The 2024-25 collegiate athletic season will mark year 25 for the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The birth of the GPAC was officially celebrated on August 1, 2000, as seven schools formerly underneath the umbrella of the Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference merged with four additional institutions. Concordia University, Nebraska was a charter member of the old Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, founded in 1969, and remained part of the NIAC until the advent of the GPAC.
Through the first 24 years of GPAC competition, Concordia has enhanced its profile as an all-around athletic department. This past 2023-24 year, the Bulldogs won their fifth all-time GPAC All-Sports Championship Trophy.
In reacting to the achievement, Director of Athletics Devin Smith remarked, “It’s an awesome tribute to Concordia University, Nebraska and the campus community in Seward and to all of the people who support and provide resources and cheer on these great student-athletes. They are champions in the classroom and in the community, as well as in their competitive endeavors. We really have a foundation built for sustained success. There are times when you have to adapt a little bit, but the template is set up. It’s just a thrill.”
The accomplishment of claiming the GPAC All-Sports Championship Trophy is made even more impressive by the fact that the conference was rated as the best in the NAIA in 2023-24 by the Learfield Directors Cup. Not only has Concordia Athletics earned five all-sports titles in the GPAC era, it has also tallied 73 GPAC team championships, 56 GPAC athlete of the year awards and 48 GPAC coach of the year accolades. The very first GPAC title won by a Bulldog squad occurred in 2000 when the volleyball program shared first place in the league’s inaugural season. Additionally, all three of the school’s NAIA team national championships have come during this modern era.
Getting started
In the fall of 1999, media reports of the formation of the GPAC began to hit the public consciousness. Then NIAC Commissioner Paul Clark helped orchestrate the new 11-member league that still did not have a name or logo as of October 1999. According to Concordia archives, the new conference resulted from discussions that began in 1998. Initially, the league would include all seven of the NIAC institutions: Concordia, Dana, Doane, Hastings, Midland, Nebraska Wesleyan and Northwestern in addition to select schools that had to fit certain criteria in terms of both geography and institutional makeup and philosophy.
In October of 1998, four institutions applied for membership: Dakota Wesleyan, Dordt, Mount Marty and Sioux Falls. Each one was approved in April of 1999. With the conference footprint now stretching across three states, the Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference moniker would no longer apply. So what would they call it?
Students from each of the 11 schools were invited to submit entries as potential names. According to university archives, five different students independently floated the name, “Great Plains Athletic Conference” as an option. This name garnered overwhelming support. One of those students who submitted this winning entry was then Concordia junior Kimberly Walquist of Albuquerque, N.M. As a Concordia release stated, “Walquist is studying math and music in elementary education and said she would like to be a school principal someday. She also is a resident of David Hall. Her links to athletics include intramural basketball, powder puff football and running.”
With the name set, a logo was devised to represent the league’s new dynamics. The letters “GPAC” were placed inside an oval while making use of the colors red, black, orange and white. Three stars were used to symbolize the three different states included in the new league.
The storied athletic histories of the 11 schools involved inspired Lincoln Journal Star reporter Mark Derowitsch to refer to the GPAC as a “Super Conference.” The addition of Sioux Falls unquestionably brought greater prominence to the league from a football perspective. Heading into the 2000 season, GPAC football coaches around the league were expecting the conference slate to be a bear. Said then Sioux Falls Head Coach Bob Young, “From a competitive standpoint, we definitely have to be stronger.”
As those who have followed the GPAC know, the conference would not remain static in terms of its membership.
Conference expansion / realignment
The league quickly grew to 13 institutions as Briar Cliff (2002) and Morningside (2003) became members not long after the GPAC’s introduction. Contraction finally hit the league in 2010 as Dana closed its doors and again in 2011 when Sioux Falls left to join the NCAA Division II ranks. In more recent years, GPAC Commissioner Corey Westra and the league have welcomed in College of Saint Mary (2015), Jamestown (2018) and Waldorf (2024) with schools like Presentation (now closed) jumping in as affiliate members in select sports.
Despite its own status as a charter member, Nebraska Wesleyan bowed out of the GPAC and NAIA in 2016 and became a member of the American Rivers Conference in NCAA Division III. As of this summer, Jamestown is no longer affiliated with the GPAC as it completes one more year in the NAIA before transitioning to NCAA Division II.
Along the way, Westra and league presidents have evaluated numerous other schools for possible league membership. Back in the late 1990s, Briar Cliff’s initial application into the GPAC was rejected. The Chargers were added to the league in 2002, the same year they began their football program. In potential members, the GPAC values institutions with faith-based principles, among other criteria.
Said Westra, “We are a faith-based league. We have been since our origins. We feel like the mission behind our schools is as important as the games on the court or on the field. Our student-athletes are learning as much about life and what they can do in God’s world after graduation as they are about scoring points or touchdowns or hitting home runs. It’s been a really good thing for our league and it’s a tenet we’ve stuck to.”
The GPAC today
Commissioner Corey Westra provided a ‘State of the GPAC’ of sorts in a recent interview with Midwest SportsNet’s Joey McWilliams. The conference remains rock steady with 12 current members. Eight of those institutions have been there since the very beginning: Concordia, Dakota Wesleyan, Doane, Dordt, Hastings, Midland, Mount Marty and Northwestern.
While some names have stayed the same and some have changed, the GPAC has consistently been held in high regard across the NAIA. Commented Westra in the interview with Midwest SportsNet, “I think we’re a special group. We’re super competitive. If you want to advance in your sport, you will find a place for you on the competitive side of it. I also think our schools have a tremendous mission and tremendous programming through their majors. Hopefully there’s a place for you. We build student-athletes. We want to be champions in the classroom and we want to be champions in our communities. We talk about academic and athletic excellence. We want you to have both. My greatest joy is seeing where our kids go.”
