2006 - Cross Country schedule
SEPTEMBER | ||
| Sept. 9 | Blue-White Intrasquad | Seward, Neb |
| Sept. 16 | Woody Greeno Invitational | Lincoln, Neb. |
| Sept. 23 | Griak Invitational | St. Paul, Minn. |
| Sept. 30 | Hastings Short Course | Hastings, Neb. |
OCTOBER | ||
| Oct. 7 | Concordia Invitational | Seward, Neb |
| Oct. 14 | Mount Marty Invitational | Yankton, S.D. |
| Oct. 28 | GPAC Championships | Blair, Neb. |
NOVEMBER | ||
| Nov. 4 | NAIA Region III Meet | Sioux Falls, S.D. |
| Nov. 18 | NAIA National Meet | Louisville, Ky. |
All Home Meets in BOLD
2006 - Cross Country roster
Men:
| Name | Year | Hometown | High School |
| Zach Baedke | Fr. | Fremont, Neb. | Fremont |
| Keegan Bloomfield | Fr. | Blair, Neb. | Blair |
| Craig Dannehl | So. | Bertrand, Neb. | Bertrand |
| Chris Dehning | So. | McAllen, Texas | Memorial |
| Nathan Dreher | So. | Brighton, Colo. | Fort Lupton |
| Bryan Felker | So. | O'Neill, Neb. | O'Neill |
| David Goeglein | Fr. | Kansas City, Mo. | KC Lutheran |
| Zane Grabau | Fr. | Waterville, Min.. | Waterville-Elysian-Morris |
| Jon Grotefendt | Fr. | Marine, Ill. | Metro East Lutheran |
| Ben Harms | So. | Sioux Falls, S.D. | Washington |
| Kyle Johnson | Sr. | O'Neill, Neb. | O'Neill |
| Kurt Jostes | St. | Norfolk, Neb. | Norfolk |
| Zach Meineke | Fr. | Denver, Colo. | Denver Lutheran |
| Joshua Meyer | Fr. | Seward, Neb. | Seward |
| Chris Mizel | Sr. | Rock Springs, Wyo. | Rock Springs |
| Kyle Ross | Fr. | Orange, Calif. | Lutheran High |
| Jake Schmidt | St. | Hickman, Neb. | Norris |
| Scott Schwalenberg | Fr. | Columbus, Neb. | Columbus |
| Thomas Stollee | So. | Perham, Minn. | |
| Lucas Tanney | Jr. | Davenport, Iowa | Christ Lutheran |
| Chris Tegtmeier | Fr. | Fairbury, Neb. | Faairbury |
| Luka Thor | So. | Lincoln, Neb. | Lincoln Northeast |
| Jordan Tucker | So. | Omaha, Neb. | Millard West |
| Jeff Westover | So. | Wahoo, Neb. | Wahoo |
| Andrew Yeager | Jr. | McCook, Neb. | McCook |
Women:
| Name | Year | Hometown | High School |
| MaryLou Andrews | Fr. | Aurora, Neb. | Aurora |
| Mattie Clark | Jr. | Ord, Neb. | Ord |
| Kayla Engel | So. | Columbus, Colo. | Scotus |
| Taylor Felix | Fr. | Seward, Neb. | Seward |
| Hannah Ferry | Fr. | Milwaukee, Wis. | Milwaukee Lutheran |
| Renae Fowler | So. | Ainsworth, Neb. | Ainsworth |
| Michelle Greidl | So. | Tomball, Texas | Concordia Lutheran |
| Emily Hansen | Fr. | Hickory, N.C. | St. Stephens |
| Janie Hansen | Sr. | Norfolk, Neb. | Norfolk |
| Emly Hartmann | Jr. | Seward, Neb. | Seward |
| Ann Hershberger | Fr. | Superior, Neb. | Superior |
| Angela Matthews | Sr. | Westland, Mich. | Westland Lutheran |
| Rebecca Mol | Fr. | Flint, Mich. | Kearsley |
| Renae Probanz | Fr. | Hastings, Neb. | Hastings |
| Megan Polson | So. | Centennial, Colo.. | Denver Lutheran |
| Hilary Powell | Sr. | Columbus, Neb. | Columbus |
| Samantha Raffety | So. | Minden, Neb. | Minden |
| Melissa Ruegg | Sr. | St. Peters, Mo. | Lutheran High |
| Katie Swanson | So. | Columbus, Neb. | Scotus |
| Kayla Thole | Sr. | Perryville, Mo. | Perryville |
| Jacque Wiseman | So. | LaGrande, Ore. | LaGrande |
2006 - Cross Country coaching staff
Head coach: Kregg Einspahr
Assistant coach: Suzanne Weeder-Einspahr
Thor headlines All-GPAC team
The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) has released the 2006 all-conference cross country honors. Five Bulldog runners were named GPAC Cross Country All-Conference selections.
