ROSTER | PDF - GPAC Finishes: Women 4th; Men 6th

2020 Meet Results

2020 Roster

Men	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Antonio Blaine	So.	Golden, Colo.	Faith Christian HS
Keaton Burgess	Jr.	Red Cloud, Neb.	Red Cloud HS
Owen Dawson	So.	Cedar Falls, Iowa	Valley Lutheran HS
Brett Determan	Fr.	Cedar Falls, Iowa	Valley Lutheran HS
Ethan Hensley	Fr.	Golden, Colo.	Golden HS
Ricky Herman	Jr.	Springfield	Central HS
Deivydas Hermanas	Fr.	Dardenne Prairie, Mo.	Francis Howell HS
Ethan Ideus	Fr.	Seward, Neb.	Seward HS
Zachary Johnson	So.	Aberdeen, S.D.	Central HS
Wyatt Lehr	Jr.	Lamar, Colo.	Lamar HS
Jordan Lorenz	Sr.	Gretna, Neb.	Gretna HS
Jakob McMillin	Fr.	Arnold, Mo.	Fox HS
Ethan Pankow	Jr.	Milwaukee, Wis.	Milwaukee Lutheran HS
Zach Potratz	Sr.	Seward, Neb.	Seward HS
Nick Price	Jr.	Wamego, Kan.	Wamego HS / Highland CC
Caleb Roberts	Sr.	Wamego, Kan.	Wamego HS
Calvin Rohde	Fr.	Reed City, Mich.	Reed City HS
Cory Ruybalid	Fr.	Grand Island, Neb.	Heartland Lutheran HS
Camden Sesna	So.	Kearney, Neb.	Kearney Catholic HS
Brennan Taylor	Fr.	Seward, Neb.	Seward HS
Christian Watters	Sr.	Panama, Neb.	Norris HS
CJ Williams	Sr.	Saint Peters, Mo.	Lutheran HS
Micah Willweber	Fr.	Kailua, Hawaii	Kalaheo HS
Nicholas Zadar	Sr.	Boise, Idaho	Timberline HS

Women	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Lauren Ada	Fr.	De Soto, Kan.	The Lutheran HS of Kansas City
Amiah Akerson	Jr.	Pennock, Minn.	Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg HS
Ashleigh Baker	Jr.	Milford, Neb.	Milford Public Schools
Alyssa Barnhouse	Fr.	Lincoln, Neb.	Lincoln Lutheran HS
Keri Bauer	Jr.	Pleasanton, Neb.	Pleasanton HS
Maddie Beran	Sr.	Grand Island, Neb.	Grand Island Northwest HS
Alyssa Bierwagen	Sr.	Sioux Falls, S.D.	Roosevelt HS
Emily Boyer	Sr.	Mullen, Neb.	Mullen HS
Sydney Clark	Sr.	Clive, Iowa	Des Moines Christian HS
Lydia Cook	Sr.	Perryville, Mo.	Perryville HS
Lauren Dawson	Fr.	Cedar Falls, Iowa	Valley Lutheran HS
Abi DeLoach	Jr.	Kearney, Neb.	Kearney HS
Alyssa Fye	Sr.	Randolph, Neb.	Randolph HS
Taylor Gipe	Sr.	Scottsbluff, Neb.	Scottsbluff HS
Peyton Gissler	Fr.	Malcolm, Neb.	Malcolm HS
Rylee Haecker	Fr.	Davenport, Neb.	Raymond Central HS
Kylahn Heritage	So.	Nampa, Idaho	Melba HS
Amie Martin	So.	Arnold, Mo.	Fox C-6 HS
Abigail Meier	Jr.	Lawrence, Kan.	Lawrence Free State HS
Hannah Mundt	So.	Blue Springs, Mo.	The Lutheran HS of Kansas City
Grace Pennekamp	Fr.	Fort Wayne, Ind.	Concordia Lutheran HS
Mary Pennekamp	Fr.	Fort Wayne, Ind.	Concordia Lutheran HS
Mollie Rathjen	So.	Osceola, Neb.	Osceola HS
Aubrey Rathke	Fr.	Fremont, Neb.	Homeschooled
Grace Reiman	Fr.	Hastings, Neb.	Adams Central HS
Malia Rolf	Fr.	Seward, Neb.	Seward HS
Abigail Staehr	So.	Grand Island, Neb.	Heartland Lutheran HS
Lainey Werts	Fr.	St. Edward, Neb.	St. Edward HS

Head Coach: Matt Beisel (5th year)
Assistant Coach: Mark Samuels

GPAC Championships culminate with placements of fourth (women) and sixth (men)

ANKTON, S.D. – The Concordia University Cross Country squads began the day with hopes of earning top-three conference finishes. When the dust settled, the Bulldogs landed at fourth on the women’s side and sixth on the men’s side while competing in the 2020 GPAC Cross Country Championships. Mount Marty hosted the meet at Fox Run Golf Course in Yankton, S.D., on Saturday (Nov. 7).

