NAIA Releases: men’s qualifiers | women’s qualifiers
SEWARD, Neb. – As officially announced on Tuesday (Nov. 8) by the NAIA National Office, the Concordia University Cross Country program has qualified its entire women’s team and Camden Sesna individually for the 2022 NAIA Cross Country National Championships. The qualifiers will each make their way to Tallahassee, Fla., next week for the national meet. Among current Bulldogs, Sesna, Kylahn Freiberg, Rylee Haecker and Amie Martin possess previous experience at the national meet.
Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads turned in GPAC team placements of second on the men’s side and third on the women’s side while in action this past Saturday (Nov. 5) in Jamestown, N.D. Both Concordia squads received votes in the NAIA coaches’ polls released on Monday. The women earned at-large entry into nationals as determined by an oversight committee. The Bulldog women rose as high as No. 17 in the national rankings this fall.
Not only will Freiberg, Haecker, McIntyre and Sesna appear at nationals, they were also recognized as 2022 All-GPAC award winners for finishing in the top 15 at the conference meet. In addition, Calvin Rohde also earned All-GPAC honors while coming up just shy of reaching nationals as an individual qualifier.
In 2021, Beisel traveled Haecker, Rohde and Sesna to the national meet held in Vancouver, Wash. Sesna placed 116th (8k time of 26:54.7), Rohde placed 209th (8k time of 27:40.4) and Haecker placed 120th (19:45.8). The 2019 Concordia women’s team won the GPAC championship and then placed 12th at the national meet. Freiberg ran the 5k in 18:42.4 at the 2019 national championships and placed 33rd, just missing All-America honors. The women’s program will be looking to earn an NAIA top 25 finish for the 20th time since 1994.
The 2022 NAIA Cross Country National Championships will unfold on Friday, Nov. 18 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. The men’s race is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. local time in Florida. The women will follow at 9:30 a.m. ET. For more information on the national meet, visit the NAIA website HERE.
2022 All-GPAC Honorees
Kylahn Freiberg | Nampa, Idaho
* 2022 National Qualifier *
-Two-time All-GPAC XC (2019, 2022)
· Augustana Twilight: 18:50.33 (28th/313)
· Greeno/Dirksen Invite: 19:05.2 (63rd/308)
· Dean White Invite: 19:43.94 (2nd/61)
· Dordt Classic: 18:41.07 (11th/153)
· Mount Marty Invite: DNR
· GPAC Championships: 19:11.51 (8th/95)
Rylee Haecker | Davenport, Neb.
* 2022 National Qualifier *
-Two-time All-GPAC XC (2021, 2022)
· Augustana Twilight: 19:07.82 (42nd/313)
· Greeno/Dirksen Invite: 19:40.7 (98th/308)
· Dean White Invite: DNR
· Dordt Classic: 18:30.35 (8th/153)
· Mount Marty Invite: 18:48.75 (6th/148)
· GPAC Championships: 19:40.36 (15th/95)
Julie McIntyre | Chicago, Ill.
* 2022 NAIA National Qualifier *
· Augustana Twilight: 19:51.47 (86th/313)
· Greeno/Dirksen Invite: 19:44.9 (104th/308)
· Dean White Invite: DNR
· Dordt Classic: 19:19.26 (20th/153)
· Mount Marty Invite: 19:35.08 (20th/148)
· GPAC Championships: 19:33.86 (14th/95)
Calvin Rohde | Reed City, Mich.
-Two-time All-GPAC XC (2021, 2022)
· Augustana Twilight: 20:37.71 (61st/323) *4 mile*
· Greeno/Dirksen Invite: 25:37.4 (53rd/318)
· Dean White Invite: 26:26.46 (3rd/24)
· Dordt Classic: 25:06.86 (13th/164)
· Mount Marty Invite: 25:30.40 (8th/145)
· GPAC Championships: 26:21.70 (14th/84)
Camden Sesna | Kearney, Neb.
* 2022 NAIA National Qualifier *
-Two-time All-GPAC XC (2021, 2022)
· Augustana Twilight: 20:19.33 (36th/323) *4 mile*
· Greeno/Dirksen Invite: 25:22.3 (42nd/318)
· Dean White Invite: 25:58.52 (1st/24)
· Dordt Classic: 24:46.84 (7th/164)
· Mount Marty Invite: 25:46.67 (13th/145)
· GPAC Championships: 25:46.15 (5th/84)