CUNE Track and Field Face GPAC Rivals

Photo Courtesy of Wyatt Kube

By Wyatt Kube

With the indoor track and field season underway, the Bulldogs welcomed GPAC rivals Doane and Hastings to the Polar Dog Invite on Jan. 22 inside the WALZ Field House.  Coming into the meet, the Bulldogs had a total of 43 marks that ranked in the top 10 for NAIA national performance lists.  

A total of 12 Bulldog athletes took home titles in the Polar Dog Invite.  Junior Cora Olson took home first place in triple jump with a jump of 10.66 meters.  Junior Rachel Battershell won the women’s 400 meter dash with a time of 57.79 seconds.  In the women’s 600 meter run, junior Keri Bauer took the cup with a time of 1:42.34. 

Freshman Rylee Haecker posted a time of 3:04.13 in the women’s 1,000 meter run.  In the women’s 800 meter run, junior Jordan Hilyard ran a 2:32.25 giving her first place in the meet.  sophomore Kylahn Heritage, who was the reigning GPAC Track Athlete of the Week, finished with a 18:51.89 in the 5,000 finishing first in the meet. 

Other winners were junior Sarah Lewis in the women’s 60 hurdles with a time of 8.98 seconds, sophomore Josie Puelz in women’s pole vault with a vault of 12’ 7½”, freshman Calvin Rohde in the men’s 800 meter run with a time of 2:02.37 seconds, senior Christian Van Cleave in the men’s 600 meter run finishing with a time of 1:23.55, and both the women’s 4×400 meter relay and the 4×800 meter relay teams finished first in the meet. 

Junior Zach Bennetts soared to new heights in pole vault by hitting 15’ 8 ¼” beating his previous personal record by 7 ¼”.  He finished second in the meet, but his performance should not be left without notice.  In men’s long jump, senior Jacob Jennings finished in second with a jump of 21’ 10 ¾” in a nailbiter of a finish.

Concordia will go back to Crete, Nebraska for the Fred Beile Classic hosted by Doane on Jan. 29-30.  The times for the events are to be announced closer to the meet.