet, Amy Richert was determined to improve her positioning for a hopeful bid to nationals. The native of Gresham, Neb., did just that by totaling 4,541 points in Friday’s heptathlon competition. Based on the current NAIA national list, that performance would push Richert all the way up to No. 11 (top 16 get invited to nationals). Richert was an All-American in the event a year ago.

It was a relatively light day for freshman Jordan Koepke, an individual national qualifier in the 100 and 400 hurdles. A week after breaking the GPAC meet record in the 400 hurdles, Koepke gave the 800 meters a try and won her heat in a time of 2:16.99. The native of Gulf Breeze, Fla., will be happy to get back to running hurdles and competing for more All-America awards later this month.

“I didn’t know at all (that I could do that),” Koepke said in reaction to last week’s record. “My open 400 PR is barely 58, so I had no idea I could do that in the 400 hurdles. It was exciting, but I didn’t believe it at first. It was really fun.”

In the 1,500 meter races, Concordia was agonizingly close to claiming two more ‘A’ standards. On the men’s side, 5,000 meter GPAC champion Camden Sesna ran the 1,500 in a personal best of 3:54.23 at the Twilight – a hair shy of the ‘A’ standard of 3:53.50. It was a similar story for Rylee Haecker on the women’s side. She finished in 4:38.18 and placed second at the Twilight. The PR was a mere .68 seconds off the ‘A’ standard of 4:37.50. Also in the 1,500, Calvin Rohde ran 3:58.56 and Kylahn Heritage strode to a time of 4:47.53.

Though it wasn’t a PR, Lewis again achieved the automatic qualifying standard in the 400 hurdles by running the race in 1:03.13. She placed fourth out of a field of nine, including several athletes from NCAA Division II schools. Elsewhere on the track, Kleckner placed second in the 200 meters (21.61) and three Bulldogs on the women’s side ran the 400 in under a minute: Jenna Esch (58.13), Keri Bauer (58.58) and Battershell (58.87). In the 400 hurdles on the men’s side, Mark Cooke ran them in 55.54.

In the jumps, Concordia athletes are still working towards qualifying for nationals, although Wyatt Loga appears to be in a good position as he’s currently ranked 13th in the NAIA in the high jump (6’ 8 ¾”). Loga and Jacob Glines both cleared 6’ 2 ¾” on Friday. On the women’s side of the high jump, Hannah Newton got over the bar at 5’ 2 ½.” Other noteworthy marks were turned in by Joel Rathe in the long jump (22’ 4 ½”) and Olson in the long jump (17’ 5 ¼”).

In other throwing events, Sara Huss placed third in the elite division of the discus with a mark of 142’ 6.” Olivia Buschow was the winner of the college division discus grouping. Josh Taylor was the only Bulldog to throw the javelin (143’) on Friday.

For select Bulldogs, an active weekend will continue on Saturday at the Loper Twilight hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney. The meet is slated to get underway with field events at 3 p.m. CT. The meet schedule can be found HERE. Live results will be available HERE.

Automatic National Qualifying Marks Achieved at Concordia Twilight

· *Women’s 4x100m Relay (47.82) – Battershell, Aitken, Lewis, Olson

· Men’s 4x400m Relay (3:14.81) – Jennings, Kleckner, Meyer, Ross

· Andy Amos – *Hammer (185’ 1”)

· Chase Berry – Pole Vault (15’ 9”)

· Morgan De Jong – Hammer (167’ 7”)

· Abby Gerber – *Hammer (167’ 7”)

· Sarah Lewis – 400 Hurdles (1:03.13)

· Alli Owings – *Hammer (168’ 2”)

· Josie Puelz – Pole Vault (13’ 1 ½”)

· Sarah Ragland – Hammer (174’ 11”)

· Chris Wren – Hammer (190’ 9”)

--Amy Richert scored 4,541 points in the heptathlon, tentatively putting her at No. 11 on the NAIA national list (top 16 earn bids to nationals).

*Fresh ‘A’ standard

National qualifying field padded at Loper Twilight

May 14

KEARNEY, Neb. – After putting four fresh automatic national qualifying marks on the board at Friday’s Concordia Twilight, Concordia University Track & Field added three more ‘A’ standards on Saturday (May 14) at the Loper Twilight hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney. This was the very last chance for Bulldogs still trying to book their tickets to Gulf Shores, Ala., for later this month. The likes of Amira Cummings and Zach Zohner in the pole vault and Kamryn Pokorney in the hammer took advantage while registering fresh national qualifying standards.

With the last pre-nationals meet in the books, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads have combined for 26 automatic national qualifying marks (full list at bottom). Current ‘B’ standards and heptathlon totals will be converted to NAIA auto marks should they rank inside the top 16 nationally.

Cummings has become the third Concordia women’s pole vaulter to lock up a berth to nationals. She cleared 11’ 11 ¾” in Saturday’s meet in Kearney, Neb. She will join teammates Josie Puelz (three-time national champion) and Erin Mapson (five-time All-American) in the national field. Entering the day, Cummings (Cheyenne, Wyo.) sat 15th in the nation with a ‘B’ standard. That may have been good enough to make it to nationals, but now it’s a certainty. Also at the Loper Twilight, Sydney Reichert got over the bar at 10’ 11 ¾.”

At least two vaulters will be headed to nationals on the men’s side. Chase Berry currently ranks fifth nationally. On Saturday, Zohner clinched a spot at nationals by vaulting 15’ 9.” A native of Battle Creek, Neb., Zohner will be headed to nationals for the second time in his career. Two-time GPAC champion Zach Bennetts holds a ‘B’ standard of 15’ 5” in the pole vault.

Pokorney highlighted the work of the throws group in Kearney. She popped off a personal best of 169’ 1” in the hammer throw and placed first in her division of the competition. Pokorney is a first-time national qualifier. She was one of 12 Concordia throwers to compete at the Loper Twilight. Of the three Bulldog men in the hammer, Ben Moll (168’ 3”) threw the farthest. Among other noteworthy performances, Olivia Buschow was a runner up in the discus (141’ 9”) and Alli Owings placed fourth (42’ 11 ½”) in her division of the shot put competition. Meanwhile, Andy Amos landed a mark of 48’ 6 ¼” in the shot put a day after he qualified for nationals in the hammer.

A two-time All-American, Wyatt Loga is still a hopeful qualifier in the high jump. He cleared 6’ 4 ¾” on Saturday – a little shy of his season best ‘B’ standard of 6’ 8 ¾.” Currently, Loga is ranked in a tie for 14th on the NAIA national list.

Official qualifiers for the national championship meet will be announced next week. The 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships will be held in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 25-27.

Concordia ‘A’ standards, 2022 outdoor season

· Women’s 4x100 meter relay (47.82)

· Men’s 4x400 meter relay (3:14:81)

· Women’s 4x400 meter relay (3:48.93)

· Women’s 4x800 meter relay (9:09.24)

· Andy Amos – hammer (185’ 1”)

· Keri Bauer – 800 meters (2:14.01)

· Chase Berry – pole vault (16’ 1 ¾”)

· Amira Cummings – pole vault (11’ 11 ¾”)

· Morgan De Jong – hammer (176’ 4”)

· Abby Gerber – hammer (167’ 7”)

· Sara Huss – discus (152’ 7”)

· Cade Kleckner – 200 meters (21.16)

· Jordan Koepke – 100 hurdles (14.54); 400 hurdles (59.90)

· Sarah Lewis – 100 hurdles (14.52); 400 hurdles (1:01.91)

· Erin Mapson – pole vault (11’ 11 ¾”)

· Alli Owings – discus (156’ 8”); hammer (168’ 2”)

· Erin Painter – discus (150’ 3”)

· Kamryn Pokorney – hammer (169’ 1”)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (13’ 5 ¼”)

· Sarah Ragland – hammer (175’ 5”)

· Xavier Ross – 400 meters (48.04)

· Chris Wren – hammer (194’ 5”)

· Zach Zohner – pole vault (15’ 9”)

Track program announces 2022 outdoor nationals team of 35 athletes

May 20

SEWARD, Neb. – The official field of 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships Qualifiers was announced on Friday (March 20) by the NAIA. In conjunction with that release, the Concordia University Track and Field program has announced a nationals team of 35 individuals (including 23 women and 12 men). The event will run May 25-27 at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Ala. Gulf Shores has served as the location for the national outdoor meet since 2014.

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads are coming off conference places finishes of first for the women and third for the men at the GPAC Championships held May 6-7 at Doane. In this week’s NAIA National Rating Index released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, Concordia appeared at No. 4 on the women’s side. The Bulldog women, winners of seven-straight GPAC titles, have been ranked either third or fourth nationally for each of the past seven weeks.

