MEQUON, Wis. – It was a year like no other, a year that started with uncertainty, but with the leadership of Dr. Rob Barnhill and countless others at Concordia Wisconsin, athletics not only competed but soared. CUW teams competed in 387 competitions during the 2020-21 season.

MVP

We would like to start by thanking the CUW Athletic Training staff, led by Angela Steffen for all of their hard work and the long days they put into getting athletics off the ground and testing the teams, staff and officials.

Winning

In the 19 sports that post a win-loss record, the Falcons finished the year with a 183-121-1 record for a .600 winning percentage. The Falcons protected the nest with a 93-45 (.674) record at home.  The Blue and White soared in conference play with a 105-41-1 (.718) record on the year.

Postseason Play

CUW had five teams compete in postseason play during the year. The women's tennis program became the first team in NACC women's tennis history to win the tournament as a non-No. 1 seed as they downed Edgewood, 5-4, to claim a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The ACHA hockey team earned a spot in the ACHA Division II Tournament and finished the season with a victory over Aurora. The indoor track & field teams and men's wrestling teams sent individuals to the national championships this winter. 

All-American Honors

The Falcons landed five All-American selections during the 2020-21 school year. Junior Sam Beers (Janesville, Wis.) claimed ABCA All-American First Team honors and D3Baseball.com Third Team honors. On the softball diamond, junior Gina Followell (Romeoville, Ill.) was named to the NFCA All-American Second Team. Sophomore Trenton Sherman (Farmington, Minn.) was placed on the ACHA Division II All-American Team. The CUW wrestling team secured two NWCA All-American honorees in freshman Jack O'Donnell (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and junior Austin Vincent (Stockton, Ill.).

Academic All-Americans

CUW excelled in the classroom and landed a school-record three CoSIDA Academic All-Americans on the year in senior Emily Hafemann (Hales Corners, Wis.) of the women's basketball team, senior Jordan Johnson of the men's basketball team and senior Kelsey Bollon. The wrestling team had four NWCA Academic All-Americans in senior Merrick O'Donnell (Huntington Beach, Calif.) at the 184-pound weight class, junior Val Kochiu (Oak Creek, Wis.) at the 141-pound weight class, sophomore Quinn Hoopman (Cedar Grove, Wis.) at the 165-pound weight class and sophomore Bryce Karban (Coleman, Wis.). The men's hockey team also boasted six AHCA Krampade All-Americans in senior Nick Guiney (Victoria, B.C.), senior Cole Pickup (Victoria, B.C.), junior Erik Schuette (Olathe, Kan.), junior Bo Didur (West Vancouver, B.C.), senior Luke Ranallo (St. Paul, Minn.) and freshman Jacob Shankar (Johnstown, Ont.) On Thursday, the AHCA announced senior Madi Chapman (Rogers, Minn.), junior Emily Reimche (Billings, Mont.), sophomore Colleen Gilligan (Colborne, Ont.), senior Ally Hull (Wasilla, Alaska), senior Maddie Savage (Grand Rapids, Mich.), junior Lexy Sundal (Sioux Falls, S.D.), junior Sarah Tretina (Plainfield, Ill.) and sophomore Annalina Van Hercke (Castle Rock, Colo.) as AHCA Krampade All-American Scholars. The USTFCCCA named freshman Ashley Samuta (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) senior Alden Goucher (Port Charlotte, Fla) and junior Gideon Cain (Cedarburg, Wis.) to the 2021 NCAA Division III Track & Field All-Academic Team.  

Champions!

The Falcons claimed five North Division titles on the year with women's volleyball, men's soccer, women's soccer and softball in the NACC and men's hockey in the NCHA. The women's outdoor track & field team won the NACC team title. The women's tennis team also won the NACC Tournament title. The CUW men's track & field team had individual champions in Gideon Cain in the shot put and weight throw and with sophomore Seth Day (Sunset Hills, Mo.) in the javelin. The CUW women won six gold medals at the NACC Championship with freshman Anessa Yim (Spokane, Wash.) in the 1,500-meter steeplechase and 5,000-meter run, junior Jordyn Schmidt (Manitowoc, Wis.) in the high jump, senior LaNea Bartel (Kewaunee, Wis.) in the 1,500-meter run, senior Megan Curran (Spring Grove, Ill.) in the shot put and the team of sophomore Hannah Ebel (Mount Clemens, Mich.), freshman Sabrina Moore (Park Ridge, Ill.), sophomore Jenna Zahorik (Reedsville, Wis.) and senior Megan Sprinkman (Kohler, Wis.) in the 4x100 meter relay.

