ROSTER | PDF    -     GPAC Finishes: Women 1st; Men 5th | Women placed 12th at NAIA National Championships

2019 Meet Results

Augustana Twilight Meet (Sept. 6) | Sioux Falls, S.D. | Yankton Trail Park  | Results

Hastings Bronco Stampede (Sept. 14) | Hastings, Neb. | Lake Hastings Park | Results

Dean White Invitational (Sept. 28) | Crete, Neb. | Results

Briar Cliff Invitational (Oct. 5) | North Sioux City, S.D. | Adams Nature Preserve | Results

Mount Marty Invite (Oct. 25) | Fox Run Golf Course | Yankton, S.D. | Results

GPAC Championships (Nov. 9) | Dordt Campus | Sioux Center, Iowa | Results

NAIA National Championships (Nov. 22) | Fort Vancouver, Wash. | National Historic Site | Results

2019 Roster

Men	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Brayden Adams	So.	Omaha, Neb.	Elkhorn HS
Jacob Adams	Fr.	Walled Lake, Mich.	Lutheran HS Westland
Antonio Blaine	Fr.	Golden, Colo.	Faith Christian HS
Owen Dawson	Fr.	Cedar Falls, Iowa	Valley Lutheran HS
Jayden Graham	Jr.	Yutan, Neb.	Yutan HS
Cameron Gray	Jr.	Riverside, Calif.	Woodcrest Christian School
Ricky Herman	So.	Springfield	Central HS
Zachary Johnson	Fr.	Aberdeen, S.D.	Central HS
Michael Leapley	Sr.	Milwaukee, Wis.	Milwaukee Lutheran HS
Wyatt Lehr	So.	Lamar, Colo.	Lamar HS
Jordan Lorenz	Jr.	Gretna, Neb.	Gretna HS
Maccoy Menke	So.	Lawrence, Neb.	Blue Hill HS / University of Nebraska
Ethan Pankow	So.	Milwaukee, Wis.	Milwaukee Lutheran HS
Zach Potratz	Jr.	Seward, Neb.	Seward HS
JP Reynolds	Jr.	Nuevo, Calif.	Woodcrest Christian School
Caleb Roberts	Jr.	Wamego, Kan.	Wamego HS
Patrick Schneeberger	Jr.	Raymore, Mo.	Summit Christian Academy
Camden Sesna	Fr.	Kearney, Neb.	Kearney Catholic HS
Aaron Tidyman	Jr.	Stromsburg, Neb.	Cross County HS
Christian Van Cleave	Jr.	Arvada, Colo.	Jefferson Academy
Christian Watters	Jr.	Panama, Neb.	Norris HS
Cody Williams	Jr.	Saint Peters, Mo.	Lutheran HS
John Woruo	Sr.	Omaha, Neb.	Omaha Benson HS
Nicholas Zadar	Jr.	Boise, Idaho	Timberline HS
Women	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Amiah Akerson	So.	Pennock, Minn.	Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg HS
Ashleigh Baker	So.	Milford, Neb.	Milford Public Schools
Lilly Barrientos	Sr.	El Paso, Texas	Eastwood HS
Maddie Beran	Jr.	Grand Island, Neb.	Grand Island Northwest HS
Alyssa Bierwagen	Jr.	Sioux Falls, S.D.	Roosevelt HS
Emily Boyer	Jr.	Mullen, Neb.	Mullen HS
Alia Brand	So.	Longmont, Colo.	Erie HS
Sydney Clark	Jr.	Clive, Iowa	Des Moines Christian HS
Lydia Cook	Jr.	Perryville, Mo.	Perryville HS
Abi DeLoach	So.	Kearney, Neb.	Kearney HS
Savannah Dietz	Sr.	Denver, Colo.	John F. Kennedy HS
Everett Elder	Jr.	Greeley, Colo.	Roosevelt HS
Alyssa Fye	Jr.	Randolph, Neb.	Randolph HS
Taylor Gipe	Jr.	Scottsbluff, Neb.	Scottsbluff HS
Kylahn Heritage	Fr.	Nampa, Idaho	Melba HS
Rebekah Hinrichs	Sr.	Gladstone, Mo.	Lutheran High School of Kansas City
Lauren Kaliff	Fr.	York, Neb.	York HS
Erin Lindeman	Sr.	Sidney, Neb.	Sidney HS
Amie Martin	Fr.	Arnold, Mo.	Fox C-6 HS
Abigail Meier	So.	Lawrence, Kan.	Lawrence Free State HS
Hannah Mundt	Fr.	Blue Springs, Mo.	The Lutheran HS of Kansas City
Miranda Rathjen	Sr.	Osceola, Neb.	Osceola HS
Mollie Rathjen	Fr.	Osceola, Neb.	Osceola HS
Hannah Rebmann	Sr.	Springfield, Mo.	Kickapoo HS / Pittsburg State University
Katelyn Richardson	Fr.	Chester, Neb.	Thayer Central HS
Rachel Smithley	Sr.	Waldorf, Md.	Home Schooled / Concordia-Chicago
Abigail Staehr	Fr.	Grand Island, Neb.	Heartland Lutheran HS
Grace Thieme	Jr.	Columbia, Mo.	Calvary Lutheran
Bailie Vanarsdall	Fr.	Hershey, Neb.	Hershey HS
Kailey Weichel	So.	Plymouth, Neb.	Tri County HS

 

Concordia women place second, men third at Hastings Invite

September 14, 2019

HASTINGS, Neb. – A week after opening the 2019 season at the Augustana Twilight featuring more than 600 combined men’s and women’s competitors, the Concordia University cross country squads resumed action at the Hastings Bronco Stampede on Saturday (Sept. 14) morning. The Bulldog women made a push for a title and settled for second place among 11 teams. Meanwhile, the men placed third out of 10 squads present at Lake Hastings Park.

Through its first two meets, head coach Matt Beisel’s women’s team has not yet been beaten by an NAIA opponent. NCAA Division II Fort Hays State University (Kan.) swept men’s and women’s first-place claims in Hastings.

“This was a week we needed to work hard through,” Beisel said. “This is a really critical time for putting in some super hard work and I knew we would be fatigued stepping up to the starting line. What I wanted them to do is not worry about times and run as packs, which we have been practicing. They did exactly what I asked and ran very competitive races.”

