MEN
Head Coach: Matt Beisel (9th year); 12x GPAC Coach of the Year
2025 Indoor Finishes: 4th (GPAC); 56th (NAIA)
2024 Indoor Finishes: 3rd (GPAC); 8th (NAIA)
2024 Outdoor Finishes: 3rd (GPAC); 7th (NAIA)
Past All-Americans returning (indoor/outdoor): Jonny Jurchen (1); Mayson Ostermeyer (2); Austen Rozelle (1).
2024 All-Americans lost (indoor/outdoor): Calvin Rohde (1); Darien Semedo (2); Chris Wren (5; HT national champion); Zach Zohner (4; 2x national champion).
2024 National Qualifiers returning (indoor/outdoor): Connor Asche; Matthew Boyer; Liam Fagan; Carson Fehlhafer; Luke Hammang; Trevor Kuncl; Mayson Ostermeyer; Trey Robertson; Austen Rozelle; Colby Sugden.
--NOTE: list of national qualifiers includes athletes who traveled to the 2024 NAIA indoor/outdoor meets.
WOMEN
Head Coach: Matt Beisel (9th year); 12x GPAC Coach of the Year
2025 Indoor Finishes: 3rd (GPAC); T-20th (NAIA)
2024 Indoor Finishes: 1st (GPAC); 3rd (NAIA)
2024 Outdoor Finishes: 1st (GPAC); 20th (NAIA)
Past All-Americans returning (indoor/outdoor): Abigail Gerber (3); Kayla Kirchner (2); Josi Noble (1); Adrianna Rodencal (1); Isabelle Salters (1); Gretchen Stottlemyre (1); Trinity Tuls (4); Zoey Walker (1); Abi Wohlgemuth (2).
2024 All-Americans lost (indoor/outdoor): Jenna Esch (8); Kylahn Freiberg (7); Rylee Haecker (10); Jordan Koepke (8); Julie McIntyre (1); Josie Puelz (8; 5x national champion).
2024 National Qualifiers returning (indoor/outdoor): Claire Beikmann; Erin Boggs; Abigail Gerber; Kayla Kirchner; Hayley Miles; Josi Noble; Adrianna Rodencal; Isabelle Salters; Cambria Saunders; Gretchen Stottlemyre; Kayla Svoboda; Trinity Tuls; Zoey Walker; Abi Wohlgemuth.
--NOTE: list of national qualifiers includes athletes who traveled to the 2024 NAIA indoor/outdoor meets.
Outlook
With the beginning of spring comes a slate wiped clean when it comes to the world of track & field. Following an indoor season characterized by highs and lows, Concordia University, Nebraska Track & Field aspires to finish the 2024-25 academic year strong in what will be a whirlwind of an outdoor season. The campaign kicks off in late March at the Central Nebraska Challenge before barreling into the conference championships the weekend of May 2-3. There will be one less weekend of competition than a typical outdoor season.
In other words, Head Coach Matt Beisel’s squads will be looking to hit the ground running. The Bulldog roster of more than 150 athletes took an opportunity to refresh over spring break. Coming out of the indoor season, some Concordia athletes are aiming to build upon major achievements and others are motivated after experiencing varying levels of disappointment.
Said Beisel following the indoor national championships, “There were highlights and mountaintop experiences and there were some huge disappointments where athletes went in feeling like they could do X, Y and Z and it just didn’t happen. That’s the nature of the game. You learn to be resilient and deal with that. Anyone who makes All-America honors – that’s a big deal. To be able to stand up there with that plaque and that medal and to know you scored points for your team at the national meet is an important thing.”
Five Bulldogs made their way to the All-America podium in Gainesville, Fla., site of the 2025 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships: Abby Gerber (shot put), Jonny Jurchen (3,000-meter race walk), Mayson Ostermeyer (pole vault), Adrianna Rodencal (60-meter hurdles) and Abi Wohlgemuth (weight throw runner up). The indoor season proved it will take time to replace the slew of All-Americans and national champions (Chris Wren and Zach Zohner) that graduated following the 2024 outdoor season. The 2025 indoor season culminated with GPAC team place finishes of third for the women and fourth for the men.
The string of 11-straight GPAC women’s team championships was halted by Doane, but Beisel and his staff are optimistic about the future for men’s and women’s programs featuring a wealth of standout freshmen. In addition, the dynamics of outdoor track & field (additional throwing events) have typically favored the Bulldogs, who figure to rank near the top of the NAIA group rankings in events like the hammer, discus and javelin. A past discus All-American, senior Austen Rozelle has his sights set on going out on a high note.
