Nineteen track athletes net Scholar-Athlete honors; women lead nation

By Jacob Knabel on May. 28, 2017 in Track & Field

Scholar-Athletes: Men | Women

SEWARD, Neb. – For the fifth year in a row, the Concordia University women’s track and field program is the national leader in number of Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes. Thirteen Bulldog women represented the program on the list of 2017 Scholar-Athletes. In addition, six men’s track and field athletes also earned the same distinction (full list at bottom). Of the 19 total Scholar-Athletes, 12 are senior and seven are juniors.

Head coach Matt Beisel’s squads are fresh off of fifth (men) and sixth (women) place finishes at the outdoor national championships. A junior academically, Sam Liermann is now a Scholar-Athlete in addition to becoming the national champion in the shot put. Five of the 19 Scholar-Athletes were in action this holiday weekend at the national championships in Gulf Shores, Ala.

In order to be nominated by an institution’s head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved a junior academic status. A total of 466 women’s track and field and 316 men’s track and field student-athletes across the nation were named 2017 Scholar-Athletes by the NAIA.

Concordia University ranks as the NAIA’s all-time leader in number of Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes with 1,277 and counting (27 for the fall athletics season). The 2015-16 season produced a GPAC best 92 Bulldog scholar-athletes and a national best 20 NAIA Scholar-Teams. The 2014-15 season culminated with GPAC-leading totals of 94 Bulldog scholar-athletes and 17 NAIA Scholar-Teams. During the 2013-14 academic year, Concordia garnered 101 Scholar-Athlete honorees (most in the NAIA) and 17 NAIA Scholar-Teams (tied for fourth nationally).

2017 Track & Field Scholar-Athletes