DULUTH, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul men's and women's track and field teams opened up competition at the 2026 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Outdoor Championships on Thursday afternoon, with the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon kicking off at Malosky Stadium in Duluth, Minn.

Junior Mehlayna Straub posted a red-hot performance in the first four events of the heptathlon, winning the 100-meter hurdles (14.38 seconds), high jump (5' 4.25", 1.63m), and 200-meter dash (24.90 seconds) while placing third in the shot put (36' 10.5", 11.24m). Straub, who finished second in last year's heptathlon at the NSIC Outdoor Championships, amassed a total of 3203 points on day one, leading the second-place competitor by more than 250 points.

Sophomore Mina Nguyen sits in ninth place with 2637 points in the heptathlon after day one after finishing fifth in the high jump, ninth in both the 100-meter hurdles and shot put, and 10^th in the 200-meter dash. Her time of 27.01 seconds in the 200-meter dash was a new personal record.

Through the first five events of the men's decathlon, senior Jeffrey Odamtten holds third place with a total of 3518 points. He finished in second place in the 100-meter dash (11.05 seconds) and shot put (42' 3.5", 12.89m), while placing fifth in the long jump (20' 7.75", 6.29m), high jump (5' 9.25", 1.76m), and 400-meter dash (51.11 seconds).

Junior Will Hugo sits fifth among the 12 decathlon participants with 3290 points after day one, placing third in both the 100-meter dash and shot put, sixth in the long jump, seventh in the high jump, and ninth in the 400-meter.

The multis will wrap up on Friday, while individual events will begin on Friday and continue through Saturday at Malosky Stadium.