Cross Country

While competing in their first meet of the 2018 season, the Bulldog cross country teams competed favorably against their GPAC and NAIA opposition at the Augustana Twilight in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Aug. 31.

Six members of Matt Beisel's cross country programs have been recognized as 2017 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes. The group includes repeat winner Emily Deschaine, also a national championships qualifier.

Emily Deschaine capped an impressive four-year cross country career by appearing on the national stage for the third time as a Bulldog. She placed placed 131st, finishing in a time of 19:18 after navigating the 5k course.

An All-GPAC honoree for the third year in a row, senior Emily Deschaine is set to make her third-straight trip to the NAIA cross country national championships. Deschaine placed sixth at the 2017 GPAC championships.

Emily Deschaine made a strong case for a national championships bid while placing sixth at the conference championships. As teams, the women finished fifth and the men sixth among GPAC rivals on Saturday (Nov. 4).

The Bulldogs hope to follow the lead of Emily Deschaine and Thomas Taylor to top-five GPAC finishes at Saturday's conference championships in Sioux Center, Iowa. Deschaine is a two-time national qualifier.

In their final outing before the GPAC championships, the Bulldog cross country teams turned in place finishes of third (women) and fifth (men) while competing at the Mount Marty Invite on Saturday (Oct. 21).

Again paced by Emily Deschaine and Thomas Taylor, the Bulldogs continued to make progress while aiming to hit their stride at the GPAC championships in November. Concordia placed fifth (women) and seventh (men) at the Briar Cliff Invite.