SEWARD, Neb. – The 2024-25 Concordia University, Nebraska Indoor Track & Field season kicked off this weekend (Dec. 13-14) with the sixth annual Bulldog Early Bird Meet inside the Fieldhouse, where athletes from 11 institutions convened. School records were broken in the 60-meter hurdles by freshman Easton Fries and junior Adrianna Rodencal as major highlights of the meet. Additionally, Bulldog athletes combined for seven event championships, three NAIA automatic national qualifying standards, another three performances that met the ‘B’ standard and three pentathlon point totals currently ranked in the top 18 nationally.
Head Coach Matt Beisel has begun his ninth season leading the track & field programs. Rodencal, Mayson Ostermeyer and Abi Wohlgemuth have already locked up trips to the national meet.
“There’s always the question of how everyone will do at the first meet after a fall of training,” Beisel said. “We went out and got some good marks. Last year we got 18 automatic marks at this meet. This year it wasn’t that many, but the performances were really good. It’s a really good start for us. I saw a lot of depth in a lot of different events going up against some of our conference rivals. I’m intensely curious to see how we continue to develop in every event area.”
Rodencal’s abilities are no secret. A two-time GPAC Athlete of the Year, the Lincoln Lutheran alum knocked out the automatic qualifying time quickly by running the 60 hurdles in 8.58 in the prelims. She then broke her own former school record of 8.55 by finishing in 8.53 in the finals and was the meet champion. On the men’s side, Fries made an impressive collegiate debut. His time came in at 8.26 in the prelims and then 8.13 in the finals. The previous men’s school record had been 8.14 by Chuck Tasler (1994) and Jose Beaton (2004).
Said Rodencal afterwards, “I was super happy not just for what I did, but for everybody. We had a lot of great PR’s, especially in the hurdle area. I had some other expectations. I wanted to get the Fieldhouse record but to hit what I hit the first meet, I’m more than happy about that. For the 4x4 being the first time running it – super good. I hate that we have another month before the next meet, but everyone did amazing. I’m very grateful for what I was able to do today.”
Commented Fries on the record, “It means a lot. I couldn’t do it without the coaches and the environment we have here. It makes it really easy to accomplish stuff like that. I had never ran the 60 hurdles until today, so I was just trying to get a time down. I knew I could get down into the lower teens with a good start.”
Rodencal and Fries each polished off the meet by running legs of the 4x4. Rodencal ran the leadoff leg before the baton was transferred to Trinity Tuls, Isabelle Salters and Kayla Kirchner. Their time of 3:57.74 (converted to 3:54.63 for the national list) was a hair short of an ‘A’ standard. Rodencal also ran 25.64 in the 200 meters (second place) and Fries was the Early Bird winner in the men’s 400 meters (51.33) and as part of the 4x4 team (3:23.79). Fries ran the anchor after being preceded by Liam Fagan, Matthew Wing and Perry Chadwick. The group won a nailbiter of a race over Midland.
In the day’s first race, freshman Jonny Jurchen nearly hit an ‘A’ standard. In his first ever collegiate track meet, Jurchen clocked in at 14:33.78 in the 3,000-meter race walk for a ‘B’ standard just over 10 seconds shy of an automatic national qualifying time.
A returning All-American, Wohlgemuth led the way for the throws group by landing an auto mark of 57’ 2” in the weight throw, placing her as the Early Bird runner up. Concordia’s other top throwers included Connor Asche in the men’s weight throw (55’ 11 ¼”) and Nathan Baldwin in the men’s shot put (50’ 4 ¾”) and Harper Boche in the women’s shot put (43’ 7 ¼”). First Team All-GPAC defensive lineman Carson Fehlhafer trailed closely behind Asche in the weight throw and shot put. A two-time All-American, Abby Gerber placed third in the shot put on the women’s side.
In the pole vault, Ostermeyer steps into a larger spotlight after the program said goodbye to two-time national champion Zach Zohner. Ostermeyer cleared a personal best of 16’ 2 ¾” and was the Early Bird winner. He was followed in the men’s competition by Jax Jacobson (14’ 3 ¼”). On the women’s side of the vault, Kayla Svoboda, Erin Boggs and Lillee Richard were tightly packed in the Nos. 3 through 5 place finishes.
Additional Early Bird champions were Hannah Beintema in the 1,000 meters (3:15.02) and Tuls in the 400 meters (59.03). Concordia’s men’s distance medley relay of Trey Robertson, Fagan, Trevor Kuncl and Vaughn Hendrickson ran unopposed and clocked in at 10:27.16, less than five seconds off a ‘B’ standard. The GPAC cross country champion, Hendrickson later ran 9:02.64 in the 3,000 meters (fourth place).
In the jumps, the following Hayley Miles and Aaron Spivey both placed third in the triple jump while Jaxon Lipker (high jump) and Kiki Nyanok (long jump) were fourth-place finishers. Adept in the jumps, Josi Noble and Zoey Walker put together strong pentathlon efforts on Friday. Noble totaled 3,085 points and Walker racked up 2,936 points. Noble and Walker currently rank 12th and 14th, respectively, on the national pentathlon leaderboard.
There were plenty of other noteworthy performances. In the women’s 60 meters, Emily Loseke placed third in 7.89 seconds and the women’s hurdle group behind Rodencal performed solidly (Svoboda finished fourth at 9.10). Right behind Fries in the open men’s 400 meters was fellow freshman Perry Chadwick (51.67). In the women’s 3,000 meters, freshman Annaka Schlachter placed second (11:34.64).
Said Beisel in summing up the meet, “I’m really proud of all the athletes today and all our coaches. They’ve put in a lot of hard work and have built a great team culture. There was a lot of support for each other and a lot of positivity. All glory to God. It was a lot of fun. It’s so good to get track season started again.”
Early Bird Event Champions
· Men’s 4x400m Relay (3:23.79); Liam Fagan, Matthew Wing, Perry Chadwick, Easton Fries.
· Men’s DMR (10:27.16); Trey Robertson; Liam Fagan; Trevor Kuncl; Vaughn Hendrickson.
· Hannah Beintema – 1,000 Meters (3:15.02)
· Easton Fries – 400 Meters (51.33)
· Mayson Ostermeyer – Pole Vault (16’ 2 ¾”)
· Adrianna Rodencal – 60 Hurdles (8.53)
· Trinity Tuls – 400 Meters (59.03)
Automatic National Qualifiers
· Mayson Ostermeyer – Pole Vault (16’ 2 ¾”)
· Adrianna Rodencal – 60 Hurdles (8.53)
· Abi Wohlgemuth – Weight Throw (57’ 2”)
‘B’ Standards – Women’s 4x400m Relay; Easton Fries (60 hurdles); Jonny Jurchen (3,000m race walk).
The 2024-25 indoor season will resume on Jan. 11 with the Scott Nisely Memorial Classic hosted by Doane. Additional home meets coming up this indoor season will include the Concordia Polar Dog Invite (Jan. 17), Concordia Classic (Jan. 24-25) and Concordia Indoor Invite (Feb. 7).