Bulldog Athletic Association Member (BAAM) Athletes of the Week
Female: Adrianna Rodencal, Track & Field
A Lincoln Lutheran High School alum, Adrianna Rodencal opened her junior indoor track season by breaking her own records in the 60-meter hurdles in a first place time of 8.53 at the Bulldog Early Bird. She also helped the 4x400-meter relay to a ‘B’ standard time and placed second in the 200 meters.
Male: Tristan Smith, Basketball
An Elizabeth, Colo., native, Tristan Smith was named the GPAC Offensive Player of the Week after totaling 50 points in Concordia’s wins over Hastings and Waldorf. For the week, Smith also added 15 rebounds, 12 assists, five steals and three blocked shots to his stat line.
2024-25 BAAM Athletes of the Month
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
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.
Fall All-GPAC and NAIA Scholar-Athlete award winners announced: Postseason awards for fall sports continue to be announced. In recent weeks, 84 Bulldogs were honored as 2024 NAIA Scholar-Athletes and 36 Concordia student-athletes were recognized as 2024 GPAC All-Conference award winners. The specific honorees can be found by navigating to each fall sport home page on the Concordia Athletics website. Concordia University, Nebraska ranks as the NAIA’s all-time leader in number of Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes with 2,526 entering the 2024-25 academic year.
Football and Volleyball programs earn two All-America awards apiece: Both the football and volleyball programs landed two student-athletes on the All-America teams released this month. Representing Head Coach Patrick Daberkow’s squad with All-America honors were senior receiver Austin Jablonski (first team) and senior offensive tackle Blake Schlegel (second team). Meanwhile, Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad landed junior outside hitter Ashley Keck (first team) and grad student middle blocker Gabi Nordaker (second team) on the All-America teams. In addition, Nolan Fuelberth of the men’s soccer program was recently recognized as an Academic All-American by College Sports Communicators.
Reviewing fall sport seasons: Each Concordia fall sports season is now complete. Both the women’s soccer and volleyball programs made appearances at NAIA National Championship tournaments and three cross country athletes qualified individually for the national meet. For a detailed look at the 2024 football, men’s soccer and women’s soccer seasons, check out season-in-review articles linked below.
Seasons-In-Review: Football | Men’s Soccer | Women’s Soccer | Volleyball
GPAC network: Back in July, the Great Plains Athletic Conference announced a streaming network designed to bring webcasts from all league members together in one place. The GPAC Network can be accessed online via: https://www.gpacnetwork.com/. The network is also available via a mobile app and smart TVs. The GPAC partnered with Hudl for the creation of the network. In addition to the events that stream on the Concordia Sports Network, 104.9 Max Country will broadcast football and volleyball varsity games this fall. The broadcast schedule can be found 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 is in 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 this 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.
Men’s Basketball
· Current record: 7-3, 4-3 GPAC.
· Last week:
o Won vs. Hastings, 101-82, on Dec. 11.
o Won at Waldorf, 103-79, on Dec. 14.
· Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA Coaches’ Poll
· Notable: The Bulldogs pushed their GPAC win streak to three while taking care of business last week with victories at home over Hastings, 101-82, and at Waldorf, 103-79. The major headline for the week was delivered by fifth-year standout Noah Schutte, who became the third player in program history to eclipse 2,000 career points. Schutte joined the exclusive club as part of the win at Waldorf. The two other Bulldogs with 2,000 points are Jon Ziegler (2,099) and Tom Rabe (2,016). A recent newcomer to the 1,000-point club, senior Tristan Smith put together a monster week as he averaged 25.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.5 steals over the two victories. His 35 points at Waldorf represented a career high. Off the bench, Brooks Kissinger played a starring role with 21 points, seven rebounds and three steals versus Hastings and 12 points and four rebounds at Waldorf. In addition, Brad Bennett poured in 20 points on the strength of six treys versus Hastings. As a team, Concordia hit the 100-point mark for the first two times this season. Those outings pushed the Bulldogs’ season scoring average to 87.3, which ranks fourth highest in the GPAC and 23rd among all NAIA squads. Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad is still working on tightening things up defensively as Hastings (.509) and Waldorf (.558) both shot above 50 percent from the floor. With a large portion of the season still yet to be played, Concordia sits in fifth place in the GPAC behind Dordt (6-0), Northwestern (6-0), Morningside (6-2) and Dakota Wesleyan (4-2). After finishing final exams, the Bulldogs will be headed to the Phoenix area to take on fourth-ranked Arizona Christian University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University this weekend.
· For additional news and notes on the men’s basketball program, click HERE.
· This week:
o Friday, Dec. 20 at No. 4 Arizona Christian (9-2), 3 p.m. MT / 4 p.m. CT.
o Saturday, Dec. 21 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical (4-6), 3 p.m. MT / 4 p.m. CT.
Women’s Basketball
· Current record: 6-5, 4-4 GPAC; ranked 14th in NAIA coaches’ poll.
· Last week:
o Lost vs. Hastings, 71-69, on Dec. 11.
o Won at Waldorf, 98-53, on Dec. 14.
· Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA Coaches’ Poll
· Notable: A rare three-game conference skid became reality when 14th-ranked Concordia’s rally versus Hastings came up short in a 71-69 defeat in the middle of the last week. The Bulldogs then bounced back with their best statistical offensive performance in a 98-53 victory at new GPAC member Waldorf. The program had not endured a three-game conference losing streak since January 2022. In last week’s home loss to Hastings, Concordia trailed by as many as 17 points before having a chance to tie or win the game on its final possession. Kendal Brigham’s fadeaway jumper misfired just before the buzzer. Brigham and Kristin Vieslemeyer topped the team with 14 points apiece in that outing. Three days later, the Bulldogs drained 18 3-point field goals in the whitewashing of the Warriors. Top scorers were Sammy Leu (19), Raelyn Kelty (18) and Brigham (10). Brigham also added 11 assists for a double-double and Kelty grabbed nine rebounds. Eight different Concordia players netted at least one 3-point field goal. Head Coach Drew Olson’s squad will now take a break from GPAC play with a trip out to California up next. The Bulldogs will be in Riverside for a Friday matchup with La Sierra University, a member of the NAIA’s California Pacific Conference. In a new NAIA coaches’ poll released last week, Concordia slipped from fifth to No. 14. As part of a tough early slate, the Bulldogs have already played four teams currently ranked in the top 10: No. 1 Dordt, No. 4 Southern Oregon, No. 6 Dakota State and No. 9 Briar Cliff.
· For additional news and notes on the women’s basketball program, click HERE.
· This week:
o Friday, Dec. 20 at La Sierra (2-5), 1 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. CT.
Indoor Track & Field
· Number of 2024-25 Meets: 1.
· Last week:
o Hosted the Bulldog Early Bird Meet on Dec. 13-14.
· Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | TFRRS Performance Lists
· Notable: The 2024-25 indoor season is underway. The Bulldogs opened the new campaign by hosting the Bulldog Early Bird Meet (Dec. 13-14) inside the Walz Fieldhouse, where athletes from 11 institutions convened. The highlights from a Concordia perspective were the 60-meter hurdles school records broken by freshman Easton Fries (8.13) and junior Adrianna Rodencal (8.53), seven event championships, three NAIA automatic national qualifying standards, another three performances that met the ‘B’ standard and three pentathlon point totals currently ranked in the top 18 nationally. The auto marks were delivered by Rodencal (60 hurdles), Mayson Ostermeyer in the pole vault (16’ 2 ¾”) and Abi Wohlgemuth in the weight throw (57’ 2”). Early Bird event champions included the men’s 4x400-meter relay (3:23.79), the men’s distance medley relay (10:27.16), Hannah Beintema in the 1,000 meters (3:15.02), Fries in the 400 meters (51.33), Ostermeyer in the pole vault, Rodencal in the 60 hurdles and Trinity Tuls in the 400 meters (59.03). Fries clocked a ‘B’ standard in the 60 hurdles and so too did the women’s 4x400-meter relay and Jonny Jurchen in the 3,000-meter race walk. The women’s 4x4 was made up of Rodencal, Tuls, Isabelle Salters and Kayla Kirchner. In the women’s pentathlon, two Bulldogs put up point totals that currently rank in the top 15 nationally: Josi Noble (12th; 3,107 points) and Zoey Walker (14th; 2,957 points). Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads will take a break along with the end of the first semester. The season will resume on Jan. 11 with the Scott Nisely Memorial Classic at Doane.
· For additional news and notes on the track & field programs, click HERE.
· Up next:
o Saturday, Jan. 11 – Scott Nisely Memorial Classic at Doane, 11 a.m.
Wrestling
· Current dual record: 3-2, 3-2 GPAC.
· Last week:
o Lost vs. No. 6 Doane, 46-3, on Dec. 13.
· Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA National Rankings
· Notable: Doane showed why it is ranked sixth in the NAIA in last week’s dual that ended with a 46-3 defeat inside Friedrich Arena. The Tigers won all but one of the 10 matches. Grad student Creighton Baughman got the Bulldogs on the board at 141 pounds when he earned a 7-1 decision over Devin Avedissian in a matchup between competitors ranked ninth and 14th, respectively, in the NAIA. All other bouts were won with bonus points by Doane with the exception of the heavyweight tussle between Mason Garcia and the Tigers’ 23rd-ranked Eli Criblez, who took a 4-1 decision thanks to a late takedown. Baughman is now 9-0 (4-0 in duals) on the season and has already collected two GPAC Wrestler of the Week awards. Two of his teammates have hit double digits in wins this season: Steven Barnes (10-5) and Simon Arredondo (10-7). In the new NAIA national ratings released last week, five Bulldogs appeared in the top 25 of their respective weight classes: Baughman (ninth at 141), Barnes (22nd at 149), Cole Price (22nd at 165), Tommy Wentz (24th at 165) and Barret Brandt (24th at 174). Head Coach Josh Watts’ squad will be off from competition until competing at the Cusatis Open hosted by Hastings on Saturday, Jan. 11. The team’s final three GPAC duals of the season will take place as part of GPAC Day of Duals No. 2 in Mitchell, S.D., on Feb. 8.
· For additional news and notes on the wrestling program, click HERE.
· Up next:
o Saturday, Jan. 11 – Cusatis Open hosted by Hastings, 9 a.m.