Alauna Carstens continues to establish herself among the nation’s elite distance runners.
The junior from The Evergreen State College qualified for the 2026 NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships with her performance in the women’s 3,000-meter run Friday at the UW Invitational inside the Dempsey Indoor facility.
Carstens crossed the finish line in 9:52.49, meeting the NAIA “B” qualifying standard and narrowly missing the “A” mark by less than half a second. The performance continues a strong indoor season for Carstens, who earned All-America honors last year with a third-place finish at the 2025 national championships.
Evergreen athletes competed Friday at the UW Invite and returned to the same venue Saturday for the Mile City meet, which featured multiple one-mile races.
On the field side, sophomore Jonathan Van Pelt delivered another record-breaking effort in the men’s pole vault at the UW Invite. Van Pelt cleared 4.35 meters to place eighth, surpassing his own school record of 4.05 meters set earlier this month.
Evergreen also saw solid showings in the sprints. Freshman DeAndre Wright clocked 7.13 seconds in the 60-meter dash and ran 24.13 seconds in the 200 meters, while freshman Jarvae Lindsay posted a time of 7.51 seconds in the 60.
At Saturday’s Mile City meet, Carstens added another strong run in the women’s seeded mile, finishing in 5:04.59, just under a second shy of the NAIA “B” standard.
In the men’s seeded mile, sophomore Max Baeder led the Geoducks with a time of 4:32.21, followed by Jaydon Blackburn at 4:48.23.
Evergreen had a deep group compete in the open mile races. Madison Palek paced the women’s open mile field for the Geoducks in 5:35.57, with Sylvie Biesack close behind at 5:37.89 and Soleil Bianchi finishing in 5:55.75.
On the men’s side, Evan Williams led Evergreen’s contingent in the open mile, crossing in 4:36.26. Jackson Rye followed in 4:36.75, Osvaldo Calderon finished in 4:38.81, and freshman Nathaniel Sanchez completed the race in 4:40.23.
Evergreen’s track and field teams return to action Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Corban Indoor/Outdoor No. 2 meet in Salem, Oregon.
