MEN
Head Coach: Matt Beisel (9th season)
2023 Finish: 3rd in GPAC
Key Returners (from 2023 GPAC meet): Westley Determan; Jack Ellis; Thomas Gorline; Charlie Hayden; Trevor Kuncl; Aidan Limback; Nathan Pennekamp; Trey Robertson; Adric Schmitz.
Key Loss: Calvin Rohde.
2023 GPAC All-Conference: Calvin Rohde (6th).
Men’s Outlook
Balance and depth are apt descriptors for Concordia Men’s Cross Country heading into the 2024 campaign. Yes, the Bulldogs said goodbye to a star in national qualifier Calvin Rohde (2024 graduate), but nine of the 10 runners they entered into the 2023 GPAC Championships have returned to the roster this fall. In response, Concordia checked in at No. 3 in the conference’s preseason ratings. For a program that has ascended in recent years, there’s belief that this could be a fall of great achievement.
Head Coach Matt Beisel enters his ninth season as head coach of his alma mater. The men’s program appears to be as well-positioned as any time since Beisel began his tenure in 2016.
“It’s my ninth year here and it’s the deepest and strongest men’s squad that we’ve had in my time,” Beisel said. “It’s a lot of fun to think about. The guys have worked really hard for several years to build a deep bond and unity of purpose. Even though we lose Calvin and the impact he had as a person and runner, we bring back really good depth. They all had really good track seasons and made improvements that predict things might be even better in cross country. Track times don’t necessarily translate to cross country, but I’m feeling good about it. Then we bring in a great freshman class. Out of the seven guys we’ve got, there are three or four who I think are ready to roll from a developmental standpoint. That’s going to be fun.”
The depth is evident from a simple analysis of the 2023 GPAC Championships that saw the Bulldogs place third. Individually, eight Concordia competitors placed between 16th and 42nd as part of a tightly bunched group. All of those runners are back on campus as the Bulldogs got preseason training underway on Aug. 20. Now sophomore Trey Robertson narrowly missed out on an All-GPAC award while finishing 16th at the conference meet. Robertson is the leader of a large sophomore class with 12 in number.
The trends in recent years have been positive for Concordia, which also placed second in the GPAC in 2022. Rohde represented the program at last season’s national meet as an individual. The standing goal for the program is to qualify the team for nationals, a feat that last occurred in 2013. In addition, the program’s most recent conference championship came in 2012. It’s been an exceedingly difficult task to knock Dordt off its throne, and rival Doane boasts a strong program of its own.
As a rallying cry this preseason, the Bulldogs are “embracing the suck.” The toll that comes from logging heavy mileage isn’t easy, but it’s necessary for Concordia to get to where it wants to go.
Says Beisel of the team’s theme, “On the guys’ side, it’s ‘embrace the suck.’ What they’re saying is – what we do is really hard. It is sometimes a thankless thing. You’re going out there and you’re sacrificing. It’s being in a mindset, saying, ‘We love this. This is where we want to be. This is who we are.’ If anyone’s going to get through the suck, it’s going to be us, and we’re going to come out victorious. They want to grow that close team connection where they know they care about each other and they’re going to find that strength when the going gets tough.”
Explains senior Nathan Pennekamp, “Our scripture reference for ‘embrace the suck’ is Romans 8:18. Cross country is not an easy sport. It’s probably one of the more physically demanding sports. It’s not always fun, it’s not always easy and many days you come in and know you’re going to have to give every bit of your physical and mental effort. We’re deciding we’re not going to shy away from that. We’re not going to let negative thoughts about running be something that brings us down. We’re going to embrace it and we’re going to be gritty and push each other to work hard. We’re going to embrace the hard parts of running, accept that and let it be something that pushes us forward.”
There were positive developments during the 2024 indoor and outdoor track seasons for the distance crew. A flurry of Bulldogs wrapped up the 2023-24 athletic year by earning GPAC outdoor all-conference placements, including Westley Determan (steeplechase), Jack Ellis (10,000 meters), Thomas Gorline (10,000 meters), Trevor Kuncl (1,500 meters), Pennekamp (steeplechase) and Robertson (5,000 meters). In addition, Luke Hammang was a national qualifier in the racewalk.
At the ’23 GPAC cross country meet, Robertson, Ellis, Determan, Aidan Limback, Adric Schmitz, Kuncl and Pennekamp each completed the 8k race within roughly a minute of each other. That type of pack running could also be a hallmark of the ’24 squad. How much can that pack move up amongst its GPAC rivals? That question will have to wait until November when the league convenes at Mahoney State Park.
“We certainly need depth in case things happen,” Pennekamp said. “Injuries happen. Sometimes it’s just not your day, so you need people you can depend on past your top five or top seven who can step in and fill those shoes. There are a lot of really high performing schools in our conference, so you need some grit and tenacity to keep up with them. We have a big pack that tends to stay together. If we can get that pack to move up, that’s going to be huge for us to have another good season this year.”
Seven freshmen have been welcomed into this year’s bunch, which also includes 12 sophomores, four juniors and six seniors. Pennekamp is joined in the senior class by Ellis, Gorline, Charlie Hayden, Evan Schmidt and Jackson Smith.
The complete schedule for the 2024 season can be found HERE. The GPAC Championships (Nov. 9) will be held at Mahoney State Park in Ashland, Neb., and the 2024 NAIA Cross Country National Championships (Nov. 22) will move to Columbia, Mo.