The women’s program has placed in the top five at each of the last five NAIA national championship meets. The best placement during that stretch has been third (three separate times). This year’s squad currently owns 11 marks that rank in the top 10 nationally. Three-time NAIA pole vault national champion Josie Puelz will enter the meet as a favorite once again. Meanwhile, Jordan Koepke ranks No. 2 in the 400 meter hurdles and the team’s 4x800 meter relay will be seeded second nationally. The returning All-Americans from the 2021 outdoor national meet are Rachel Battershell, Keri Bauer, Sara Huss, Sarah Lewis, Erin Mapson, Jacee Pfeifer, Puelz, Sarah Ragland and Amy Richert.

The men put together a fine GPAC outdoor meet and hope to carry that momentum into the national championships. The Bulldog men tied for 28th place a year ago in Gulf Shores and will have to outperform their seed marks if they are to move into the top 25 in 2022. The team’s highest nationally rated individual in any single event is Chase Berry, who is No. 6 in the NAIA in the pole vault. Past All-Americans on the national qualifying roster include Zach Bennetts, Berry, Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Wyatt Loga, Colton Meyer, Xavier Ross and Chris Wren.

There will be five Concordia athletes making their first ever appearances at a national meet: Brittney Aitken, Jenna Esch, Rhaya Kaschinske, Emily Loseke and Kamryn Pokorney. On the other end of the spectrum, Battershell, Lewis and Pfeifer will appear at a national meet for the seventh time in their collegiate careers. Battershell is a nine-time All-American.

For additional details on the national meet, visit the NAIA track & field website pages: MEN | WOMEN.

2022 Concordia Outdoor National Qualifiers

(Current national seeding in parentheses)
*2021 NAIA outdoor national qualifier

WOMEN

· Brittney Aitken, Freshman
-4x100m Relay (24th, 47.82)

· Rachel Battershell, Junior
-4x400m Relay (6th, 3:48.93)
-4x100m Relay (24th, 47.82)

· Keri Bauer, Senior
-4x800m Relay (2nd, 9:09.24)
-4x400m Relay Alternate (6th, 3:48.93)
-800 Meters (15th, 2:14.01)

· Amira Cummings, Sophomore
-Pole Vault (8th, 11’ 11 ¾”)

· Morgan De Jong, Senior
-Hammer (5th, 176’ 4”)

· Jenna Esch, Freshman
-4x800m Relay (2nd, 9:09.24)
-4x400m Relay Alternate (6th, 3:48.93)

· Abby Gerber, Sophomore
-Hammer (16th, 167’ 7”)
-Shot Put (23rd, 43’ 9 ¾”)

· Rylee Haecker, Sophomore
-4x800m Relay (2nd, 9:09.24)
-1,5000 Meters (23rd, 4:38.18)

· Kylahn Heritage, Sophomore
-4x800m Relay (2nd, 9:09.24)

· Sara Huss, Sophomore
-Discus (9th, 152’ 7”)

· Rhaya Kaschinske, Freshman
-4x800m Relay Alternate (2nd, 9:09.24)

· Jordan Koepke, Freshman
-400 Hurdles (2nd, 59.90)
-4x400m Relay (6th, 3:48.93)
-4x800m Relay Alternate (2nd, 9:09.24)

· Sarah Lewis, Junior
-400 Hurdles (6th, 1:01.91)
-4x400m Relay (6th, 3:48.93)
-4x100m Relay (24th, 47.82)

· Emily Loseke, Freshman
-4x100m Relay Alternate (24th, 47.82)

· Erin Mapson, Junior
-Pole Vault (8th, 11’ 11 ¾”)

· Cora Olson, Junior
-4x100m Relay (24th, 47.82)

· Alli Owings, Sophomore
-Discus (6th, 156’ 8”)
-Hammer (15th, 168’ 2”)

· Erin Painter, Sophomore
-Discus (11th, 150’ 3”)

· Jacee Pfeifer, Senior
-4x400m Relay (6th, 3:48.93)

· Kamryn Pokorney, Sophomore
-Hammer (12th, 169’ 1”)

· Josie Puelz, Sophomore
-Pole Vault (1st, 13’ 5 ¼”)

· Sarah Ragland, Senior
-Hammer (7th, 175’ 5”)

· Amy Richert, Sophomore
-Heptathlon (11th, 4,541)
-High Jump (24th, 5’ 4 ½”)

MEN

· Andy Amos, Senior
-Hammer (17th, 185’ 1”)

· Zach Bennetts, Junior
-Pole Vault (17th, 15’ 5”)

· Chase Berry, Sophomore
-Pole Vault (6th, 16’ 1 ¾”)

· Jacob Jennings, Senior
-4x400m Relay (10th, 3:14.81)
-4x100m Relay (34th, 41.61)

· Cade Kleckner, Senior
-200 Meters (16th, 21.16)
-4x400m Relay (10th, 3:14.81)
-4x100m Relay (34th, 41.61)

· Wyatt Loga, Sophomore
-High Jump (14th, 6’ 8 ¾”)

· Colton Meyer, Sophomore
-4x400m Relay (10th, 3:14.81)
-4x100m Relay (34th, 41.61)

· Joel Rathe, Sophomore
-4x400m Relay Alternate (10th, 3:14.81)
-4x100m Relay (34th, 41.61)

· Xavier Ross, Junior
-400 Meters (24th, 48.04)
-4x400m Relay (10th, 3:14.81)
-4x100m Relay (34th, 41.61)

· Camden Sesna, Sophomore
-1,500 Meters (34th, 3:54.23)

· Chris Wren, Sophomore
-Hammer (9th, 194’ 5”)

· Zach Zohner, Sophomore
-Pole Vault (12th, 15’ 9”)

2022 Concordia Outdoor National Qualifiers – a closer look
Brittney Aitken, freshman (first trip to nationals)
Andy Amos, junior (third trip to nationals)
Rachel Battershell, junior (seventh trip to nationals; nine All-America awards; two-time 400 meter national champ)
Keri Bauer, senior (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Zach Bennetts, junior (third trip to nationals; one All-America award)
Chase Berry, junior (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Amira Cummings, sophomore (fourth trip to nationals)
Morgan De Jong, senior (sixth trip to nationals; three All-America awards)
Jenna Esch, freshman (first trip to nationals)
Abigail Gerber, sophomore (fourth trip to nationals)
Rylee Haecker, sophomore (third trip to nationals; four All-America awards)
Kylahn Heritage, sophomore (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Sara Huss, sophomore (second trip to nationals; one All-America award)
Jacob Jennings, senior (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Rhaya Kaschinske, freshman (first trip to nationals)
Cade Kleckner, senior (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Jordan Koepke, freshman (second trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Sarah Lewis, junior (seventh trip to nationals; seven All-America awards)
Wyatt Loga, sophomore (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Emily Loseke, freshman (first trip to nationals)
Erin Mapson, junior (sixth trip to nationals; five All-America awards)
Colton Meyer, sophomore (fifth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Cora Olson, junior (third trip to nationals)
Alli Owings, sophomore (second trip to nationals)
Erin Painter, sophomore (second trip to nationals)
Jacee Pfeifer, senior (seventh trip to nationals; sixth All-America awards)
Kamryn Pokorney, sophomore (first trip to nationals)
Josie Puelz, sophomore (fifth trip to nationals; four All-America awards; three-time pole vault national champ)
Sarah Ragland, senior (sixth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Joel Rathe, sophomore (second trip to nationals)
Amy Richert, sophomore (fourth trip to nationals; three All-America awards)
Xavier Ross, junior (fourth trip to nationals; one All-America award)
Camden Sesna, sophomore (third trip to nationals)
Chris Wren, sophomore (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Zach Zohner, sophomore (second trip to nationals)

McLaughlin garners 11th career regional coaching honor from USTFCCCA

May 20

SEWARD, Neb. – Known nationally as one of the top throws coaches, Concordia University’s Ed McLaughlin has picked up another award from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The organization named McLaughlin its 2022 NAIA Midwest Region Women’s Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year on Friday (May 20). McLaughin has received this award for the 11th time in his career. Award winners were determined by a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches.

The throws group has played a large hand in the success overall of Concordia Women’s Track & Field, which has won seven-straight GPAC titles. Among the highlights this outdoor season for McLaughlin’s bunch, Sarah Ragland won the GPAC hammer throw title and 10 Bulldogs garnered all-conference placements in one or more throwing events. Seven women’s throwers will represent Concordia at the NAIA outdoor national meet: Morgan De Jong, Abby Gerber, Sara Huss, Alli Owings, Erin Painter, Kamryn Pokorney and Ragland. McLaughlin oversees a group that boasts No. 1 NAIA event squad ratings in the shot put, discus and hammer.

Not only has McLaughlin earned 11 regional coaching awards from the USTFCCCA, he’s also been named an NAIA National Assistant Coach of the Year six times. During his time at Concordia, McLaughlin has coached Bulldog throwers to 19 individual national titles and to 24 NAIA national runner up claims.

McLaughlin and company are readying to close the 2022 outdoor season next week at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. They will run May 25-27 in Gulf Shores, Ala.

