Cross country athletes aim to keep improving after impressive 2024 season
Senior cross country athlete Keegan Beisel.
By Kai Olbrich
Sports Editor
Photo credit: Concordia Athletics
Concordia’s men’s and women’s cross country teams are on the hunt to return to team dominance after a 2024 season of impressive individual performances.
Sophomore cross country athlete Vaughn Hendrickson. Photo: Concordia Athletics.
Vaughn Hendrickson and Trey Robertson were the headline acts for the Bulldogs in 2024 as they took the top two spots at the Great Plains Athletic Conference meet and Vaughn became a National Athletic Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-American as a freshman when he placed 36th at nationals. Keegan Beisel stole the show for the women as she placed ninth at the conference meet and earned a trip to nationals.
Coach Matt Beisel, Keegan Beisel’s father, is optimistic that Hendrickson and Robertson will continue their impressive performances, and he hopes to bring Keegan Beisel back into the fold after an injury sustained after the 2024 cross country season.
“Trey and Vaughn have had good training this summer, and both have the potential to place high individually in GPAC and make All-American at cross country nationals,” Beisel said. “After a very successful cross-country season, Keegan received a serious concussion and missed all of indoor and outdoor. She is on the mend, but we will take it one day at a time to see how this season goes.”
With the improvements the team made last season, Robertson is eager to see what they can accomplish in 2025.
Junior cross country athlete Trey Robertson. Photo: Concordia Athletics.
“I’m excited to see how our conference champion, Vaughn, will do again this year along with some of the returners like Ransom Watts and Aidan Limback who made some great improvements late in the season last year,” Robertson said. “I think this team is excited and ready to see what we can do.”
The program historically has placed high at its conference meet, boasting six conference championships and four national runner-up finishes on the women’s side, as well as four conference championships and a national runner-up finish for the men.
With five of the top seven runners for both teams returning, Beisel is ready to see how they can perform as a collective group.
“We return a very strong core of talent on both sides. I am cautiously optimistic that if we stay healthy, both teams will vie for a top-two spot in the GPAC,” Beisel said “Obviously, Trey, Vaughn and Keegan saw a lot of success last year, but many of our returning men and women showed huge development during track season, which should make things fun and interesting this fall.”
Along with those returners, the team is bringing in an additional 24 athletes to reinforce its ranks.
