Sower sports roundup, April 17

By Maddy Peters, Sports Editor

If you missed Concordia University Nebraska sports this weekend, here is what happened.

The Concordia powerlifting squad sent 17 athletes to Atlanta for the Collegiate Powerlifting Nationals from April 11-14. The Bulldog women placed ninth at the meet while the men were 19th. The lifting team has one final meet, the CUNE Collegiate Powerlifting Meet on April 20 in the PE gym. This is the first lifting meet Concordia has hosted in school history.

There were two Bulldogs who made the podium (top five). Sophomore Rylee Ladd won second in 52 kg weight class with a 132.5kg squat, a 92.5kg bench and a 145kg deadlift. Ladd’s bench broke the American collegiate bench press record for her class. Freshman Will Peterson won fifth in the 140kg weight class with a 300kg squat, a 175kg bench and a 292.5 deadlift.

The Concordia shooting sports team finished up their season with the Concordia Bulldog International Tournament held in Grand Island from April 13-14. The small event is meant to give shooters experience with international shooting disciplines, many of which involve faster shots than in American shooting.

Senior Sam Blevins and sophomore Kaylee Hinton won the titles for the bunker event. Blevins sniped 106 targets in regular competition and then beat out fellow teammate sophomore Mason Ward 33-21 in the bunker finals. Hinton hit 67 in the regular shot but beat out sophomore Katie Welker 28-16 in the finals. In the international skeet, freshman Brayden Tosh missed out on first losing 47-37 to William Penn University’s Matthew Brindley. Tosh shot 72 in the first round.

The Concordia men’s golf team competed at the Nebraska Wesleyan Invite from April 14-15 in Lincoln. Two groupings of Bulldogs competed with the ‘A’ group finishing fifth with a 315-316–631 (+55) and the ‘B’ group finishing eighth with a 326-330–656 (+80). The last regular season meet for the men is the rescheduled Bulldog-Tiger Cup on April 25 in Lincoln.

Senior Drew D’Ercole finished the best out of the Bulldog squads tying for 13th with a 79-76–155. He was on the ‘A’ squad. Freshman Colin Aubuchon finished the best in the ‘B’ squad with a 79-84–163.

The Concordia women’s golf team meanwhile competed at the Doane University Kaitlyn Erickson Spring Invite in Lincoln on April 15. The invite was scheduled for the 16 as well, but was canceled due to inclement weather. Thus, the team finished at third place with a season low score of 347. The team’s next competition is the Great Plains Athletic Conference Golf Championships in Spencer, Iowa from April 22-23.

Senior Mya Nurse led the pack with a ninth-place finish with a season low score of 83 (+12). Sophomore Emery Custer who has led the team all season tied for 10th with two golfers from Dakota Wesleyan University with a score of 84 (+13).

The Concordia softball team finished a six-game string at home with a split double header against the College of Saint Mary Flames. The Bulldogs won the first game 10-5 and lost the second 9-5 in a shortened six-inning game due to lightning. The team is now 17-21 overall and has an even 7-7 record in the GPAC. They next play Briar Cliff University on April 19 in Sioux City, Iowa.

Junior Kylie Shottenkirk hit two home runs, one in each game, for the Bulldogs. She went three-for-three with a walk against the Flames’ pitcher in the first game and hit her one homer in her only at-bat in the second game (she was walked twice). She finished the night with a total of five RBIs. Concordia as a whole had 15 hits against Saint Mary in the first game, leading to their five-point win. Sophomore Taryn Ganstrom was the pitcher credited with the win, going seven hits for two runs, two strikeouts and recording two errors.

The second game ended short at the top of the sixth inning with Saint Mary ahead by four. The Flames took an early lead with a four-run first inning and a three-run second that sent the Concordia pitching staff scrambling. Freshman Aubriana Krieser finished with three RBIs with a double sending in senior Julia Van Wey in the first and a single that sent freshman Laycee Josoff and junior Aubrey Bruning home. Due to the weather, no pitcher records were affected.

The Concordia women’s tennis team had two matches this week facing Saint Mary on April 15 and the Midland University Warriors on April 17. The Bulldogs won 5-2 against Saint Mary, but narrowly lost 4-3 against Midland. The team is now 9-7 overall and 4-2 in the GPAC. They next face Hastings College on April 20 in Hastings.

Concordia started off strong against Saint Mary with a doubles sweep. In the singles matches, freshman Chakira Derman, sophomore Alana Lopez Pagan and juniors Brooke Hosick and Kylie Freudenburg won to seal the win against the Flames. Sophomore Mariana Molano and junior Tessa Blough each brought their matches to a tough third set but were unable to pull through for a win.

Versus Midland, the doubles point was the deciding factor for the match-up with the Bulldogs splitting the singles. Derman, Molano and freshman Alexa Richert won their singles matches, but was only able to take one of the doubles matches, letting the Warriors take the lead and the win. Molano and Lopez Pagan won their doubles match 6-4.

The men’s tennis team faced Midland a day earlier than the women on April 16 and celebrated senior day for Luke Johnson. The team is now 7-12 overall and 1-4 in the GPAC. They next face Hastings College on April 20 alongside the women’s team.

Sophomore Hugo Fuentes had an undefeated day winning his doubles match alongside fellow sophomore Santiago Abadia, and his singles match 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. Junior Manuel Rodriguez Berdud was the other scorer for the Bulldogs winning his singles match 6-2, 6-2.