WOMEN
Head Coach: Matt Beisel (9th season)
2023 Finishes: 2nd in GPAC; 18th in NAIA
Key Returners (from 2023 GPAC meet): Claire Beikmann; Hannah Beintema; Keegan Beisel; Rhaya Kaschinske; Jaiden Tweton; Alayna Vargas.
Key Losses: Kylahn Freiberg; Keeli Green (track only); Rylee Haecker; Julie McIntyre.
2023 GPAC All-Conference: Julie McIntyre (2nd); Keeli Green (3rd); Kylahn Freiberg (7th); Hannah Beintema (13th).
2023 NAIA All-American: Kylahn Freiberg.
Women’s Outlook
Fresh off a top-20 NAIA national finish in 2023, Concordia Women’s Cross Country returns to the trails this fall prepared to showcase a new-look squad. The Bulldogs will turn to seniors such as Rhaya Kaschinske to provide leadership after standouts Kylahn Freiberg, Rylee Haecker and Julie McIntyre graduated and moved on. Despite the departures, a lot is expected of Concordia, which landed at No. 2 in the 2024 GPAC preseason ratings and at No. 20 in the NAIA preseason national poll.
Freiberg, Haecker and McIntyre helped the Bulldog women’s 4x800-meter relay claim an NAIA indoor national title in 2024. That trio won’t be easily replaced, but Head Coach Matt Beisel relishes the opportunity to develop the next top runners to fill that void.
“I’m feeling really pumped about what we’ve got,” said Beisel, who enters his ninth season as head coach. “It is going to be a completely different look because we did graduate a number of huge impact seniors that helped us win a national title in the 4x8. That’s okay because the girls we have returning are very talented. These are tough, tough women. They have such a tough, gritty mindset. I think that’s something that’s really going to work in our favor. We lose someone like Kylahn or Julie, but I think these girls are ready to develop into that. They’re going to fight hard. We have some great new girls coming on board and we have some athletes who were injured during track season who are going to be impact players as well.”
Under Beisel, the women’s program has placed in the top four of the conference in five of the past six years with a GPAC title coming in 2019 and a runner-up placement occurring in 2023. The overall power and depth of the Concordia women’s cross country and track programs was made evident in their final 2023-24 No. 5 ranking in the USTFCCCA program standings. In other words, there’s a positive, winning Christian culture here that never graduates. While there are the aforementioned key losses, the Bulldogs bring back six runners who competed at the 2023 GPAC Championships, including Kaschinske and All-GPAC award winner Hannah Beintema.
A junior from Bettendorf, Iowa, Beintema ran a 6k time of 22:32.4 at the conference meet and placed 13th overall. The list of returnees continues with junior Keegan Beisel (17th in the GPAC), sophomore Alayna Vargas (28th in the GPAC), Kaschinske (29th in the GPAC), senior Jaiden Tweton (63rd in the GPAC) and sophomore Claire Beikmann (79th in the GPAC). The senior class also features Mickey Curl, Ellie Jander, Bella Marchisio, Katelyn Nix and Courtney Wright.
Said Kaschinske, “I feel like we had some pretty strong leaders last year. Without Kylahn, Julie and Rylee, and the other seniors, it’s definitely going to be some big shoes to fill, both with those positions (in the lineup) and with the leadership they brought. I think we do a really good job of encouraging everybody to be one team and not separate into different groups. We’re doing a good job of building unity, which is our theme for this year. It’s good to already see that in practice. Running is just a small part of it. We’re looking out for everybody all the time.”
The idea of unity through humility guides the focus of Concordia this preseason. There’s an emphasis on the process it will take to earn another lofty GPAC finish. Everyone has a role in that, regardless of who emerges as the team’s top runners.
As Beisel explains, “For our women’s team, unity is a big deal. That chemistry is so important. It’s so easy to think about how I stack up against this person on my team instead of having a healthy competition. Our women want to continue to build that piece where they are all in it together and unified. Christ gives each of us value. We’re not defined by who we are as runners. If we focus on loving and caring for each other and being happy for each other, really good things are going to happen.”
There are four freshmen who have joined a roster that numbers 26 athletes strong. There certainly will be healthy competition throughout the fall as a clearer picture emerges of just how competitive the Bulldogs can be within the GPAC. The likes of Beintema, Beisel, Vargas and Kaschinske have already shown they can push for spots in or near all-conference territory (top 15). In addition, Beisel believes that the Nos. 5 through 10 returners are ready to step up their game and are capable of running the 6k in the 23-minute range.
The season opening Augustana Twilight on Sept. 6 will provide a measuring stick as Concordia goes up against opponents from many levels of college cross country. As of the preseason, the Bulldogs are still getting a feel for what they will look like come September.
Says Kaschinske, “A big goal for us is to see how high we can get in the GPAC conference meet. It would be great to come in first, but we just really want to be competitive and, above all else, we want to be good teammates. We want to build each other up and continue working together.”
Added Beisel, “In any sport in the GPAC, top three is really good. We’re never satisfied with third and we’re never satisfied with second. We want to win championships, and we’re doing everything we can to get there. I do think our men and women can be top-three and potentially top-two teams. You never know what’s going to happen. We’re just going to take care of our own business.”
The complete schedule for the 2024 season can be found HERE. The GPAC Championships (Nov. 9) will be held at Mahoney State Park in Ashland, Neb., and the 2024 NAIA Cross Country National Championships (Nov. 22) will move to Columbia, Mo.