Concordia Athletics 2024 Video Recap
For a video recap of the 2024 calendar year in Concordia Athletics, click the link above. Among the major highlights, Concordia University, Nebraska celebrated a GPAC All-Sports Championship Trophy for the 2023-24 academic year. Below is a quick rundown of some of the memorable moments and superlatives from 2024.
GPAC Team Champions
· Baseball – The Bulldogs (42-15 overall) shared the GPAC regular season title (21-7 league mark) and won the conference tournament championship as Head Coach Ryan Dupic led the program to the national tournament for the fifth-straight year. Both Joey Grabanski and Jaidan Quinn homered in the GPAC tournament title game.
· Men’s Basketball – While led by Noah Schutte and Tristan Smith, Concordia went 15-5 in league play and shared the 2023-24 GPAC regular season crown with Hastings and Northwestern. The Bulldogs won two home overtime games in the final week of the regular season to earn their piece of the title.
· Women’s Indoor Track & Field – In another dominant conference meet, the Bulldogs racked up 206 points compared to 136.25 for second place Doane. Conference event championships were won by the 4x400-meter relay, Jenna Esch, Rylee Haecker, Jordan Koepke and Zoey Walker.
· Women’s Outdoor Track & Field – The GPAC outdoor meet was a close one as Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squad narrowly held off Doane, 209.5 to 204.5, and extended the program’s run of consecutive GPAC championships to 11. Event titles came from the 4x4, Esch, Kylahn Freiberg, Abby Gerber, Koepke, Josi Noble and Adrianna Rodencal.
National Team Success
· Baseball – As champions of the GPAC, the Bulldogs went 1-2 at the 2024 NAIA national tournament opening round. The victory came by a 14-5 final score over Blue Mountain College (Miss.). Concordia was ranked 18th in the final NAIA poll of 2024.
· Cross Country – Three athletes qualified for nationals individually: Keegan Beisel, Vaughn Hendrickson and Trey Robertson. Hendrickson placed 36th and earned NAIA All-America honors.
· Men’s Basketball – After sharing the GPAC regular season title, Head Coach Ben Limback’s squad traveled to Salina, Kan., for the national tournament and earned an 83-81 first round win over Indiana University Northwest. The Bulldogs were eliminated in the second round via a loss to LSU-Shreveport. Concordia closed out 2023-24 ranked No. 20 in the NAIA.
· Women’s Basketball – GPAC runner up in the regular season and postseason, the Bulldogs advanced to the final site of the national tournament thanks to home first/second round wins over Benedictine College (Kan.) and Wayland Baptist University (Texas). The season concluded with a 73-66 loss at the hands of eventual national runner up University of Providence (Mont.) in the round of 16. Head Coach Drew Olson’s squad was ranked No. 7 in the final NAIA poll of 2023-24.
· Football – While the Bulldogs missed out on an NAIA playoff berth they felt like they had earned, they did crack the NAIA national rankings and were listed at No. 17 prior to the start of the NAIA Football Championship Series. Head Coach Patrick Daberkow’s squad went 8-2 in 2024.
· Lifting Sports – Big gains were made on the powerlifting side of the program as the Bulldogs earned 2024 USA Powerlifting Collegiate National Championships team placements of ninth for women and 19th for men. Rylee Ladd (second) and Will Peterson (fifth) placed in the top five of their respective weight classes. In weightlifting, Evan Fukuhara emerged as a national champion – the first in program history.
· Shooting Sports – 15 Bulldogs represented the program at the 2024 ACUI National Championship in San Antonio and helped Concordia place seventh out of 15 teams in the Division 2 breakdown of the event. Jessie Ciezki and Claire Kee both won women’s national titles in specific disciplines (as outlined below).
· Women’s Soccer – History was made on Nov. 21 when Concordia took down familiar nonconference opponent Benedictine College (Kan.), 2-0, in the first round of the national tournament. The result marked the first national tournament win in program history. Head Coach Nick Smith’s squad finished the season at 14-7-1 overall after falling in the second round.
· Men’s Track & Field – Behind indoor and outdoor pole vault national champion Zach Zohner, the Bulldogs turned in two NAIA top 10 team finishes – eighth for indoor and seventh for outdoor. It marked the first time the men’s program had placed in the top 10 for indoor and outdoor in the same year since 2017.
· Women’s Track & Field – With the help of a national championship from the 4x800-meter relay, Concordia earned an NAIA third place national trophy at the indoor national meet. The Bulldogs the placed 20th at the outdoor national championships.
· Volleyball – Ranked as high as No. 2 in 2024, the 2024 Bulldogs became the third team in program history to reach the national quarterfinals. Head Coach Ben Boldt’s squad was then placed at No. 5 in the NAIA postseason coaches’ poll. Concordia spent the entire season ranked inside the top five.