Meet Preview: 2022 NAIA Outdoor National Championships

May 23

SEWARD, Neb. – Thirty-five members of the Concordia University Track & Field program have departed for Gulf Shores, Ala., location of the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores has served as the site for outdoor nationals since 2014. The Bulldogs have fond memories of coastal Alabama, where they celebrated team national titles for the men in 2015 and for the women in 2016. The three-day national championship meet will run Wednesday through Friday. A full list of national qualifiers can be found at bottom.

Entering the meet, head coach Matt Beisel’s GPAC championship women’s squad is ranked No. 4 in the NAIA, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national rating index. NAIA powerhouse Indiana Tech carries the No. 1 ranking on both sides.

Fresh off a seventh-straight GPAC title, the Concordia women’s program has placed third at each of the past three national meets and has its sights set on another trophy finish (top four in the NAIA). The team’s 23 outdoor qualifiers have combined for 50 career All-America awards and five individual national titles. Josie Puelz (three-time pole vault national champion) will be aiming for a sweep of NAIA indoor and outdoor pole vault championships for the second year in a row. The other past national champion on the roster is Rachel Battershell, who has twice taken home NAIA titles in the 400 meters. Bulldogs with at least three career All-America awards include Battershell (nine), Sarah Lewis (seven), Jacee Pfeifer (six), Erin Mapson (five), Rylee Haecker (four), Puelz (four), Morgan De Jong (three) and Amy Richert (three).

The men’s national qualifying roster is 12 deep. That group has combined for 14 career All-America awards. The Concordia men will attempt to outperform their seed markings and improve upon last year’s tie for 28th place at the outdoor national meet. Past men’s All-Americans are Zach Bennetts (one), Chase Berry (two), Jacob Jennings (two), Cade Kleckner (two), Wyatt Loga (two), Colton Meyer (two), Xavier Ross (one) and Chris Wren (two). At the 2022 indoor national meet, the Bulldogs picked up All-America honors thanks to the 4x4 (Jennings, Kleckner, Meyer and Maccoy Menke), Loga in the high jump and Wren in the weight throw.

According to the USTFCCCA, the Bulldogs boast many of the top event groupings in the NAIA. Based on the coaches association’s event squad rankings, Concordia owns the nation’s top men’s hammer, women’s pole vault, women’s shot put, women’s discus and women’s hammer groups in the NAIA. The Bulldogs also rank No. 2 nationally in the women’s heptathlon and third in the NAIA in the women’s high jump and women’s 800 meters. As a result of his work with the women’s throws group, Ed McLaughlin was named the 2022 NAIA Midwest Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA on May 20.

Current top five national marks are held by Puelz (No. 1 in the pole vault), Jordan Koepke (No. 2 in the 400 hurdles), the women’s 4x800 meter relay (No. 2) and De Jong (No. 5 in the hammer). Others just outside of the top five of the NAIA are Berry (No. 6 in the pole vault), Lewis (No. 6 in the 400 hurdles), Alli Owings (No. 6 in the discus), the women’s 4x400 meter relay (No. 6) and Ragland (No. 7 in the hammer).

Past Bulldog teams have set the bar high for what the program is capable of attaining. The 2015 Concordia men’s squad became the first team national champion (any sport) in school history. The women followed it up with a team national title in 2016 (while the men were the national runners up). The red banners that came from those performances are hung proudly in the Walz Fieldhouse.

A live stream of each of the events will be available for purchase. For more details, check out the NAIA Network home page here: https://www.naianetwork.com/. The link for live results can be found HERE.

2022 Concordia Outdoor National Qualifiers
Brittney Aitken, freshman (first trip to nationals)
Andy Amos, junior (third trip to nationals)
Rachel Battershell, junior (seventh trip to nationals; nine All-America awards; two-time 400 meter national champ)
Keri Bauer, senior (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Zach Bennetts, junior (third trip to nationals; one All-America award)
Chase Berry, junior (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Amira Cummings, sophomore (fourth trip to nationals)
Morgan De Jong, senior (sixth trip to nationals; three All-America awards)
Jenna Esch, freshman (first trip to nationals)
Abigail Gerber, sophomore (fourth trip to nationals)
Rylee Haecker, sophomore (third trip to nationals; four All-America awards)
Kylahn Heritage, sophomore (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Sara Huss, sophomore (second trip to nationals; one All-America award)
Jacob Jennings, senior (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Rhaya Kaschinske, freshman (first trip to nationals)
Cade Kleckner, senior (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Jordan Koepke, freshman (second trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Sarah Lewis, junior (seventh trip to nationals; seven All-America awards)
Wyatt Loga, sophomore (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Emily Loseke, freshman (first trip to nationals)
Erin Mapson, junior (sixth trip to nationals; five All-America awards)
Colton Meyer, sophomore (fifth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Cora Olson, junior (third trip to nationals)
Alli Owings, sophomore (second trip to nationals)
Erin Painter, sophomore (second trip to nationals)
Jacee Pfeifer, senior (seventh trip to nationals; six All-America awards)
Kamryn Pokorney, sophomore (first trip to nationals)
Josie Puelz, sophomore (fifth trip to nationals; four All-America awards; three-time pole vault national champ)
Sarah Ragland, senior (sixth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Joel Rathe, sophomore (second trip to nationals)
Amy Richert, sophomore (fourth trip to nationals; three All-America awards)
Xavier Ross, junior (fourth trip to nationals; one All-America award)
Camden Sesna, sophomore (third trip to nationals)
Chris Wren, sophomore (fourth trip to nationals; two All-America awards)
Zach Zohner, sophomore (second trip to nationals)

Concordia Event Schedule – 2022 NAIA Outdoor T&F National Championships

Wednesday, May 25

· 10:30 a.m. – Heptathlon: Amy Richert

· 1 p.m. – Women’s Hammer: Morgan De Jong, Abigail Gerber, Alli Owings, Kamryn Pokorney, Sarah Ragland

· 3:40 p.m. – Women’s 4x100m Relay: Rachel Battershell, Brittney Aitken, Sarah Lewis, Cora Olson (Alternate: Emily Loseke)

· 4 p.m. – Men’s Hammer: Andy Amos, Chris Wren

· 4:10 p.m. – Men’s 4x100m Relay: Cade Kleckner, Xavier Ross, Jacob Jennings, Joel Rathe (Alternate: Colton Meyer)

· 4:30 p.m. – Women’s Pole Vault: Amira Cummings, Erin Mapson, Josie Puelz

· 4:30 p.m. – Women’s 1500m: Rylee Haecker

· 4:50 p.m. – Men’s 1500m: Camden Sesna

· 5:10 p.m. – Women’s 400m Hurdles: Jordan Koepke, Sarah Lewis

· 6:15 p.m. – Men’s 200m: Cade Kleckner

· 7 p.m. – Women’s 4x800m Relay: Rylee Haecker, Kylahn Heritage, Jenna Esch, Keri Bauer (Alternates: Rhaya Kaschinske, Jordan Koepke)

Thursday, May 26

· 10:30 a.m. – Heptathlon: Amy Richert

· 2:30 p.m. – Women’s Shot Put: Abigail Gerber

· 3:30 p.m. – Women’s 800m: Keri Bauer

· 4:30 p.m. – Men’s High Jump: Wyatt Loga

· 5:20 p.m. – Men’s 400m: Xavier Ross

· 7:10 p.m. – Women’s 4x800m Relay Finals

· 9:15 p.m. – Women’s 4x400m Relay: Sarah Lewis, Jordan Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer, Rachel Battershell (Alternates: Keri Bauer, Jenna Esch)

· 9:45 p.m. – Men’s 4x400m Relay: Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Colton Meyer, Xavier Ross (Alternate: Joel Rathe)

Friday, May 27

· 1 p.m. – Women’s Discus Throw: Sara Huss, Alli Owings, Erin Painter

· 1 p.m. – Men’s Pole Vault: Zach Bennetts, Chase Berry, Zach Zohner

· 2 p.m. – Women’s High Jump: Amy Richert

· 2:40 p.m. – Women’s 4x100m Relay Finals

· 2:50 p.m. – Men’s 4x100m Relay Finals

· 3 p.m. – Women’s 1500m Finals

· 3:10 p.m. – Men’s 1500m Finals

· 4:10 p.m. – Women’s 400m Hurdles Finals

· 4:40 p.m. – Men’s 400m Finals

· 5:20 p.m. – Men’s 200m Finals

· 6:15 p.m. – Women’s 4x400m Relay Finals

· 6:25 p.m. – Men’s 4x400m Relay Finals

Day 1 Recap: Puelz soars to fourth national title as one of four Bulldog All-Americans

May 25

GULF SHORES, Ala. – Josie Puelz has done it again. The Lincoln Lutheran High School alum soared to a fourth-straight pole vault national title while rising to the top of the NAIA on Wednesday (May 25). Puelz emerged as one of four All-Americans for Concordia University Track & Field on the first day of the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. Other Bulldogs to reach the podium in Gulf Shores, Ala., were hammer throwers Alli Owings, Sarah Ragland and Chris Wren.

As of late Wednesday night, the meet had been suspended due to lightning. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s GPAC champion women’s squad leads the national field with 17 team points while the men have put four points on the board thanks to Wren.