This time around, a different freshman emerged as the top Concordia female runner. Rookie Kylahn Heritage clocked in at 19:41.82 (third place out of 118 runners) in the 5k race and was just six seconds behind meet champion Aileen Gurrola of Friends University (Kan.). The reigning GPAC Runner of the Week, freshman Amie Martin crossed the finish line in 20:15.44, putting her third among Bulldogs and in ninth place overall. Sandwiched in between the aforementioned freshmen was returning all-conference performer in senior Rebekah Hinrichs (19:54.94).

A week ago, each of Concordia’s top seven runners completed the faster 5k course in Sioux Falls, S.D., in under 20 minutes. The team’s four through seven competitors on Saturday were junior Lydia Cook (20:22.63; 12th), junior Sydney Clark (20:36.36; 17th), senior Miranda Rathjen (20:59.30; 27th) and sophomore Abi DeLoach (21:02.34; 28th). The top 10 Bulldog runners all placed in the top 34 of the overall leaderboard.

Fort Hays State was quite dominant on the men’s side, but Concordia did manage to place two of the top 25 out of the 94 runners that trekked along the 8k course. Fast rising junior Jordan Lorenz took the lead among Bulldogs by finishing in 28:20.09, 20th place overall. Only three NAIA competitors outran Lorenz. He was followed in the Concordia pack by freshman Camden Sesna (28:32.32; 25th), freshman Antonio Blaine (28:53.79; 31st), freshman Owen Dawson (29:07.63; 35th), sophomore Wyatt Lehr (29:35.01; 43rd), junior Patrick Schneeberger (29:42.68; 45th) and sophomore Ethan Pankow (29:43.34; 46th).

Concordia, Hastings and the College of Saint Mary women were the only GPAC schools present at the meet, which had representatives from the NAIA, NCAA Division II and the junior college levels. Said Beisel, “I felt really happy with where we were.”

The Bulldogs will have next week off from competition as they now look forward to the Dean White Invitational hosted by Doane on Saturday, Sept. 28. The race is set to begin at 10 a.m. CT in Crete. Three more meets remain on the schedule prior to the GPAC Championships on Nov. 9.

Bulldogs appear just outside of top 25 in latest NAIA poll

September 19, 2019

SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University women’s cross country team had hoped to make a push for a spot in this week’s NAIA Top 25 Poll on the strength of its early season success. The Bulldogs are close. They checked in just outside of the top 25, as revealed on Thursday (Sept. 19) by the NAIA. Concordia made a big jump in the “receiving votes” category and is currently tied for 27th.

Head coach Matt Beisel’s squad has a goal of reaching the NAIA Cross Country National Championships in November. At least early in the season, the Bulldog women have begun positioning themselves to make that goal a reality. Concordia is currently ranked second in the official GPAC poll.

Behind freshman Amie Martin, the Bulldogs improved their status considerably on the national radar by outrunning all of their NAIA competition, including No. 22 Northwestern, at the Augustana Twilight on Sept. 6. Concordia beat out a total of seven GPAC squads at the season opening meet. It then returned to action last week and placed second at the Bronco Stampede, behind only NCAA Division II Fort Hays State University (Kan.).

The women’s cross country program last qualified the team for the NAIA national championships in 2011. The Bulldogs continue to strive for a top 25 national ranking for the first time since October 2015. The women’s program had an incredible run from 2000 through 2004 with four national runner up finishes in five years. Under Beisel’s direction, both Concordia squads have steadily risen up the conference ladder. Currently, the men are rated sixth in the official GPAC poll.

So far, the women have been topped by Martin at the Augustana Twilight and freshman Kylan Heritage at the Bronco Stampede. Last week in Hastings, Heritage clocked in at 19:41.82 (third place out of 118 runners) in the 5k race and was just six seconds behind meet champion Aileen Gurrola of Friends University (Kan.). Amie Martin crossed the finish line in 20:15.44, putting her third among Bulldogs and in ninth place overall. Sandwiched in between the aforementioned freshmen was returning all-conference performer in senior Rebekah Hinrichs (19:54.94).

Up next is the Dean White Invitational in Crete, Neb., on Saturday, Sept. 28.

Fifty years after final college race, Dr. Bork set for induction

September 26, 2019

To this day, Dr. Ronald Bork remains deeply connected to Concordia University and its athletic teams. The school’s former Dean of the College of Education can’t hide the affection he has for the entire institution. Such affection explains why after roughly 30 years away from Seward, Bork came back in the fall of 2001. It explains why he continues to keep the place and its people near and dear as he enjoys his (sort of) retirement.

One of the striking qualities of Bork is his uncanny ability to recall specific moments, dates and facts. He surely won’t forget this upcoming date – September 27, 2019. He can also tell you exactly what led up to it. Says Bork, “I saw a sign outside Jesse Hall that said, ‘Cross country practice today. Three o’clock. Come to the gym.’ I did. The rest is kind of history.”

That occurrence he describes took place in the fall of 1966 as Bork embarked on his collegiate career. There he found himself a skinny 140-or-so pound kid from the tiny town of Cleghorn in northwest Iowa. Now he finds himself, 53 years later, about to take his place as a member of the Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame. This Friday, September 27, 2019, Bork will stand before the crowd gathered for the induction ceremony and take another trip down memory lane.

Bork smiles while passing along this tidbit: the 50th anniversary of his last college race will arrive in October. Back in the late 1960s, few competitors in the region could match the excellence Bork displayed while regularly galloping distances of two-to-five miles within competition.

“I’m very honored,” Bork said. “Maybe a little bit surprised because it was so long ago. It’s really hard to compare what it was like then to what it’s like now. It’s exciting.”

It will have been worth the wait for Bork, but perhaps he should not have had to wait this long. Just as Bork says, it’s tricky to compare what athletes did back then to what they are doing now. What we do know is that Bork had few equals at his time. In terms of Concordia cross country, Bork was a pioneer. During his college days, he rewrote the school record books by setting new standards in cross country in the three-, four- and five-mile runs and in track in the two- and three-mile races.

Who was the first Bulldog to ever break in under 10 minutes in the two mile? Of course it was Ron Bork, four-time Most Valuable Runner of the Concordia cross country team. Not bad for someone who entered college with “no idea of what I wanted to do.” ‘No idea’ for Bork applied to both his athletic and academic pursuits.

Bork reached the spring of his senior year at Meriden-Cleghorn High School unsure of the next step in his journey. Recalls Bork, “I still didn’t know where I was going to go. I have a younger sister who already decided she was coming to Concordia. She said, ‘You ought to go there.’ I had no idea what I wanted to do. My dad was a farmer. I knew I didn’t really want to farm. I thought, okay, teaching might be okay.”