· Wrestling – Three individuals qualified for the 2024 national tournament: Creighton Baughman, Mason Garcia and Tommy Wentz. Baughman won two matches at nationals before being eliminated.
All-Americans + major GPAC award winners
· Mark Arp, Football – NAIA Honorable Mention All-American (Victory Sports Network).
· Hanna Bitner, Competitive Dance – NAIA Second Team All-American.
· Iker Casanova, Men’s Soccer – GPAC Defensive Player of the Year.
· Jessie Ciezki, Shooting Sports – Women’s Open Skeet National Champion.
· Jenna Esch, Track & Field – 4x800m Relay National Champion; five total All-America awards in 2024.
· Ryleigh Flesner, Competitive Dance – NAIA Second Team All-American.
· Kylahn Freiberg, Cross Country/Track & Field – 4x800m Relay National Champion; three T&F All-America awards in 2024.
· Evan Fukuhara, Weightlifting – 67kg National Champion.
· Abby Gerber, Track & Field – Shot Put All-American.
· Joey Grabanski, Baseball – NAIA Second Team All-American; Co-GPAC Player of the Year; became NAIA’s all-time home run and RBI leader.
· Rylee Haecker, Track & Field – 4x800m Relay National Champion; two All-America awards in 2024.
· Daylon Henson, Football – NAIA First Team All-American (AP); NAIA Honorable Mention All-American (Victory Sports Network).
· Austin Jablonski, Football – NAIA First Team All-American (AFCA / Victory Sports Network).
· Ashley Keck, Volleyball – NAIA First Team All-American; GPAC Attacker of the Year.
· Claire Kee, Shooting Sports – Women’s Open Super Sporting National Champion.
· Kayla Kirchner, Track & Field – Two All-America awards in 2024.
· Jordan Koepke, Track & Field – Three All-America awards in 2024.
· Rylee Ladd, Powerlifting – National Runner Up (52kg); broke national female bench press record for weight class (92.5kg – 204 pounds).
· Taylor Larsen, Competitive Dance – NAIA Third Team All-American.
· Julie McIntyre, Track & Field – 4x800m Relay National Champion.
· Gabi Nordaker, Volleyball – NAIA Second Team All-American.
· Mayson Ostermeyer, Track & Field – Pole Vault All-American.
· Will Peterson, Powerlifting – USA Powerlifting Nationals – fifth place at 140kg.
· Josie Puelz, Track & Field – Pole Vault All-American.
· Matt Rhoades, Baseball – NAIA National Freshman of the Year (NAIABall).
· Calvin Rohde, Track & Field – Mile All-American.
· Taysha Rushton, Women’s Basketball – NAIA Second Team All-American.
· Isabelle Salters, Track & Field – 4x400m Relay All-American.
· Blake Schlegel, Football – NAIA Second Team All-American (AFCA / Victory Sports Network).
· Noah Schutte, Men’s Basketball – NAIA Third Team All-American.
· Darien Semedo, Track & Field – Shot Put All-American.
· Gretchen Stottlemyre, Track & Field – Javelin All-American.
· Trinity Tuls, Track & Field – Two All-America awards in 2024.
· Jaidan Quinn, Baseball – NAIA First Team All-American; Co-GPAC Player of the Year.
· Abi Wohlgemuth, Track & Field – Weight Throw All-American.
· Chris Wren, Track & Field – Hammer Throw National Champion; National Runner Up in Weight Throw.
· Zach Zohner, Track & Field – Indoor/Outdoor Pole Vault National Champion.
Coach Courtney Meyer Day
On Oct. 26, Concordia University, Nebraska celebrated Coach Courtney Meyer Day. The 2024 season marked Meyer’s final one as an assistant with the Bulldog Football program. Meyer spent a combined 54 years coaching football at the collegiate and high school levels during his distinguished career, which included 19 years as head coach at Concordia (1990-2008). For a feature piece on Meyer’s career, click HERE.
Dawg-Tober
Incredibly, Concordia’s football, men’s soccer, women’s soccer and volleyball teams combined to go undefeated in the month of October. Collectively, they were 24-0-1 during the month. That stretch propelled all four teams to second place finishes within the GPAC. October opened with Bulldog Football earning a monumental 29-17 win at No. 2 Northwestern. More details on the month can be found HERE.
Other indicators of success
From 2023-24:
· GPAC All-Sports Champions (fifth time in school history)
· No. 15 in final Learfield Directors’ Cup NAIA Standings
· Six total team GPAC Championships
· 15 top-four GPAC regular season team placements
· Appearances in 14 separate national championship events
· 204 NAIA Scholar-Athletes
· 51 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District awards
· 10 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America awards
NOTE: Concordia’s fall teams combined for 84 NAIA Scholar-Athletes in 2024. In addition, 36 Bulldogs garnered GPAC All-Conference awards this past fall.