Bulldog Athletic Association Member (BAAM) Athletes of the Week
Female: Ishane Derman, Tennis
A freshman from Togo, Africa, Ishane Derman led Concordia (10-1 record) to three wins last week while playing at the No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles positions. Derman went 3-0 in both singles and doubles on the week. Derman remains undefeated at 10-0 in singles play this season.
Male: Grady Works, Tennis
A senior from Lincoln, Neb., Grady Works helped the Bulldogs (9-5) to a trio of victories over the weekend, including one in the GPAC opener. Works clinched the win over Mount Marty with his victory at No. 5 singles. For the week, Works went 2-0 in singles and 1-1 in doubles.
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
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.
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.
Track & Field set to open 2025 outdoor season: The 2025 outdoor track & field season is slated to get underway on Friday (originally scheduled for Saturday) with the Central Nebraska Challenge co-hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney and Hastings. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s programs are coming off an indoor season that saw them earn GPAC place finishes of third on the women’s side and fourth on the men’s side. This outdoor season will feature two home meets: the Concordia Invitational (April 4-5) and the Concordia Twilight (May 9). It should be noted that a handful of Bulldogs competed this past Saturday at the Grand View Viking Relays. Jonny Jurchen clocked a ‘B’ standard in the 5,000-meter race walk. For a preview of the outdoor season, click HERE.
Powerlifting National Championships coming up April 3-6: The Concordia Weightlifting program had its national championships in late February/early March. Coming up soon, Concordia Powerlifting will compete at the Collegiate Powerlifting National Championships, which will take place in Oklahoma City, Okla., April 3-6. At the 2024 national championships, Rylee Ladd placed second at 52kg and Will Peterson placed fifth at 140kg. The most recent event for Head Coach Freddie Myles’ powerlifting squad was the Friends University Open on Feb. 1. For more details on Concordia Powerlifting, check out the team’s homepage linked 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.
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.
Shooting Sports
· Last week:
o Placed 7th/14 (Division 2) at the 2025 ACUI Collegiate Clay Target National Championships on March 18-22.
· Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster
· Notable: All preparation led into the 2025 ACUI Collegiate Clay Target National Championships held last week at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio, Texas. Head Coach Dylan Owens’ Bulldogs ultimately placed seventh out of 14 teams that made up the Division 2 breakdown at the national championships. The Bulldogs busted 2,740 targets towards the team scoring (one target out of sixth place). Concordia was represented in San Antonio by 18 athletes. Graduate student Sam Blevins cracked the most targets with his high overall total of 545 (76th place out of 630 men’s competitors in the field). Meanwhile, Katie Welker led the Bulldogs on the women’s side by busting a total of 521 targets (37th place out of 144 women’s athletes in the field). Welker was one of nine female competitors to shoot a 99 or better in trap. Blevins and Welker both took home medals for their efforts in trap. By discipline, Concordia’s best performers were Devin Harris and Breyer Meeks in skeet (99 apiece), Blevins and Welker in trap (99 apiece), Harris in doubles skeet (94), Mason Ward in doubles trap (95) and sporting (83) and Meeks in super sporting (95). The Bulldogs have placed seventh at nationals for the second-straight year. The season to date has included nine competitions spread out between the fall and spring semesters. One more event remains on the 2024-25 calendar: the Concordia Bulldog International Tournament in Grand Island, Neb., April 12-13.
· Up next:
o Concordia Bulldog International Tournament in Grand Island, Neb., April 12-13.
Tennis
· Current records: men – 9-5, 1-0 GPAC | women – 10-1, 1-0 GPAC
· Last week:
o W – Won at Kansas Wesleyan, 7-0, on March 22.
o W – Won vs. Avila, 7-0, on March 22.
o W – Won vs. Mount Marty, 7-0, on March 23.
o M – Won at Kansas Wesleyan, 6-1, on March 22.
o M – Won at Avila, 7-0, on March 22.
o M – Won vs. Mount Marty, 4-3, on March 23.
