Bulldog Athletic Association Member (BAAM) Athletes of the Week
Female: Rylee Ladd, Powerlifting
A junior from Chetek, Wis., Rylee Ladd won the 52kg national title at the 2025 Collegiate Powerlifting National Championships. As part of the national competition, Ladd reset the collegiate American women’s bench press record for her weight class by lifting 97.5kg. Ladd also squatted 130kg and deadlifted 150kg for a total of 385kg.
Male: Brad Hallock, Baseball
A senior from Carrollton, Texas, Brad Hallock launched his 14th homer of the season as part of Concordia’s doubleheader sweep of Morningside. In addition to his 14 homers, Hallock is hitting .333 with 38 RBIs and a .733 slugging percentage in 2025.
2024-25 BAAM Athletes of the Month
February – Abby Krieser (basketball) / Noah Schutte (basketball)
January – Adrianna Rodencal (track & field) / Tristan Smith (basketball)
December – Gabi Nordaker (volleyball) / Tristan Smith (basketball)
November – Austin Jablonski (football) / Kristin Vieselmeyer (basketball)
October – Carson Fehlhafer (football) / Kierstynn Garner (soccer)
September – Mark Arp (football) / Gabi Nordaker (volleyball)
2024-25 BAAM Athletes of the Week
April 1 – Taryn Ganstrom (softball) / Jaidan Quinn (baseball) / Adrianna Rodencal (track & field)
March 25 – Ishane Derman (tennis) / Grady Works (tennis)
March 18 – Hagen Heistand (wrestling) / Jennifer Katz (softball)
March 4 – Adrianna Rodencal (track & field) / Tristan Smith (basketball)
Feb. 25 – Creighton Baughman (wrestling) / Adrianna Rodencal (track & field)
Feb. 18 – BAAM luncheon canceled
Feb. 11 – Jonny Jurchen (track & field) / Abi Wohlgemuth (track & field)
Feb. 4 – Abby Krieser (basketball) / Noah Schutte (basketball)
Jan. 28 – Makynna Robbins (basketball) / Tristan Smith (basketball)
Jan. 21 – Megan Belt (basketball) / Tristan Smith (basketball) / Abi Wohlgemuth (track & field)
Jan. 14 – Raelyn Kelty (basketball) / Tristan Smith (basketball)
Dec. 17 – Adrianna Rodencal (track & field) / Tristan Smith (basketball)
Dec. 10 – Creighton Baughman (wrestling) / Gabi Nordaker (volleyball)
Dec. 3 – Vaughn Hendrickson (cross country) / Kristin Vieselmeyer (basketball)
Nov. 19 – Daylon Henson (football) / Addie Kirkegaard (volleyball)
Nov. 12 – Keegan Beisel (cross country) / Vaughn Hendrickson (cross country)
Nov. 5 – Angela Banks (soccer) / Austin Jablonski (football)
Oct. 29 – Kierstynn Garner (soccer) / Devin Harris (shooting sports)
Oct. 22 – Taylor Hedke (weightlifting) / Austin Jablonski (football)
Oct. 15 – Kierstynn Garner (soccer) / Hugo Garrote (soccer)
Oct. 8 – Carson Fehlhafer (football) / Kaylee Hinton (shooting sports)
Oct. 1 – Carter McKenna (shooting sports) / Kya Scott (volleyball)
Sept. 24 – Ishane Derman (tennis) / Daylon Henson (football)
Sept. 17 – Mark Arp (football) / Ella Waters (volleyball)
Sept. 10 – Hannah Beintema (cross country); Trey Robertson (cross country)
Sept. 3 – Nolan Fuelberth (soccer); Gabi Nordaker (volleyball)
Aug. 27 – Martin Herrera (soccer); Ashley Keck (volleyball)
News and notes:
BAAM luncheons are held every Tuesday at 12 p.m. CT inside the Dog House Grill, located in the Janzow Campus Center. The luncheons feature reports from head coaches who are in season at the time. For information on how to join BAAM, click HERE. It is not a requirement to be a BAAM member in order to attend the weekly luncheons.
