BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's track and field team was picked to finish ninth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Outdoor Track and Field Preseason Coaches' Poll, the conference office announced on Thursday morning.
The Golden Bears received 42 points in the poll, putting them 15 points ahead of 10th-place Southwest Minnesota State and 16 points behind eighth-place Minnesota Duluth.
Minnesota State was picked to win the conference with a total of 121 points, receiving 11 of the 12 first-place votes. The University of Mary was picked as the conference runner-up with 102 points.
Last season, the Golden Bears placed ninth at the NSIC Outdoor Championships with a total of 42 points.
When asked about the upcoming outdoor season, Head Coach
Sam Kettenhofen stated, "What excites me most is the energy we're bringing from the indoor season and the growth we've seen from a relatively young group. A lot of our athletes gained valuable experience indoors, and you could see their confidence building as the season went on. Now we head outdoors with more opportunities across all the events, and I think there's a lot of potential for this group to take another step forward and put together some really strong performances as the season progresses."
Sophomore sprinter
Del Johnson was picked as CSP's track athlete to watch while senior thrower
Carter Krummen was chosen as CSP's field athlete to watch.
Looking ahead to Johnson's outdoor season, Kettenhofen said, "Del is already a school record holder, a previous conference champion, and has posted NCAA provisional qualifying marks. After a tough end to the indoor season, he's coming into this outdoor season healthy and motivated, and we expect him to make a big impact in the sprint events while pushing for another conference title and national-level performances."
In the 2026 indoor season, Johnson etched his name in CSP history with a new school record time of 48.29 seconds in the 400-meter dash. Last outdoor season, Johnson finished in fifth place in the 400-meter dash at the NSIC Outdoor Championships.
On Krummen, Kettenhofen stated, "Carter's definitely one to watch in the hammer throw this season. Coming off an All-Conference performance during the indoor season, he is carrying a lot of momentum into the outdoor campaign. With this being his final outdoor season, he's motivated to build on that success and position himself for another strong conference showing and a push toward the NCAA Outdoor Championships."
Krummen captured the first All-NSIC honors of his career in the indoor season after placing third in the weight throw with a toss of 60' 1.75".
The Golden Bears will open the outdoor campaign at the Wildcat Classic in Wayne, Neb. on March 27 and 28.
