This week six Saints from the College of St. Scholastica (CSS) will march into the NCAA DIII Indoor Track and Field Championships. This is the most amount of student-athletes CSS has ever sent, with two throwers and a Men’s Distance Medley Relay team, and it’s the first time a relay team has qualified.

“Talent, you can’t do it without some talent. But they’ve been really driven, they just really pushed themselves. It was fun to see those times roll in. It’s been a good experience working with those guys,” head coach Todd Bouchie said.

“We spend a lot of time racing on flat tracks like the one we’ve got here, but we’re racing on a bank track at Nationals which should run a little faster. You got kind of a berm around the turn, so tactics are pretty similar. It’s a little tighter on an indoor track, less space. So got to make sure you don’t fall down, we’ve had issues with that in the past. So stay on two feet and we should be good to go,” Calvin Boone said, a senior relay runner.

The Men’s Distance Medley Relay team features Calvin Boone, Lars Dewall, Noah Kubicek, and Tucker Wallin. Joining Boone and his relay team will be senior weight thrower Lily Beneke and junior shot putter Trent Beseth, making their first Indoor Nationals appearances.

Beseth earned the 12th spot with a hurl of 16.83 meters at the Maday Classic, and Beneke earned the 16th seed with a school record toss of 17.60 meters in the conference championships.

“I do weight indoor and hammer outdoor, and I personally like hammer more. So weight is a little different for me. It takes a little more practice and focus on it than the hammer does,” Beneke explained.

“I feel like I got my nerves out in our conference championship. I did really poorly there, so it kind of made me feel a little better. There’s less pressure. In a weird way it helped doing bad at an important meet, now I don’t have to worry as much,” Beseth said.

The Saints ship out on Wednesday. Events are Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9 at the Virginia Beach Sports Center in Virginia Beach, VA.

Fans can follow the competition via live video stream at www.ncaa.com or via live results.