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s women’s program captured the 2019 GPAC title and entered the weekend ranked 22nd nationally. Meanwhile, the men’s team is receiving votes in the national poll. The place finishes turned in on Saturday puts Concordia outside of NAIA national meet contention.

The results were disappointing, but Beisel has been pleased with the work ethic from his student-athletes this fall. Wrote Beisel, “Every one of these awesome kids ran their hearts out, and I’m so proud of them. Today God did not answer our prayers with a ‘yes’ regarding team placings, but in every ‘no’ or ‘not right now’ are lessons to be learned, and an opportunity to trust no matter the circumstances. Congrats to the other GPAC teams – they did well. Now is a time to reflect and rest.”

It was another solid campaign for the Bulldog women’s program, which had placed third or better at each of its regular-season meets. Unsurprisingly, sophomore Kylahn Heritage led the way for Concordia in Yankton. She paced a tightly-bunched group of Bulldogs with a 17th-place (20:00.14) individual finish (out of 94 runners in the 5k race). As a freshman in 2019, Heritage placed as the GPAC runner up and just missed out on All-America honors.

Four additional Bulldogs placed in the top 25 of the conference: senior Sydney Clark (20:03.86; 18th), senior Lydia Cook (20:06.21; 20th), senior Alyssa Fye (20:14.27; 23rd) and freshman Rylee Haecker (20:25.86; 25th). Heritage, Clark and Fye each garnered all-conference honors last season. A top-15 finish is required in order to be named to the All-GPAC team. The cutoff this year to place in the top 15 was a time of 19:47.58.

“We’ve had some really good things happen over the last two years,” Beisel said. “We know that winning a championship and making it to nationals is nothing to take for granted. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. I saw every kid pushing it to the limit. We just got outran today.”

On the men’s side, Concordia knew that standouts in sophomore Camden Sesna and junior Wyatt Lehr would have to gut this one out while competing through injury. Lehr is a two-time All-GPAC runner. This time around, Lehr finished seventh on the team and 46th overall in a field of 86 competitors in the 8k race. The top six for the Bulldogs were: sophomore Antonio Blaine (28:12.35; 30th), freshman Calvin Rohde (28:18.68; 31st), senior Jordan Lorenz (28:27.93; 33rd), sophomore Owen Dawson (29:02.51; 39th), Sesna (29:02.61; 40th) and junior Ethan Pankow (29:06.15; 42nd).

Perhaps next season will be the breakthrough for the men’s program on the conference stage. Highlights this season included a meet title at the Hastings Bronco Stampede and recognition in the national poll. Before being nagged by injury late in the fall, Sesna appeared on his way to earning All-GPAC honors.

“We had a great start to the season and Camden was running exceptionally well,” Beisel said. “Both Camden and Wyatt had to take time off from training. With Camden, it hurt the whole time today and he wasn’t able to be where he has been all season. Our guys ended up not where we wanted to be, but I’m proud of them for all the work they’ve put into it.”

The Concordia women (102 points) placed behind Dordt (27), Morningside (94) and Northwestern (95). The top five finishers on the men’s side were Dordt (34), Northwestern (55), Doane (77), Midland (133) and Morningside (145).

For the seniors, their collegiate cross country careers have come to an end (unless they use additional eligibility granted by the NAIA). Beisel and the distance crew will now turn their attention towards indoor track season. Concordia is set to host the Bulldog Early Bird Meet Dec. 4-5.

Said Beisel of the seniors, “They were my first recruiting class here at Concordia. It has been a blessing for me to be able to work with them for four years. We have track and field in front of us so it’s not all over, but cross country is something special. These guys and girls made it even more special. They’ve been huge leaders to our team and we’re going to miss them. I wish it had ended on a higher note, but if it was easy everybody would be able to be successful. That’s not the way it is, especially in the GPAC.”