Bulldog Powerlifting brings home team banner, four individual medals from National Championships: It was a fruitful week in Oklahoma City, Okla., for Concordia University, Nebraska Powerlifting. Head Coach Freddie Myles traveled 17 national qualifying athletes to the 2025 Collegiate Powerlifting National Championships. The yields included a team banner for placing fifth on the women’s side and four individual medals. At 52kg, Rylee Ladd claimed the national title and broke her own American collegiate women’s bench press record for that weight class. She was joined with All-America honors by teammate Taylor Hedke (third place at 60kg). In addition, Teya Badger (fourth at 100kg) and Wyatt Hosick (fourth at 60kg) earned medals for their efforts and Jack Hedke (eighth at 125kg) and Kenzie Houser (10th at 56kg) placed within the top 10. The program now prepares to host a home meet (in the PE Center Gym) beginning at 9 a.m. CT on Saturday. For a detailed recap of the national championships, click HERE.
Bulldog Football travels for mission trip at LCMS camp: 15 Bulldogs from Coach Patrick Daberkow's Concordia Football program devoted their spring break to service, helping rebuild an LCMS camp (in Linville, North Carolina) ravaged by Hurricane Helene. Said Daberkow, "It’s really impressive to me to have our players spend their spring break like that ... I think it speaks to their character." Added junior Jesse Herndon, "Just seeing the end product compared to where we started was really gratifying." For more details on the service project (organized by Orphan Grain Train), check out our feature (linked HERE) with thoughts from Daberkow and three of the student-athletes who took part in it.
Devin Smith named Athletics Director of the Year by NACDA: For the second time in five years, Concordia University, Nebraska’s Devin Smith has been honored as an Athletics Director of the Year Award winner by the National Association of Directors of Athletics (NACDA). Smith was announced by NACDA as one of the 28 honorees for 2024-25 on Monday (March 17). The award spans seven divisions (NCAA FBS, FCS, Division I-AAA, II, III, NAIA/Other Four-Year Institutions and Junior College/Community Colleges). Winners will be recognized in conjunction with the 60th Annual NACDA & Affiliates Convention at the World Center Marriott Resort in Orlando, Fla., on June 10. For more details on the award, click HERE.
Reviewing the winter sports seasons: The 2024-25 winter sports season has ended at Concordia University, Nebraska. Check out season recaps linked below for a detailed look at the basketball and wrestling seasons. A full winter sports recap will be posted to the athletics website once All-Americans have been announced for each of the winter sports.
Winter Sports Recaps: Men’s Basketball | Women’s Basketball | Wrestling.
--In recent weeks, senior Tristan Smith (first team) of men’s basketball and junior Taylor Larsen (second team) of competitive dance were named NAIA All-Americans.
--For an overall recap of the winter sports season, click HERE.
Bulldog Coaches Show airs every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT: The Bulldog Coaches Show is underway in its 10th year of existence. The show airs live for a half hour every Thursday beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT on KTMX-FM 104.9 Max Country. The weekly feature can also be heard live via 104.9 Max Country’s website or by downloading the Max Country app. Throughout the 2024-25 season, Bulldog football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball contests will be aired live on Max Country. Parker Cyza serves as the host of the coaches’ show as well as the play-by-play voice for football and basketball. Frank Greene completed his 10th season calling Concordia volleyball.
Concordia Sports Network: Live webcasts for most home varsity contests can be accessed by visiting https://www.cune.edu/athletics/watch-bulldogs at game time. Beginning with the 2023-24 academic year, Concordia Athletics began a partnership with Hudl for live video streaming. Live webcast links for away contests are publicized in sport specific releases that preview action for that particular week. Scrimmages, exhibitions and junior varsity events are not broadcasted on the Concordia Sports Network.
Outdoor Track & Field
· Indoor season: women placed third in the GPAC and 20th in the NAIA; men placed fourth in the GPAC and 56th in the NAIA.
· Last week:
o Hosted Concordia Outdoor Invite on April 5.
· Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | TFRRS Performance Lists
· Notable: Frigid temperatures combined with strong wind gusts forced Head Coach Matt Beisel and his staff to reconfigure the Concordia Invite that took place this past Saturday. The meet wound up being heavy on field events with only select running events taking place. The yields included 12 event championships for Bulldog athletes. Senior Abby Gerber was particularly impressive as she placed first in the discus, hammer and shot put. In the shot put, Gerber landed a season best automatic national qualifying standard of 47’ 3.” Other Concordia Invite champions were Connor Asche (hammer throw), Nathan Baldwin (discus), Lucas Corwin (800 meters), Luke Hammang (5,000-meter race walk), Ellie Janders (5,000 meters), Adysen McCarter (triple jump), Mayson Ostermeyer (pole vault), Trey Robertson (5,000 meters) and Trinity Tuls (800 meters). Hammang broke through with an NAIA ‘B’ standard in the race walk while Tuls clocked an 800 meters (2:17.83) that puts her atop the GPAC leaderboard. A week after breaking the school record in the triple jump, McCarter landed at 38’ 1 ½” at the Concordia Invite. With the hurdles and sprints wiped out, Adrianna Rodencal tried her hand at the long jump and placed third (17’ 9”), right behind teammate Kiki Nyanok (18’ 3 ¾”). On the NAIA national lists, Ostermeyer continues to rank No. 1 in the men’s pole vault while Gerber ranks No. 2 in the women’s shot put. A full-scale meet is expected to take place this Saturday when the Bulldogs compete at the Hastings Bronco Invite.