“This an outdoor season I have been looking forward to for a long time,” Rozelle said. “There a lot of competitors that have stepped up to fill roles that we needed, and they have just done that. As a senior, I feel blessed to have grown into a leadership role for the younger throwers. A successful season in my mind would be a team conference top two placement and an individual conference title as well. I think we’ve shown that when it comes to outdoor, we have a lot of events that can help with points that we don’t get to see indoor.”
Some of the extra points could be tabulated in the javelin, an event highlighted by junior Matthew Boyer, the school record holder (219’ 1”), on the men’s side and returning All-American Gretchen Stottlemyre on the women’s side. Other returning All-Americans from the 2024 outdoor season are 4x400-meter relay teammates in Kayla Kirchner, Isabelle Salters and Trinity Tuls. That trio, along with Rodencal, will feel a burning desire to get back on the podium after missing out this past indoor season.
Beisel and his staff, including full-time assistants Ed McLaughlin and Mark Samuels, see plenty of growth potential. Consider that nine freshmen or sophomores got their first taste of the national championship experience during indoor season. That freshman class included Harper Boche, Easton Fries, Vaughn Hendrickson, Jonny Jurchen, Jaxon Lipker and Adysen McCarter. As Beisel described it, ‘Jonny The Jet’ was like a “kid in a candy store” after earning his first All-America award. Meanwhile, Fries is already the school record holder in the men’s 60-meter hurdles and Hendrickson (cross country All-American) was part of a young national qualifying DMR that included two sophomores (Trey Robertson and Justin Sherman) and a junior (Liam Fagan).
“We had a bunch of freshmen at indoor nationals,” Beisel said. “Some of them didn’t have their best day, but by gosh, they got there and they have another three years to get back there. Sometimes you have to get on the big stage and experience it. It’s not just about competing against tough athletes, it’s about the entire thing. Your whole personal life cycle gets thrown off by the travel and living in a hotel room. Then you have to sit around a lot. You have a different diet. You have to do what works for you and you have to think ahead several steps. Once you’ve been there, it makes a huge difference.”
The Lincoln Lutheran alum Rodencal isn’t one who will rest on her laurels. She earned GPAC Women’s Athlete of the Year honors for indoor following a performance that included a new GPAC meet record in the 60 hurdles (8.49). Rodencal went a step further by running 8.44 in the 60 hurdle finals at national for her first career All-America medal. As Rodencal posted on X afterwards, “A dream for the past 2.5 years and all I can do is thank God for what He has given me.” This outdoor season, Rodencal will be gunning for her 100-meter hurdle school record of 13.65.
In other field events, the Bulldogs will roll out elite athletes with big-time aspirations. A junior from Crofton, Neb., Ostermeyer is the next in a long line of star pole vaulters. He picked up his second career All-America award and now gets back to work, hopeful of competing for an NAIA national title. In the shot put, reigning GPAC champions Carson Fehlhafer and Abby Gerber possess the potential to score major points at the conference and national levels.
Other not previously mentioned returners who made their way to the 2024 NAIA outdoor national meet include Connor Asche, Claire Beikmann, Luke Hammang, Josi Noble, Cambria Saunders, Kayla Svoboda and Zoey Walker. Noble (four-time national qualifier) and Walker own one All-America award apiece in their careers. Among current Bulldogs, Tuls’ four career All-America honors rank No. 1.
As Beisel said following the indoor season, “I want to give all glory to God for the many blessings He’s given our teams this season. Nothing could have happened without His will. I think we’re all looking ahead to outdoor and fired up for what’s to come.”
In reflecting on his time as a Bulldog, Rozelle said the following, “I have made many wonderful memories that will impact my life moving forward whether that be battling adversity through injuries, fostering and mentoring new relationships with friends, or even just the endless time perfecting a craft such as throwing. I don’t think I could pick a few even if I tried. However, some big takeaways that I’ve learned through CUNE are you’re not defined by your numbers or your rankings. You show up, you work hard, get things done even when they don’t go how you want to, and at the end of the day, you give the glory to God because none of these things would be possible without Him.”
The 2025 Concordia Track & Field schedule can be found HERE. Concordia will begin the season at the Central Nebraska Challenge on Saturday, March 29. Two home meets are slated to take place this spring: the Concordia Invitational (April 4-5) and the Concordia Twilight (May 9). This will mark the third-straight year that Indiana Wesleyan University will host the NAIA Outdoor National Championships. Hastings will host the GPAC Championships.