Submitted by The Evergreen State College
Alauna Carstens (Jr.) from The Evergreen State College is ready to compete in the women’s race and Max Baeder (So.) will represent Evergreen in the men’s race at the NAIA Marathon Classic on Sunday, Dec. 8 in Sacramento, California. Action is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. PST. Jaydon Blackburn (So.) of Evergreen also qualified for the men’s race but will not compete due to an injury.
The NAIA Marathon will be held as part of the Cali International Marathon. A total of 48 runners qualified for the women’s race and 52 runners qualified for the men’s race. Carstens earned the fastest overall qualifying time in the pair of two-hour qualifying runs for the women’s competition. Baeder registered the sixth best overall time in the qualifying races for the men’s competition.
Carstens redshirted during the current cross country season but competed unattached. She placed second at the George Oja Invitational on Oct. 19 in 20:48 for a 6-kilometer run. She was third at the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational in 17:11 for 5 kilometers on Oct. 5.
Baeder claimed Evergreen’s fifth-fastest time in school history for an 8-kilometer event at the George Oja Invitational. Baeder’s time was 25:44. Earlier this fall, he set the Evergreen record for a 6-kilometer run with a time of 18:44.9 at the Green River Gator Invitational on Sept. 14.
“I am incredibly thrilled about the progress of Alauna and Max leading up to the NAIA Marathon,” Evergreen Head Cross Country and Track and Field Coach Joel Pearson commented. “Both of them have executed their volume, intensity, rest, and recovery well! Max and Alauna have massive goals and it’s a huge honor for me to prepare them for this race. I am looking forward to Sunday being a great day for the Geoducks!”
“I am excited for Alauna to return to the national level (she received NAIA All-America honors in 2023-24 in cross country and track and field) and to see how Max does in his first showing at this high level event,” said Evergreen Assistant Cross Country and Track and Field Coach Katie Burnett.