This was before the days of athletic recruiting at Concordia. Bork had no clue what cross country was all about and Concordia had no way of knowing about the type of student-athlete it was getting. Bork led the Meriden-Cleghorn basketball team in scoring as a senior. He also competed in football and track, but basketball had been the sport he enjoyed most and was what he first hoped to do at Concordia.

But that sign on Jesse Hall, Bork’s freshman dorm, was like a calling from God. Ron, you were born to run – and run he did. Bork almost always finished in the top five or 10 in his races and broke numerous course records. Bork kept detailed records of all of these things and put together scrap books, but the races are also all housed in his memories. One of his crowning achievements came at the 1968 Tri-State Conference cross country meet when Bork tied for first. How does a tie happen in cross country? We’ll let Bork explain.

Says Bork, “It was a four-mile race. I think it was in South Dakota. There was a guy from Yankton. He was ahead of me most of the way. I actually caught him and then we came up to the last corner and he cut the corner. I had to catch him again, which I did. They called it a tie and they flipped a coin for the medals. He won so I have a second place medal. I still have it.”

Bork was a competitor, but such moments did not make him bitter. Says Bork, “I just enjoyed running. It helps when you’re a little successful at it, too.” Perhaps his greatest reward came in 1968 in one of the few races Bork’s parents ever saw him run. The demands of the farm often kept them in Cleghorn. Ron beamed with pride that day as he etched his name in history as the first under-10-minute two-miler ever at Concordia. The cows would have to be tended by someone else. Mr. and Mrs. Bork watched Ron blaze around Concordia’s cinder track.

Through the years of competition, Bork made friendships with both teammates and opposing runners. The bulk of Bork’s 30 collegiate cross country races were dual meets against familiar foes. The respect was mutual.

In circumstances out of his control, Bork never got the chance to run at the 1969 conference cross country championships and had to sit out the 1970 track season. Following a meet his senior year, Bork’s heart beat sped up to a rate much greater than normal. A doctor diagnosed Bork with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can lead to periods of rapid heart rate. The doctor told him not to run. For the next 10 years of his life, Bork did not run.

“It was 1979,” Bork recalls. “When I was running in college I ran at probably about 150-155 pounds. By my ninth year after I graduated I was up to about 190 pounds. I would be breathing heavy just going up and down steps. I just said, ‘I have to do something.’”

Bork saw another doctor and was given the okay to take a jogging class. Bork’s running career was reborn. By the end of the course, Bork was running six-and-a-half minute miles and was beating the instructor. Then in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1984, Bork completed his first marathon while the rain poured the whole way through it. Bork slogged to the finish line in under four hours. Bork says that some of his best races came at the age of 40.

All the while, Bork was impacting the lives of others as a teacher. His career began in Kirkwood, Mo., at a Lutheran school. At the same time, his soon-to-be wife Marilyn (also a Concordia alum) was teaching in Washington, D.C. Ron and Marilyn eventually moved around from a miniature school in Indiana to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, to Painesville, Ohio, to Detroit, Michigan, and to Kansas City. His positions over that time included roles as a principal, athletic director, teacher and coach.

Life then came full circle in 2001 when Concordia called Bork back. He earned his doctorate while in Kansas City and bided his time for a return to Seward. “I knew if I was going to come back to a Concordia, I wanted it to be here,” Bork said. “So I waited until they had an opening. I had phone calls from Selma, Ann Arbor and Chicago. They were wondering if I was interested in positions there and I said, ‘not really.’”

It just so happened that Ron’s oldest daughter Kristin was a student at Concordia when it was time to “come home.” In a move that surprised Ron himself, he was elevated to the Dean of the College of Education after less than a year at Concordia. Some students knew Ron respectfully as “Kristin’s dad.” Younger daughter Allison soon followed Kristin to Concordia.

Ron Bork continues to be a resource for future teachers. According to Ron, his 14 years as head of the teacher education program yielded more than 1,300 Concordia graduates who went on to become teachers. Those facts, along with his church service and lifelong commitment to Christ, only add to his Hall of Fame credentials.

Bork is a Bulldog through and through. You’ll often find him in the stands watching and showing his support for this new generation of Concordia athletes. For Bork, the Hall of Fame award means a lot.

Says Bork, “It’s good to be here. It’s going to be an honor on Friday night to be part of that group.” 

 

Women triumph at Dean White, men place fifth

September 28, 2019

CRETE, Neb. – This was a big day for Concordia University cross country. It was an especially memorable day for the women’s team, which finally unseated conference power Dordt in a meet. Paced by senior Rebekah Hinrichs, the Bulldogs ran to a first-place finish out of eight teams at the Dean White Invited hosted by Doane on Saturday (Sept. 28). The Concordia men placed fifth out of eight squads.

Head coach Matt Beisel’s women’s team now looks like a particularly serious bidder for a national championships berth and perhaps even a conference championship. The Bulldog women outran a Defender team that entered the meet ranked 11th in the NAIA.

“Our girls were so excited,” Beisel said. “Dordt’s a great team. We only beat them by four points. There’s no guarantees going forward that they can’t beat us when it comes to conference. But now instead of saying let’s shoot for second place at conference, I think we have a legitimate shot if we stay healthy and keep our focus of potentially winning the conference title.”

Not only did Hinrichs and company topple Dordt, they also bested NCAA Division II University of Nebraska-Kearney, which placed third. Concordia has had a different No. 1 runner in each of its first three meets. The key has been placing a large pack of runners near the top. Hinrichs placed fifth (19:33.70) at the Dean White Invite and was followed by teammates Kylahn Heritage (19:47.48; 7th), Alyssa Fye (19:50.43; 8th), Sydney Clark (20:05.38; 11th) and Amie Martin (20:09.69; 13th).

Another three Bulldogs finished in the top 30 (out of 109 total runners): Lydia Cook (20:25.97; 23rd), Miranda Rathjen (20:30.55; 26th) and Abi DeLoach (20:39.94; 30th). Out of the aforementioned top eight, only Hinrichs and Rathjen are seniors for a squad now knocking on the door of the NAIA top 25.