· For additional news and notes on the track & field programs, click HERE.
· This week:
o Saturday, April 12 at Hastings Bronco Invite, 11 a.m.
Tennis
· Current records: men – 10-6, 2-1 GPAC | women – 12-2, 3-1 GPAC
· Last week:
o W – Won at Northwestern, 6-1, on April 5 (played in South Sioux City, Neb.).
o M – Won at Northwestern, 4-3, on April 5 (played in South Sioux City, Neb.).
· Men’s Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Women’s Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Notable: GPAC play continued over the weekend as the Concordia-Northwestern matchup took place indoors at First Serve Tennis Center in South Sioux City, Neb. The women’s match got started first and resulted in a 6-1 Bulldog victory. Concordia narrowly pulled out the doubles point as the No. 1 battle (Ishane Derman and Mariana Molano for the Bulldogs) was won by Head Coach Lisa Hart’s squad in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-5). The Red Raiders got the win at No. 2 doubles while Concordia breezed at No. 3, 6-1, behind Tessa Blough and Alexa Richert. The Bulldogs proceeded to win the Nos. 1 through 5 singles matches via Molano at No. 1, Chakira Derman at No. 2, Alana Lopez Pagan at No. 3, Ishane Derman at No. 4 and Richert at No. 5. Four Concordia players have hit double digits in singles wins this season: Ishane Derman (12-1), Chakira Derman (12-2), Molano (11-3) and Lopez Pagan (10-2). On the men’s side, the contest went down the wire. In coming through in the clutch once again, senior Grady Works clinched the team victory as he prevailed in three sets, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, at the No. 4 singles spot. Singles play was highly contested after the Bulldogs swept the doubles court. In addition to Works, winners in singles were Nick Velders at No. 1 and Santiago Abadia at No. 6. Velders ran his season singles record to an impressive 15-1, putting him one win off the school record for a single season. Both of Hart’s squads will play two times this week. The men and women host Hastings on Wednesday while continuing league action.
· For additional news and notes on the tennis programs, click the following links: Men | Women.
· This week:
o M / W – Wednesday, April 9 vs. Hastings, 11 a.m.
o W – Thursday, April 10 at Nebraska Wesleyan, 4 p.m.
o M – Friday, April 11 at Midland, 8 a.m.
Golf
· Most recent:
o Men – Placed 6th/11 at the Bethel Spring Invitational on April 5-6.
o Women – Placed 9th/13 at the Concordia Bulldog Spring Invite on April 1-2.
· Men’s Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Women’s Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Notable: There was action nearly every day Tuesday through Sunday this past week for Head Coach Brett Muller’s squads. Early in the week, the women’s program hosted the cold and windy Concordia Bulldog Spring Invite at Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln and placed ninth (352-346–698) out of 13 squads. Junior Emery Custer topped Concordia by shooting 83-83–166, tying her for 18th place out of 76 golfers. Teammate Maddie Lewis shot 86-84–170 and tied for 26th. Custer (82.6) and Lewis (87.9) also lead the Bulldogs this season from a scoring average perspective. On the men’s side, Concordia also dealt with less-than-ideal weather conditions as they spent the weekend at the Bethel Spring Invitational and placed sixth (320-316–636) out of 11 groupings. A fine spring continues for Jake Richmond, who has finished in the top 10 of back-to-back tournaments. Richmond placed sixth at the Bethel Invite while shooting 75-76–151. In addition, Jacob Dowd, Justin Webert and Jaxson Fullerton placed in the top half of the field of 65 competitors in a tournament played at two different courses in Kansas. Richmond has taken over the team season scoring average lead at 75.9 – compared to 76.5 for Webert. The men are slated to take on Doane in the Bulldog-Tiger Cup in Cairo, Neb., on Saturday. Meanwhile, the women will wait until early next week to resume action with the Kaitlyn Erickson Invite hosted by Doane.
