Bulldogs put up a strong showing at home meet

Photo credit: Maximus Fritsche

By Kai Olbrich

Sports Editor

The Concordia track and field team achieved 10 individual event titles, three relay top spots, and multiple national qualifiers at the Concordia Invitational on April 6.

Due to poor weather conditions, the meet was moved to the Monday of Concordia’s Easter break instead of the previous Friday.

Senior Adrianna Rodencal continued to impress with her first 400-meter hurdles win of the season, alongside another 100-meter hurdles victory. The indoor 60-meter hurdles national champion won her two events in times of 13.61 seconds and 1:01.76. Rodencal’s preliminary time in the 100-meter hurdles was 13.48 and set a stadium record. She has also achieved the A standard for national qualification in both events.

Another 2026 indoor all-American to win on Monday was sophomore Jonny Jurchen in the 5k race walk. Jurchen put himself seventh on the national leaderboard with his first-place effort of 22:52.13. Jurchen was followed by freshman Jack Habegger, who placed second with a 23:05.70. Both achieved the national A standard.

The men’s distance squad had a dominant showing with three first place results. Junior Trey Robertson took the lead on lap three of the 3k steeplechase and never looked back, winning with a time of 9:42.90. Junior Ransom Watts ran an unopposed 5k, which made the first-place finish come easier than normal, but he still put in a solid effort with a finishing time of 16:04.48. Sophomore Vaughn Hendrickson rounded out the distance guys with a win in the 10k. Hendrickson led from lap one and finished in 31:41.85.

The women’s field events also put in a valiant shift. Sophomore Adysen McCarter jumped 12.05 meters to claim the women’s triple jump top spot and achieved the national A standard. Senior Kayla Svoboda placed first in the women’s pole vault with a 3.58-meter vault, junior Kiki Nyanok won the women’s triple jump with a 5.55-meter mark, and junior Emma Kucera won the javelin with a throw of 37.71 meters.

Sophomore Nathan Baldwin placed second in the men’s hammer throw with a 56.30-meter throw, which was clear of the national B mark.

Concordia’s relay teams took advantage of sparse competition and took first place in three events. The men’s 4×100-meter relay ran unopposed to claim first in 43.03, and the women’s 4×400-meter relay did the same in 4:02.41. The Bulldogs had two entries in the women’s 4×1, with the top team running 47.17. The team was composed of McCarter, Rodencal, Nyanok, and senior Kayla Kirchner.

Additional second-place finishers included McCarter in the women’s 200, sophomore Lucas Corwin in the men’s 800, freshman Anna-Ruth Aschenbeck in the women’s 5k race walk, Harper Boche in the women’s hammer throw and shot put, junior Addie Reimer in the women’s high jump, and the women’s 4×1 relay.

The Bulldogs are back in action on April 11 in Hastings, Nebraska, for the Hastings College Bronco Invite.