Bulldog women finish 17th, Kortze earns All-American honors

The Concordia University women finished 17th at the 2011 NAIA National Championships held on Saturday in Vancouver, Wash.  The Bulldog women have now finished in the top 20 at Nationals in 17 of the last 18 years. 

Individually, Sarah Kortze (Rockford, Ill.) led the way for Concordia on Saturday.  The junior finished in 13th place overall with a time of 18:03.  Kortze picked up All-American honors for her efforts. 

“Sarah Kortze had a tremendous race today,” said Kregg Einspahr, head coach at Concordia.  “She had her best race of the season with a very good time on a soft and muddy course.” 

Jena Schwalenberg (Columbus, Neb.), another junior on this year’s squad, finished 102nd overall with a time of 19:29.  Christina Hanson (Storm Lake, Iowa) was 150th at 19:48, and Martha Meineke (Denver, Colo.) was 190th with a time of 20:02.  Anna Meyer (Seward, Neb.) was 210th with a time of 20:12. 

The Bulldogs finished with a team score of 454 to finish 17th overall.  A total of 32 teams and 323 runners competed in the women’s race.  With their top three finishers on Saturday returning next year for their senior seasons, the Concordia women will look to make another trip to Nationals in 2012. 

On the men’s side, Ben Sievert finished 207th overall.  A total of 32 teams and 312 runners took part in the race.  Sievert, a freshman from Frankenmuth, Mich., ran a time of 26:36 on Saturday.  The Bulldog men’s team failed to qualify for Nationals this year, but Concordia does return a solid group for next season.  Five of Concordia’s top six runners in 2011 will return in 2012, so the Bulldogs will hope to push for a GPAC Championship and a trip to Nationals next year.