Concordia Athletic Department honors 2024 Hall of Fame inductees, senior athletes of the year

Photo credit: Maddy Peters, sports editor

By Maddy Peters, sports editor

The Concordia Athletic Department inducted their class of 2024 Hall of Fame Friday evening at the annual homecoming weekend banquet.

The honorees included Audra (Nothwehr) Anderson, Elizabeth (Rhoden) Dillingham, Dr. Kregg Einspahr, Ceron Francisco, Frank Greene, Katie (Werner) Loveless and the 2004-05 men’s basketball team. For more information on the inductees, click here.

Concordia started off the event by handing out the awards for senior athletes of the year. There were two female athletes of the year and one male athlete. Camryn (Opfer) Fehlhafer and Josie Puelz shared the women’s award and Joey Grabanski was the male recipient. The three will be eligible to be automatically nominated to be in the Athletic Hall of Fame in five years.

Anderson was one of Concordia’s top tennis players in the program while also playing volleyball. She attended Concordia from 1997-2001. After leaving Concordia, she was the head tennis coach at Lindsey Wilson College and Southern Illinois University. However, she never forgot the Christian atmosphere that permeated Concordia.

“This environment allowed my faith to flourish as I was consistently surrounded by supportive Christians,” said Anderson, “Having also coached at other universities, I noticed that there are much more temptations and distractions for the athletes to navigate. I have had to really reflect on my time as a Bulldog athlete because it’s been a while.”

Dillingham played for the women’s basketball team from 2000-04 and helped lead the team to a 111-26 record over those four seasons. She also did a season of women’s soccer in 2004 and was the former sports editor at the Sower. She enjoyed being able to reminisce about her time playing, but the time outside the court also mattered to her.

“Lots of basketball related memories of course, but it’s the time in between that have more impact on me in the long run,” said Dillingham, “Being at Concordia with like-minded people, my mother-in-law said it earlier today, she said it’s so refreshing to be in a place with Christian values, and I absolutely agree.”

Einspahr already had a spot in the hall of fame for his athletic accomplishments from 1978-82, but this induction was for his work as the cross country and track and field coach from 1992-2016. Einspahr brought Concordia their first national championship for men’s outdoor track and field in 2015. At the end of his acceptance speech, Einspahr shared a note from a former unnamed runner that encapsulated the work Einspahr had done for countless athletes.

“And I got a note from him this week, and I’m just gonna read a couple things here. He said to me—it was about a three-page letter, “You instilled me with a drive that not only made me want to be a better runner, but a better mentor, a better coach and a better dad. People say sports parallel life, and I can honestly say as my coach, you changed mine,’” said Einspahr.

Francisco went from an inexperienced wrestler to the 2017 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics heavyweight runner up. He competed from 2013-18. He had a career win-loss record of 101-52, the second highest in program history.

Francisco was unable to attend the ceremony in person due to a wedding but sent in a video acceptance speech. Assistant Athletic Director and former wrestling coach Levi Calhoun accepted the award in his stead.

“If I had to offer any advice to any athletes, I can tell you right now whether you’re wrestling or playing golf or whatever, the first thing will be to just center your identity in Christ and eliminate outside motivations, you know,” said Francisco, “Because whether you win or lose, Jesus never changes.”

Greene may currently be the voice of Bulldog volleyball, but his induction this year was for his time as the Concordia softball coach from 2001-08 and 2011-13. His 2005 team currently holds the winningest season record with 36. Greene talked about how necessary it is for teams to trust each other no matter what in their sport if they want to see success.

“Unity is critical to success in athletics,” said Greene, “All for one and one for all. Learn to trust everyone associated with your team and show that you can be trusted in return. Trusted to be on time, trusted to know your role, trusted to support all your teammates and your coaches. And be leaders; student leaders who walk the talk in all you do and say. Learn to be more selfless and less selfish and success will be sure to come your way.”

Loveless was a two-sport athlete playing volleyball and throwing for the track and field team. She played from 2004-08 on the volleyball team, but did not start her throwing career until later. She began her speech by talking about how she loved to plan and how God threw a wrench in it by pushing her to be a thrower as well.

“While I would like to say that I have now learned to let go and let God, I will always be a planner,” said Loveless, “But after my time at Concordia, I have learned that just because something doesn’t fall into my plans does not mean that it wasn’t God’s plan all along.”

The 2004-05 men’s basketball team was a team coming out of adversity. They were forecasted to finish seventh in the conference but became the NAIA runner-up team instead. The team was coached by Grant Schmidt who was inducted into the hall of fame in 2022. Schmidt and teammates Marcus Wernke and Steven Carretto shared words on stage about the team and the honor it was to receive this distinction.

“You really just want to know your role or get in where you fit in,” said Wernke, “So you might not—I played with three All-Americans up here—you might not get the opportunity you think you deserve, but know your role and fulfill that role, and have faith in your teammates and faith in yourself.”

The inductees were invited to attend the homecoming football game Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against Dordt University.