The Augustana men’s and women’s track and field teams got off to a strong start in the outdoor season, with several athletes turning in standout performances.
At the UAB Spring Invitational, senior Charlotte Frere led the way with a first-place finish in the discus, while senior Magnus Wells added solid marks in both shot put and discus. In the hurdles, sophomore Conner Calhoun and First-Year Elijah Lara also impressed, placing fifth and sixth in the 110-meter hurdles.
While some athletes competed in Alabama, others continued the season at the Wartburg Outdoor Select, keeping the team busy early on. The Vikings also hosted the Viking Olympics on April 3, adding another opportunity to build momentum as the outdoor season got underway.
The meets at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Wartburg marked the team’s first and second outdoor competitions of the season, serving as an early transition point from indoor to outdoor track. With a shift in events, conditions and overall rhythm, athletes like Frere saw the meets as a chance to adjust and begin applying the work they put in during the offseason.
“These meets are a good opportunity for people to get an extra meet in, and for UAB, an extra meet outdoors when the weather’s nicer,” Frere said. “You put a lot of work in the off-season, and for a lot of people that don’t get to compete in certain events indoors, they get their first opportunity to compete outdoors, and you’ve been working so hard for a year.”
At this point in the outdoor season, the focus for Augustana isn’t just on times and placements, but on building a strong foundation for the weeks ahead. These early meets provide an opportunity to fine-tune technique, adjust to outdoor conditions and identify areas for growth, rather than chasing peak performances right away.
That mindset shows in how athletes like Calhoun approach each competition, treating every race or event as a learning experience. Instead of aiming for perfection early on, the emphasis is on steady progress and consistency, making small improvements each time out that will add up as the season continues.
“I take one thing from each race every week that I did wrong or that I could have done better, and I will pair that with everything that I know I did right, and I will focus on bringing that up to the same standard as everything else,” Calhoun said. “It may be [a] little improvement every time, but it’s still improvement, and it still gets me to where I need to be later on.”
As the season moves forward, the athletes are focused on carrying what they’ve learned from these early meets into the rest of the outdoor schedule. With each competition, athletes are gaining experience, adjusting to new conditions and continuing to build confidence in their events.
That approach centers on growth and resilience, using both strong performances and setbacks as opportunities to improve. By staying focused on what they can control and learning from each result, athletes like Lara are aiming to turn early-season lessons into long-term success as the year progresses.
“I really just want to be able to push myself as best as I can,” Lara said. “I understand that this is a new part of the season and something I’m not used to, so I need to be able to control the controllables and push as hard as I can. Take the results as they come, whether they’re good or bad, and learn from that.”
The Vikings will look to carry that momentum into their next stretch of competition, traveling to the UW-Platteville Invitational on April 10–11. They will then return home to host the Augustana Meet of Champions on April 17–18, continuing to build as the outdoor season moves forward.
