2023 NAIA Cross Country Scholar-Athletes: Men | Women
SEWARD, Neb. – A group of 26 Bulldogs represented the Concordia University Cross Country programs with 2023 Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete recognition, as announced by the NAIA on Thursday (Nov. 16). Seventeen of the Bulldog honorees are repeat award winners from the 2022-23 academic year. The full list of Concordia honorees can be found below.
The 2023 list of cross country honorees nationally includes 626 women’s student-athletes and 491 men’s student-athletes. In order to be nominated by an institution’s head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, must appear on the eligibility certificate for the sport and have attended one full year at said institution.
Under Head Coach Matt Beisel, the Concordia cross country and track programs have excelled in all areas of what it means to be a Bulldog. That success has carried into the classroom and onto the running trails. As of the Scholar-Athlete announcement, Beisel and a group of Bulldogs had arrived in Vancouver, Wash., for the 2023 NAIA Cross Country National Championships, set to take place on Friday (Nov. 17) morning. Concordia qualified the women’s team and Calvin Rohde as an individual.
Concordia University ranks as the NAIA’s all-time leader in number of Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes with 2,322 entering the 2023-24 academic year. The school record for number of Scholar-Athletes in one academic year is 226 achieved in 2019-20. Concordia has been a regular national leader for both Scholar-Athletes and Scholar-Teams.
2023 Concordia Cross Country Scholar-Athletes
MEN
· Jack Ellis (Bend, Ore.)
· Thomas Gorline (St. Louis, Mo.)
· Charles Hayden (Elkhorn, Neb.)
· Trevor Kuncl (Mullen, Neb.
· Hudson Opp (Lincoln, Neb.)
· Nathan Pennekamp (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
· Calvin Rohde (Reed City, Mich.)
· Logan Walgate (St. Charles, Mo.)
· Micah Willweber (Kailua, Hawaii)
WOMEN
· Rachel Ada (DeSoto, Kan.)
· Caitlyn Adams (Beaver Crossing, Neb.)
· Hannah Beintema (Bettendorf, Iowa)
· Keegan Beisel (Seward, Neb.)
· Mikayla Curl (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
· Lauren Dawson (Cedar Falls, Iowa)
· Kylahn Freiberg (Nampa, Idaho)
· Peyton Gissler (Malcolm, Neb.)
· Rylee Haecker (Davenport, Neb.)
· Ellie Jander (St. Louis, Mo.)
· Rhaya Kaschinske (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
· Alyssa Marotz (Norfolk, Neb.)
· Julie McIntyre (Chicago, Ill.)
· Katelyn Nix (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
· Grace Pennekamp (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
· Aubrey Rathke (Fremont, Neb.)
· Jaiden Tweton (Ashland, Neb.)