MITCHELL, S.D. – Junior Adrianna Rodencal dazzled while winning three events and placing second in another as part of the 2025 GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships held Friday and Saturday (Feb. 14-15) in Mitchell, S.D. When the dust settled, Concordia University, Nebraska Track & Field placed third on the women’s side with 141.5 points and fourth on the men’s side with 91 points. Bulldog athletes combined to win seven GPAC event championships. For her efforts, Rodencal was named the 2025 GPAC Women’s Indoor Championships Outstanding Athlete of the Meet.
Head Coach Matt Beisel’s women’s program had won the previous 11 GPAC team championships. While that streak ended on Saturday, Beisel walked away pleased with how his teams competed during the weekend stay at Dakota Wesleyan. In addition to Rodencal, Concordia’s individual GPAC champions included Carson Fehlhafer in the men’s shot put, Abby Gerber in the women’s shot put, Jonny Jurchen in the race walk and Mayson Ostermeyer in the men’s pole vault.
“I am so proud of everybody,” Beisel said. “It’s really easy to celebrate the individual conference champions as well as runners up, and we plenty of those. It’s really hard to do those things in the GPAC. In every event area, we had athletes putting up personal bests. Our teams came ready to compete. Everywhere I was watching, I saw teammates gathering to cheer and support each other. It’s what we as a program want to celebrate in our culture – the support and the love that these kids have for each other. They bring high expectations. There is something really special in our men’s and women’s teams. I am thankful to God for these opportunities we share together.”
The Lincoln Lutheran High School alum Rodencal pulled off a nearly impeccable conference meet. In a major mountaintop moment, Rodencal broke the GPAC women’s indoor meet record in the 60-meter hurdles with a finals time of 8.49 (also breaking her own school record). Rodencal later won the 200 meters in 25.32 after having placed second in the 60-meter dash (7.66). She capped the evening by running the leadoff leg for the 4x400-meter relay that carried on its winning tradition by triumphing in a time of 3:56.66. Rodencal was followed on the 4x4 by Trinity Tuls, Isabelle Salters and Kayla Kirchner.
Rodencal earned credit for 30.5 team points by the time the meet concluded. She surpassed Midland’s Kerrigan Myers (26 points) as the highest scoring female athlete of the meet. Rodencal also swept GPAC Women’s Athlete of the Meet honors as a freshman in 2023. Rodencal has won seven GPAC event titles in her distinguished career.
Said Beisel, “Adrianna accomplished this as a freshman and she came up short (of Outstanding Athlete honors) last year. I know this was on her mind a lot. This was something Coach (Mark) Samuels and her really wanted to do. I’m really happy for her. It’s a big accomplishment when you think of the level of talent every team in the GPAC has. What she did is historical. I’m very grateful for her.”
In the throws, Concordia made a strong push to sweep GPAC titles across the board. Gerber (now a two-time GPAC shot put champion) threw a personal best of 48’ 4” in the shot put and moved up to No. 3 nationally in the event. On the men’s side, Fehlhafer unleashed a season best of 52’ 7 ½” for his first career GPAC title. Meanwhile, Abi Wohlgemuth placed second in the women’s weight throw (58’ 11 ¼”) and Fehlhafer placed third in the men’s weight throw (60’ 2 ½”). Fehlhafer (second most points among men’s field athletes) and his fellow weight throwers on the men’s side combined to put up 15 points in the event. In fifth place, Connor Asche turned in a new weight throw ‘B’ standard.
After watching former teammate Zach Zohner rise to the top of the podium at the conference and national levels in 2024, Ostermeyer earned a GPAC title of his own in the pole vault. The Crofton, Neb., native ascended over 16’ 2 ¾” on Saturday and held off strong competition from Midland’s Robert Atwater. Bulldog Jax Jacobson also took fourth to give Concordia 15 team points in the men’s pole vault. Ostermeyer entered the weekend leading the NAIA in the event.
Early in the day on Saturday, Jonny ‘The Jet’ Jurchen sped around the track for a GPAC meet record 3,000-meter race walk time of 14:15.64. The Seward native won the competition by more than a minute and has locked up a spot at the national meet. Jurchen was joined in the race walk at the GPAC Championships by three men’s teammates. Luke Hammang placed third (15:39.63).
Considering the strength of the Bulldog women’s 4x4, it was expected that a collection of points would come out of the open 400 meters. Concordia stacked points there as Tuls, Kirchner, Salters and Emily Loseke placed third, fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively (15 team points). All four finished in under a minute. In the 4x4, splits were 59.36 for Rodencal, 58.64 for Tuls, 59.12 for Salters and 59.53 for Kirchner.
Outside of Rodencal in the 60 meters and Wohlgemuth in the weight throw, other Bulldogs who placed as GPAC runners up were Adysen McCarter in the triple jump (new B standard of 37’ 10 ½”) and Addie Reimer in the pentathlon (3,108 points). All five of the events in the pentathlon took place on Friday. Not previously mentioned third-place finishes were claimed by Trey Robertson in the men’s 5,000 meters (15:11.50) and by the men’s 4x400-meter relay. That relay featured Easton Fries, Liam Fagan, Matthew Wing and Perry Chadwick. It was also a hectic meet for Josi Noble, who placed fourth in the triple jump, sixth in the pentathlon and seventh in the 600 meters.
2025 GPAC Indoor Champions
· Carson Fehlhafer – shot put (52’ 7 ½”)
· Abby Gerber – shot put (48’ 4”)
· Jonny Jurchen – 3,000-meter race walk (14:15.64)
· Kayla Kirchner – 4x400-meter relay (3:56.66)
· Mayson Ostermeyer – pole vault (16’ 2 ¾”)
· Adrianna Rodencal – 60-meter hurdles (8.49); 200 meters (25.32); 4x400-meter relay (3:56.66)
· Isabelle Salters – 4x400-meter relay (3:56.66)
· Trinity Tuls – 4x400-meter relay (3:56.66)
NOTE: All-conference recognition is achieved by athletes who place inside the top eight of individual events and to relays with top three placements. A complete list of Concordia’s 2025 GPAC Indoor All-Conference honorees will be published on the website next week.
The indoor season will continue for those who qualify for the 2025 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships. The meet is slated to take place in Gainesville, Fla., Feb. 27 – March 1. Official qualifiers will be announced next week by the NAIA.
In adding final thoughts, Beisel remarked, “We had a lot of seniors here competing in their last indoor meet. There were a lot of hugs and lots of tears. Being part of this is special and yet it has to end at some point. It’s cool to see two of our former athletes, Sarah (Lewis) Ritz and Jamie (Nikodym) Marquardt, support us at the meet. I’m so thankful for the seniors and the time we’ve had them.
“We’ve had a good run on the women’s side. We worked our tails off and have everything to be proud of. We’ll work to get the banner back on the women’s side, and we’re overdue on the men’s side. Doane has had a string of victories – kudos to them. Even though we got a third and a fourth, they’re a third and a fourth to be proud of. Looking forward to nationals, we’ll have a good idea on Monday of who gets in. The rest of the team will start getting prepared for outdoor.”