Tory Langemo ’97 from football, women’s swimming All-American Shana Letnes Erickson ’01, women’s basketball standout Brandi (Myers) Rostad ’02, and former men’s and women’s soccer coach and current Sports Information Director Jim Cella all left distinctive marks on their programs and all four received the top athletic honor presented by the college.
The four received their honor at the annual Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony Sept. 30 in Barry Auditorium in the Grant Center.
The three former outstanding athletes all had careers of distinction at Concordia, went on to earn MIAC accolades and also received national honors during their senior seasons of competition, while Cella is the winningest coach in Cobber men’s soccer history.
Langemo was a rare three-time MIAC All-Conference award winner for the Concordia football team as a standout wide receiver. He was a four-year starter for the Cobbers and the team captain in 1996. During his career in maroon and gold, Langemo helped the Cobbers advance to the NCAA playoffs in two different seasons – in 1995 and 1997. He was the very first Concordia player to earn a spot in the Aztec Bowl, which is the NCAA Division III All-Star game. Langemo finished his career with 165 career receptions, 2,581 receiving yards and 18 receiving touchdowns. All three of those marks are in the top three on the school’s all-time list.
Letnes Erickson was the first All-American in the history of the Cobber women’s swimming and diving program. She went on to become a two-time All-American at the NCAA Meets in 2000 and 2001. She was also the first-ever MIAC champion in program history after winning both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke at the 1999 MIAC Championship Meet. She went on to become a five-time MIAC champion. She still holds the school record in both the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley.
Rostad earned a pair of All-American honors in her senior season for the Cobber women’s basketball team. She was named to the 2001 Lutheran Brotherhood All-American First Team and also went on to claim D3hoops.com All-American Third Team honors. Rostad was a three-time MIAC All-Conference honoree. She made 164 3-point baskets in her career, which at the time set an MIAC record for 3-pointers in a career. Rostad finished her Concordia career with 1,314 points, which is still eighth on the school’s all-time list. She also had 291 steals, which is currently second on the school’s all-time list.
Cella is the all-time winningest coach in Concordia men’s soccer history and is the only coach in program history with more than 100 career wins. He was named the Cobber men’s soccer head coach in 1992 and, in 1995, helped guide Concordia to the first of the team’s back-to-back MIAC championships. Cella earned MIAC Coach of the Year honors on three occasions – in 1993, 1995 and 2001.
He is one of only four coaches in Concordia men’s athletic history to win back-to-back MIAC championships. During his time at Concordia, Cella has also served as the head coach for the women’s soccer team and an assistant coach for men’s hockey and women’s softball teams. He is currently the sports information director at Concordia – a position he has held since 2000.
Tory Langemo '97
As a reliable wide receiver and kick return specialist, Tory Langemo was a four-year starter on the Cobber football team from 1994 to 1997. During his standout career, he caught 165 passes for 2,559 yards and was twice named to the All-MIAC and Academic All-MIAC teams. He was voted Cobber Most Valuable Player in 1996 when he served as team captain, thus becoming the third member of the Langemo family to be elected a Cobber football captain. After his senior season, he was chosen by the American Football Coaches Association to play in the Aztec Bowl in Mexico, where he caught five passes and helped lead the USA Division III All-Stars to a victory.
Langemo continued his education at the University of North Dakota School of Law, graduating with distinction in 2001. He then entered active duty in the U.S. Air Force, serving in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps as a prosecutor and defense attorney litigating military trials and administrative proceedings in the U.S., Europe, Middle East and the Far East. In 2015, Langemo joined fellow football teammate Michael Halvorson in forming the law firm of Halvorson & Langemo, headquartered in Buffalo, Minn., where he is also active in the Chamber of Commerce. He resides in Waconia, Minn., with his daughter, Camille Langemo.
Shana Letnes Erickson '01
Shana Letnes Erickson is one of the most accomplished and honored athletes in Concordia women’s swimming history and was the first athlete to earn All-American honors. In only the second year of the Cobber swimming program in 1998, she helped elevate the team to competitive respectability in the MIAC conference. She qualified for the NCAA National Championship meet three consecutive years and earned All-American Honorable Mention honors twice in the 100-yard breaststroke. She was MIAC champion in both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke and school record holder in the 200-yard individual medley. Her sustained dominance in collegiate swimming was attributed to her well-developed coordination, strength, endurance and competitive spirit.
Shana and her husband, Erik Erickson ’03, are the parents of two daughters, Anja and Milla, and live in Blaine, Minn. Shana and Erik served together in the Peace Corps from 2003 to 2004 in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan. She has also served as a Minnesota Reading Corps K-3 Literacy tutor, and she currently teaches English as a Second Language to adults in the Mounds View school district, working with refugees and immigrants beginning new lives in the United States. She was named MIAC Coach of the Year in 2011 during her time as swimming coach at St. Catherine University. She continues her athletic endeavors in triathlons, marathon running, and cross country ski racing.
Brandi (Myers) Rostad '02
An exceptional three-point shooter and team leader, Brandi (Myers) Rostad became the 16th player in Concordia women’s basketball history to score 1,000 points, finishing her four-year career in 2001 with 1,314 points. She was named to the MIAC All-Conference team for three straight years, to the D3 Hoops All-American team, and the Lutheran Brotherhood All-American first team. She possessed a complete game, with versatile offensive and defensive skills, and as a proliferate scorer had the ability to take over and dominate a game.
After graduating from the Concordia nursing program, she began working as a Registered Nurse in Fargo while also traveling across the U.S. training physicians and staff on the use of aesthetic lasers. As a registered vascular tech, she manages the Fargo-Moorhead Hogue Vein Institute and Clinic where she also does consultations, education, and laser surgery assistance. She is the current board chair for Health Equipment Recycling Organization in Fargo. She and her husband, Jesse Rostad ’01, are the parents of two children, Taya and Grady, and live in Moorhead.
Jim Cella
Jim Cella is honored for his significant achievements in Concordia College athletics, for his record-setting coaching career and as an innovative director of sports information.
During his 12 seasons leading the men’s soccer team, he became the winningest coach in program history with 105 victories. His teams won back-to-back MIAC championships in 1995 and 1996, when the Cobbers advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Division III national tournament. Cella is one of only four coaches in Concordia men’s athletic history to win consecutive conference titles and is one of only five coaches in the MIAC to be named Coach of the Year three times – in 1993, 1995 and 2001. Cella was also the head coach for women’s soccer and assistant coach for men’s hockey and women’s softball, thus becoming the last coach in Cobber athletics history to coach three sports in one season.
While still coaching men’s and women’s soccer, Cella agreed to become sports information director in 2000, where he made an immediate impact with his creative use of websites, live video and statistical feeds for all Cobber athletic events. His peers know him for his creation of a diversified social media network that is one the largest in the MIAC and Midwest region for Division III athletics with thousands of followers. In 2013, he became a hero to small college SIDs when he scored on-camera air time for Cobber football, Concordia’s Kernel mascot and the Troll Trophy, to a nationwide television audience on ESPN’s College GameDay. Beyond the campus, Cella has been asked to assist with the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s national basketball tournaments in Minneapolis. In 2017, Cobber student-athletes presented him with the Golden Cobb Bucky Burgau Award in appreciation of his tireless dedication to promoting Concordia athletics.
Jim and his wife, Carla, are the proud parents of three wonderful children, Joe, Maryn and Jack, and live in Moorhead.