NAIA Releases: 2024 men’s qualifiers | 2024 women’s qualifiers
SEWARD, Neb. – As officially announced on Monday (Nov. 11) by the NAIA National Office, the Concordia University, Nebraska Cross Country programs have qualified three individuals for the 2024 NAIA Cross Country National Championships. The qualifiers will each make their way to Columbia, Mo., next week for the national meet. Concordia’s three qualifiers are junior Keegan Beisel on the women’s side and freshman Vaughn Hendrickson and sophomore Trey Robertson on the men’s side.
Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads turned in 2024 GPAC team placements of third on the men’s side and fourth on the women’s side while in action this past Saturday (Nov. 9) in Ashland, Neb. In this week’s NAIA coaches’ poll, the Bulldog men received votes (30th). The men had hoped to be chosen as team at-large qualifier for the national meet but were not selected, based on the final rating.
Individually, three Concordia runners emerged from last week’s conference meet with All-GPAC awards: GPAC champion Vaughn Hendrickson, conference runner up Trey Robertson and Beisel (ninth place). Two Bulldogs narrowly missed out on top 15 placements required for all-conference honors as Aidan Limback placed 16th on the men’s side and Rhaya Kaschinske placed 18th on the women’s side. Hendrickson became the men’s program’s first GPAC champion since Colin Morrissey in 2012.
Hendrickson and Robertson will make their first appearances on the national stage while Beisel will make her third trip to cross country nationals. The Seward High School alum Beisel helped the Concordia women’s team place 27th at the 2022 NAIA national meet and 18th at the 2023 national championships. In the history of the Bulldog Cross Country programs, there have been a total of 34 individual All-America performances. The most recent Concordia runner to be added to the list was Kylahn Freiberg in 2023. The top 40 finishers at the national championships for both men and women are named NAIA All-Americans.
The 2024 NAIA Cross Country National Championships will unfold on Friday, Nov. 22 at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo. The men’s race is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. CT in Columbia with the women to follow at 11:30 a.m. For more information on the national meet, visit the NAIA website HERE.
2024 NAIA National Qualifiers / All-GPAC Honorees
Keegan Beisel | Seward, Neb.
-Placed 9th at the 2024 GPAC Championships with a 6k time of 23:47.44.
-Will make third career NAIA national cross country meet appearance.
Vaughn Hendrickson | Fort Wayne, Ind.
-Placed 1st at the 2024 GPAC Championships with an 8k time of 25:44.09.
Trey Robertson | Wallace, Neb.
-Placed 2nd at the 2024 GPAC Championships with an 8k time of 25:51.70.