SEWARD, Neb. – For the fifth year in a row, Concordia University Track & Field will open an indoor season by hosting the Bulldog Early Bird Meet. This year’s Early Bird will play out Friday and Saturday inside the Walz Fieldhouse with the Bulldogs set to be joined by athletes from 12 competing institutions (full list below). This will be the first of four home meets for Concordia this 2023-24 indoor season.
Head Coach Matt Beisel’s programs are coming off 2023 indoor seasons that saw them turn in GPAC place finishes of first on the women’s side and third on the men’s side. The women’s program owns an active streak of nine-consecutive GPAC championships.
Concordia Bulldog Early Bird Meet
Friday/Saturday (Dec. 8-9) | Walz Fieldhouse
--Meet Schedule / Heat Sheets (PDF) | Live Results
--Live Streams:
· Running Events (and Friday Women’s Pentathlon): https://www.youtube.com/c/BulldogTrackandField
· Men’s & Women’s High Jump (Men’s Heptathlon): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCnWh95Lz6dW3OUosomZyoA
· Women’s Jumps (north runway): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWMXJ0G97vIWXuBqGS3Iww
· Men’s & Women’s Throwing Events: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqn-dBHnX9YmlOunOX9cweA
· Men’s & Women’s Pole Vault: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIerIQe-tQv53fnpGwp_wTQ
· Men’s Jumps (infield jumping events): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIerIQe-tQv53fnpGwp_wTQ
Competing Institutions
Briar Cliff University
College of Saint Mary
Concordia University
Dakota State University
Doane University
Friends University (racewalk only)
Kansas Wesleyan University
MidAmerica Nazarene University
Midland University
Mount Marty University
Northwestern College
Waldorf University
York University
A year ago, the 2022 Bulldog Early Bird yielded 14 event titles and four automatic national qualifying marks from Concordia athletes. Ultimately, 32 Bulldogs made the trip to Brookings, S.D., for last season’s NAIA indoor national meet. The current 2023-24 roster includes 15 athletes who have earned past All-America awards in indoor and/or outdoor competition. Those athletes on the women’s side are Jenna Esch (3), Kylahn Freiberg (4), Abigail Gerber (1), Rylee Haecker (8), Jordan Koepke (5), Josi Noble (1), Alli Owings (1), Erin Painter (1), Josie Puelz (7), Amy Richert (3) and Trinity Tuls (2). Returning All-Americans on the men’s side are Austen Rozelle (1), Darien Semedo (1), Chris Wren (3) and Zach Zohner (2). Puelz is a five-time NAIA national champion in the pole vault. Puelz and the Concordia women’s program have won each of the last nine GPAC championship meets.
The Early Bird Meet will feature a men’s heptathlon and a women’s pentathlon, as well as a 3,000-meter racewalk. Lauren Dawson broke through in the racewalk as a national qualifier this past outdoor season. The meet is slated to wrap up at roughly 7 p.m. CT with the 4x400 meter relays.
Once the Early Bird Meet is in the books, the Bulldogs will be idle through the Christmas break. The 2023-24 indoor season is scheduled to resume the weekend of Jan. 12-13 with the Graduate Classic hosted by the University of Nebraska and the Scott Nisely Memorial Classic hosted by Doane.