Beisel likes the potential he sees in a men’s squad that is filled with freshmen and sophomores at the top of the pack. The Bulldogs did manage to beat out Midland and Hastings on Saturday. One exception is junior Jordan Lorenz, who was first among Concordia runners and placed 22nd overall (27:42.30) on the 8k course. The rest of the top five featured Wyatt Lehr (27:52.02; 27th), Camden Sesna (28:11.53; 34th), Antonio Blaine (28:12.52; 35th) and Owen Dawson (28:34.77; 49th).

“Our men had a really good day,” Beisel said. “You have to look a little deeper to understand why it was such a good day. We graduated three seniors from our top seven. The question was who was going to step up and fulfill those roles? Right now we have four freshmen in our top six. It doesn’t happen overnight. The fact that they’re running this well at this point in the season says to me that really big things can happen by the time we get to conference.”

The women’s cross country program had last finished first in a race in 2011. That particular team qualified for the NAIA national championships. Perhaps this squad is on that same path. Added Beisel, “No matter what happens it’s very important that we speak the Lord’s name and give Him glory for whatever we accomplish.”

The Bulldogs will be in action again next Saturday (Oct. 5) at the Briar Cliff Invite. The meet will get underway at 10 a.m. CT from Adams Nature Preserve in North Sioux City, S.D. At the same event last season, the Concordia women placed fourth out of 14 teams while the men finished sixth out of 12 squads.

Hinrichs runs to GPAC weekly honors

October 2, 2019

SEWARD, Neb. – After helping lead the Concordia University women’s cross country team to a first-place finish at the Dean White Invite, senior Rebekah Hinrichs has been named the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week. Wednesday (Oct. 2)’s announcement means that a Bulldog has taken the award for the second time this season. Freshman Amie Martin picked up the same accolade on Sept. 11.

Hinrichs is again one of the top runners for head coach Matt Beisel’s squad. At the Dean White Invite on Sept. 28, Hinrichs placed fifth overall while pacing the 5k course in 19:33.70. Her efforts aided in the Bulldogs winning the meet that included 11th-ranked Dordt and NCAA Division II University of Nebraska-Kearney. In the latest GPAC poll released on Monday, Concordia moved up to the No. 1 ranking. A native of Gladstone, Mo., Hinrichs placed 13th in the GPAC and earned all-conference honors last season as a junior.

Also an NAIA Scholar-Athlete in both cross country and track and field, Hinrichs owns seven career All-GPAC awards in track. Hinrichs placed as the 2019 GPAC indoor runner up in the one mile and was the 2019 GPAC outdoor runner up in the 1,500 meters. The Bulldog women swept 2019 GPAC indoor and outdoor track titles.

Hinrich and her teammates will return to action this Saturday at the Briar Cliff Invite. Action from Adams Nature Preserve in North Sioux City, S.D., is set to begin at 10 a.m. CT.

Women's cross country cracks NAIA top 25 for first time since 2015

October 3, 2019

SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University women’s cross country squad has made a giant leap on the national landscape. For the first time since 2015, the program has cracked the NAIA Women’s Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. The Bulldogs checked in at No. 17 in the ranking released on Thursday (Oct. 3). It also marks the highest ranking for the program since September 2012.

The poll carries significant meaning due to its impact on national championship bids. Head coach Matt Beisel’s squad received votes in the previous NAIA poll that came out on Sept. 19. Concordia impressed the voters by winning last week’s Dean White Invite. Led by GPAC Runner of the Week Rebekah Hinrichs, the Bulldogs outpaced previously 11th-ranked Dordt (now ranked No. 20) and NCAA Division II University of Nebraska-Kearney. That performance pushed Concordia to No. 1 in the GPAC poll and marked the first meet win for the program since 2011.

The Bulldog women’s cross country team still has yet to be beaten by an NAIA opponent this season. It placed eighth out of 25 squads at the Augustana Twilight on Sept. 6, second out of 11 teams at the Hastings Invite on Sept. 24 and first out of nine schools at the Dean White Invite on Sept. 28. Concordia has had a different No. 1 runner at each meet – Amie Martin (Augustana Twilight), Kylahn Heritage (Hastings Invite) and Hinrichs (Dean White Invite).

From the 1994 through 2009 seasons, Bulldog women’s cross country finished in the top 20 nationally each year. The 2011 squad is the last to qualify as a team for the NAIA national meet.

Beisel’s cross country teams will return to action this Saturday (10 a.m. CT) at the Briar Cliff Invite held at Adams Nature Preserve in North Sioux City, S.D.

Bulldogs take positives from Briar Cliff Invite

October 5, 2019

NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. – Strange circumstances characterized the women’s race at the Briar Cliff Invite held at Adams Nature Preserve in North Sioux City, S.D., on Saturday (Oct. 5) morning. There were no official team results on the women’s side due to a large group of runners making a wrong turn. On the men’s side, Concordia University placed sixth out of 14 teams.

It was difficult for head coach Matt Beisel’s women’s team to know what to make of the final results. However, the Bulldogs are not expected to be effected in the national rankings. The Concordia women’s team is currently No. 17 in the NAIA poll.

“I think the biggest thing is that the girls know from all the discussion we had is that they ran really well,” Beisel said. “We just don’t have any hard data to support it. The goal was for us to go out and hang with South Dakota State as long as we could. Even with some of our girls running extra and having to jump into the race, they all ran under 21 minutes.”

Somewhere around two miles into the women’s race, some confusion took place that led to a pack of runners veering off the course. Eventually the mistake was learned by the group of runners, some of whom ran a considerably greater distance than the normal 5k. Officially, freshman Bailie Vanarsdall turned in the top time among Bulldogs by clocking a personal best of 19:52.13 (ninth overall out of 130 runners). Erin Lindeman put together a strong race and finished in 20:13.06 (29th). Said Beisel, “That’s good depth right there. There was some initial anger, but I’m not a guy to focus on the negatives. A number of girls came to me afterwards and were like, ‘Okay, I think we’re ready to go.’”

According to Beisel’s calculations, freshman Kylahn Heritage would have been the team’s top finisher if not for the mishap. Heritage wound up finishing in 20:16.40 (34th). She was just behind Sydney Clark (20:13.47; 31st) and Lydia Cook (20:14.10; 32nd). Eight additional Bulldogs completed the 5k in under 21 minutes. Reigning GPAC Runner of the Week Rebekah Hinrichs cross the finish line in 20:22.36 (40th).

