The development of the College of Saint Mary Track & Field program is still in its early stages, but the Flames have reason to be optimistic after some strong performances last year that they can build on.
The Flames will be under new direction this season with the hiring of Head Coach Jerrid Johansen over the summer. CSM also added some talent in the freshmen class with the addition of some newcomers.
But the core of the squad will be key returners Claire Caspersen (SO/Cairo, Neb.), Chloe Inhelder (JR/Aurora, Colo.), Madalynn Rhodes (SO/Butte, Mont.) and Chantaya Griffin (SR/Carencro, La.).
Caspersen had CSM's most successful season last year. The sophomore thrower qualified for the NAIA National Championships in both the indoor and the outdoor season. She finished seventh in the shot put at the NAIA indoor championships, which helped her earn All-America honors. She took 18th in the event at the NAIA outdoor championships. At the Great Plains Athletic Conference Championships, she was fifth in the outdoor meet and sixth in the indoor meet in the shot put. Her efforts helped her earn All-GPAC honors.
Rhodes and Griffin also earned all-conference recognition by placing in the top eight in their events. Rhodes was fourth in the javelin at the GPAC outdoor meet and Griffin was seventh in the 600m at the GPAC indoor meet.
Inhelder just missed all-conference honors with a ninth-place finish in the 5,000m at the outdoor championships and a 10th-place finish in the 3,000 at the indoor meet.
Those returners will also help the Flames in team competition as the squad took 10th place as a team in last year's GPAC outdoor championships and 12th in the GPAC indoor championships. But team competition won't be the focus for the Flames this year as they look to build depth in the program.
"We have not talked about how high we want to finish in the conference meet or how many points will constitute a successful meet," Johansen said. "Our focus has been on loving the process and doing the things that successful throwers, runners, sprinters, jumpers and vaulters do.
"We have simple expectations – we will compete, we will show progress and we will have fun doing those things."
Johansen expects his group of throwers and distance runners to lead the way.
"The strengths of our team will be in our throwing and distance events," he said. "Both groups have individuals who have proven their ability at the conference and national level and both groups have solid numbers, which will provide opportunities for growth and development.
"Our weakness will be a lack of depth in the speed/power events like sprints, hurdles and jumps. We do have a couple of solid individuals in those events, but we lack the numbers to compete at a conference level."
Another area of focus for the Flames this season has been building team chemistry.
"We have been trying hard to build a strong sense of camaraderie between all members of our program," Johansen said. "We rarely practice together so building a sense of 'we are all in this together' can be difficult. It's very much still a work in progress, but we're starting to see things move in the direction we want."
The Flames will get their first taste of competition for the 2022-2023 season this weekend at the Concordia University Early Bird meet. CSM will be competing Saturday in Seward, Neb.
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