The incredible Puelz has completed a sweep of NAIA indoor/outdoor pole vault national titles for the second year in a row. Puelz’s winning vault measured at a height of 13’ 1 ½” on Wednesday. It was a close competition with Aquinas College (Mich.)’s Victoria Faber, who also cleared that same height. Puelz emerged in first place based on her sequence of successful attempts. Puelz waited until the bar was raised to 12’ 5 ½” before entering the competition. Puelz is one of only two female athletes in program history to win at least four national titles. Carol Bailey (eight national titles) is the only Bulldog to claim more titles.

National titles and rising above 13 feet have become the norm for Puelz, who isn’t growing tired of these moments. Said the now five-time All-American, “I think something that really helped was that I’ve competed here before, which is just a blessing. The weather turned out really nice for us and I got to come back with incredible teammates – Erin (Mapson) and Amira (Cummings) … It always seems kind of surreal, which is fun. I’m just thankful for every chance that I get.”

Assistant Coach Ed McLaughlin has overseen the deepest hammer throw group in the country. Concordia qualified five individuals in the women’s hammer and two in the men’s hammer. The first All-Americans on the board for the week were Ragland (fourth place) and Alli Owings (seventh place). In the final action of her collegiate career, Ragland fired off a throw of 173’ 5” and picked up her third career All-America award. Meanwhile, Owings earned her first All-America plaque by throwing 167’ 10.” The additional women’s hammer competitors for the Bulldogs were Morgan De Jong (12th; 161’ 6”), Kamryn Pokorney (13th; 161’ 6”) and Abby Gerber (29th; 121’ 4”).

The Ragland name is a familiar one when it comes to Bulldog throwing. Her father John, a former Concordia football player and thrower, was in attendance to see Sarah polish off a fine college career. Said Sarah, “It really means a lot (to be an All-American). This is my fifth year of doing track at Concordia and putting everything into it. It wasn’t the result I wanted, but definitely still a good result.”

On the men’s side, Wren whirled a personal best hammer toss of 196’ 2,” good for sixth best in school history. Wren placed fifth in a competition that saw three GPAC throwers reach the podium. In addition, observers were treated to a new NAIA record of 243’ 5” by British Columbia’s Rowan Hamilton. Wren was joined at the national meet by teammate Andy Amos, who placed 13th (184’ 6”).

Said Wren, “There’s always more that you want to do, but I’m very happy with my placement. God-willing, I’ll do it again. There was a lot of prayer and a lot of working hard. I’m very thankful … It’s always fun to have a competitive competition. I wanted him (Hamilton) to have a good one and it was cool to see a new record get set.”

On the track, a number of Bulldogs have positioned themselves for All-America awards after qualifying for the finals of their respective events. In the women’s 400 hurdles, Jordan Koepke (1:02.30) and Sarah Lewis (1:02.35) both won their heats and placed third and fourth overall, respectively, in the preliminaries. They will both run in the finals on Friday. Koepke was the GPAC champion in the 400 hurdles and is the school record holder in the event.

Sophomore Rylee Haecker was part of two races that resulted in qualification for the finals. In the 1,500 meters prelims, the Davenport, Neb., native ran a time of 4:41.43 and placed eighth. She far exceeded her seeding of 23rd entering the meet. Haecker returned to the track at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium later in the evening and helped the 4x800 meter relay to a time of 9:15.06. The final two heats were not completed due to lightning, but Concordia has locked up a spot in Thursday’s finals by way of placing second in its heat. Haecker was joined in the 4x8 by Jenna Esch, Kylahn Heritage and Keri Bauer.

Also in the women’s pole vault, Bulldogs Amira Cummings and Erin Mapson took part in the competition. Cummings cleared the opening height of 11’ 3 ¾” before having to withdraw due to an injury. Meanwhile, Mapson no-heighted. Mapson was a third-place national finisher at the 2022 indoor national meet.

Sophomore Amy Richert is taking aim at a second career heptathlon All-America award. She currently stands in 13th place with 2,735 points. Four events were contested on Wednesday – the 100 hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 meters. Richert came away with a personal best in the shot put. The long jump, javelin and 800 meters are scheduled for Thursday. Richert will also compete in the open high jump on Friday.

On the men’s side on the track, Camden Sesna placed 14th in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:58.14. He also outperformed his seeding of 34th while narrowly missing out on the finals. The school record in the 200 meters, Cade Kleckner placed 37th in the 200 with a time of 22.22. His school standard of 21.16 was set at the GPAC Championships.

The women’s 4x100 meter relay group clocked a season best time of 47.80 on Wednesday and placed 17th in the prelims. That quartet included Rachel Battershell, Brittney Aitken, Sarah Lewis and Cora Olson. The time wasn’t far off the school record of 47.66 set in 2021. The Concordia men’s 4x1 wound up scratching from the meet.

Due to some events not being completed as scheduled on Wednesday, there may be some adjustments to final two days of the meet. As things stand, it will be a long day of action on Thursday with Richert resuming the heptathlon at 10:30 a.m. CT and the men’s 4x400 meter relay wrapping things up just before 10 p.m. Updates will be provided throughout the day via the @CUNEathletics Twitter account.

2022 NAIA Outdoor All-Americans

· Alli Owings – hammer throw (7th)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (1st)

· Sarah Ragland – hammer throw (4th)

· Chris Wren – hammer throw (5th)

Concordia Schedule – Thursday, May 26

· 10:30 a.m. – Heptathlon: Amy Richert

· 2:30 p.m. – Women’s Shot Put: Abigail Gerber

· 3:30 p.m. – Women’s 800m: Keri Bauer

· 4:30 p.m. – Men’s High Jump: Wyatt Loga

· 5:20 p.m. – Men’s 400m: Xavier Ross

· 7:10 p.m. – Women’s 4x800m Relay Finals (MOVED to Saturday at 12 p.m. CT)

· 8:30 p.m. – Women’s 4x400m Relay: Sarah Lewis, Jordan Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer, Rachel Battershell (Alternates: Keri Bauer, Jenna Esch)

· 9 p.m. – Men’s 4x400m Relay: Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Colton Meyer, Xavier Ross (Alternate: Joel Rathe)

Day 2 Recap: 4x4s scorch their way to school records, finals qualifications

May 26

GULF SHORES, Ala. – After heavy rain and a dash of lightning early in the day, the weather cleared up and allowed for competition to resume on day two of the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. The highlights on Thursday (May 26) came late in the evening as both of Concordia University Track & Field 4x400 meter relays broke school records and blazed to the national finals. Twelve Bulldogs were in action on day two in comfortable conditions at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Ala.

With one day left at the national meet, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads have produced point totals of 17 on the women’s side (fourth place) and four points on the men’s side (tied for 31st place). The majority of running events will be scored on Friday. The thrill of the week so far came on Wednesday from the women’s pole vault with Josie Puelz seizing her fourth-straight pole vault national title.

At night’s end, there were hugs all around between the men’s and women’s 4x4s – and selfies with their event coach Mark Samuels of course. The women’s group took to the track just before 9 p.m. CT and cruised to a time of 3:47.26. The previous school record of 3:48.93 had been set a few weeks earlier at the conference championships. The ‘A’ team of Sarah Lewis, Jordan Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer and Rachel Battershell was on its game. Concordia finished second in its heat and eighth in the prelims. That crew of four entered the national meet owning a combined 28 career All-America awards. This will be the final action in the college careers of Lewis and Pfeifer.

Battershell has been involved in six school records, either individually or as part of relays. She’s on the verge of claiming the 10th All-America award of her career, pending Friday’s 4x4 finals. Said Battershell, “It’s incredible. I’ve been so far with these girls. This is the culmination of four years – and we’re not even done yet. We get tomorrow. To share that moment with the guys, who have been working so hard, is such a blessing. We’re just kind of living in it … This season I’ve learned that in personal weakness, your teammates are strong and your God is strong.”

Just minutes later, it was the men’s turn to take the spotlight. Considering the injuries dealt with by several members of the 4x4 group, Thursday’s accomplishment brought about a greater degree of emotion. Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Colton Meyer and Xavier Ross emerged with the fifth fastest time in the prelims while clocking in at 3:12.59. Collectively, they outkicked their season best of 3:14.81 (seeded 10th) and the former program standard of 3:13.18 set at the 2015 outdoor national meet (in one of the great moments in Concordia Track & Field history). Ross came back to gut it out after he had run 48.65 (16th place) in the prelims of the open 400 meters earlier in the day. Samuels wasn’t sure what Kleckner would be able to give after coming up a bit gimpy following his 200 meter race. This was one of those moments Samuels and the athletes won’t forget.

The joy was obvious in the way that Meyer reacted. Meyer, Jennings and Kleckner were part of a 4x4 that outperformed its projection and earned All-America honors at indoor nationals. The national stage has a way of bringing out the best in them. They have earned their spot in Friday’s finals. Said Meyer, “’Holy smokes’ would be a great way to say it. It was absolutely crazy. We had a lot of question marks coming into the race. Three of us have had hamstring go out at one point. Cade was just yesterday. We have come so far in 24 hours. I think the biggest thing is we are the closest I’ve ever been with teammates before. It makes it so much easier to run when you know the person on the other end cares just as much as you do.”