Fortunately, there were no snafus in the men’s race. By placing sixth, the Bulldogs beat out conference rivals in Hastings (ninth), Mount Marty (12th), Dakota Wesleyan (13th) and Briar Cliff (14th). Once again, junior Jordan Lorenz led the way. He placed 23rd (out of 140 runners) while clocking in at 26:44.80. The rest of the top five included Wyatt Lehr (26:47.91; 26th), Camden Sesna (27:25.67; 46th), Antonio Blaine (28:01.50; 61st) and Ethan Pankow (28:30.45; 74th).

Now Beisel hopes to see his men’s team decrease the gap within that top five-to-seven runners. Said Beisel, “The spread between our No. 1 and our No. 7 needs to really close up. I don’t think it was a perfect race on the guys’ side, but we all made improvements. There were some big improvements with Jordan running under 27 for the first time. That whole top seven needs to continue to develop and come closer together.”

The Bulldogs will go three weeks before resuming the 2019 season with the Mount Marty Invite on Oct. 26. The meet will be held at Fox Run Golf Course in Yankton, S.D.

Vanarsdall honored as GPAC Runner of the Week

October 9, 2019

SEWARD, Neb. – The weekly honors keep streaming in for the Concordia University women’s cross country program. On Wednesday (Oct. 9), the conference announced freshman Bailie Vanarsdall as the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week. Vanarsdall joins Amie Martin (Sept. 11) and Rebekah Hinrichs (Oct. 2) as the third Bulldog to earn the GPAC weekly award this season.

A native of Hershey, Neb., Vanarsdall paced the 5k course at last week’s Briar Cliff Invite in a personal best time of 19:52.13. She placed ninth overall in a field of 130 runners who competed at Adams Nature Preserve in North Sioux City, S.D. In previous meets this season, Vanarsdall recorded times of 20:59.45 at the Augustana Twilight, 21:13.07 at the Hastings College Invite and 20:57.73 at the Dean White Invitational. She graduated from Hershey High School as class valedictorian.

Vanarsdall and the 17th-ranked Bulldogs will compete next at the Mount Marty Invite on Oct. 26. It will be the final meet prior to the GPAC Championships on Nov. 9. Concordia is currently rated as the top team in the GPAC.

Layoff ends with meet title, third-place finish at Mount Marty Invite

October 26, 2019

YANKTON, S.D. – Members of the Concordia University cross country teams waited three long weeks for this meet. After going idle since competing at the Briar Cliff Invite on Oct. 5, the Bulldogs returned to action on Saturday (Oct. 26) and got the results they were striving for at the Mount Marty Invite. The NAIA 19th-ranked Concordia women won the meet (30 points) while the men placed third (85 points). Nine teams were present on both sides.

Head coach Matt Beisel’s squads have competed in five official meets this fall. The women were also champions of the Dean White Invitational on Sept. 28.

“It went the way it needed to for our runners,” Beisel said. “We knew we had three weeks of training after the meet at Briar Cliff. In order to keep our confidence up and keep our national ranking, we needed to win the meet on the women’s side. I put a fair amount of pressure on them in this meet. This was time to get out there and get it done. Our ladies and our men ran lights out.”

In the 5k women’s race, seven Concordia runners crossed the finish line in 19:50 or better. Freshman Kylahn Heritage earned the first-place t-shirt (placed behind only an unattached competitor) while clocking in at 19:09.50. Right behind her was teammate in senior Rebekah Hinrichs at 19:09.82. The Bulldogs had three of the top four runners in terms of scoring with junior Alyssa Fye coming in next in a time of 19:18.11.

The rest of the team’s top seven featured freshman Amie Martin (19:29.95; 11th), junior Sydney Clark (19:37.06; 19th), junior Lydia Cook (19:43.59; 21st) and sophomore Abi DeLoach (19:50.37; 24th). It all added up to a meet title in a field made up exclusively of NAIA squads. Conference competitors included Northwestern (second), Morningside (third), Mount Marty (seventh), College of Saint Mary (eighth) and Midland (ninth).

On the men’s side, Concordia was elated to beat our Morningside, which had been rated higher in the most recent official GPAC poll. The Bulldogs did so with the aid of two top-10 overall finishers in sophomore Wyatt Lehr (27:01.11; 9th) and junior Jordan Lorenz (27:04.68; 10th). Additional Concordia standouts to emerge from the 8k trail included freshman Camden Sesna (27:29.10; 15th), freshman Owen Dawson (28:12.54; 26th), freshman Antonio Blaine (28:20.33; 30th), junior Patrick Schneeberger (28:52.06; 39th and junior Christian Watters (29:25.40; 50th).

Dakota State (first) and Northwestern (second) were the only teams (both nationally ranked) to place above the Bulldog men. In addition to outrunning Morningside (fourth), Concordia also outpaced Midland (seventh) and Mount Marty (eighth). The Bulldog men entered the meet ranked No. 5 in the GPAC. Beisel called it an “outstanding day” for his group of guys.

The most significant action is yet to come. The GPAC championships will be staged two weeks from today on Saturday, Nov. 9. They will take place on the Dordt campus in Sioux Center, Iowa. The host Defenders will be one of the favorites on the women’s side along with the Bulldogs. Said Beisel, “It’s going to be a great battle. We’re excited about what’s coming up.”

Concordia enters GPAC meet with high hopes

November 5, 2019

SEWARD, Neb. – This is the moment the Concordia University cross country teams have been training for. The battle for conference supremacy all comes down to a single day at the 2019 GPAC Cross Country Championships. The meet will be held at the Dordt campus in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Saturday. The women’s 5k race is set to get underway at 10:45 a.m. CT with the men’s 8k competition to follow at 11:30 a.m.

Head coach Matt Beisel’s women’s squad enters the meet as one of the favorites alongside defending GPAC champion Dordt. In the official conference polls, the Bulldog women are ranked first while the men are ranked fifth. Both teams placed fourth in the GPAC last season.

“I feel the most confident I’ve felt since I’ve come to Concordia about where our training is,” Beisel said. “The athletes do too. We are ready. I talked with Rebekah Hinrichs, one of our team captains, and just said hey, ‘Give me a status where the ladies are at.’ They’re even keeled and ready. They want it to be here. I think our athletes are ready to run the best race of their lives. I would be surprised if it doesn’t happen.”

This has been a breakthrough season for the women, who have won meet titles at the Dean White Invite and the Mount Marty Invite. Concordia is currently ranked 20th in the NAIA national poll and has hopes of capturing what would be the program’s first women’s GPAC title since 2005. Such an accomplishment would also guarantee its first team berth in the NAIA national championships since 2011. Freshman Kylahn Heritage and company have reason to believe they can make it happen.

