The University of Minnesota Duluth men's and women's indoor track teams were each picked to finish sixth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference's preseason coaches poll released Wednesday by the league.
UMD head track and field coach
Karly Brautigam believes her women's team can improve on its eight place finish a season ago.
"Our women have continued to build depth in the long sprints and middle distances during the off season, and will be returning a lot of conference experience from last year with one of the deepest conference rosters in the 2023 season," said UMD head coach
Karly Brautigam. "The added potential for more points in the field events with help round our roster this indoor season."
The Bulldog women, who finished eighth overall in 2022-23, had two NSIC Athletes to Watch in mid-distance runner
Savannah Schley and sprinter/thrower
Jacqi Rae. A junior from Loyal, Wis., Schley was a third place finisher in the conference in the 800 meters and part of the Bulldogs 4x4 relay. Rae, a graduate from Eden Prairie, Minn., finished fifth last season in the outdoor heptathlon, the first season Rae attempted the event.
On the men's side, Brautigam expects the experience of her group to make a difference in the season.
"We return almost every single point from one of the most successful outdoor and cross country championships in the last 10 years in 2023," said Brautigam. This group will be that much more experienced in 2024 with some promising newcomers that will help add some depth to sprints/long sprints and middle distance."
Both
Owen Dickenson and
Colton Kostynick were named NSIC Athletes to Watch in the preseason release. Dickenson, a junior out of Solon Springs, Wis., was the NSIC's 1000 meter runner-up a season ago, and is coming off the best cross country season of his career with a 13th finish in the NSIC Conference meet. Kostynick, a product Perham, Minn. is the returning runner-up in the indoor shot put with an NCAA provisional mark of 16.62.
UMD will get its indoor track season underway next Saturday, Dec. 9 when it competes in the CSS Opener in Duluth, Minn.
