NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Southern Connecticut State University Men's Indoor Track and Field season is underway and the team is preparing for their upcoming Art Kadish Elm City Challenge meet this Friday and Saturday. 

Hunter Dale, SCSU '25, said that while they lost a lot of athletes in the offseason due to graduation, they have gotten an infusion of youth from the incoming freshman. 

"It's been really weird because this was the first year where we graduated a lot of people and I'm one of the older guys on the team," said Dale. 

Dale highlighted while there may be more freshmen than he's seen on a team before, that the young group holds a lot of promise for the program going forward.  

"They may be inexperienced in the collegiate atmosphere when it comes to competing but these guys are very, very fast," said Dale. 

Dale, who transferred, from the University of Hartford, said that while he has had bad injury luck with his collegiate career, he is looking to put that behind him this season. 

"It has been rocky for me because I've had a lot of injuries," said Dale. "But I'm really hoping this year turns it around." 

Besufekad Opstrup, SCSU '24, said that being a senior on this team has given him a different perspective as he sees a large group of underclassmen entering the program.  

"Being a senior on the team now, it has been a lot of fun," said Opstrup.  

While Opstrup may be enjoying his senior year, he also knows he has a leadership responsibility to the younger guys on the team.  

"But the senior role, I feel like as a leadership, you kind of want to let the freshmen know that this is the family," said Opstrup. "Part of the journey is, you know, just having fun with the sport."  

As the season for the team is still young, Opstrup sees a bright future for the young group.  

"As a team, you know, we just keep doing our thing. We have a pretty good reputation for what we do. We are just looking to emulate the past success and run forward to the future," said Opstrup.