“Personally, I want to help my team qualify for nationals and make history at CUNE,” Heritage said. “To have that feeling of accomplishment of making it there together would also be a blessing to me. It is one thing to qualify individually, but it would be another to have my girls right there beside me if we were all successful together at conference. My main goal is to have fun and be grateful for every second of the experience because it might not be every year I get to run at this meet.”

The last time out at the Mount Marty Invite, Heritage was the collegiate champion while clocking in at 19:09.82. In a show of the team’s impressive depth, seven Concordia runners navigated the trail in 19:50 or better. Freshmen such as Heritage, Amie Martin and Bailie Vanarsdall have given the team a boost. The Bulldog roster also features two competitors who were all-conference performers last season: senior Rebekah Hinrichs and sophomore Abi DeLoach.

Other veterans who have been among the team’s top runners are juniors Sydney Clark, Lydia Cook and Alyssa Fye and senior Hannah Rebmann. Collectively, they helped Concordia edge out Dordt at the Dean White Invite by four points (also beat out NCAA Division II University of Nebraska-Kearney). That was the performance the Bulldogs needed to leap into the NAIA top 25 ratings.

“It definitely puts some pressure on them,” Beisel said of the national ranking. “It was compounded by the fact that the Briar Cliff meet (Oct. 5) didn’t give us any real results as a team. They put a lot of pressure on themselves at the Mount Marty meet. We talked about letting the stress go, giving it up to God and trusting in our training. We have to remember that we got to this point with each other and there’s a lot of joy in that.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams have been motivated this season by the program’s mantra to “close the gap.” It’s a sentiment that has brought the athletes closer together. Said Heritage, “We are definitely a family. These girls and the boys on our team as well have made me feel like one of their own, even though they’ve known me only a few months. I love how each of them cheer me on even while they are competing with me in a race because it shows that the camaraderie never stops at Concordia, on and off the course.”

On the men’s side, Concordia hopes to at least duplicate its fourth-place finish last season. In the Mount Marty Invite (Oct. 26), the Bulldogs placed third and squeaked past Morningside by a single point. Both sophomore Wyatt Lehr (ninth) and junior Jordan Lorenz placed inside the top 10. Lehr, a returning All-GPAC runner, may be hitting his stride at the right time. Lorenz has been the team’s top runner in three of the five meets this season while freshman Camden Sesna led the way at the season opening Augustana Twilight.

After Lehr and Lorenz, the next Bulldogs in line at the Mount Marty Invite were freshmen Owen Dawson and Antonio Blaine and juniors Patrick Schneeberger, Christian Watters and Nick Zadar. The men’s team also placed third at the Hastings Bronco Invite on Sept. 14. The last GPAC title for the men’s program occurred in 2012. Their last team trip to the NAIA national championships came in 2013 (placed 24th).

“On the guys’ side we’re ranked fifth in the conference and they really want to be better than fifth,” Beisel said. “They’re going to run their hearts out. They’re healthy, their workouts have been great and they’re fired up. I would love to get three guys all-conference honors and I really believe both Jordan Lorenz and Wyatt Lehr have a chance to be in the top four individuals and make nationals if they run the race they are capable of.”

The NAIA will release the official national qualifying field next Tuesday (Nov. 12). The 2019 NAIA Cross Country National Championships will take place Friday, Nov. 22 at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash.

Women win GPAC championship, reach nationals for first time since 2011

November 9, 2019

Sioux City, IA – For the first time since 2005, Concordia women’s Cross Country brought home the treasured GPAC Championship banner, winning with 39 points to Dordt’s second-place finish (48 points). The Concordia men ran the races of their lives, finishing only three points behind Northwestern with a score of 124 to place 5th as a team.

All-Conference (top 15) honors on the women’s side went to freshman Kylahn Heritage (18:30.48) who was the individual runner-up, junior Alyssa Fye (18:52.32) who finished 4th, senior Rebekah Hinrichs (18:55.03) who finished 5th, and junior Sydney Clark (19:19.74) who was 12th overall. For the men, sophomore Wyatt Lehr (25:59.84) placed 15th overall.

An astounding nine of Concordia’s ten female runners were under 20:00. Only 57.93 seconds separated Concordia’s 1st and 5th runner, an important factor in the team win. Out of 105 runners, all ten Concordia women placed in the top 33.

The team title earns the Lady Bulldogs a trip to Fort Vancouver, Washington where they will compete in the NAIA National Cross Country Championships on Friday, November 22. This is the first time Concordia’s women have qualified for Nationals as a team since 2011 when they finished 17th nationally, and heralded Concordia alum Sarah Kortze earned All-American honors by placing 13th with a time of 18:03.

Women’s Team Captain Rebekah Hinrichs stated, “I’m having a tough time finding all the right words that cover all the emotions going through our team, but first of all - God is good, all the time! As a senior, this is definitely greater than all I could hope or imagine for the season, and I’m so thankful it’s not over yet! After the Nationals qualifying list came out last year [when Hinrichs and teammate Abi DeLoach narrowly missed individually qualifying], I looked Abi in the eyes and told her we’d be there next year and bringing a full team, but even at the time, it was still just a pipe dream or just a big hope we had. I knew it would take something special to really make it happen. Then, as our season got going this year, we really started to believe we could do it...  in each race, we’ve stepped up for each other and run our hearts out. I’m so proud of and blessed to run with these girls. We’re so excited to go Run for the One again and represent Concordia Nebraska in Washington! What a great day to be a Bulldog!”

“Before the race, I told the ladies they had to spend some energy, to run hard and get out in front, and trust their training so they were in a good position once the first mad rush was over. They took that risk and ran exactly the way we needed them to,” said Head Coach Matt Beisel. “We have spent four years building depth into the program through recruitment and development of great athletes. In 2016, we were 6th in the GPAC. The next year, we were 5th. Last year, we were 4th. As they set team goals during pre-season camp in August, our women believed that the big jump from fourth to first was possible as they set team goals, and through God’s abundant blessing we were able to do so. I’ve been praying so much for these remarkable men and women all year, and I know many others have too. I give all glory to Christ for all we have been able to accomplish.”

In addition to the four All-Conference finishers for the women, the next six were Lydia Cook (19:28.41), Abi DeLoach (19:33.87), Hannah Rebmann (19:39.22), Amie Martin (19:49.40), Bailie Vanarsdall (19:50.90), and Erin Lindeman (20:05.80).