Players of the Year

In all, there were nine student-athletes were recognized by their respective conference for superb play on the field or court, while one coach was honored for the leadership abilities. The following is a list of those individuals: Sam Beers (Baseball – NACC North Division Co-Position Player of the Year),  Tyler Drezek (Baseball – NACC North Division Co-Pitcher of the Year), LaNea Bartel (Cross Country – NACC Runner of the Year), Sam Runyan (Men's Soccer – NACC North Division Defensive Player of the Year), Selena Esten (Women's Soccer – NACC North Division Offensive Player of the Year), Logan Snyder (Men's Tennis – NACC Player of the Year), Megan Curran (Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year), Gina Followell (Softball – NACC North Division Pitcher of the Year) and Sophia Collins (Women's Volleyball (NACC North Division Player of the Year).

Newcomers of the Year

The future is bright for Concordia after six student-athletes were named their respective newcomer of the year in their respective sports. The following is a list of those individuals: Tim Brey (Men's Cross Country), Anessa Yim (Women's Cross Country and Women's Outdoor Track & Field), Manuel Brito (Men's Soccer), Spencer Herman (Men's Volleyball) and Maycee Karpfinger (Women's Volleyball).

Coaches of the Year

CUW had three coaches get recognized by their peers for being the best in the conference. The following were named NACC Coach of the year, Russ De Lap (Women's Track & Field), Steve Crook (Softball) and Janelle Katz (Women's Volleyball)

All-Conference Accolades

CUW was once again well-represented on All-Conference lists throughout all sports. The Falcons had a total of 68 student-athletes receive All-Conference honors. Any player who was listed on a first or second team, honorable mention or all-freshman team was listed.

Academic All-Conference

Concordia Wisconsin broke the school record with 250 NACC Scholar-Athlete Award winners. The hockey teams brought in 20 more NCHA All-Academic Team selections and wrestling had five members on the CCIW Academic All-Conference team.

National Athlete of the Week

Four Falcons were named the national athlete of the week by national organizations. LaNea Bartel was named the USTFCCCA Women's Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Week. Spencer Herman claimed the AVCA National Player of the Week accolade. Gina Followell secured the NFCA Pitcher of the Week title and freshman Paityn Taormina (Geneva, Ill.) was the NCATA Freshman of the Week Honorable Mention selection.

Esports

The CUW esports team competed in a variety of games throughout the year and won over 100 competitions on the year. The Falcons made a splash in multiple games and reached postseason play. 

Social Media

The Department of Athletic Communications strives to connect with its fans via its various social media accounts and this past year strived to provide a better experience with game day photos and videos. In addition, CUW followers the total Twitter followers count to 4,588. As well, CUW spent countless hours improving its content on Instagram and raising the followers to 3,603 followers. The staff also started a Tik Tok account.

Live Stream Broadcasts

The Department of Athletic Communications produced 159 live stream broadcasts of home events during the 2020-21 season. A special thank you to the "Voice of the Falcons" Matt Menzl for covering a majority of the broadcasts and for hosting 30 episodes of the Falcon Focus and other programs throughout the year.

Athletic Communications Working Overtime

Jeremy Crawford would like to thank all those who helped the Department of Athletic Communications throughout the 2020-21 athletic year, especially the staff of 40-plus student workers who tirelessly helped the behind-the-scenes efforts. Having 31 teams competing in a small stretch was very challenging.  Those student workers assisted in updating CUWFalcons.com in a variety of capacities, oversaw multi-camera live video streams, took official statistics, ran scoreboards, announced and played music, took photos, captured highlights and produced content for social media; and did other tasks as needed to run the games the fans watch with ease. We could not have accomplished what we did without them.