HASTINGS, Neb. – The start of the 2019 outdoor track and field season waited until the final day of March. On the heels of top 10 NAIA national finishes at the indoor championship meet, the Bulldogs returned to action on Sunday (March 31) and racked up 18 event titles at the Bronco Open in Hastings, Neb. Throwers Jacob Cornelio, Samantha Liermann and Addie Shaw each secured spots in the NAIA outdoor national championships with their performances.
Head coach Matt Beisel’s squads entered the outdoor season with high expectations. The women may even be the conference favorite after winning the GPAC indoor title. The takeaway from Sunday is that there is plenty of room for improvement moving forward.
“With seven weeks of outdoor practice without a meet for most of our kids, I think it was an all right day,” Beisel said. “I think everyone walked away from that meet wanting more, and that’s not a bad thing with our home meet coming up next week. Our home meets are where we tend to really step up and perform well. We’re not content with today so there should be a determination to come back and hit it even harder.”
A national runner up in the weight throw this past indoor season, junior Jacob Cornelio is an established star and captain of the team. He got on the board with an ‘A’ standard of 194 feet for a second place claim in the hammer throw. On the women’s side, defending discus national champion Shaw turned in a personal best of 172’ 3” to top the field of competitors in the hammer throw. A two-time shot put national champion, Liermann whirled a shot put mark of 46’ 6” in another winning effort. Based on the NAIA national leaderboard entering the day, Liermann is now No. 1 in the nation in the event.
In the first meet of her college career, freshman Claire Cornell won the long jump by landing in at 18’ 5,” just shy of the ‘B’ standard. Cornell is one of several members of the national champion women’s basketball team that has a chance to make an impact this outdoor season. Another in that category is freshman Mackenzie Koepke, who won the high jump on Sunday with a mark of 5’ 2 ½.”
In addition to the three automatic marks recorded in the throws, Bulldog athletes combined for six ‘B’ standards: Jazzy Eickhoff in the javelin, Leah Larson in the triple jump, Liermann in the hammer throw, Erin Mapson in the pole vault, Johanna Ragland in the hammer throw and Carley Weisser in the hammer throw. Eickhoff, Larson and Mapson were all winners in their respective events.
Beisel also liked what he saw from many Concordia runners in the distance crew. Fresh off running a 20-miler two days ago, senior Taylor Grove placed first in the 5,000 meters in a time of 19:34.44. Grove is already qualified for the national championships in the marathon. In the steeplechase, Beisel is trying out some athletes who are unaccustomed to the event. Patrick Schneeberger won the 3,000 meter steeplechase on the men’s side by clocking in at 10:56.29.
In addition, top performers on the track for the men such as Nathan Matters (800 meters) and Josiah McAllister (1,500 meters) both turned in a first-place effort on Sunday. Indoor heptathlon All-American Cody Williams jumped a PR of 44’ 10 ¾” in the triple. It was also a solid day for Gavin Davis, who ran 49.59 in the 400 meters (third place) and was part of the winning 4x100 meter relay (43.47).
Not previously mentioned event champions were Dalton Berry (pole vault), Rebekah Hinrichs (5,000 meters), Jordan Lorenz (5,000 meters), Kennedy Mogul (400 meter hurdles) and Miranda Rathjen (800 meters).
The Bulldogs will host a meet for the first time this outdoor season when the Concordia Outdoor Invite takes place Friday and Saturday (April 5-6) in and around Bulldog Stadium. Only a select few events will go off on Friday. The meet schedule can be viewed HERE.