Heritage, the top finisher for Concordia women, said, “The whole thing is just really surreal to me, and I still haven’t fully processed it. It has all happened so fast. It felt really good seeing the camaraderie at the end. It’s nice to know that the same camaraderie would have been there whether we had a good day or not. I was especially happy to see other people from our school to support us [a large group of Concordia track & field athletes, friends, and families were there], since it was not an easy drive to make. Before the race, I was really excited to run and help my team get to Nationals, because we’ve worked so hard for this. Then I started getting nervous right before the race, but talked to a few teammates who helped remind me that this is what we’ve worked for and that our training has prepared us for this. It gave me confidence today, and also gives me confidence that for Nationals I’ll be able to do my best and have a great time with my team.”

On the men’s side, Lehr and teammate Jordan Lorenz (26:24.73), who placed 19th, narrowly missed a chance to run individually at Nationals. To qualify individually, the top four male GPAC individual runners who are not on one of the qualifying teams, also get to compete at Nationals. Lehr was running as the fourth individual until he was out-kicked by Joshua Starr from Northwestern in the final 100 meters. Lorenz was one place out from Lehr. However, both ran big personal bests when it counted most. Lehr sliced 39 seconds off his all-time best, and Lorenz had a 20-second personal best. Although it doesn’t take away the disappointment of missing out on Nationals, it helps to know that they ran their very best races ever in the attempt.

Although the men placed 5th, one place down from their 4th-place finish last year, Beisel expresses confidence that they can make the same leap as the women going forward. “Last year, we lost three of our top seven to graduation. This fall, we are really young: three of our top six are freshmen, two are sophomores, and one is a junior. We have no seniors [when Beisel took over the program in 2016, there were no freshman male distance recruits].”

“We aren’t losing anyone to graduation; everyone had huge improvements this year, and we have a great 2020 class of distance runners coming in. The guys saw what the girls accomplished, and I know they want to make the same leap forward as a team. All of the top seven Concordia men ran big personal bests at GPAC today, when it mattered the most. Our men know what we are capable of, and are already excited about next season.” In addition to Lehr and Lorenz, the next five scoring Concordia men were freshman Camden Sesna (26:50.65), freshman Owen Dawson (27:20.43), freshman Antonio Blaine (27:29.23), sophomore Ethan Pankow (27:50.77), and junior Christian Watters (28:25.39).

When asked about the meet and the season, Lehr stated, “I thought it was pretty successful. A lot of us got personal bests, which was amazing. Coming in and overdoing our expectations of what we thought we could do at GPAC, even though we didn’t make it to Nationals, was really great. I’m glad the ladies get to go, because they deserve it with all the work they’ve done. The historical significance of their win after such a long time is really cool, too.”

Men’s Team Captain Lorenz said, “I really liked seeing the hard work that everyone gave – with almost everyone running personal bests – pay off. Most of all, I want to show gratitude towards the girls, because they really showed their stuff. The guys had a great effort against hard competition; it was really cool to see that work out. Overall with the season, I was impressed to see that everyone was giving a lot of effort and striving to reach the goals we had. I’m looking forward to the track season coming up.”

Coach Beisel added, “We came together at the end, after awards and pictures, and made a huge circle of teammates and friends. I didn’t have adequate words to express my deep admiration for them, and my gratefulness that I get the honor of working with them, but I did the best I could. We then sang the Doxology, and brought it in for a big Bulldog cheer. Bailie Vanarsdall, one of our top three freshmen, told me later her heart was full. I echo her words. My heart is full. I’ll remember this day forever.”

GPAC champion Bulldogs officially named NAIA national qualifier

November 12, 2019

SEWARD, Neb. – The field for the 2019 NAIA Cross Country National Championships is set. There was no suspense involved for the Concordia University women’s cross country team, which locked in a team berth to the national meet by way of winning the GPAC title this past Saturday. The Bulldog women’s program will make its first team appearance on the national stage since 2011 when they placed 17th in the NAIA.

As announced on Tuesday (Nov. 12) by the NAIA, the national qualifying women’s field includes a total of 37 teams and an additional 89 individuals. The national qualifiers will pace the 5k course at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash., on Friday, Nov. 22.

It’s been quite a breakthrough for head coach Matt Beisel’s squad, which placed fourth in the GPAC a year ago. The accomplishments may just be beginning to sink in for members of the team. Said top runner Kylahn Heritage after the GPAC Championships, “The whole thing is just really surreal to me, and I still haven’t fully processed it. It has all happened so fast. It felt really good seeing the camaraderie at the end.”

Beisel will travel eight runners (including one alternate) to the event in Washington. From an individual perspective, Heritage and her teammates will aim to give the program its first All-American since Sarah Kortze in 2012. While Concordia had not qualified a women’s team for cross country nationals since 2011, it did send at least one individual each year from 2015 through 2018 (Emily Deschaine/Kim Wood in 2015, Deschaine in 2016 and 2017 and Taylor Grove in 2018).

Heritage (second place) was joined by three teammates with All-GPAC accolades last week: Alyssa Fye (fourth), Rebekah Hinrichs (fifth) and Sydney Clark (12th). The 2019 Bulldogs earned three GPAC runner of the week awards, won three meets (Dean White Invite, Mount Marty Invite, GPAC Championships) and reached as high as 17th in the NAIA national poll.

Historically, Concordia women’s cross country has risen to great heights. Previous head coach Kregg Einspahr led the program to five conference championships, three NAIA national runner-up claims and 17 top 20 national finishes.

For more details on the NAIA Cross Country National Championships, visit the NAIA website HERE.

Dreams come true for nationals bound Bulldogs

November 14, 2019

November 9, 2019, is the day Concordia cross country truly returned to prominence. Forget about the trophy and the banner for a moment. Feel-good stories had to emerge, the right mix of athletes had to be brought together and meshed into a family and certain mental barriers had to be broken down. It’s what made that day so special. Tears of joy, happiness and relief poured out on that date.

It’s these types of moments that transcend the world of sports. Seniors like Rebekah Hinrichs had wanted this moment her whole career. It wasn’t for lack of effort that the Bulldog women’s cross country team failed to finish better than fourth in the GPAC since 2012. Whatever frustrations were previously felt, they were carried away by light winds on an unseasonably warm November day.

Says Hinrichs, “It was a surreal moment for sure. I had a lot of emotions going. I cried for sure. I cried in relief of being part of this amazing team that has been working all season. We just came together to thank God for all He has given us.”

