SEWARD, Neb. – For their work in leading the Concordia University women’s track and field program to a GPAC outdoor conference title, head coach Matt Beisel and assistant coach Ed McLaughlin were both honored on Thursday (May 16) by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The coaches organization named Beisel the NAIA Midwest Region Women’s Coach of the Year and McLaughlin the NAIA Midwest Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year. Both coaches also collected the same accolades this past indoor season.
Beisel has helped guide the Concordia women back to conference championship glory. The Bulldogs completed a sweep of women’s GPAC indoor/outdoor championships in 2019, marking the first time the program has achieved that feat since 2010. Concordia rose to the top of the conference with GPAC outdoor event titles from Rachel Battershell (400 meters), Samantha Liermann (shot put), Erin Mapson (pole vault) and Addie Shaw (discus). Currently, the Bulldog women are ranked third in the NAIA heading into the outdoor national championships next week. They will take 23 qualifiers to the meet in Gulf Shores, Ala.
McLaughlin continues to clean up assistant coaching awards while overseeing a throws program that has claimed 14 individual national titles since 2014. This marks McLaughlin’s 13th USTFCCCA coaching award since the organization began its awards program in 2016. This 2019 outdoor season, the Concordia women boast the No. 1 throws groups, according to the USTFCCCA, in the shot put, discus and hammer. GPAC champions Liermann (GPAC outdoor meet record in the shot put) and Shaw currently lead the NAIA in the shot put and discus, respectively. The Bulldogs will take seven female throwers to the NAIA outdoor national championships.
The 2019 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships will take place at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 23-25.