ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's and women's track and field teams will open up the 2026 outdoor season at a trio of meets stretching from Thursday to Monday. A select group of athletes will compete at the WashU Distance Carnival in St. Louis, Mo. on Thursday and Friday while a separate group of athletes will compete at the Wildcat Classic in Wayne, Neb. on Friday and Saturday. The full team will be in action at the Hamline Invite in St. Paul, Minn. on Monday.

WASHU DISTANCE CARNIVAL INFORMATION
The WashU Distance Carnival will be held on March 26 and 27 at Francis Olympic Field in St. Louis, Mo. CSP's competing athletes include Nyadio Chan, Kayla Anderson, Andrew Alexander, Andrew Boyum, and Ethan Blischke. 

WILDCAT CLASSIC INFORMATION
The Wildcat Classic will be held on Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28 at LeRoy Simpson Track on the campus of Wayne State College. Friday's events are scheduled to begin at 1 pm with the men's javelin and women's hammer throw. On Saturday, field events are scheduled to begin at 11 am, while track events will follow at 1 pm. CSP's competing athletes at the Wildcat Classic include Carter Krummen, Cade Feist, Austin Sikorski, Andrew Giger, Keyshawn Pettis, Sam Gruenes, Dan Otto, Brogan Engfer, Alexis Rathje, Maya Lavendusky, Bernie Barnhardt, Taylor Thompson, Mehlayna Straub, and Mina Nguyen.

MATA CLAIMS ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Two weeks ago at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach, Va., CSP's Cam Mata brought home All-America Second Team honors after finishing 15th in the long jump. 

Mata is just the third Golden Bear to have competed in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships, following Diahn Zeon (2008-09) and Christian Davis (2020-21). Davis also went on to earn USTFCCCA All-America honors with a sixth-place finish.

NSIC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP
When the Golden Bears last competed as a team at the NSIC Indoor Championships at the end of February, both the CSP men and women finished in ninth place. 

DAY ONE
Senior Carter Krummen led the way for the men's team, earning All-NSIC honors and nabbing six points for CSP with a third-place finish in the weight throw. Krummen broke his personal record in the process, recording an NCAA provisional qualifying toss of 60' 1.75" that ranks 52nd in Division II this season. Fellow senior Dan Otto also scored in the weight throw for Concordia, finishing seventh with a distance of 57' 7.75" to earn two team points.

Sophomore Cam Mata narrowly missed out on All-NSIC honors in the long jump, placing fourth with a distance of 23' 10.75" to earn five points for the Golden Bears. Freshman Fadel Johnson also snagged three points in the long jump, finishing sixth with a distance of 22' 10.5".

In the 600-meter, freshman Jayden Kuhlman qualified for tomorrow's finals with a fourth-place finish in the preliminaries. He recorded a personal record in the event, clocking a time of 1:21.74.

For the Concordia women, senior Nyadio Chan broke her own school record in the 1,000-meter run for the second time this season, clocking a time of 2:57.14 to finish second and qualify for finals on Saturday. Her previous school record time of 2:57.44 was set just two weeks ago at the Ted Nelson Classic. 

In the high jump, junior Desiree Loyd claimed sixth place and nabbed three team points for CSP after clearing a height of 5' 5.25".

Sophomore Bernie Barnhardt also earned two points for Concordia in the weight throw, using a distance of 54' 8.25" to finish seventh.

DAY TWO 
The CSP men tallied a total of 28 points, while the women finished with 21. Host Minnesota State won both the men's and women's titles, totaling 225 points on the men's side and 216 on the women's side.

One of Concordia's top highlights on day two came in the women's 1,000-meter run, where senior Nyadio Chan earned All-NSIC honors with a second-place finish and claimed eight team points for the Bears. Chan broke her own school record in the event for the second straight day and the third time this season, clocking a time of 2:56.95 to best her Friday time of 2:57.14. It marks the first career indoor All-NSIC honor for Chan, who previously earned All-NSIC honors as a part of the CSP outdoor 4x400-meter relay squad in 2024.

Junior Mehlayna Straub also brought home All-NSIC honors in the women's pentathlon, finishing in third place with a personal best score of 3,612 points. Her converted score of 3,633 points is an NCAA provisional qualifying mark that ranks 18th in Division II this season. Straub had strong showings all around in the heptathlon, winning the high jump and placing second in the long jump, third in the 800-meter, fourth in the 60-meter hurdles, and fifth in the shot put. Straub has now earned All-NSIC honors twice in her career, as she also finished second in the heptathlon at the 2025 NSIC Outdoor Championships.

Senior Maya Lavendusky was the only other point scorer for the Golden Bear women on Saturday, nabbing two points in the shot put after finishing in seventh place with a mark of 42' 9.75".

For the Concordia men, freshman Fadel Johnson Jr. was the highest point scorer on Saturday, grabbing four points in the triple jump after finishing in fifth place. Johnson cleared an NCAA provisional qualifying distance of 47' 8.5" and ranks 41st in Division II with his distance of 48' 5.5" set earlier this season.

CSP junior Will Hugo notched an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the heptathlon, logging a personal best score of 4,751 points to finish sixth and earn three points for the Bears. Hugo wrapped up the heptathlon with a sixth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles, an eighth-place finish in the 1,000-meter, and a 13th-place finish in the pole vault and ranks 46th in Division II with a converted score of 4,776 points.  

Freshman Jayden Kuhlman rounded out the individual point scorers for CSP, securing two points with a seventh-place finish in the 600-meter. Kulhman clocked a time of 1:22.74 in Saturday's finals, and set a personal record in Friday's preliminaries with a time of 1:21.74.

Concordia's final three points came via a sixth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. The squad consisted of Kuhlman, Zay Acosta, Cordell Birden, and John Schmitz, and clocked a time of 3:22.55.