Also a contributor to the 4x800 meter relay that has qualified for the finals, GPAC champion Keri Bauer ran the 800 meters on Thursday afternoon and clocked in at 2:15.10 while placing 14th out of 22 national entries in the event. Bauer’s personal best of 2:14.01 in the event came at the GPAC Championships. Bauer and her 4x8 teammates will be on the track at 12 p.m. CT on Friday for the finals. She will be joined in the race by Rylee Haecker, Kylahn Heritage and Jenna Esch.

A sixth-place national finisher a year ago in the heptathlon, Amy Richert came on strong towards the close of the outdoor season after fighting her way back from injury. The Gresham, Neb., native finished this year’s heptathlon with a point total of 4,370 and placed 11th. She came up 259 points shy of earning All-America status. Richert’s all-time best in the heptathlon was 4,708 in 2021. She will be back on Friday to compete in the open high jump.

While making his fourth career appearance at a national meet, Wyatt Loga was unable to clear the opening height of 6’ 6 ¾” in the high jump. The native of Bee, Neb., is a two-time high jump All-American with a personal best 6’ 8 ¾” (No. 4 on the program’s all-time outdoor high jump list).

A 2022 outdoor national qualifier in two throwing events, Abby Gerber was the lone Concordia thrower in action on Thursday. The Columbus, Neb., native put together a solid series of tosses and wound up in 12th place (out of 25) in the shot put. She landed a throw of 43’ 1.” One day one of the national meet, three Bulldog throwers picked up All-America honors in the hammer throw: Alli Owings, Sarah Ragland and Chris Wren.

Friday’s complete schedule for Concordia can be viewed below. The day will get started with the finals of the women’s 4x800 meter relay, an event that was pushed back a day due to inclement weather that impacted Wednesday night’s slate.

2022 NAIA Outdoor All-Americans

· Alli Owings – hammer throw (7th)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (1st)

· Sarah Ragland – hammer throw (4th)

· Chris Wren – hammer throw (5th)

Concordia Schedule – Friday, May 27

· 12 p.m. – Women’s 4x800m Relay Finals: Rylee Haecker, Kylahn Heritage, Jenna Esch, Keri Bauer (Alternates: Rhaya Kaschinske, Jordan Koepke)

· 1 p.m. – Women’s Discus Throw: Sara Huss, Alli Owings, Erin Painter

· 1 p.m. – Men’s Pole Vault: Zach Bennetts, Chase Berry, Zach Zohner

· 2 p.m. – Women’s High Jump: Amy Richert

· 3 p.m. – Women’s 1500m Finals: Rylee Haecker

· 4:10 p.m. – Women’s 400m Hurdles Finals: Jordan Koepke, Sarah Lewis

· 6:15 p.m. – Women’s 4x400m Relay Finals: Sarah Lewis, Jordan Koepke, Jacee Pfeifer, Rachel Battershell (Alternates: Keri Bauer, Jenna Esch)

· 6:25 p.m. – Men’s 4x400m Relay Finals: Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Colton Meyer, Xavier Ross (Alternate: Joel Rathe)

Five Bulldogs named to CoSIDA Academic All-District track teams

May 27

SEWARD, Neb. – A group of five Bulldogs from the Concordia University Track & Field program have been honored for their academic and athletic excellence. The list of award winners named to the 2021-22 Academic All-District® Men's and Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Teams includes Zach Bennetts and Jacob Jennings on the men’s side and Rachel Battershell, Erin Mapson and Josie Puelz on the women’s side. Each of the Bulldog honorees landed on the NAIA All-District 3 Team, which features collegiate athletes from the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Teams were selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

2022 CoSIDA All-District Track Award Winners

· Rachel Battershell (Wheatland, Wyo.)

· Zach Bennetts (Denton, Neb.)

· Jacob Jennings (Shawnee, Kan.)

· Erin Mapson (Lincoln, Neb.)

· Josie Puelz (Lincoln, Neb.)

The 2021-22 Academic All-District® Men's and Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances in athletic competition and in the classroom. The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

Battershell, a senior academically and a junior athletically, has been named Academic All-District for the third time in her career. The native of Wheatland, Wyo., was honored as a First Team Academic All-America recipient in both 2020 and 2021 by CoSIDA. Entering the 2022 outdoor national meet, Battershell owned nine career All-America awards and is a two-time 400 meter national champion. In addition, Battershell has won eight career individual GPAC titles (five in individual events), owns six school records and was named the 2021 NAIA Midwest Region Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. Battershell’s program records are in the indoor 400 meters (54.77), indoor 60 hurdles (8.81), indoor 4x400m relay (3:47.39), outdoor 100 hurdles (14.25), outdoor 4x100m relay (47.66) and outdoor 4x400m relay (3:47.26). Battershell has majored in Exercise Science, Chemistry and Biology while maintaining a near spotless cumulative grade-point average of 3.99.

Bennetts, who hails from Denton, Neb., has garnered Academic All-District honors for the first time in his career. The junior Biology and Exercise Science major swept 2022 GPAC indoor/outdoor titles in the pole vault and qualified for nationals for the third time. Bennetts achieved 2021 NAIA indoor All-America status in the pole vault and has claimed four career All-GPAC awards. His all-time personal best clearance in the pole vault is 15’ 11.”

Jennings, a native of Shawnee, Kan., owns a degree in Business Administration from Concordia and is a graduate student in the MBA program. He was recognized as both a CoSIDA Academic All-District and Second Team Academic All-American in 2021. He’s a two-time All-American as part of the 4x400 meter relay and helped the 4x100 meter relay to a GPAC title in 2021. Jennings’ career accolades include seven all-conference awards, four trips to national meets and status as an NAIA Scholar-Athlete in both basketball and track and field.

Mapson, a Lincoln native and Lincoln East High School alum, sports a perfect 4.0 GPA as an Exercise Science major. She’s a five-time NAIA All-American in the pole vault and has made six career appearances at NAIA national meets. Mapson was honored as a 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District and Academic All-America Second Team selection. She was a 2019 GPAC pole vault champion with a personal best of 12’ 7 ½” in the pole vault. Mapson has contributed to six team GPAC titles during her collegiate career.

Puelz has made her mark as the top female pole vaulter in program history. In action this week, Puelz claimed her fourth NAIA pole vault national title in a row. She’s one of only two female athletes in school history to have won at least four individual national titles. The Lincoln Lutheran alum also sports a perfect 4.0 GPA while studying Elementary Education. Puelz owns the GPAC conference meet records for both the indoor and outdoor pole vault and holds school records in the indoor (13’ 4 ½”) and outdoor (13’ 7 ¼”) pole vault. Also a four-time GPAC champion, Puelz was named the 2021 State College Female Athlete of the Year in the state of Nebraska by the Lincoln Journal Star. She earned 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District and Academic All-America First Team accolades.

First-team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced in June.

Day 3 Recap: Concordia women take fourth place; 17 Bulldogs emerge with All-America awards

May 27

GULF SHORES, Ala. – For the sixth-straight national meet, the women’s program for Concordia University Track & Field has placed inside the top five of the NAIA. In addition to a fourth-place team trophy for the women, 17 Bulldogs emerged from the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships with All-America awards in one or more event. The women achieved yet another lofty national placement on the strength of a national title for Josie Puelz in the pole vault and an NAIA runner-up claim for Jordan Koepke in the 400 meter hurdles.

On the third and final day (May 27) of the three-day meet, 13 Concordia athletes officially added their names to the list of All-Americans. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads produced final point totals of 44 on the women’s side and seven on the men’s side (tied for 47th place).

A meet that saw Puelz’s four career national title and new school records in both 4x400 meter relays featured the usual swings of emotions. By the completion of the third and final day, Beisel had plenty of reason to be thankful.

Said Beisel, “We couldn’t have done it without an amazing God that has blessed us, taken care of us and gotten us through a lot of ups and downs. I’m very thankful that I get to be at a university that supports that. I feel ecstatic both for the guys and the girls. There were so many great performances. Like I told the athletes, whether you scored a point or not, you earned the right to be here and you earned what we achieved as a team. I’m just super happy.”

It takes talents like Koepke and Puelz to fuel the type of success the Bulldog women have enjoyed in recent years. Koepke did not wait long at all to become a star on the collegiate scene. The freshman from Gulf Breeze, Fla., placed third in the 600 meters at indoor nationals and followed it up with her national runner up claim in the 400 hurdles on Friday. Koepke ran a time of 1:00.58 while teammate Sarah Lewis finished in a personal best of 1:01.14 and placed fourth. Those 13 team points helped clinch the fourth-place team trophy.

