BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul women's track and field team was picked to finished ninth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Outdoor Track and Field Preseason Coaches' Poll, it was announced by the conference office on Friday morning.
The Golden Bears received 73 points in the poll, putting them eight points ahead of 10th-place Wayne State and just one point behind eighth-place MSU Moorhead.
Minnesota State was picked to win the conference with 12 first place votes and 167 points, ranking them ahead of second-place UMary. The Marauders had 157 points and a first-place vote (coaches cannot vote for their own team). Augustana was third with 143 while Sioux Falls was fourth with 137 points and the final first place vote. Northern State rounded out the top five with 107 points.
This marks the second straight year that the women's squad was tabbed to finish ninth in the outdoor preseason poll. Last season, the Golden Bears placed sixth at the NSIC Outdoor Championships.
When asked about the upcoming outdoor season, Head Coach
Sam Johnson stated, "This year's version of the women's team is one of the most fun rosters I've been able to lead during my time at CSP. The team is connected emotionally and is supportive of one another in ways that go deeper than simply cheering for each other in training and meets."
Junior distance runner
Nyadio Chan was named CSP's track athlete to watch while junior thrower
Maya Lavendusky was named Concordia's field athlete to watch.
Looking ahead to Chan's outdoor season, Johnson said, "Nyadio will return to the outdoor track this spring as a reigning NSIC point scorer from the outdoor conference championships last year. She continued to show progress this indoor season, setting personal bests in the 600m, 800m, and 1000m, breaking the school record in the 800m three times during the season. Her indoor 800m personal best is nearly the equivalent of her outdoor best from last year, so we believe she is ready for an incredible outdoor season this spring."
On Lavenduksy, Johnson added, "Maya is really starting to come into her own after a strong indoor campaign which saw her finish 3rd at the indoor conference meet in shot put. Carrying a streak of rebreaking her personal record in the event weekly heading into the conference meet, we knew she was physically ready to compete at the highest of levels; but she also showed that she was mentally resilient by handling the pressure of her expectations."
The Golden Bears will open the outdoor campaign at the Hamline Invite on Saturday, April 5 in St. Paul, Minn.
