NAIA National Championships Results
COLUMBIA, Mo. – On the heels of winning the GPAC individual championship, freshman Vaughn Hendrickson blazed to All-America honors on Friday (Nov. 22) at the 2024 NAIA Cross Country National Championships. Hendrickson was joined at the national meet by Concordia University, Nebraska Cross Country teammates Keegan Beisel and Trey Robertson as individual qualifiers. Hendrickson ran a personal best 8k time while pacing the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo., where more than 325 men and 325 women convened for competition. Weather conditions were chilly and windy in Columbia.
The Fort Wayne, Ind., native Hendrickson began the day in impressive fashion while adding another layer to his impressive first collegiate cross country season.
Said Head Coach Matt Beisel, “I wasn’t surprised, but it was not a guarantee. If Vaughn and Trey just went out and ran the way they’ve been running all season, both of them had a shot to be top 40. I think Trey would have been right there in the mix, he just wasn’t feeling the best. They both moved into a top 30 position right off the bat. Trey was running with Vaughn for quite a while. At a certain point, Vaughn was able to keep hammering the pace. Trey still ran the third best time of his life. Vaughn gave it his all and made it up on the podium. It’s an awesome cap to the season for Vaughn.”
Hendrickson crossed the finish line in a time of 24:37.2 while improving upon his previous personal best 8k time of 24:49.6 that came at the Blazing Tiger Classic. In placing 36th overall, Hendrickson became the Bulldogs’ first men’s cross country All-American since Ben Sievert in 2013. Counting both the men’s and women’s programs, Concordia has come away from the national meet with an All-American in back-to-back years (Kylahn Freiberg placed 16th in 2023). The men’s program has collected 20 total All-America awards in its history. In his approach on Friday, Hendrickson started fast and kept a steady pace that propelled him to an All-America placement.
The meet marked the first nationals experience for both Hendrickson and Robertson. A sophomore from Wallace, Neb., Robertson followed up his GPAC runner-up finish by placing 99th at the 2024 national championships. Robertson clocked a time of 25:09.5, just off his personal best 8k of 24:49.6. At this particular national meet, it took a time of 24:40 to place inside the top 40 for All-America recognition.
The Seward High School alum Keegan Beisel ran at nationals for the third time in her career. Beisel completed the women’s 6k race in 24:11.9, which was a roughly 19-second improvement from her 2023 nationals time in Vancouver, Wash. The meet has taken place a different location in each of Beisel’s three trips to nationals. The 2022 meet was staged in Tallahassee, Fla.
“It was a pretty good race for Keegan. She got out aggressively and was in a good position. Her first mile was at 5:45, which is really fast. She couldn’t hold that pace, but it was a very solid race. I think she would have liked better, but she gave it her all. I’m super proud of her. I know Trey was also disappointed as a competitor. He was dealing with a cold all week, so we knew there was a chance it could slow him down. I’m impressed with how he competed. Getting into the top 100 is a big deal. I’m very happy for all three of them.”
The 2024 NAIA National Championships signaled the end of season. As part of the 2024 campaign, Beisel’s squads recorded GPAC placements of third on the men’s side and fourth on the women’s side. The men’s team narrowly missed out on receiving an at-large bid to the national meet.
In providing some final thoughts on the season, Beisel offered, “Whatever happens, we give glory to God. The relationships that continued to develop on this trip and the team atmosphere that we have fills your heart up as a coach. They went out and gave it everything. I feel good about the season in general. At the same time, when we were sitting at the student-athlete experience with all the other teams, we were talking – next year, let’s get both our teams here. We do lose some seniors for cross country next year but at the same time, we’re returning some really strong kids. Hopefully we can do even better next year.”
Concordia Results – 2024 NAIA National Championships
MEN
36. Vaughn Hendrickson: 24:37.2 (8k)
99. Trey Robertson: 25:09.5 (8k)
WOMEN
248. Keegan Beisel: 24:11.9 (6k)