· Men’s Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Women’s Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Notable: Head Coach Lisa Hart’s squads have gotten on a roll during the month of March. The women have won nine-straight matches while the men have won seven of their last eight outings. The victories kept coming this past weekend as both Bulldog teams earned wins over Kansas Wesleyan University, Avila University (Mo.) and Mount Marty. The latter match marked the start of GPAC play and was played inside the Walz Fieldhouse. The 10-1 record for the women represents the best start in program history. Led by Mariano Molano at the top of the lineup (3-0 in singles and doubles for the week), Concordia won each of the weekend’s three matches by 7-0 scores. The Bulldogs went a perfect 18-0 in singles and were a near spotless 8-1 in doubles play this past week. Ishane Derman owns a sparkling 10-0 singles record while playing mostly at the No. 3 spot this season. As a team, the Bulldogs are 56-10 in singles and 23-10 in doubles on the year. The men displayed similar dominance in the nonconference wins over Kansas Wesleyan and Avila, taking 11 of 12 singles matches and all six doubles contests. In the battle with Mount Marty, Concordia rallied from a deficit after doubles and pulled out the team victory, 4-3, showing better depth in the back half of the lineup. Nick Velders went 3-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles on the week. Velders is nationally ranked at the NAIA level for singles play. GPAC play continues this week as the women play at College of Saint Mary on Wednesday before both sides host Morningside on Thursday (originally scheduled for Saturday).
· For additional news and notes on the tennis programs, click the following links: Men | Women.
· This week:
o W – Wednesday, March 26 at College of Saint Mary, 1 p.m.
o M / W – Thursday, March 27 vs. Morningside, 12 p.m.
Baseball
· Current record: 18-8, 6-2 GPAC; ranked No. 22 in the NAIA coaches’ poll.
· Last week:
o Lost at Doane, 2-1, on March 22.
o Won at Doane, 9-4, on March 22.
o Won at Doane, 14-7, on March 23.
o Won at Doane, 10-0, on March 23.
· Links: 2025 Schedule | Roster | Statistics | NAIA Coaches’ Polls
· Notable: The 22nd-ranked Bulldogs made a bit of a statement over the weekend at Doane while winning three of four in the series. The Tigers managed to win the first one in walk-off fashion, 2-1, before Concordia came storming back behind its potent offense. Over the final three games of the series, the Bulldogs outscored Doane by a combined total of 33-11. For the series, Concordia piled up 13 home runs and drew 34 walks while sporting a 1.116 OPS. Seven Bulldogs clubbed at least one homer at Doane: Brad Hallock (four), Jaidan Quinn (three), Matthew Rhoades (two), Jimmy Blumberg (one), Ty Nekoliczak (one), Tanner Tompkins (one) and Michael Welch (one). From a pitching perspective, Braxton Greenburg ended the series in style, as he covered 7.2 shutout innings (two hits and no walks) with a career-high 13 strikeouts. Alex Johnson (6.2 IP, 6 H, ER, 3 BB, 10 K) and Christian Gutierrez (8 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, BB, 5 K) also put together strong outings at Doane. They were backed by a strong defensive effort (three errors and a .978 fielding percentage on the weekend). The red hot Hallock went 7-for-16 (.438) with six extra-base hits for the series. The All-American Quinn pushed his home run tallies to 12 on the season and 85 for his career. As a team, Concordia has piled up 47 home runs with Hallock (nine) and Rhoades (seven) leading the way behind Quinn. As the team’s most impressive pitcher thus far, Johnson has an ERA of 1.98 with 44 strikeouts in 27.1 innings. Out of the bullpen, Daiten Schmidt has collected four saves. At long last, Head Coach Ryan Dupic’s squad will be at home as they are scheduled to host a doubleheader each with Waldorf on Friday and Briar Cliff on Sunday.
