For the fourth year in a row, the Concordia Track & Field season will get started with the Bulldog Early Bird meet. Eight teams from competing institutions will join the Bulldogs inside the Fieldhouse this weekend.
In a different era of Bulldog Athletics, Bob Schulze left a legacy as a four-sport athlete. Schulze may not have known exactly what he was getting into, but 58 years after his graduation from Concordia, he knows that God led him to the perfect place.
Two-time NAIA national champion Rachel Battershell has been announced by the GPAC as the conference's female nominee for the A.O. Duer Award. The award recognizes student-athletes who excel in scholarship, character and citizenship.
You couldn't have been around Concordia and not have known Liz King. The native of Billings, Mont., became the first throws national champion under Ed McLaughlin and endeared people to her with her personality.
As the highlight of the 2022-23 indoor season, the Bulldogs will host the GPAC Championship meet. Prior to the conference championships, Concordia athletes will appear at eight regular season meets.
Yet another postseason accolade has come in for Josie Puelz. The four-time national champion collected a major award from the USTFCCCA, which also named 42 Bulldogs as All-Academic Athletes.
Recently named the Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for NAIA women's track & field, Josie Puelz has also been recognized as the 2022 Midlands Female Athlete of the Year by the Omaha World-Herald.
Jacob Jennings and Zach Bennetts have been honored as the fourth and fifth 2021-22 Academic All-America award winners from Concordia Track & Field. Jennings garnered his second career Academic All-America honor from CoSIDA.
Four-time national champion Josie Puelz earned yet another major award when she was named the 2021-22 Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year in the NAIA. Teammates Rachel Battershell and Erin Mapson were also recognized.
The Ragland-Concordia connection dates back to 1986 when John Ragland enrolled at Concordia. John and his daughters Johanna and Sarah boast 10 combined All-America awards, but Concordia's meaning to them isn't about the accolades.
She's one of a kind for so many reasons. In five years as a Concordia Bulldog, Josie Puelz not only won five NAIA national titles, she did so with class and that signature smile while living out her Christian faith.
The collegiate journey for Chris Wren culminated with a hammer throw national title. This mountaintop moment was meant to be for Wren, who looks back at his Concordia experience and how it transformed his life.
While feeling the best she ever has physically and mentally, Hastings native Jenna Esch has thrived in her third and final year as a Bulldog. Says Esch, "It’s been really special what I’ve been able to do, especially with this group of people."
On the heels of a fine indoor season, Concordia Track & Field sets its focus upon the 2024 outdoor campaign. The Bulldogs will attempt to build upon the All-America awards won by 15 individuals at the indoor national meet.
The ‘aha moment’ for Zach Zohner occurred during the middle of the 2023 indoor season when he decided he would no longer let the fear of injury monopolize his thoughts. The right mentality set him on a path to a national title.
Energetic and intensely competitive, Rylee Haecker has been described by coaches as "a gamer." Beyond athletics, Haecker is caring and outgoing, is a positive encourager of her teammates and is devout in her faith.
If the Bulldog Early Bird Meet is any indication, Concordia Track & Field is in for a phenomenal 2023-24 indoor season. The Bulldogs enter 2024 expecting to compete with the best of the GPAC and the NAIA once again.
With only a cinder track and no dedicated indoor facilities, Coach John Knight went to work building up the Concordia Cross Country and Track & Field programs. He succeeded in landing some of the top athletes in school history.
In winding down a fifth year of a remarkable collegiate journey, the triple major Rachel Battershell has rediscovered the joy that made her a champion. Nearing the finish line, Battershell reflected on an experience she calls "really special."
Outdoor track season has nearly arrived for the Bulldogs, who are coming off indoor GPAC placements of first for the women and third for the men. The dynamics change with a different set of events on tap for outdoor track.