GULF SHORES, Ala. – For the second day in a row, a Bulldog thrower received an ice bath from teammates in celebration of a national title. Junior Addie Shaw successfully defended her NAIA title in the discus, an event that helped the Concordia University women’s track and field team place fifth nationally at the 2019 outdoor championship meet. The three-day bonanza lasted Thursday through Saturday in muggy Gulf Shores, Ala., where the best of the NAIA gathered.
Head coach Matt Beisel’s squads put up 44 points on the women’s side and 9.5 points on the men’s side (31st place). Those results followed ninth place claims at the NAIA indoor championships for both the men and women. A total of 16 Bulldogs came away from the outdoor meet with All-America awards in one or more events.
“It’s so hard to describe (the excitement when an athlete wins a national title),” Beisel said. “Anyone who’s been there knows that when you have state champions as a high school coach – but this is a national champion. To have Samantha Liermann get a third national championship and for Addie Shaw to kill it made me super happy for both of them.
“We’re top five in the nation and just six points out of fourth place, which is a trophy. A lot of things had to come together to do it. I want a championship and we’re taking steps towards that … Our guys are maybe a year behind our girls as far as development. Again, I’m super proud. We had so many All-Americans on the guys’ side.”
The already strong national reputation for the Bulldog throws program under Ed McLaughlin continues to expand. With national titles delivered this weekend by Samantha Liermann in the shot put and Shaw in the discus, Concordia throwers have now totaled 16 individual national championships over the past six seasons. It took some time for Shaw to embrace it, but she’s come around on the discus. It’s clearly become her top event.
Last year Shaw was somewhat of a surprise national titlist. This year she entered the meet at No. 1 nationally in the event and had the target on her back. With a clear advantage in the finals of the discus, Shaw popped off a throw of more than 154’ ½” while besting a field loaded with GPAC competitors.
“(High) expectation is definitely a factor,” Shaw said. “I came in with a little bit of nerves for the weekend, but it was calming (when the meet got started). Everyone is trying to beat me. I’m not trying to chase anyone else’s mark. That helped the nerves a lot this weekend … No. 2 feels just as great as the first time.”
The discus brought in 18 team points for the women with Liermann placing fourth (144’ 5”) and senior Carley Weisser finishing sixth (142’ 5”). It was a major breakthrough for Liermann, who has made her mark nationally mostly with what she’s done in the shot put. Liermann finished her collegiate career with 10 All-America awards. Meanwhile, Weisser collected the second All-America plaque of her career.
The lone Concordia men’s All-America award of the day was produced by junior Gavin DeHaai, who was making the second national championship appearance of his career. DeHaai managed to brush off an injury that plagued him for much of the outdoor season to achieve an outdoor personal best clearance of 15’ 9” in the pole vault (tied for seventh place). Sophomores Cody Williams and clear Sam Sisco were able to clear 15’ 3,” but unfortunately missed on their attempts at higher bars.
DeHaai is another story of triumph over adversity. Said DeHaai, “Coming off an injury indoor and into outdoor was really hard just keeping your mind in it. It was more of a mental battle than a physical one. Our coaches just said to trust the process. We have a great training staff and had a lot of things go our way.”
The meet concluded from a Bulldog perspective when the women’s 4x400 meter relay crossed the finish line in sixth place in the finals of the event. Rachel Battershell, Sarah Lewis, Jamie Nikodym and Jacee Pfeifer teamed up on a finals time of 3:52.15. That same group owns the school record in the indoor 4x4 and also earned All-America status for indoor.
It was no small feat just to complete the marathon amidst the heat that has settled this Memorial Day weekend in Gulf Shores. A three-time national qualifier in the marathon, senior Taylor Grove persevered through aches and pains this outdoor season and completed the 26.2-mile trek while placing 16th in a time of 3:34:25.83. That figure was three minutes shy of Grove’s time from the previous year when she finished 17th. Evan Asche also qualified in the marathon. He made it through 19 miles before calling it a day.
Elsewhere in Saturday field events, Jerod Peters placed 19th in the shot put (49’ 4 ¼”) while Mackenzie Koepke checked in at No. 23 in the high jump (5’ 4 ½”). Both athletes were making the first appearances of their careers on the national stage.
Bulldog athletes and coaches are pleased with the progress made in 2019, but this is a program that will never simply settle. Says Beisel, “National championships are always the goal. It’s a yearlong, daily effort on the recruiting front and developing our athletes not just as athletes, but as people, and building relationships and trust with them. I just ask God to keep our kids healthy and continue to bless us.”
2019 Concordia Outdoor All-Americans
- Rachel Battershell – 4x400 meter relay (6th)
- Jacob Cornelio – hammer throw (6th)
- Gavin DeHaai – pole vault (7th)
- Sarah Lewis – 4x400 meter relay (6th)
- Samantha Liermann – shot put (1st); discus (4th)
- Erin Mapson – pole vault (4th)
- Nathan Matters – 4x800 meter relay (4th)
- Josiah McAllister – 4x800 meter relay (4th)
- Tristen Mosier – pole vault (8th)
- Jamie Nikodym – 4x400 meter relay (6th)
- Jacee Pfeifer – 4x400 meter relay (6th)
- Johanna Ragland – hammer throw (5th); shot put (8th)
- Addie Shaw – discus (1st); hammer throw (7th)
- Thomas Taylor – 4x800 meter relay (4th)
- Christian Van Cleave – 4x800 meter relay (4th)
- Carley Weisser – discus (6th)