BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's cross country team was picked seventh in the 16-team NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, as voted by league head women's cross country coaches.

The Golden Bears secured 124 points in the poll, sitting at the top of a closely contested pack followed by Northern State (121) and Sioux Falls (120). CSP is 34 points behind sixth place Minot State in the poll.

League coaches selected Augustana atop the preseason poll with 10 of 16 first place votes and 220 points. Closely following the Vikings is UMary with six first place votes and 216 points.

Concordia-St. Paul women's cross country is a program that has been on a steady ascent in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, improving or maintaining its place on the leaderboard at the NSIC Championships every year since 2015. The Golden Bears, ranked 14th in the then-15 team league in 2015, have climbed up to ninth place in the most recent 2019 NSIC Championships. The team chemistry has also grown along with the roster, more than doubling in size between those years.

Concordia will look to fill the void left by one of its most decorated runners with the graduation of 2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team selection Kara Lindberg, who finished 27th in her final NSIC Cross Country Championship race in 2019, adding a pair of top-5 finishes that same season.

The program is led by the steady leadership of head coach Jonathan Breitbarth, who will be inducted into the Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame this fall. He is aided by Matt Buns, who was promoted to associate head coach of the program during the summer of 2021 in recognition of his steady contributions to the program from both a coaching and recruiting standpoint.

Concordia opens the season on Friday, September 3 at the Augie Twilight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and the schedule once again features the program's top local meet at the Roy Griak Invitational at the University of Minnesota on September 24.
 

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"Cross country is a great team sport. It is exciting to see the way your ladies are pouring into each other. It is evident through the family feel the ladies have created that this team will be one that functions together. The path to our success is the ability to run with the power of a tightly bunched pack." - Head Coach Jonathan Breitbarth
 

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NSIC ATHLETES TO WATCH
Avery Sivonen (So., International Falls, Minn. / Falls HS)

• Competed in four races for the Golden Bears as a true freshman in 2019
• Was CSP's eighth-ranked finisher at the 2019 NSIC Cross Country Championships with a PR of 26:37.5 in the 6k
• Produced a PR 5k time of 21:40.5 at the Trent Smith Invitational in the 2019 Trent Smith Invitational
• Placed 4th in the 3k with a PR of 11:47.95 at the MSU Triangular in the 2021 indoor track & field season
• Placed 6th in the 3k steeplechase with a PR of 12:18.16 at the Tommie Twilight in the 2021 outdoor track & field season

"Avery provides great leadership through her consistent work ethic. She exemplifies our program in the way that she has shown growth and improvement as an athlete and as a person. She doesn't shy away from a new challenge. We are excited to see the story of her upcoming season." - Head Coach Jonathan Breitbarth