· For additional news and notes on the baseball program, click HERE.
· This week:
o Friday, March 28 vs. Waldorf (9-15, 5-3 GPAC), 3 p.m. DH.
o Sunday, March 30 vs. Briar Cliff (9-13, 3-5 GPAC) 1 p.m. DH.
Softball
· Current record: 16-8, 1-1 GPAC.
· Last week:
o Lost at Dakota Wesleyan, 3-2 (8 inn.), on March 22.
o Won at Dakota Wesleyan, 10-8, on March 22.
· Notable: The conference season is underway for Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad. A doubleheader originally scheduled to be played at Morningside on March 21 was postponed (rescheduled for April 8), but the Bulldogs did manage to play a doubleheader at Dakota Wesleyan this past Saturday. In Mitchell, S.D., Concordia fell victim to a walk-off, 3-2, in game one before bouncing back with a 10-8 victory in game two. It was a tough test while up against the GPAC’s highest scoring squad. The Bulldogs built a 10-1 lead in game two and then hung on as Megan Eurich finally put out the fire and ended the threat by retiring the final three hitters she faced (in relief of Kaylei Denison). From an offensive standpoint, three Concordia players tallied three hits on the day: Hanna Bowers, Jennifer Katz and Delanie Voshell. All three of Bowers’ hits went for doubles. The Bulldog lineup has become a doubles machine with 57 through 24 games. Four Concordia players have notched at least nine doubles in 2025: Aubriana Krieser (11), Bowers (10), Kylie Shottenkirk (10) and Katz (nine). A senior from Omaha, Katz leads the GPAC with a .455 batting average. Meanwhile, Eurich continues to pad her career numbers and has reached 35 wins and 415 strikeouts in 448.1 career innings pitched. Bowers recently reached a milestone by surpassing 100 career hits. GPAC play will heat up this week as the Bulldogs play at Hastings on Wednesday and then host Briar Cliff on Saturday. Concordia has yet to make an appearance at Plum Creek Park this season.
· For additional news and notes on the softball program, click HERE.
· This week:
o Wednesday, March 26 at Hastings (14-12, 2-4 GPAC), 4 p.m. DH.
o Saturday, March 29 vs. Briar Cliff (6-14, 0-4 GPAC), 1 p.m. DH.
Golf
· Most recent:
o Men – Placed 6th/11 at the Doane Invite in Lincoln, Neb., March 17-18.
o Women – Placed 11th/12 at the Southwest Minnesota State Spring Invite in Litchfield Park, Ariz., March 10-11.
· Men’s Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Women’s Links: 2024-25 Schedule | Roster | Statistics
· Notable: The spring portion of the 2024-25 season is one tournament deep for both the men’s and women’s programs. The men kicked it off early last week by playing at the two-day Doane Spring Invite held at two different courses in Lincoln. At the event, Head Coach Brett Muller’s squads carded scores of 309-298–607 (‘A’ team) and 335-317–652 (‘B’ team). The A team placed sixth in a field of 11 groupings. Most notably, junior Jake Richmond recorded the highest place finish of his collegiate career by landing in third place (72-71–143). Richmond beat out all other GPAC golfers (total field of 68). Senior Justin Webert was next in line while placing in a tie for 14th (75-74–149). Webert (75.9) and Richmond (76.0) are neck and neck for the top season scoring average on the team. Meanwhile, the women have been idle since returning from their spring break trip to the Phoenix area. At the SMSU Spring Invite, Emery Custer starred with a two-round score of 76-82–158 (tied for 26th). Both Bulldog squads will be headed to Green Valley Golf Course in Sioux City, Iowa, this Thursday-Friday for the Briar Cliff Match Play Tournament. The women’s team will begin the month of April with the Concordia Bulldog Spring Invite (April 1-2) at Highlands Golf Course.
· Up next:
o M / W – Briar Cliff Match Play Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa, Thursday-Friday (March 27-28).