SEWARD, Neb. – After five regular season meets, the Concordia University, Nebraska Cross Country programs shifted their attention to the 2026 GPAC Cross Country Championships. This year’s conference meet will take place at the Dordt Cross Country Course in Sioux Center, Iowa, a location that also hosted the 2019 GPAC Championships. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads are aiming to place within the top three of the conference and to state their cases for potential national tournament bids. Saturday’s meet will get started at 10:45 a.m. CT.
Meet Info – 2026 GPAC Cross Country Championships
--Saturday, Nov. 7 | Men’s 8k – 10:45 a.m., Women’s 6k – 11:30 a.m.
--Dordt Cross Country Course | Sioux Center, Iowa
--Results: Black Squirrel Timing
--Live Video: GPAC Network
--Meet Info: GPAC Website
As part of the 2026 regular season, the Bulldogs competed in five meets while frequently rubbing elbows with strong NCAA Division II and NAIA opposition. On the men’s side, Concordia earned place finishes of sixth out of 33 at the Augustana Twilight, 11th out of 19 at the Augustana Invite, third out of eight at the Briar Cliff Invite, fifth out of 13 at the Holiday Inn Express Classic and 12th out of 27 at the Blazing Tiger Classic. Meanwhile, the women have emerged with place finishes of 10th out of 28 at the Augustana Twilight, 10th out of 20 at the Augustana Invite, third out of nine at the Briar Cliff Invite, sixth out of 13 at the Holiday Inn Express Classic and 11th out of 28 at the Blazing Tiger Classic.
Entering this Saturday’s GPAC Championships, conference teams included in the latest national ratings are No. 17 Dordt and RV Doane on the men’s side and No. 1 Dordt, No. 25 Doane and RV College of Saint Mary on the women’s side. The USTFCCCA (coaches organization) has adopted a formula for ranking cross country teams in all collegiate divisions. Among NAIA teams, the USTFCCCA’s Cross Country Ratings Index (XCRI) shows the Bulldogs at No. 30 for women and at No. 39 for men. The complete XCRI can be found HERE.
Of the 20 Bulldogs entered into the 2026 GPAC Championships, 13 ran at the 2025 conference meet. The holdovers on the women’s side are Izzi Brumbaugh, Lydia Edmonds, Rachel Harris, Macee Ripke, Ashley Robertson and Annaka Schlachter. The women will feature four freshmen in Sioux Center: Hope Beck, Katie Johnsen, Rachel Prince and Amanda Smith. A native of Elk River, Minn., Beck was Concordia’s top finisher at all five regular season meets. Meanwhile, the returning conference competitors on the men’s side are Abram Chance, Vaughn Hendrickson, Aidan Limback, Trey Robertson, Justin Sherman, Keith Siek and Ransom Watts. A junior from Fort Wayne, Ind., Hendrickson won the individual GPAC title as a freshman in 2024. Hendrickson, Limback and Robertson all garnered all-conference accolades last season while placing inside the top 15 at the GPAC Championships.
Back on Oct. 7, Beck and Hendrickson were named GPAC Runners of the Week, following their performances at the Briar Cliff Invite. Top Concordia performances for each meet this season are listed below. While Beck led the Bulldogs on the women’s side at every meet, the men’s team had three different individuals finish atop the team’s lineup this fall.
Top individuals by meet, 2026 (women):
Augustana Twilight: Hope Beck – 18:42.3 (5K); 41st place
Augustana Invite: Hope Beck – 22:07.1 (6K); 43rd place
Briar Cliff Invite: Hope Beck – 23:32.8 (6K); 6th place
Holiday Inn Express Classic: Hope Beck – 23:03.5 (6K); 19th place
Blazing Tiger Classic: Hope Beck – 23:32.3 (6K); 41st place
Top individuals by meet, 2026 (men):
Augustana Twilight: Trey Robertson – 15:42.1 (5K); 45th place
Augustana Invite: Aidan Limback – 25:25.9 (8K); 50th place
Briar Cliff Invite: Vaughn Hendrickson – 26:19.5 (8K); 7th place
Holiday Inn Express Classic: Vaughn Hendrickson – 25:32.6 (8K); 8th place
Blazing Tiger Classic: Trey Robertson – 25:44.6 (8K); 25th place
In the history of Concordia Cross Country, the program has claimed a combined 14 team conference championships and 26 individual conference titles. Prior to Hendrickson in 2024, the most recent individual GPAC champions were Sarah Kortze (2012) for the women and Colin Morrissey (2012) for the men. The 2009 season marked the most recent time the Bulldogs sent their men’s and women’s teams to the national meet in the same year. During Beisel’s tenure (2016-present), the women’s team celebrated a conference championship in 2019 and runner-up team finishes were claimed by the men in 2022 and by the women in 2023. The program has had an All-American in three straight years thanks to Kylahn Freiberg in 2023, Hendrickson in 2024 and Keeli Green in 2025.
Official qualifiers for the 2026 NAIA Cross Country National Championships will be announced once all conference meets have concluded. The national meet is set to be held at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash., Nov. 20. More details on the meet can be found via the NAIA website HERE.
2026 Concordia GPAC Championship Rosters
Women (6K PR)
Hope Beck (22:07.1)
Izzi Brumbaugh (23:59.7)
Lydia Edmonds (24:06.9)
Rachel Harris (24:06.0)
Katie Johnsen (23:28.4)
Rachel Prince (23:06.8)
Macee Ripke (23:38.2)
Ashley Robertson (22:43.4)
Annaka Schlachter (23:09.9)
Amanda Smith (23:12.8)
Alternate – Faith Jipp (24:08.7)
Men (8K PR)
Hector Bonilla (26:50.9)
Mark Bultemeier (26:41.1)
Abram Chance (26:10.5)
Nolan Engel (26:57.4)
Vaughn Hendrickson (24:37.2)
Aidan Limback (25:51.4)
Trey Robertson (24:49.8)
Justin Sherman (26:22.7)
Keith Siek (26:18.9)
Ransom Watts (26:11.4)
Alternate – Jessup Pederson (26:54.0)
Concordia Cross Country History
All-time team conference championships
Men (8): 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1997, 2004, 2009, 2012 (titles in 1969 and 1970 were won in the Tri-State Conference)
Women (6): 1995, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2019
All-time individual conference champions
Men (19)
Dan Cloeter (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973)
Dave Cloeter (1975)
Kregg Einspahr (1979, 1980, 1981)
Brandon Seifert (1997, 1998, 1999)
Andrew Walquist (2003, 2004)
Luka Thor (2006)
Zach Meineke (2008, 2009)
Dana Schmidt (2010)
Colin Morrissey (2012)
Vaughn Hendrickson (2024)
Women (7)
Sharon Holthaus (1980)
Amy Luft (1997)
Stacey Hain (1998)
Molly Engel (2002, 2003, 2004)
Sarah Kortze (2012)