Through the first 24 years of the GPAC, league members have combined for 38 NAIA team national championships. That total includes the three won by Concordia, courtesy of 2015 men’s outdoor track & field, 2016 women’s outdoor track & field and 2019 women’s basketball. As AD Devin Smith likes to say, a team that competes among the top four of the GPAC will also be nationally relevant. In two-and-a-half decades of action, the competition within the GPAC has helped lift Concordia Athletics to new levels.
Concordia’s GPAC success
Below is a rundown of the success Concordia’s programs have enjoyed as members of the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The Bulldogs have won at least one GPAC championship in 16 different sports.
TOTAL
GPAC team championships: 73
GPAC athletes of the year: 56
GPAC coaches of the year: 48
GPAC all-sports trophies: 5 (2004-05, 2002-03, 2014-15, 2021-22, 2023-24)
Baseball
GPAC regular-season titles: 2024, 2021, 2019, 2017
GPAC postseason titles: 2024, 2022, 2021
GPAC coaches of the year: Ryan Dupic (2024, 2019, 2017)
GPAC players of the year: Joey Grabanski (2024, 2023), Jaidan Quinn (2024), Christian Meza (2019)
GPAC pitchers of the year: Jake Fosgett (2021), Nick Little (2018)
Men’s Basketball
GPAC regular season titles: 2024, 2022
GPAC tournament titles: 2022, 2020, 2005, 2003
GPAC players of the year: Rick Dietze (2004)
GPAC defensive players of the year: Chandler Folkerts (2017), Jason Jisa (2004)
Women’s Basketball
GPAC regular-season titles: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2014, 2012, 2003
GPAC tournament titles: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2015, 2012, 2005
GPAC players of the year: Philly Lammers (2019), Bailey Morris (2015, 2014)
GPAC defensive players of the year: Philly Lammers (2020), Mary Janovich (2017), Tracy Peitz (2014), Katie Rich (2013, 2012), Kari Saving (2005)
GPAC coaches of the year: Drew Olson (2018, 2017, 2012), Todd Voss (2003)
Men’s Cross Country
GPAC titles: 2012, 2009, 2004
GPAC runners of the year: Colin Morrissey (2012), Dana Schmidt (2010), Zack Meineke (2009, 2008), Luka Thor (2006), Andrew Walquist (2004, 2003)
GPAC coaches of the year: Kregg Einspahr (2012, 2009, 2008, 2004)
Women’s Cross Country
GPAC titles: 2019, 2005, 2004, 2002
GPAC runners of the year: Sarah Kortze (2012), Molly Engel (2004, 2003, 2002)
GPAC coaches of the year: Matt Beisel (2019), Kregg Einspahr (2005, 2004, 2002)
Football
GPAC titles: 2001
GPAC defensive players of the year: Lane Napier (2021), Darnell Woods (2013)
GPAC coaches of the year: Vance Winter (2016), Courtney Meyer (2001)
Men’s Soccer
GPAC tournament titles: 2022, 2015
GPAC players of the year: Bernie Ochoa (2000)
Women’s Soccer
GPAC regular season titles: 2017
GPAC tournament titles: 2020, 2016, 2014
GPAC coaches of the year: Greg Henson (2017)
GPAC players of the year: Grace Soenksen (2023 – DPOY), Lindsey Carley (2017 - DPOY), Jennifer Davis (2003)
Softball
GPAC regular season titles: 2008, 2005
GPAC tournament titles: 2015, 2007
GPAC players of the year: Hhana Haro (2018), Clarissa Eloge (2009)
GPAC coaches of the year: Frank Greene (2005)
Volleyball
GPAC regular season titles: 2023, 2000
GPAC coaches of the year: Scott Mattera (2015)
Women’s Tennis
GPAC regular season titles: 2021
GPAC coaches of the year: David DeSimone (2019), Amy Harms (2008)
Men’s Indoor Track & Field
GPAC titles: 2014
GPAC athletes of the year: Lucas Wiechman (2017), Colin Morrissey (2011), Andrew Walquist (2006, 2005)
GPAC coaches of the year: Kregg Einspahr (2014)
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field
GPAC titles: 2015, 2014
GPAC athletes of the year: Cody Williams (2019), Lucas Wiechman (2017), Zach Lurz (2014), Dana Schmidt (2011)
GPAC coaches of the year: Kregg Einspahr (2015, 2014, 2009, 2008)
Women’s Indoor Track & Field
GPAC titles: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2010
GPAC athletes of the year: Adrianna Rodencal (2023), Rachel Battershell (2020), Kim Wood (2016), Charista Zehnder (2009), Molly Engel (2005)
GPAC coaches of the year: Matt Beisel (2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019), Kregg Einspahr (2010, 2009, 2003)
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field
GPAC titles: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2012, 2010
GPAC athletes of the year: Adrianna Rodencal (2023), Charista Zehnder (2009)
GPAC coaches of the year: Matt Beisel (2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019), Kregg Einspahr (2012, 2010, 2009, 2005)
Wrestling
GPAC dual titles: 2020, 2019, 2017, 2016, 2015
GPAC tournament titles: 2020, 2017, 2016 (*went to GPAC teams only for regionals in 2016)
GPAC wrestlers of the year: Ceron Francisco (2017), Andrew Schulte (2016), Enrique Barajas (2015), Emilio Rivera (2014)
GPAC coaches of the year: Levi Calhoun (2020), Andrew Nicola (2017), Dana Vote (2016, 2015)