SEWARD, Neb. – Starring performances at the Concordia Polar Dog Invite from Kylahn Freiberg and Zach Zohner led to both Bulldogs being recognized on Wednesday (Jan. 24) by the GPAC. The league named Freiberg the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week and Zohner the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Men’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week. Freiberg also garnered two GPAC Runner of the Week awards during this past 2023 cross country season.
Freiberg (Nampa, Idaho) played a role in both of the two new automatic national qualifying standards that were produced last week by the women’s team. Early in the Polar Dog Invite, Freiberg ran a split of 2:18 for the 4x800 meter relay that clocked a team time of 9:15.26 (converted to 9:08.93 for the national list). That time currently ranks the Bulldogs at No. 1 in the NAIA. As a result, the 4x8 also earned the NAIA Women’s Track & Field National Athletes of the Week award from the USTFCCCA. To cap the Polar Dog, Freiberg ran a personal best 5,000 meters in 17:48.25 (converted to 17:40.14 for the national list). That time ranks as the third fastest in program history and puts Freiberg at No. 11 in the NAIA (second in the GPAC). Freiberg is coming off a 2023 indoor season that saw her place as the NAIA national runner up in the 1,000 meters.
A native of Battle Creek, Neb., Zohner has been progressing as an athlete capable of competing for pole vault national titles. He has pushed his indoor pole vault personal best to 16’ 8 ¾” thanks to his effort at the Polar Dog Invite. That mark currently ranks No. 2 on the NAIA list (No. 1 mark is 16’ 10 ¾”) as Zohner tracks closer to 17 feet. Zohner’s vault also places him at No. 5 on the program’s indoor pole vault list. Last season, Zohner earned NAIA national places finishes of second (indoor) and third (outdoor) in the pole vault. He was also the 2023 GPAC outdoor pole vault champion.
Next up, the Bulldogs will host the Concordia Classic this Friday and Saturday. The schedule for that meet can be found HERE.