· Up next:
o W – April 14-15 at the Kaitlyn Erickson Invite hosted by Doane.
o M – Saturday, April 12: Bulldog-Tiger Cup, 12 p.m.; will also play at the Red Raider Invite on April 16.
Softball
· Current record: 20-12, 5-5 GPAC.
· Last week:
o Won vs. No. 22 Midland, 2-0, on April 2.
o Lost vs. No. 22 Midland, 1-0, on April 2.
o Lost vs. No. 7 Northwestern, 9-0 (5 inn.), on April 4 (Sioux Center, Iowa).
o Lost vs. No. 7 Northwestern, 6-2, on April 4 (Sioux Center, Iowa).
· Notable: A challenging week saw the Bulldogs take on the two highest rated teams in the GPAC. Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad split a home doubleheader with No. 22 Midland while holding the Warriors to one total run on the day. Two days later, Concordia traveled to the American State Bank Sports Complex in Sioux Center, Iowa, and dropped a pair to No. 7 Northwestern. The Bulldog bats were limited to two total runs by Red Raider pitching. In the week’s biggest highlight, Megan Eurich scattered eight hits while shutting out Midland (2-0 win), a rival that Concordia had not defeated since the 2021 season. Kaylei Denison then threw a complete game in game two and allowed just a single run on five hits and a walk. The pitching and defense wasn’t as sharp against Northwestern (four errors in game one) as the Bulldogs struggled against the conference’s first-place team. Aubrey Bruning went 2-for-3 with an RBI in game two against the Red Raiders. On the week, Taryn Ganstrom enjoyed the most success as she went 4-for-12 (.333) with a double and an RBI. On a statistical note, Kylie Shottenkirk has jumped into the program’s top 20 for career hits with 146 (17th most). With 431 career strikeouts, Eurich ranks No. 4 in program history in that category. A 5-5 league record puts Concordia in the middle of the GPAC pack heading into today (April 8)’s afternoon doubleheader at Morningside. The weekend will be a busy one as the Bulldogs play at Doane on Friday before hosting Waldorf on Saturday.
· For additional news and notes on the softball program, click HERE.
· This week:
o Tuesday, April 8 at Morningside (18-12, 6-4 GPAC), 3 p.m. DH.
o Friday, April 11 at Doane (14-18, 6-6 GPAC), 3 p.m. DH.
o Saturday, April 12 vs. Waldorf (2-21, 0-6 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH.
Baseball
· Current record: 26-8, 14-2 GPAC; ranked No. 17 in the NAIA coaches’ poll.
· Last week:
o Won at Morningside, 4-2, on April 6.
o Won at Morningside, 6-5, on April 6.
o Won vs. Hastings, 4-1, on April 7.
o Won vs. Hastings, 3-1, on April 7.
· Links: 2025 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA Coaches’ Polls
· Notable: The win streak has reached 11 following doubleheader sweeps of Morningside and Hastings. Both twin bills required the 17th-ranked Bulldogs to grind things out as warmer weather continues to hold out. Concordia appeared on the verge of falling in game two with Morningside (played at Briar Cliff’s home field) as its first two hitters in the ninth were retired with the Mustangs leading 5-4. After Jaeden Jordahl singled and Brad Hallock walked, Matt Rhoades tucked a two-run double inside the left field line for the tying and go-ahead runs. The Bulldogs then used fine pitching performances from Christian Gutierrez and Micah Sweeton on Monday in earning the sweep of the Broncos. Gutierrez fired a seven-inning complete game (72 pitches) and equaled Nick Little for the most wins in program history (27). In game two, Jordahl notched his first home run at Plum Creek Park (sixth of the season). The hitting star of the past four games, Rhoades homered once in Sioux City and once on Monday. Brad Hallock launched his 14th homer of the season in action versus Morningside. Also noteworthy, Zackery Day rose to the top of the school’s all-time steals list (70 for his career) on his birthday. On the program’s all-time hits list, both Ty Nekoliczak (235) and Jaidan Quinn (234) have reached the top five. With every GPAC baseball team having played 16 league games, Concordia owns a four-game lead in the conference standings. Dakota Wesleyan and Northwestern are tied for second at 14-2. Next up, Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad will play a four-game weekend series at Mount Marty.
· For additional news and notes on the baseball program, click HERE.
· This week:
o Saturday, April 12 at Mount Marty (19-13, 8-8 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH.
o Sunday, April 13 at Mount Marty (19-13, 8-8 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH.