Submitted by The Evergreen State College
Alauna Carstens (Jr., So. in indoor track) from The Evergreen State College has been nominated by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for NAIA National Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. She is one of seven athletes nominated for the award. Earlier this season, Carstens was named NAIA West Region Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.
Carstens recently took third place in the women’s 3,000-meter run at the 2025 NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Gainesville, Florida. She registered a time of 9:43.40. Carstens received All-America honors for the first time in indoor track and for the fourth time overall.
During the 2005 indoor track season, Carstens set school records in three events, all with NAIA “A” qualifying times. She broke the record in the 3,000-meter run at 9:40.70. She set the record in the mile run at 4:57.58 and in the 5,000-meter run at 17:15.53.
She qualified for the NAIA Indoor Championships in all three events. She chose to focus on the 3,000 at the national meet.
“I was very pleased how Alauna competed throughout the indoor track and field season!” Evergreen Head Cross Country and Track and Field Coach Joel Pearson said. “Training for a mile, 3k, and 5k during the same season can not only be difficult from a physiology/training design standpoint, but it’s psychology hard to tackle all three different events as they have different pacing and racing strategies.
“Not only did Alauna handle the events and training perfectly well, but she also set personal bests and national qualifying marks in all three!” Pearson added.
