SEWARD, Neb. – The 2025 Concordia Polar Dog Invite will signal a return to action for Concordia University, Nebraska Track & Field. Head Coach Matt Beisel’s complete squads will showcase themselves on Friday inside the Walz Fieldhouse, which will stage a meet for the second time this 2024-25 indoor season. With the exception of seven throwers who competed at last week’s Scott Nisely Invite, the Bulldogs have been idle since the Bulldog Early Bird Meet was held on Dec. 13-14. The Polar Dog is scheduled to include athletes from nine different institutions.
Concordia Polar Dog Invite
Friday (Jan. 17) | Walz Fieldhouse
--Meet Schedule / Heat Sheets (PDF) | Live Results
--Live Streams: Concordia Sports Network
Competing Institutions
Bellevue University
Central Methodist University (Mo.)
College of Saint Mary
Concordia University Ann Arbor
Concordia University, Nebraska
Doane University
Hastings College
Nebraska Wesleyan University
York University
Back in the middle of December, three Concordia athletes secured spots to the 2025 NAIA indoor national meet: Mayson Ostermeyer (16’ 2 ¾” in the pole vault), Adrianna Rodencal (8.53 in the 60-meter hurdles) and Abi Wohlgemuth (57’ 2” in the weight throw). Both Rodencal and Easton Fries (8.13) broke school records in the 60 hurdles at the Bulldog Early Bird. Another major highlight from the meet was produced by Jonny Jurchen, who clocked a ‘B’ standard converted time of 14:23.74 in the 3,000-meter race walk. Additionally, Rodencal teamed up with Trinity Tuls, Isabelle Salters and Kayla Kirchner on a ‘B’ standard in the 4x400-meter relay. Most significantly at the Nisely Invite, Carson Fehlhafer landed a ‘B’ mark of 57’ 5 ½” in the weight throw.
Bulldogs with current NAIA top 10 rankings:
· Mayson Ostermeyer – No. 1 in pole vault (16’ 2 ¾”)
· Adrianna Rodencal – No. 3 in 60 hurdles (8.53)
· Women’s 4x400-meter relay – No. 4 (3:54.63)
· Abi Wohlgemuth – No. 5 in weight throw (57’ 2”)
· Jonny Jurchen – No. 6 in race walk (14:23.74)
· Carson Fehlhafer – No. 10 in weight throw (57’ 5 ½”)
· Easton Fries – No. 10 in 60 hurdles (8.13)
Beisel is in his ninth season leading Concordia’s cross country and track programs. The women’s track & field program is coming off a 2024 season that included GPAC championships for indoor and outdoor and a third-place NAIA national indoor meet trophy. On the men’s side, the Bulldogs placed top 10 nationally for indoor and outdoor while also placing third in the GPAC for indoor and outdoor in 2024. For a detailed season preview, click HERE.
The Polar Dog Invite field includes in-state conference rivals College of Saint Mary, Doane and Hastings. In addition, athletes from Concordia University Ann Arbor will take part in the meet, which will get started with field events at 12 p.m. CT on Friday. The first running events are slated to get underway at 2 p.m. Select Bulldog athletes will also compete at this weekend’s Graduate Classic hosted by the University of Nebraska. More information on that meet can be found HERE.
Once the Polar Dog Invite is in the books, the Bulldogs will have two remaining indoor home meets this season: the Concordia Classic (Jan. 24-25) and Concordia Indoor Invite (Feb. 7). The 2025 GPAC Championships (Feb. 14-15) are roughly a month away and will be hosted by Dakota Wesleyan.