To wrap things up on the women’s side, Koepke and Lewis came back out for the finals of the 4x400 meter relay and joined Rachel Battershell and Jacee Pfeifer on a seventh-place nod in a time of 3:49.86 (a little shy of the school record 3:47.26 from the prelims). It’s quite an accomplished group with 30 career combined All-America awards. For Lewis and Pfeifer, this meet marked the end of their collegiate careers, highlighted by conference championships and so much more.

Said Lewis, “I try not to think about it. It makes me a little emotional. I try to remember that not every moment is given to me. I can’t take it for granted. I just wanted to soak it all in. This week has been a lot of spending time with teammates and playing games and getting food together. We’re not treating it like any other day but just soaking in all the memories. We’re here for God and for His glory. Focusing on those things keeps it a lot more positive and has made it the best possible last year I could have.”

A day after beating the odds and breaking the school 4x4 record on the men’s side, the veteran crew of Jacob Jennings, Cade Kleckner, Colton Meyer and Xavier Ross legged out a finals time of 3:14.35 and placed sixth. All four are multiple-time All-America award winners. It was a fine way to go out for Jennings, Kleckner and Ross, contributors to Thursday’s program standard time of 3:12.59. They wrapped up their collegiate careers on Friday. They persevered through injury to make things happen this week.

Said Ross, “It’s hard to describe. Being a senior, it was my last time and last go-round the track. There were a lot of emotions. If I were to put it into simple terms, it’s just satisfaction. I feel like it’s been a good journey with a lot of hard work and a lot of long hours. I feel like we accomplished what we set out to do. It’s been an awesome time.”

The day got started with the finals of a women’s 4x800 meter relay race that got pushed back due to lightning on the first day of the meet. The Bulldogs ran near the middle of the pack for most of the race while finishing in fourth place in a time of 9:10.00, an improvement of more than five seconds over the prelims finish in 9:15.06. The result was All-America honors for Rylee Haecker, Jenna Esch, Kylahn Heritage and Keri Bauer. A native of Pleasanton, Neb., Bauer picked up the third All-America award in what was the final race of her collegiate career. She was also an individual national qualifier in the 800 meters and ran the team’s fastest split in the 4x8.

Said Bauer, “I’m just so incredibly proud of this group. We came into the beginning of the year with high goals for the 4x8. We came into indoor and placed third (in the NAIA). We just have a lot of thankfulness for that. We brought that into outdoor. We’re competitive and we continued to work as a group and see what we can put together for outdoor. I’m proud of my teammates for how hard they work in practice and outside practice and how they make amazing choices to better themselves and better the teams.”

A sophomore from Davenport, Neb., Haecker has established herself as a star on the track as her personal career All-America count has risen to six. Not only a key cog in the 4x8, Haecker returned to the track mid-afternoon on Friday and clocked a personal best 1,500 meters of 4:36.96 and placed seventh. The GPAC champion in the 1,500, Haecker will have a chance down the road at shooting for Molly Engel’s school record of 4:33.98.

The fourth All-America award of the weekend by a Concordia thrower was pulled in by sophomore Erin Painter, who placed fourth in the discus with a toss of 145’ 7” on Friday. The performance marked the first career All-America award for Painter, an Ainsworth, Neb., native making her second trip to a national meet. Teammates Sara Huss (17th; 137’ 8”) and Alli Owings (21st; 133’ 6”) also competed in the discus. Huss earned 2021 All-America honors in the discus while Owings emerged from this week’s hammer throw competition as an All-American.

In the men’s pole vault competition, all three Bulldogs cleared at least one bar. Two-time GPAC champion Zach Bennetts and second time national qualifier Zach Zohner made strong bids for All-America honors while coming up just short of the podium. Bennetts placed ninth via his clearance of 15’ 9” and Zach Zohner vaulted 15’ 7” and placed 10th. Bennetts successfully cleared four bars and Zohner went over three. Meanwhile, Chase Berry, a two-time All-American, placed 15th. He cleared the opening height of 15’ 1.”

An 11th-place finisher in the heptathlon this week, Amy Richert returned to action on Friday and was unable to get over the opening high jump height of 5’ 2 ½.” This was the fourth career national meet appearance for Richert, a three-time All-American over her first two years as a Bulldog.

Dating back to the 2019 outdoor national meet, the Concordia women’s program has turned in respective NAIA national team placements of fifth, fourth, third, third, third and fourth. Both the men’s and women’s track programs have celebrated national titles in Gulf Shores in recent years (2015 for the men and 2016 for the women).

2022 NAIA Outdoor All-Americans

· Rachel Battershell – 4x400m relay (7th)

· Keri Bauer – 4x800m relay (4th)

· Jenna Esch – 4x800m relay (4th)

· Rylee Haecker – 4x800m relay (4th); 1,500 meters (7th)

· Kylahn Heritage – 4x800m relay (4th)

· Jacob Jennings – 4x400m relay (6th)

· Cade Kleckner – 4x400m relay (6th)

· Jordan Koepke – 400 hurdles (2nd); 4x400m relay (7th)

· Sarah Lewis – 400 hurdles (4th); 4x400m relay (7th)

· Colton Meyer – 4x400m relay (6th)

· Alli Owings – hammer throw (7th)

· Erin Painter – discus (4th)

· Jacee Pfeifer – 4x400m relay (7th)

· Josie Puelz – pole vault (1st)

· Sarah Ragland – hammer throw (4th)

· Xavier Ross – 4x400m relay (6th)

· Chris Wren – hammer throw (5th)

Seventeen Bulldogs land 2022 outdoor All-America honors

May 30

SEWARD, Neb. – Courtesy of their performances at the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, 17 Bulldogs have earned All-America honors (full list below). In order to receive an All-America medal, a top eight placement at the national championship meet is required. The list of Concordia University Track & Field All-Americans for the 2022 outdoor meet includes four-time pole vault national champion Josie Puelz and 400 meter hurdles national runner up Jordan Koepke.

Among the latest All-America honorees, Rachel Battershell leads the pack with 10 career All-America awards. Other Bulldogs on the list below with at least three career All-America awards are Sarah Lewis (nine), Jacee Pfeifer (seven), Rylee Haecker (six), Puelz (five), Koepke (four), Keri Bauer (three), Kylahn Heritage (three), Jacob Jennings (three), Cade Kleckner (three), Colton Meyer (three), Sarah Ragland (three) and Chris Wren (three). The first time All-Americans are Jenna Esch, Alli Owings and Erin Painter. Each of the 4x400 meter relay award winners contributed to new school records in the event (men and women).

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads earned 2022 NAIA outdoor national finishes of fourth on the women’s side and tied for 47th on the men’s side. The women’s program has placed inside the top five of six-straight national meets.

2022 Outdoor All-Americans

Rachel Battershell
2022 Outdoor Placement: 7th in 4x400m relay (3:47.26)
Career All-America Awards: 10 (2 national titles)
National Meet Appearances: 7

Keri Bauer
2022 Outdoor Placement: 4th in 4x800m relay (9:10.00)
Career All-America Awards: 3
National Meet Appearances: 4

Jenna Esch
2022 Outdoor Placement: 4th in 4x800m relay (9:10.00)
Career All-America Awards: 1
National Meet Appearances: 1

Rylee Haecker
2022 Outdoor Placement: 4th in 4x800m relay (9:10.00); 7th in 1,500 meters (4:36.96)
Career All-America Awards: 6
National Meet Appearances: 3

Kylahn Heritage
2022 Outdoor Placement: 4th in 4x800m relay (9:10.00)
Career All-America Awards: 3
National Meet Appearances: 4

Jacob Jennings
2022 Outdoor Placement: 6th in 4x400m relay (3:12.59)
Career All-America Awards: 3
National Meet Appearances: 4

Cade Kleckner
2022 Outdoor Placement: 6th in 4x400m relay (3:12.59)
Career All-America Awards: 3
National Meet Appearances: 4

Jordan Koepke
2022 Outdoor Placement: 2nd in 400 hurdles (1:00.58); 7th in 4x400m relay (3:47.26)
Career All-America Awards: 4
National Meet Appearances: 2

Sarah Lewis
2022 Outdoor Placement: 4th in 400 hurdles (1:01.14); 7th in 4x400m relay (3:47.26)
Career All-America Awards: 9
National Meet Appearances: 7

Colton Meyer
2022 Outdoor Placement: 6th in 4x400m relay (3:12.59)
Career All-America Awards: 3
National Meet Appearances: 5

Alli Owings
2022 Outdoor Placement: 7th in hammer throw (167’ 8”)
Career All-America Awards: 1
National Meet Appearances: 2

Erin Painter
2022 Outdoor Placement: 4th in discus (145’ 7”)
Career All-America Awards: 1
National Meet Appearances: 2

Jacee Pfeifer
2022 Outdoor Placement: 7th in 4x400m relay (3:47.26)
Career All-America Awards: 7
National Meet Appearances: 7

Josie Puelz
2022 Outdoor Placement: 1st in pole vault (13’ 1 ½”)
Career All-America Awards: 5 (four-time national champion)
National Meet Appearances: 5

Sarah Ragland
2022 Outdoor Placement: 4th in hammer throw (173’ 5”)
Career All-America Awards: 3
National Meet Appearances: 6

Xavier Ross
2022 Outdoor Placement: 6th in 4x400m relay (3:12.59)
Career All-America Awards: 2
National Meet Appearances: 4

Chris Wren
2022 Outdoor Placement: 5th in hammer throw (196’ 2”)
Career All-America Awards: 3
National Meet Appearances: 4

For Raglands, Concordia roots will forever run deep

June 17

There was something bittersweet about Sarah Ragland’s trip south to the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. As Sarah spun around and let go of her sixth attempt at the hammer throw on that day (May 25, 2022), her father John and older sister Johanna, and many other members of the family, peered into the overcast skies in Gulf Shores, Ala. The thud of the implement colliding with the ground signaled the end of an era for the Ragland family.

