SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men's and women's track & field teams are set to begin the 2025 indoor season Saturday at the St. Olaf Opener as a full team. A small contingent of the Gusties competed last month at the University of Minnesota, but the full squad is now geared up for an indoor schedule that features seven meets before the MIAC Indoor Championships on Feb. 28.
 
"Our preseason training period has gone really well so far," said Head Coach Aaron Lund, who is in his sixth season at the helm of the program. "All event groups are a little different, but we are building a great foundation of fitness, strength, and event specific skills. Early in the competition season we want to build on this philosophy, gain experience, bond a lot closer as a whole team, and gain more confidence each practice and competition."
 
This season, the team captains on the women's team include Jenna Bunker, Kate Carlson, Megan Geraets, and Kailyn Walukas, while the men are captained by Sam Schulze, Noah Stageberg, Isaiah Subah, and Connor McCormick.
 
"Our captains continue to set the tone for the season and provide a lot of positive energy," Lund said. "Many of our first-year team members have never competed in indoor track and field before or have never competed this early in a track season before. It's an adjustment and takes a little time. We have a lot of amazing and inclusive leaders in each event group, and they do a great job at mentoring our new team members."
 
Both the men and women return a handful of All-Conference performers from last year's indoor season. Geraets leads the women's squad as the defending MIAC champ in the indoor 200-meter, 400-meter, long jump, and 4x200 relay. Carlson also earned All-Conference in the 60-meter, 200-meter, and 4x200.
 
The men's squad returns five All-MIAC performers – Jade Anstine in to 60-meter and 4x200 relay, Danny Bies in the high jump, Subah in the long jump and 4x200, while Nathan Le and Stageberg were also a part of the All-Conference 4x200 relay.
 
"We are very excited to start competing and get some early season marks," Lund said. "It gives our coaches a lot of feedback and we can make some important athlete specific adjustments moving forward as we aim to be at our very best for our conference and national championships.
 
"Personally, I am just incredibly thankful and appreciative of our team, our amazing team managers, this coaching staff, our support staff, parents and alumni. It's such a great group of human beings and it makes every day so enjoyable and worthwhile. We no doubt have the best coaching staff in the entire conference. There is no other program that comes even close to the years of experience in each event group, passion, and knowledge of the sport and proven success that we have. And on top of that, they are great people that care a lot about this team and this campus community."
 
After competing at St. Olaf on Saturday, the Gusties return to St. Olaf next weekend before participating in meets at MSU-Mankato, Carleton, and Saint John's. The MIAC Indoor Championships are held Feb. 28-March 1 at Saint John's.
 
"We have one of the biggest teams in our conference and we have a very talented team too," Lund said. "We are excited to see where this season takes us both indoors and outdoors!"