Kortze, Schwalenberg and Sievert earn All-GPAC honors

Concordia University placed three runners on the 2011 GPAC All-Conference Teams which were released on Thursday.  Sarah Kortze and Jena Schwalenberg were recognized for the Bulldog women, and Ben Sievert was the lone honoree from the Bulldog men’s squad. 

Kortze and Schwalenberg led the way at the GPAC Championships, as Concordia finished second to earn the GPAC’s automatic bid to the NAIA National Meet.  Kortze (Rockford, Ill.) finished fourth overall with a time of 18:45.17.  Schwalenberg (Columbus, Neb.) was sixth with a time of 18:49.75.  Besides earning All-Conference honors, Kortze and Schwalenberg also received GPAC Runner-of-the-Week recognition this season.  The duo will lead the Bulldogs to the NAIA National Meet for the 17th time in the past 18 years. 

On the men’s side, Sievert (Frankenmuth, Mich.) has enjoyed an impressive and consistent freshman season for the Bulldogs.  He came on strong late in the season, finishing first at the Mount Marty Invite and fourth at the GPAC Championships last weekend.  The Bulldogs finished third in the team competition at the GPAC Championships and were unable to qualify for this year’s National Meet.  However, Sievert was one of five individual runners from the GPAC to be selected for Nationals. 

The 2011 NAIA National Championships will be held on November 19 in Vancouver, Washington.