Sower sports roundup, March 23
By Maddy Peters, Sports Editor
If you missed Concordia University Nebraska Sports this week, here is what happened.
Concordia shooting sports spent the week in San Antonio, Texas for the ACUI National Championships placing 15th with a final score of 2,784. Senior Breyer Meeks was the highest overall for the Bulldogs with a score of 551 finishing 109th. Meeks had a 96 in American skeet, 92 in American trap, 91 in doubles skeet, 92 in doubles trap, 84 in sporting clays and 96 in super sporting. The team has one last event for the season, the Concordia Bulldog International Tournament on April 13-14 in Grand Island.
The track and field team was scheduled to compete at the Grand View University Vikings Relays in Des Moines, but the events were canceled due to poor weather forecasts. However, throwing coach Ed McLaughlin found a replacement for the Concordia throwers to go to: the Bethel Invitational in North Newton, Kan. hosted by Bethel College.
Five athletes hit the national automatic qualifying mark: junior Abigail Gerber in the women’s shot put with a 45’ 1.75”, sophomore Carson Fehlhafer in the men’s shot put with a 53’ 3.75”, senior Darien Semedo also in the men’s shot put with a 452’ 4”, senior Chris Wren in the men’s hammer with a 182’ 4” and sophomore Matthew Boyer in the men’s javelin with a 196’ 10”.
The throwers took over the invite with at least one Bulldog on the podium in each of the eight throwing events. There were four golds, four silvers, and three bronzes for the day. Gerber, Fehlhafer and Wren’s throws netted them first place. Semedo and Boyer won second. Junior Gretchen Stottlemyre won first in the women’s javelin with a throw of 152’ 2”.
The men’s hammer especially was a dominant performance for Concordia. The throwers swept the top six spots in the event with sixth place out throwing seventh place by 10 feet. The results of the men’s discus event have not been posted as of writing.
Concordia women’s golf began the spring portion of their season with the Graceland Invite in Maryville, Mo. on March 22. The event was supposed to continue on the 23, but due to cold and wind, the invite ended after Friday’s course. Sophomore Emery Custer led the team with a 98, netting her fifth place in the meet. The team placed third overall with a total score of 407. The women’s next meet is the Concordia Bulldog Spring Invite on April 2-3 held in Lincoln.
The men’s golf team also participated in the Graceland invite placing third with a total score of 340. Senior Drew D’Ercole placed fourth in the tournament with a 79, just three strokes behind the champion. The men’s next competition is the SCC-Beatrice Invite on April 1 in Beatrice, Neb.
Concordia softball began their conference season with an away game against the Midland University Warriors in Fremont. The team lost both games going 9-1 in the first and being shutout 5-0 in the second. The team is now 10-16 overall and 0-2 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.
The games against College of Saint Mary on March 26 have been postponed for unreported reasons. The next scheduled games will be against Doane University at the Plum Creek Ballparks.
Freshman Laycee Josoff scored the one run against the Warriors on Thursday off a double from senior Taylor Glause. The Bulldogs faced tough pitching from Midland. They only had five hits between the two games.
Junior Megan Eurich was the pitcher credited with the loss for the first game, going 10 hits for nine runs, four strikeouts and recorded nine errors. Sophomore Taryn Ganstrom was the losing pitcher for the second game, going eight hits for five runs, one strikeout and recorded five errors.
Concordia tennis faced Morningside University in Sioux City on March 22. Both teams lost with the women losing 6-1 and the men being swept 7-0. The women are now 6-7 overall and 1-2 in Great Plains Athletic Conference while the men are 5-10 overall and 0-3 in GPAC. The men next play University of Nebraska Kearney on March 24 while the women take a break until April when they play Northwestern College.
Freshman Alexa Richert was the lone Bulldog to win her match against Morningside. The doubles point was a clean sweep against Concordia for both teams. Junior Manuel Rodriguez Berdud brought his first singles set to tie-breaking points but was unable to convert and force a third set.
Updated 3/24/24 7:52 p.m.
