Great Plains Athletic Conference

Concordia Men's Cross Country Off to Fast Start in 2009

Posted by Corey Westra - Mon, Sep 21, 2009 - [ Men's Cross Country ] - Viewed 269 times

The Concordia University (Neb.) men's cross country team began its season Sept. 12 by finishing first at the Sioux Falls Invitational and took third overall this weekend at the Woody Greeno Invitational in Lincoln. The Bulldogs, ranked fifth in the NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll, beat all participating NCAA Division I schools Saturday, including Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wichita State and Creighton. Doane College (Neb.), ranked 15th, and Black Hills State (S.D.), ranked 10th, also finished in the top 10 of the "college division" at the Woody Greeno meet.

Senior Zach Meineke, sophomore transfer Dana Schmidt and senior David Goeglein were the top-three finishers for the Bulldogs.

"Our men are a running very well right now," said Concordia head cross country coach Dr. Kregg Einspahr. "It is a long season though and we will need to stay healthy to be ready for the championship part of the season in November."

So far this year the Bulldogs have been running without the Luka Thor, one of the team's best runners. Einspahr hopes to have Thor back competing in a few weeks.

"Our top-five individuals on the men's team are very good runners and we have good supporting depth behind them," said Einspahr. "With Luka healthy we will have an outstanding group of front runners."

The women's team, ranked 12th in the NAIA Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll, also won the Sioux Falls Invitational. The Bulldogs, led by freshmen Sarah Kortze and Jena Schwalenberg, took sixth place overall at the Woody Greeno meet, third in the "college division."

Both Kortze and Schwalenberg were runners-up at their state championship cross country meets last year, Kortze in Illinois and Schwalenberg in Nebraska.

"[Kortze and Schwalenberg] have given us an outstanding lead out as front runners," said Einspahr. "We had hopes that they might be able to fill this role. That has been very beneficial to the success of our women's team to this point."