NAIA Women’s Cross Country Website
SEWARD, Neb. – The 19th-ranked Concordia University women’s cross country team has arrived in the state of Washington in preparation for the 2019 NAIA Cross Country National Championships. The GPAC champions will be off and running in the 5k at 11:30 a.m. PST / 1:30 p.m. CST on Friday. The location of the national meet will be Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash., with the Cascade Collegiate Conference serving as the host.
For the most immediate race results on Friday, stay tuned to the Athletic Timing results page HERE. Following the race, the NAIA will have a free, live stream of the awards ceremony HERE.
Head coach Matt Beisel’s nationals roster includes the following individuals:
- Junior Sydney Clark (Clive, Iowa) | GPAC finish: 12th (19:19.74)
- Junior Lydia Cook (Perryvill, Mo.) | GPAC finish: 16th (19:28.41)
- Sophomore Abi DeLoach (Kearney, Neb.) | GPAC finish: 18th (19:33.87)
- Junior Alyssa Fye (Randolph, Neb.) | GPAC finish: 4th (18:52.32)
- Freshman Kylahn Heritage (Nampa, Idaho) | GPAC finish: 2nd (18:30.48)
- Senior Rebekah Hinrichs (Gladstone, Mo.) | GPAC finish: 5th (18:55.03)
- Freshman Amie Martin (Arnold, Mo.) | GPAC finish: 25th (19:49.40)
- Senior Hannah Rebmann (Springfield, Mo.) | GPAC finish: 20th (19:39.22)
Notes about Concordia women’s cross country …
- Won its first GPAC championship since 2005.
- Has qualified a team for the national championships for the first time since 2011.
- Matt Beisel was the first Concordia cross country coach to win a GPAC Coach of the Year award since Kregg Einspahr (men’s coach of the year) in 2012. Einspahr garnered seven GPAC Cross Country Coach of the Year honors during his impressive tenure.
- While the Bulldogs had not qualified a team for nationals since 2011, they had at least one individual qualifier each year from 2015 through 2018:
- 2015 – Emily Deschaine / Kim Wood
- 2016 – Emily Deschaine
- 2017 – Emily Deschaine
- 2018 – Taylor Grove
- Its most recent All-American was Sarah Kortze in 2012 when she placed 14th nationally by clocking in at 18:19 in the 5k race. That year’s meet also took place in Vancouver, Wash.
- From 1994 through 2009, Concordia women’s cross country placed inside the top 20 nationally each season. The program experienced particularly astounding success from 2000 through 2004 when it placed as the national runner up three out of four years. The 2004 squad rose all the way to No. 1 in the NAIA national poll.