Three years after Johanna had concluded her Concordia athletic career, the sand in the hourglass had finished flowing on Sarah’s five-year journey as a Bulldog. Sarah took to the All-America podium with a fourth-place claim, marking the third All-America award of her throwing career – and the 10th combined for the accomplished Raglands, each Concordia alums.

Is that the end for Raglands at Concordia? Time will tell. Reflected John, “This past year when I was at the indoor conference meet, it finally started hitting me – I’m not going to get to be around these people anymore. That is kind of a sad thing.”

Sure there’s a degree of sadness associated with the end of the competitive collegiate exploits for Johanna and Sarah, but there will be only positive memories that come rushing back in the years to come. The Ragland-Concordia connection began in 1986 when John enrolled at Concordia, a place that had been previously unfamiliar to the family. Thirty-six years later, John has watched as two daughters have come through his alma mater, prepared to enhance the Lutheran educational system, just as John has done in his professional career.

As Bulldog throws coach Ed McLaughlin will tell you, “The family’s just amazing.” It’s a family that, over the years Johanna and Sarah have lived, has moved from Las Vegas to Racine, Wis., to Rockford, Ill., and to the Cleveland, Ohio, area, where John and his wife Ramona continue to settle. Sarah says that after the numerous relocations, Cleveland ultimately came to feel like home.

But Concordia was never forgotten. Whenever John took the family back out west to return to his hometown of Grand Island, Neb., the Raglands wouldn’t miss an opportunity to slip into Seward and visit the campus that brought back moments of nostalgia for John. The family even once planned a vacation to Nebraska at a time when it knew Johanna (then in seventh grade) could attend a Concordia throwing camp directed by McLaughlin. Those visits were always a highlight for Johanna, Sarah and younger brother Nolan. A bond with McLaughlin was just beginning to take shape.

Years earlier when McLaughlin was still a student-athlete at Concordia, John and Ed shared a memorable conversation at a gas station south of town in Seward. McLaughlin worked at the gas station where John happened to stop in. An exchange began when John noticed that McLaughlin was wearing a Concordia Track & Field t-shirt. John introduced himself. Ed Knew the name. Not lacking confidence, he replied, “I’m Ed McLaughlin. I’m the guy who’s going to break your records.” The two still share a laugh today about that encounter. As it turned out, McLaughlin would have to wait until becoming a coach to see Ragland’s school shot put records fall.

Naturally, John’s experience at Concordia, and the visits Johanna and Sarah enjoyed to campus, made the Bulldogs an attractive option by the time college drew nearer for the sisters. Despite the driving distance of nearly 900 miles between the campuses of Concordia and Lutheran West High School in Rocky River, Ohio, Johanna and Sarah could feel the pull of all that Concordia had to offer. As the eldest sibling, Johanna was up first. The fit appeared perfect considering Johanna’s aspirations.

Recalled John, “We thought she should look around so we had her visit Concordia Ann Arbor, Concordia Wisconsin, Concordia St. Paul and Concordia Chicago. I remember after almost every visit, she would be like, this was good and this was good, but this is why I still want to go to Concordia Nebraska. For her, that was great because she was able to make that decision after seeing all those schools. So then Sarah didn’t visit any of the other Concordias. She had done other college visits with a program she was in at Lutheran West and she had decided she wanted to follow Johanna and go to Concordia.”

Johanna says that the camp she attended at Concordia in seventh grade left a lasting impression upon her. Said Johanna, “If it wasn’t for my dad introducing me to Concordia and taking me to camps there I never would have even thought to go there.”

In the eyes of McLaughlin, Johanna was not necessarily a lock to end up in Seward. He remembered there being times when some doubt crept in as to what college she might choose. John left it up to Johanna to make the call. Several decades before, a junior high-aged version of John visited Concordia with his Trinity Lutheran School classmates for an event called, “Gathering of the Talents.” At that moment, John felt like he knew where he was supposed to go to college. A few years later, he was recruited by then Concordia head coaches Larry Oetting (football) and John Knight (track & field) and everything fell into place.

Said McLaughlin of the recruiting of Johanna and Sarah, “Ever since I met Sarah, it always felt like she was going to Concordia. With Jo, there was a little more uncertainty. If Jo had decided to go somewhere else, who knows what Sarah decides to do. All three of us have joked how it was a much different recruiting process for the two of them.” (The third sibling, Nolan, chose to attend Rochester University in New York and pursue engineering).

Added Sarah, “I think in the back of my mind I knew I was always going to go to Concordia. I really didn’t look at anywhere else. I always knew that was going to be the case. It was nice having my sister there. Even though it was really far from home, and I didn’t know anyone else, my sister was there. I really didn’t consider anywhere else.”

The bond grew between Johanna and Sarah, who blossomed while being coached by McLaughlin. The two sisters went on to collect a combined seven All-America awards while helping bring about the reign of Concordia Women’s Track & Field atop the GPAC. Johanna and Sarah were teammates for the 2018 and 2019 indoor/outdoor track seasons. Said Johanna, “My sister is still one of my best friends. I was so excited that we were going to get to be on the same team again. I loved getting to compete with her. We were always pushing each other to do better and encouraging each other.”

John surely beamed with pride in seeing his daughters don shirts with the name “Concordia” on it. The presence of Johanna and Sarah at Concordia gave John the opportunity to immerse himself within the campus and the community once again. After all the years since John (three-time track All-American and football captain) had competed and studied at Concordia, he was pleased to know that the pillars of what had made him so proud to be a Bulldog still stood strong in the present day.

As John put it, “Concordia is not about the buildings, it’s not about the brick and mortar. It’s really about the people who are at the school, it’s about the focus Concordia has and it’s about the Christian spiritual aspect of the campus. That’s what I liked about Concordia when I went there at the time. When I go back and visit, none of those things have ever changed. It was exactly what I hoped it would still be, even though they have these fantastic facilities now that we never could have dreamed of.”

When it comes from John Ragland, that means something. We’re talking about a guy who has been to a lot of places – and seemingly knows everyone. Said McLaughlin, “The fun thing between me, Sarah and Jo is how many people know their dad. We’re talking about the Lutheran school system, which is not a small group of people. You can’t go anywhere and not find someone who knows John Ragland. It’s impressive.”

The Ragland name has certainly become a familiar one at Concordia, a place where John, Johanna and Sarah have all thrived. The Ragland-CUNE relationship has been mutually beneficial. Sarah glows when talking about the impact of the professors she’s had and what Coach McLaughlin has meant to her. Said Sarah, “He truly has become like family and someone I feel like I can go to for anything.”

It’s not easy to sum up exactly what Concordia has meant to the Raglands, but Johanna and Sarah gave it a try. They know their Concordia experiences will continue to impact them as Lutheran educators and coaches.

Said Johanna, “I am so proud of the little legacy that the Ragland family has left at Concordia. I look back so fondly on my time at Concordia. I loved doing track there. I learned so much through that experience. I made friends that I know will last a lifetime while I was at Concordia. I know my dad and sister would say the same thing. Concordia holds a special place in our hearts. I know we are so grateful that we all had that experience.”

Added Sarah, “It’s really cool to be part of that legacy. Prior to my dad going there, there wasn’t really any connection to Concordia Nebraska. Now all of a sudden, we have so many connections. Being able to go to where he went and learn about how it was back then versus how it is now and having graduated, hopefully I can give back to that program in some way. One of my goals is for some of my athletes to go there some day, if not my future children. I want to send some of my future athletes to Ed. I think that would be so cool. Concordia has given me so much so I hope I can give back in some small way in the future.”

A third generation of Ragland All-Americans?! Don’t rule it out. Joked John, “Johanna’s son Finn just turned one so maybe in 17 years we’ll be back.”

No matter the physical distance between campus and members of the family, the Ragland-Concordia connection will remain a special one.

Puelz named Academic All-American of the Year; Battershell, Mapson also honored by CoSIDA

June 21

SEWARD, Neb. – It’s another sign of what a powerhouse the Concordia University Track & Field program continues to be. Pole vault national champion Josie Puelz earned one of the highest honors given out by College Sports Information Directors of the Year. As announced on Tuesday (June 21), Puelz has been named winner of the 2021-22 Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year award in the NAIA. She was joined with 2021-22 Academic All-America® women’s track & field/cross country first team selection by teammates Rachel Battershell and Erin Mapson.