The emotions of Hinrichs mirrored those of head coach Matt Beisel and her teammates.

Said junior Alyssa Fye, “I don’t know if I quite believe it yet that we won conference and we’re going to Vancouver, Washington, to compete at nationals.”

Said freshman Kylahn Heritage, “It was pretty crazy, really surreal. I still haven’t fully processed it because it’s such a big deal.”

Said junior Sydney Clark, “I was able to look at my teammates and know they put everything they had into it – so did I. That’s how we got there. That was super cool.”

Added Beisel, “I got pretty choked up myself. I couldn’t speak. I really didn’t have the words to express how I felt – I still don’t.”

What Beisel’s squad did was achieve something that the program had not done since 2005 – win a conference championship. The Concordia women’s team had effectively “closed the gap” as the motto for both the men and women’s squad has been all season. For the first time since 2011, the Bulldogs will take a women’s team to the NAIA Cross Country National Championships.

This is more like it for a program that has experienced astounding success, particularly from 1999 through 2005 when it won four conference titles and placed second nationally three times under previous head coach Kregg Einspahr. The question is: how did they get back here?

Ranked third in the GPAC preseason poll, Concordia was not necessarily expected to beat out perennially strong teams in the conference such as Dordt and Northwestern (both nationally ranked to begin the fall). The Bulldogs brought back a great deal of their 2018 team, but said goodbye to top runner Taylor Grove, the program’s lone national qualifier a year ago.

Concordia reached this point by building a familial atmosphere – and with some talent and dedication of course. Explains Fye, “Our team chemistry has been really good this season. That’s helped a lot. I’m just amazed by how much our team pushes each other. When someone has a bad day or bad workout, it’s fine. Get the next one. You just push each other.”

That sense of unity and “running for the one” has been a powerful motivator. Guided by Beisel, the Bulldogs are doing things they may not have thought capable of achieving.

Consider:

Clark did not even run at the GPAC meet last year and has never scored in a GPAC track meet. She placed 12th at the GPAC Championships.

Sophomore Abi DeLoach did not make the varsity team her senior year of high school. She placed 18th at the GPAC Championships.

Fye played volleyball in high school and never ran cross country. She placed fourth at the GPAC Championships.

Hinrichs did not run cross country until her senior year of high school. She placed fifth at the GPAC Championships.

Freshman Bailie Vanarsdall was plagued by shin injuries in high school and struggled to reach her full potential. She placed 26th at the GPAC Championships.

We could go on … As Beisel explains, “I’ve always coached my teams with a belief in the idea of synergy. It’s the idea that the sum of the parts add up to more than the whole. In theory, 2+2 could equal 5 or 6 … It is so important to love and care about each other. We didn’t just let that happen accidentally.”

On Friday, Nov. 22, Beisel will lead his team into competition at the 2019 NAIA Cross Country National Championships at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. More important than the trophy or the banner, this has been about seeking a goal and accomplishing it through togetherness and determination.

They set out to win a conference title and make it to nationals – and they did it. It doesn’t always work out that way in sports or in life. This team isn’t taking that for granted.

Says Clark, “Honestly it means everything to me. Freshman year I made it a goal before I graduated that I wanted to run at nationals. This is making my whole collegiate dream come true.”

Beisel named GPAC Coach of the Year; five Bulldogs earn All-GPAC honors

November 18, 2019

SEWARD, Neb. – Courtesy of their work at the GPAC Cross Country Championships, head coach Matt Beisel and five Concordia runners have earned accolades from the conference. After guiding the women’s program to its first GPAC title since 2005, Beisel has been named the GPAC Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. All-conference honors went to juniors Sydney Clark and Alyssa Fye, freshman Kylahn Heritage and senior Rebekah Hinrichs on the women’s side and to sophomore Wyatt Lehr on the men’s side.

Hinrichs and Lehr have both garnered all-conference awards for the second year in a row. The top 15 finishers at the conference meet for both men and women garner All-GPAC recognition.

Beisel also swept 2019 GPAC women’s indoor and outdoor track and field coach of the year awards. The women’s track program won GPAC indoor and outdoor conference titles last season. Under Beisel’s direction the women’s cross country program moved up from fourth in the GPAC in 2018 to first this year. Concordia is now set to make its first team national appearance at the national meet since 2011.

Concordia women’s All-GPAC winners:

• Freshman Kylahn Heritage (Nampa, Idaho) – 2nd place (18:30.48)
• Junior Alyssa Fye (Randolph, Neb.) – 4th place (18:52.32)
• Senior Rebekah Hinrichs (Gladstone, Mo.) – 5th place (18:55.03)
• Junior Sydney Clark (Clive, Iowa) – 12th place (19:19.74)

Concordia men’s All-GPAC winner:

• Sophomore Wyatt Lehr (Lamar, Colo.) – 15th place (25:59.84)

The Concordia women will compete at the 2019 NAIA Cross Country National Championships in Vancouver, Wash., on Friday. The women’s race is set to run off at 12:30 p.m. CT (10:30 a.m. PT).

NAIA Cross Country National Championships set for Friday

November 21, 2019

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.

Both cross country teams, seven individuals honored by USTFCCCA

Jan 30, 2020

SEWARD, Neb. – Both Concordia University cross country programs were among the teams honored on Thursday (Jan. 30) by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association with status as All-Academic Teams. Head coach Matt Beisel’s women’s cross country squad ranks in the top 10 of the NAIA with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.65 while the men have turned in a cumulative GPA of 3.49, good for fourth best in the nation. In addition, all seven Bulldog women who competed at nationals garnered All-Academic Individual honors.

In order to qualify for All-Academic distinction, teams must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, including the most recent grading period, among other qualifiers. In order to qualify for All-Academic distinction, student athletes must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 on a 4.0 scale and qualify for the national championship meet.

It’s been quite an academic year for the Concordia women, who won the GPAC title this past fall and placed 12th at the NAIA National Championships. The Bulldogs honored by the USTFCCCA were Sydney Clark, Lydia Cook, Abi DeLoach, Alyssa Fye, Kylahn Heritage, Rebekah Hinrichs and Amie Martin. The complete USTFCCCA list of All-Academic Individuals can be viewed HERE.

Beisel earned GPAC Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year honors in 2019. All-conference accolades were earned by Heritage (second), Fye (fourth), Hinrichs (fifth) and Clark (12th). On the men’s side, Wyatt Lehr picked up All-GPAC accolades by finishing 15th.