Return to action results in solid performances in the cold

YANKTON, S.D. – A three-week layoff since the most recent meet ended on Saturday (Oct. 24) as the Concordia University Cross Country teams competed in an event that provided a preview of what could happen at the conference championships in two weeks. Chilly temperatures greeted the field of runners at the Mount Marty Invite in Yankton, S.D., where the Bulldogs placed third out of 14 teams on the women’s side and fifth out of 13 squads on the men’s side.

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s teams had spent the past few weeks training after last running at the Briar Cliff Invite on Oct. 3. This marked the fifth and final meet of the regular season.

On the women’s side, Concordia still has a goal of returning to the national meet. Said Beisel, “They ran great and ran with everything they had. (Second-place) Morningside ended up beating us by seven points. We had a great effort from Kylahn Heritage and Rylee Haecker and from the rest of our top seven. There was just a little bit too much of a split between our second and our third, fourth and fifth runners. The top 25 girls today (in the overall field) are the top 25 we should see in two weeks. I think we could very well finish in the top two (as a team) in the GPAC.”

On the men’s side, the Bulldogs were missing a couple of key runners. They are certainly in the hunt for a top three or four spot when it comes to the GPAC race. Said Beisel, “We had a phenomenal effort. Almost all of our top 10 guys had personal bests or season bests. To have that happen after a three-week break on a slower course than Briar Cliff was an outstanding effort. The challenge is going to be moving from a fourth-place position in conference, which is where we were today, into that top-three slot. It’s something we’ve been shooting at for years.”

Nearly all GPAC squads for both men and women were on hand for a meet that got started at noon. On the women’s side, Heritage is getting intense competition from Haecker (a freshman from Davenport, Neb.) for the title of the team’s top runner. Heritage (5k time of 19:01.22) edged out Haecker (19:01.27) for sixth place in a field of 150 individuals. Heritage, the GPAC runner up in 2019, has been the top Concordia runner at all four meets she’s competed in.

The rest of the top seven Bulldog females also finished in under 20 minutes: freshman Grace Reiman (19:32.41; 21st), senior Sydney Clark (19:35.59; 22nd), senior Lydia Cook (19:41.42; 24th), senior Alyssa Fye (19:58.93; 32nd) and junior Abi DeLoach (19:59.62). Clark and Fye garnered All-GPAC honors last season. Twenty-one Concordia women paced the trail in Yankton.

This was the first time all season that sophomore Camden Sesna did not lead the Bulldog pack on the men’s side. Unfortunately, he and junior Wyatt Lehr were pulled out of the meet. In Sesna’s absence, senior Jordan Lorenz claimed a 20th place finish while completing the 8k race in 26:30.05. The next three Concordia finishers in line were either freshmen or sophomores in freshman Calvin Rohde (26:35.38; 25th), sophomore Antonio Blaine (27:00.66; 36th) and sophomore Owen Dawson (27:09.34; 39th). Junior Ethan Pankow rounded out the team’s top five by placing 57th overall (27:42.48). Seventeen men represented the Bulldogs at the meet.

In terms of conference jockeying, the Concordia women placed behind Dordt (first) and Morningside (second) but ahead of eight other GPAC rivals. The only conference women’s team not at the meet was Jamestown. On the men’s side, the Bulldogs trailed Doane (first), Dordt (second) and Northwestern (third) while beating out four GPAC foes.

That puts a cap on the season for those who will not compete at the GPAC meet. Concordia and all other conference teams can enter 10 runners into the GPAC championships. The Bulldogs will be back at the same course (Fox Run) in Yankton on Nov. 7 for the conference meet.

Said Beisel, “I’m very proud of what our teams accomplished today and excited to see what’s going to happen over the next two weeks of training as we fine-tune everything. We’re preparing to make something good happen at GPAC.”

Concordia women enjoy breakthrough, men place sixth at Briar Cliff Invite

NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. – Spurred by the collegiate debut of a key freshman, the Concordia University Women’s Cross Country team stated its case as being one of the top 25 teams in the NAIA. The Bulldog women placed second out of a field of 13 teams in Saturday (Oct. 3)’s Briar Cliff Invitational. Meanwhile, the Concordia men finished sixth amongst 14 squads that paced the trail at Adams Nature Preserve in North Sioux City, S.D.

Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads were in action for the fourth time this season and for the second week in a row. Heading into the meet, the Bulldogs owned official GPAC rankings of third on the women’s side and fourth on the men’s side.

“We knew we needed to make this a big effort because we had run slower courses,” Beisel said. “We had been placing well but didn’t have the times to catch the raters’ attention. I believe the training we’ve been doing was exactly what we needed to do. I had a lot of confidence in our preparation, but it still had to happen. It was better than I thought it was going to be. I was extremely pleased. I did more praying than I’ve ever done and lifted it up to God.”

It was no shock that sophomore Kylahn Heritage, the GPAC Runner of the Week, led the way for Concordia once again. She placed ninth among runners who counted towards the team scoring with a near personal best. It was the name that followed Heritage in the Bulldog lineup that was a bit of a surprise. In her first college meet, Davenport, Neb., native Rylee Haecker clocked a time of 18:43.22 and placed 22nd on the overall leaderboard.

With Haecker’s help, Concordia defeated 18th-ranked Morningside (third place) in a 2020 breakthrough performance. Beisel knew the potential Haecker had based on her time trials.

“She wasn’t expected to run cross country meets,” Beisel said of Haecker, who had mostly been prepping for track season. “But then last Friday she ran a 2:20.8 time trial in the 800, which was phenomenal. I thought she could run a pretty good 5k so she and I talked. She went out and blew everyone’s expectations away.”

The Bulldogs had an effective bunching in their top six that started with Heritage (18:32.60) and Haecker and continued with freshman Grace Reiman (18:44.35; 23rd), senior Lydia Cook (18:55.51; 25th), senior Sydney Clark (19:03.98; 31st – all-time best) and junior Abi DeLoach (19:11.40; 35th). Less than 30 seconds separated the team’s second through six competitors. Twenty-four runners represented the Concordia women at the meet.

Sophomore Camden Sesna is the clear-cut top runner for the Bulldog men through four meets. He again paced the team by completing the 8k in a PR of 26:04.63 (38th out of 186 total runners). Sesna has been the top Dawg at every meet this season. The remainder of the top five featured Jordan Lorenz (26:28.82; 52nd), freshman Calvin Rohde (26:42.01; 60th), sophomore Antonio Blaine (27:00.88; 68th) and sophomore Owen Dawson (27:26.91; 80th).

Next in line were Ethan Pankow (27:27.54), Ethan Hensley (27:41.72) and Nick Zadar (27:57.60). Beisel called Zadar’s performance the biggest breakthrough on the men’s side. Said Beisel, “I’m really proud of all these guys and girls for the patience, the effort and the sacrifice they have made. We’ve got something we can use as confidence heading into the next few weeks of training.”

Both Concordia squads competed favorably in relation to their GPAC competition. The women placed behind only Dordt (ranked sixth in the NAIA) while defeating Morningside, Doane (fourth), Northwestern (sixth), Dakota Wesleyan (ninth), College of Saint Mary (10th), Mount Marty (11th) and Briar Cliff (13th). The men placed behind Dordt (second) and Doane (fifth) but in front of Northwestern (seventh), Morningside (eighth), Dakota Wesleyan (10th), Mount Marty (12th) and Briar Cliff (14th).

The Bulldogs now have a layoff in the schedule before returning to action on Saturday, Oct. 24 with the Mount Marty Invite in Yankton, S.D. That meet will be the final one prior to the GPAC Championships on Nov. 7.

Women’s squad wins second consecutive Dean White Invitational

CRETE, Neb. – The Concordia women’s cross country team defended its Dean White Invitational title on Saturday (Sept. 26), notching its first team victory of the season, finishing with 35 points. The Bulldog men raced to a second-place finish with 54 points.

In the women’s race, the Bulldogs ran away from the competition, defeating second-place Doane by 31 points. Kylahn Heritage paced the Bulldogs while finishing as the runner up with a time of 19:48.87. Joining Heritage in the top-ten was freshman Grace Reiman (20:13.36, 4th) and senior Lydia Cook (21:04.67, 8th).

“We had our entire women’s team there for the first time,” Head Coach Matt Beisel said. “We knew people would be going out fast, so we planned for our top-three runners to run together up until the first mile and we executed our plans perfectly.”

Senior Sydney Clark had a strong showing in her debut, finishing in 12th place with a time of 21:12.46. Both Cook and Clark fell victim to a misleading course, which reflected in their overall times.