The 2021-22 Academic All-America® Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances in athletic competition and in the classroom. The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

Puelz is the third Concordia track athlete to ever be named as the NAIA’s Academic All-American of the Year. She has made her mark as the top female pole vaulter in program history. At the 2022 outdoor national meet, Puelz claimed her fourth NAIA pole vault national title in a row. She’s one of only two female athletes in school history to have won at least four individual national titles. The Lincoln Lutheran alum also sports a perfect 4.0 GPA while studying Elementary Education. Puelz owns the GPAC conference meet records for both the indoor and outdoor pole vault and holds school records in the indoor (13’ 4 ½”) and outdoor (13’ 7 ¼”) pole vault. Also a four-time GPAC champion, Puelz was named the 2021 State College Female Athlete of the Year in the state of Nebraska by the Lincoln Journal Star. She earned 2021 and 2022 CoSIDA Academic All-District and Academic All-America First Team accolades.

Battershell, a senior academically and a junior athletically in 2021-22, has been named both Academic All-District and First Team Academic All-America three times in her career. The native of Wheatland, Wyo., claimed her 10th career All-America award this past outdoor season and is a two-time 400 meter national champion. In addition, Battershell has won eight career individual GPAC titles (five in individual events), owns six school records and was named the 2021 NAIA Midwest Region Women’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. Battershell’s program records are in the indoor 400 meters (54.77), indoor 60 hurdles (8.81), indoor 4x400m relay (3:47.39), outdoor 100 hurdles (14.25), outdoor 4x100m relay (47.66) and outdoor 4x400m relay (3:47.26). Battershell has majored in Exercise Science, Chemistry and Biology while maintaining a near spotless cumulative grade-point average of 3.99.

Previous Academic All-America Team Member of the Year award winners from Concordia were Chandler Folkerts (basketball) in 2017, Samantha Liermann (track & field) in 2018 and 2019, Josiah McAllister (track & field) in 2019 and Grace Barry (basketball) in 2020.

As an All-American of the Year choices, Puelz is automatically placed on the ballot for consideration for the 2021-22 overall Academic All-America Team Member of the Year across all 12 CoSIDA All-America sport programs within the NAIA.

Jennings, Bennetts garner CoSIDA Academic All-America recognition

June 22

SEWARD, Neb. – Two of the biggest standouts from the Concordia University Men’s Track & Field program, Jacob Jennings and Zach Bennetts have collected major awards. On Wednesday (June 22), Jennings (first team) and Bennetts (second team) were recognized as 2021-22 NAIA Academic All-America ® Team Men’s Track & Field / Cross Country Team honorees, as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Jennings has picked up his second career Academic All-America award while Bennetts is a first-time recipient of the award.

The 2021-22 Academic All-America® Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country Teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances in athletic competition and in the classroom. The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

Jennings, a native of Shawnee, Kan., owns a degree in Business Administration from Concordia and has studied as a graduate student in the MBA program. He was recognized as both a CoSIDA Academic All-District and Second Team Academic All-American in 2021. He’s a three-time All-American as part of the 4x400 meter relay and helped the 4x100 meter relay to a GPAC title in 2021. This past outdoor national meet, Jennings collaborated on a new school record time of 3:12.59 in the 4x4. Jennings’ career accolades include seven all-conference awards, four trips to national meets and status as an NAIA Scholar-Athlete in both basketball and track and field.

Bennetts, who hails from Denton, Neb., garnered Academic All-District and Academic All-America honors for the first time in his career in 2022. The junior Biology and Exercise Science major swept 2022 GPAC indoor/outdoor titles in the pole vault and qualified for nationals for the third time. Bennetts achieved 2021 NAIA indoor All-America status in the pole vault and has claimed four career All-GPAC awards. His all-time personal best clearance in the pole vault is 15’ 11.”

Puelz honored as World-Herald Midlands Female Athlete of the Year

July 9

SEWARD, Neb. – Named the Lincoln Journal Star’s 2021 State College Female Athlete of the Year, Josie Puelz has now added to her collected of awards, courtesy of the Omaha World-Herald. On Saturday (July 9), the news outlet announced Puelz as its Midlands Female Athlete of the Year. The honor is given to the top female collegiate athlete in the state of Nebraska from outside of NCAA Division I. Puelz has become the fourth Concordia University athlete all-time to be chosen as the Midlands Female Athlete of the Year. The existence of the award dates back to 1983.

As Puelz told the World-Herald, I have very high expectations. Knowing I have achieved national titles, you kind of have that extra drive to do it again.” Added Concordia pole vault coach Jason Berry, “I see on a daily basis her drive and determination. She's not one to sit back and relax. She's always one who's looking for that next challenge.”

Puelz was also recently tabbed the 2021-22 Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for NAIA women’s track and field by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Puelz has made her mark as the top female pole vaulter in program history. At the 2022 outdoor national meet, Puelz claimed her fourth NAIA pole vault national title in a row. She’s one of only two female athletes in school history to have won at least four individual national titles. The Lincoln Lutheran alum also sports a perfect 4.0 GPA while studying Elementary Education. Puelz owns the GPAC conference meet records for both the indoor and outdoor pole vault, holds school records in the indoor (13’ 5”) and outdoor (13’ 7 ¼”) pole vault and is a four-time GPAC champion. She earned 2021 and 2022 CoSIDA Academic All-District and Academic All-America First Team accolades.

Puelz career accomplishments

· Four-time NAIA pole vault national champion

· Four-time GPAC pole vault champion

· 2021-22 Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year (NAIA women’s track & field)

· 2022 Omaha World-Herald Midlands Female Athlete of the Year

· 2021 Lincoln Journal Star State College Female Athlete of the Year

· Two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American / two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District

· School records for indoor (13’ 5”) and outdoor (13’ 7 ¼”) pole vault

· GPAC meet records for indoor (13’ 5”) and outdoor (13’ 7 ¼”) pole vault

Concordia all-time OWH Midlands Female Athletes of the Year

2022 – Josie Puelz, Track & Field

2020 – Philly Lammers, Basketball

2019 – Philly Lammers, Basketball

2015 – Bailey Morris, Basketball

1998 – Stacey Miller, Basketball/Softball

Puelz earns high honors from USTFCCCA; 42 Bulldogs named All-Academic Athletes

july 13

SEWARD, Neb. – Yet another postseason accolade has come in for Josie Puelz. On Wednesday (July 13), the four-time pole vault national champion was named the 2022 NAIA Women’s Outdoor Track & Field National Scholar Field Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). In addition, Puelz was one of 42 student-athletes from the Concordia University Track & Field program to be recognized as by the coaches’ organization as All-Academic Athletes.

For their work in the classroom, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s men’s and women’s squads were also honored with All-Academic Team accolades. Teams are required to achieve a collective 3.0 grade-point average or better and individuals must achieve at least a 3.25 GPA while also recording an automatic or provisional national qualifying mark in either indoor or outdoor.

This marks the second year in a row that Puelz has garnered the National Scholar Women’s Field Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA. The list of accolades for the Lincoln Lutheran High School alum is a mile wide. This past weekend, the Omaha World-Herald tabbed Puelz as its Midlands Female Athlete of the Year. Just prior to that announcement, College Sports Information Directors of America voted Puelz the 2022 Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for NAIA women's track & field. Puelz sports a perfect 4.0 GPA while studying Elementary Education. She owns the GPAC conference meet records for both the indoor and outdoor pole vault, holds school records in the indoor (13’ 5”) and outdoor (13’ 7 ¼”) pole vault and is a four-time GPAC champion, in addition to her four national titles. Puelz earned 2021 and 2022 CoSIDA Academic All-District and Academic All-America First Team accolades.

This past year, 18 Bulldogs emerged from the NAIA indoor national meet with at least one All-America plaque while 17 athletes represented Concordia with one or more All-America honors at the outdoor national championships. The Bulldog women swept 2022 indoor and outdoor conference titles while extending their run of GPAC championships to seven in a row.

2022 Concordia All-Academic Athletes

· Brittney Aitken

· Jordyn Anderson

· Elana Batenhorst

· Rachel Battershell

· Keri Bauer

· Zach Bennetts

· Chase Berry

· Oliva Buschow

· Amira Cummings

· Morgan De Jong

· Jenna Esch

· Mackenzie Ferrel

· Abby Gerber

· Rylee Haecker

· Kylahn Heritage

· Sara Huss

· Jacob Jennings

· Cade Kleckner

· Grant Lammers

· Sarah Lewis

· Wyatt Loga

· Erin Mapson

· Maccoy Menke

· Colton Meyer

· Ben Moll

· Hannah Newton

· Cora Olson

· Alli Owings

· Erin Painter

· Jacee Pfeifer

· Sam Plante

· Kamryn Pokorney

· Josie Puelz

· Sarah Ragland

· Joel Rathe

· Grace Reiman

· Amy Richert

· Calvin Rohde

· Xavier Ross

· Camden Sesna

· Trinity Tuls

· Zach Zohner