In addition, sophomore Luka Thor was named the 2006 Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Men’s Cross Country Runner-of-the-Year. Thor won the conference meet with a time of 25:42.11 on the 8k course. Thor went on to win the NAIA Region III title the next weekend, out distancing the competition by almost 20 seconds.
Individually for the women’s team two runners earned all-conference honors including Angela Matthews who finished in sixth place at the GPAC meet. Kayla Engelalso garnered accolades for her ninth place finish. As a team the Bulldogs finished as runner up.
On the men’s side three members of the Bulldog’s third place team earned honors for their performances. Thor headlines those earning honors for Concordia. Others earning All-GPAC honors included a pair of freshman, Zach Meineke and David Goeglein. Meineke finished the conference meet in 11th place while Goeglein rounded out the top 15.
Both Bulldog teams are in the top 15 in the most recent NAIA polls as the women made a substantial jump from No. 23 to No. 14. The men moved up one spot to No. 13.
Both squads qualify for NAIA National Championships
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the at-large qualifiers for the 2006 NAIA Cross Country National Championships. Both the Concordia University, Nebraska men’s and women’s teams have qualified for the NAIA National Championships.
The champions of each of the14 NAIA regions automatically qualify for the national championship meet, the next highest 14 rated teams also qualify for the meet.
The Concordia women’s team has had 12 consecutive top 20 team finishes at the NAIA National Championships dating back to 1994. During the run the Bulldogs were runner-up four times, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004. Last year the women placed sixth as a team.
According to the NAIA the Bulldog women’s program is the fifth winningest among current members, trailing Simon Fraser University, Berry College, Malone College and Westmont College. The same publication ranks Concordia as the 10th winningest program all-time in the NAIA.
On the men’s side the Bulldogs look to extend their streak of five consecutive top 20 finishes. The highest finish for the Concordia men came in 2002 as they took sixth place. In the past 10 years the men have had eight top 20 performances.
In addition, sophomore Luka Thor is looking to earn All-America honors for the second straight time. Last year he finished sixth at the meet. Thor was recently named the 2006 Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Men’s Cross Country Runner-of-the-Year. He won the conference meet with a time of 25:42.11 and the NAIA Region III title the next weekend, outdistancing the competition by almost 20 seconds.
Both Bulldog teams are in the top 15 in the final NAIA polls as the women made a substantial jump from No. 23 to No. 14. The men moved up one spot to No. 13.
Thor an All-American for second straight year
For the second consecutive year Luka Thor earned All-American honors at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships. Thor led the men’s squad to a 24th place finish while the women’s team was 20th.
“Luka had a tremendous finish to an outstanding season,” said Head Coach Dr. Kregg Einspahr. “I have always felt that it is difficult to repeat as an All-American at the cross country national championships for a variety of reasons. “
The 2006 NAIA Cross Country National Championships, ran on Saturday Nov. 18, were held at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. Simon Fraser (73) took the women’s team title while Virginia Intermont (67) won the men’s championship.
The top 30 men’s and women’s finishers at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships earn All-America status.
For the women it marks the 13th consecutive top 20 team finish at the NAIA National Championships dating back to 1994. During the run the Bulldogs were runner-up four times, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004.
“We were pleased to have our women finish in the top 20 for the 13th consecutive year,” added Einspahr. “Such a tradition speaks to the tremendous group of women, their work ethic and attitudes, that have been part of our running program over the years.”
Senior Angela Matthews completed the course in a time of 19:32.70, 96th overall, 65th among runners competing with a team, to pace the Bulldogs. The field consisted of 268 runners. The next best finisher for Concordia was Jacque Wiseman (119th overall).
Thor’s time of 25:06.15 on the 8k course was good enough for 13th place and was just four seconds off of placing in the top 10 for a second straight year. Now a two-time cross country All-American, Thor finished sixth place in 2005. David Cheromei of Virginia Intermont won the race with a time of 24:05.15.
We are happy to be a top 25 team at the NAIA. Particularly considering that two of our top five runners in Zach Meineke and Kurt Jostes have never run cross country before,” said Einpshar.” This was a very new experience for them.”
Freshman Zach Meineke was the next to cross the finish line for the Bulldogs taking 119th (26:45.15). The men’s race featured 255 runners.
“Overall I was very pleased to have a chance for these two young teams to experience the national championships,” Einpahr said. “This experience should help tremendously as we look toward future years.”