“When the lead female runners were supposed to run around the tree flagging, the flagging was misleading,” Beisel said. “One of the runners ahead of Cook and Clark ran the wrong way; therefore, they followed. The runners continued the wrong way for about 50-60 meters; as a result, they gained about 25-30 seconds.”

The rest of the top 10 Bulldog runners on Saturday included: Abi DeLoach (21:19.34; 13th), Amie Martin (21:19.47; 15th), Alyssa Fye (21:24.72; 16th); Keri Bauer (21:49.32; 21st), Alyssa Bierwagen (21:59.01; 24th) and Mollie Rathjen (22:27.62; 30th).

The Concordia men finished in second place, 13 points behind rival Doane as four Bulldogs recorded top 20 finishes. Sophomore Camden Sesna led the charge for the Bulldogs finishing in fourth place with a time of 27:38.02. He was joined in the top 20 by teammates Owen Dawson (28:32.81; 11th), Jordan Lorenz (28:42.81; 12th), Antonio Blaine (28:45.00; 14th) and Ethan Hensley (29:27.09; 20th).

“Camden Sesna was fantastic again,” Beisel noted. “Owen Dawson and Ethan Hensley deserve a lot of credit for our second-place finish. They both caught a lot of runners in the back portion of the race. Our seven men all finished in front of Doane’s but we needed one more in the top five to catch them on points.”

The top 10 for the Bulldogs was rounded out by Nick Price (29:36.97; 24th), Ethan Pankow (29:38.67; 25th), Ethan Ideus (29:58.48; 30th), Calvin Rohde (30:10.17; 31st), Wyatt Lehr (30:16.79; 32nd) and Nick Zadar (30:20.39; 33rd).

Beisel told both of his squads to build on the outcomes from today in order to be stronger in the future.

“I told them it has been on my heart that whatever the outcome today, we give glory to god,” Beisel said. “After the meet, we had a mix of good bad. We got together and prayed while looking forward to Briar Cliff.”

The season will continue next Saturday (Oct. 3) at the Briar Cliff Invitational located in North Sioux City, S.D. Race time is set for 10 a.m. CT.

Bulldog men take home team title

HASTINGS, Neb. – The Bulldog Cross Country teams paced Hastings home course at the Bronco Stampede in Hastings, Neb. The Concordia men were the winner of the meet as they defeated Doane by 13 points. The Bulldog women grabbed second place behind Friends University.

“It was outstanding,” head coach Matt Beisel said. “We came off the Dordt meet in third place only 13 points behind Northwestern who ended placing 2nd to Dordt. We beat Doane which is a nice start because they beat us in conference at the end of last season.”

Sophomore Camden Sesna continued his strong performance this season running a personal best time of 26:19.15. The Kearney, Neb., native was the top GPAC finisher in the event with an overall finish of seventh place. Sesna was the fastest Bulldog for the second straight meet.

The Bulldog trio of Calvin Rhode, Jordan Lorenz and Wyatt Lehr finished in order placing in 20th through 22nd. Sophomore Antonio Blaine rounded out the scoring placing in 25th with a time of 27:41.88. The rest of the top 10 for the Bulldogs was rounded out by Owen Dawson (28:16.37; 35th), Ethan Hensley (28:41.96; 40th), Ethan Pankow (28:48.57; 42nd), Nick Price (29:01.39; 47th), and Nick Zadar (29:16.32; 49th).

On the women’s side, Friends University ran away with the team title, scoring 24 points. The Bulldogs followed in second with a score of 63 points.

The Bulldogs were hampered by injuries as two of their top their runners missed the meet.

“Two of our top three runners sat out due to minor injuries,” Beisel said. “That was a difference-maker.”

Freshman Grace Reiman claimed the top spot for the Concordia women as she placed 13th with a time of 20:18.75.

The rest of the top 10 for the Bulldogs was rounded out by Lydia Cook (20:24.81; 16th), Amie Martin (20:44.02; 21st), Alyssa Fye (20:54.13; 23rd), Alyssa Bierwagen (21:15.04; 28th), Abi DeLoach (21:15.49 29th), Keri Bauer (21:19.83; 33rd), Mollie Rathjen (21:53.98; 43rd) and Lauren Ada (22:08.15 46th).

The season will continue Sept. 26 at the Dean White Invitational hosted by Doane. Race time is set for 10 a.m. CT.

