ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul track & field teams will have their final tune-up this week ahead of the NSIC Indoor Championships next weekend, competing at the Snowshoe Open hosted by the University of Minnesota on Friday.

SNOWSHOE OPEN INFORMATION
The 2026 Snowshoe Open begins at 2 p.m. on February 20, with the men's shot put while the track events begin with the women's 60m hurdles prelims at 2:30 p.m. The meet, being held at the University Fieldhouse in Minneapolis, Minn., is set to wrap up by 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The event is free and open to the public to attend. There will be no live stream of the Gopher Classic, but fans can follow live results here.

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears last competed at the Ted Nelson Classic hosted by Minnesota State last Saturday.

Senior Nyadio Chan was the headliner for Concordia, shattering a 24-year-old school record in the 1,000-meter run. Chan clocked a new record time of 2:57.44 to finish in second place, breaking the existing school record of 3:00.49 set by Sarah Keiser in 2002. Chan now owns three Concordia records, including the indoor 800-meter, indoor 1,000-meter, and outdoor 800-meter.

Junior Mehlayna Straub picked up an individual event victory for CSP in the high jump, placing first after clearing 5'2.25".  

For the Concordia men, freshman Jayden Kuhlman claimed an individual event win and set a new personal record in the 600-meter, clocking a time of 1:23.38.

Senior Ethan Blischke also nabbed a first-place finish, winning the 3,000-meter run with a season-best time of 8:58.26.

Freshman John Schmitz set a new personal record in the 60-meter dash, clocking a time of 7.07 seconds to qualify for finals and placing fifth in finals with a time of 7.08 seconds.
 
NSIC TOP 10s
Several Golden Bears rank in the top 10 on the NSIC leaderboards in their respective events so far this season.

For the CSP men, sophomore Del Johnson owns the fastest 400-meter dash time in the conference at 48.29 seconds. His converted time of 47.54 seconds is an NCAA provisional qualifying time that ranks 25^th in all of Division II so far. Johnson also sits second in the conference in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.77 seconds, ranking 23^rd in Division II with a converted time of 21.39 seconds.

In the long jump, sophomore Cam Mata is second in the conference and 15^th in all of Division II with a distance of 24' 2.25", while freshman Fadel Johnson Jr. is just behind him with a distance of 23' 4.5", good for seventh in the NSIC. Fadel Johnson Jr. also sits fourth in the Northern Sun in the triple jump with an NCAA provisional qualifying distance of 48' 5.5", good for 33^rd in Division II.

In the throws, senior Carter Krummen ranks fifth in the weight throw with a mark of 60' 1" while senior Dan Otto sits ninth with a distance of 56' 7.25". Krummen's mark is an NCAA provision qualifier that ranks 50^th in Division II.

In the shot put, senior Cade Feist ranks fifth in the conference with a toss of 54' 10", and Otto ranks eighth with a distance of 53' 11.75". Both of those distances are NCAA provisional qualifiers, with Feist ranking 32^nd in Division II and Otto coming in at 44^th.

Concordia's multi-athletes each rank in the conference's top 10 with their marks from the Mark Schuck Open on January 30, with junior Will Hugo scoring 4,555 points in the heptathlon, fifth most in the NSIC, while senior Jeffrey Odamtten scored 4,266 points, 10^th most in the conference.

Freshman Jayden Kuhlman joined the top 10 in the 600-meter last weekend, clocking a time of 1:23.38 to sit ninth in the NSIC this season.

For the Concordia women, junior Desiree Loyd's high jump height of 5' 5.75" at the Chuck Peterson Open ranks third in the conference. That mark is also an NCAA provisional qualifier, ranking 38^th in Division II so far.

Senior middle distance runner Nyadio Chan, who shattered her third school record last weekend, ranks second in the NSIC in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:57.44.

In the shot put, senior Maya Lavendusky ranks sixth with a distance of 42' 11" set at the Gopher Classic.

Junior Mehlayna Straub sits seventh in the pentathlon with a score of 3,282 points set at the Mark Schuck Open in late January.

Sophomore Bernie Barnhardt joined the conference's top 10 in the weight throw, ranking ninth with a distance of 53' 8.75" set at the Gopher Classic.