By The Carroll College Fighting Saints men’s and women’s track team opened up their 2023 outdoor season in Missoula, at the University of Montana on Saturday, March 25 at the “AI Manual Invite.” For NAIA schools, the Saints ended up taking 2nd as a team for both the men’s and women’s side following Montana Tech.
The Fighting Saints will compete in six meets this spring with competition from both Division I and NAIA levels. This year’s squad is primarily made up of underclassmen for the Saints.
Seniors such as Garret Kocab, who is a graduate student, from Phelan, California, have provided leadership and set the standard for the underclassmen.
Kocab throws for the Fighting Saints.
“Obviously I want to hit a new PR and improve every track meet. For the team our main goal is to win the conference,” said Kocab. “It is going to be more challenging this year, but I think we can do it with all the new faces that have come in this year.”
With only five returning seniors, freshmen such as Colin Stoddard are eager for the opportunity to fill the spots of the graduating seniors.
Stoddard from Warren, Oregon, is a pole vaulter for the Fighting Saints and says the team has prepared well for this outdoor season.
“So far the season has been going good,” said Stoddard “My teammates and I have been getting better every practice and are running, jumping, and throwing at our best. We had a pretty successful indoor season and are well prepared for this upcoming outdoor season.”
As the season approaches, the Fighting Saints have been preparing for not only Frontier Conference schools but are also excited to compete against some division one schools such as the University of Montana.
Sophomore Madlen Shipman from Dillion, Montana, who is a distance runner is excited about the start of the season
“The team, as well as myself, have been getting more and more excited for the first meet of the outdoor season,” said Shipman. “Training has been good, intentional, and consistent.”