Bulldogs open up 2020-21 athletic season with third-place finishes

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – It had been 176 days since any Concordia University athletic team had competed in an official competition. That drought ended on Saturday (Sept. 5) morning when the Bulldog Cross Country teams paced Dordt’s home course in Sioux Center, Iowa. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads came away with third-place finishes (out of nine teams) for both women and men. The women finished with a total of 90 points while the men had 87 points.

Led by sophomore Kylahn Heritage (Nampa, Idaho), the women’s team is aiming for a repeat of its 2019 GPAC championship season. At the Sunflower Opener, Concordia got an early look at where it stands in comparison to its conference rivals. The meet featured eight GPAC squads on the both the men’s and women’s sides.

“I think it’s the best early showing at an early conference-loaded meet that my guys have had since I took over the program,” Beisel said. “We almost had Northwestern (13 points behind) so I thought it went extremely well. We knew the potential existed and they stepped up and did what they had to.

“On the women’s side, we were missing two of our top runners, but everyone ran really well. Compared to our time trial last week there was hardly anyone that didn’t have a huge improvement – in many cases by 40 seconds or more. I told both teams not to be satisfied with this. At the same time, be happy with a great early season effort. What happened today doesn’t define what happens eight weeks from now.”

Nineteen Bulldog women navigated the course on Saturday when they were met by calm winds and a temperature near 70 degrees as the 5k race got underway. This was the same site where Concordia celebrated its GPAC title in November of last year. Heritage paced the Bulldogs at the Sunflower Open by clocking in at 19:16.21, placing her in 16th out of 128 runners in the field. It was a fine showing for Heritage, especially with her having been limited during preseason prep. The newest freshman standout is Grace Reiman (Hastings, Neb.), who was second on the team in a time of 19:45.73 (25th overall).

First-place Dordt and second-place Morningside managed to outrun the defending GPAC champs. The Defenders appear to have restocked the cupboard with two freshmen placing inside the top 15 of the leaderboard. Concordia did defeat conference opponents in Northwestern (fourth), Hastings (fifth), Dakota Wesleyan (sixth), Midland (eighth) and Mount Marty (ninth).

Following Heritage and Reiman, the top 10 Bulldog runners on Saturday included: Lydia Cook (20:28.48; 40th), Alyssa Fye (20:45.68; 46th), Keri Bauer (20:50.16; 47th); Abi DeLoach (21:18.31; 58th), Alyssa Bierwagen (21:34.48; 66th), Mollie Rathjen (21:41.64; 69th), Amie Martin (21:47.77; 74th) and Abigail Staehr (21:52.36; 77th).

Meanwhile, 18 men represented Concordia in the men’s 8k race that wrapped up the meet. The team’s No. 3 runner at the 2019 GPAC Championships, sophomore Camden Sesna (Kearney, Neb.) has made an early claim as the lead Bulldog. He crossed the finish line in 26:34.84 while placing 20th out of 122 runners at Dordt. Sesna will be challenged for that top spot by the likes of freshman Calvin Rohde (26:56.21; 28th), sophomore Owen Dawson (27:31.51; 38th) and others.

The Concordia men came in behind first-place Dordt and second-place Northwestern. The Bulldogs out-galloped the following GPAC foes: Morningside (fourth), Midland (sixth), Hastings (seventh), Mount Marty (eighth) and Dakota Wesleyan (ninth). Concordia placed fifth in the GPAC in 2019.

The top 10 for the Bulldogs was rounded out by Jordan Lorenz (27:42.86; 40th), Antonio Blaine (27:47.86; 43rd), Wyatt Lehr (28:10.89; 51st), Ethan Hensley (28:22.78; 57th), Ethan Pankow (28:34.13; 61st), Ethan Ideus (28:55.44; 66th) and Deivydas Hermanas (29:26.87; 76th). Lehr is the squad’s returning all-conference performer.

Beisel noted that Sesna ran a personal best while calling Rohde’s first collegiate race “exceptional.” Beisel also lauded Heritage for how she competed after mostly elliptical work leading up to the meet. Reiman’s time eclipsed her high school PR by 40 seconds. Said Beisel of his teams, “They’re in a great mood. I think they know they have more in them.”

The season will continue next Saturday (Sept. 12) at the Bronco Stampede hosted by Hastings at Lake Hastings Park). Race time is set for 10 a.m. CT. The 2020 schedule features six regular-season meets prior to the conference championships on Nov. 7.