Andrew Carlson is in his seventh full season directing the distance runners for the North Dakota State men’s and women’s track & field and cross country teams in 2020-21.
Carlson, the 2019 Summit League Coach of the Year for women’s cross country, has built the Bison women into the top distance program in the league. NDSU claimed the 2019 Summit League cross country championship after three straight runner-up team finishes.
NDSU men’s cross country has earned five consecutive top-three finishes at the Summit League Championships, with three straight runner-up trophies.
Carlson’s runners have re-written the NDSU record books in the past six years, with Erin Teschuk, Kelby Anderson, Maddie Van Beek and Annika Rotvold combining for 22 entries on the school’s all-time Top 10 lists in that stretch. On NDSU’s current all-time Top 10 lists, there are 59 entries from athletes coached by Carlson, accounting for 10 school records.
Teschuk finished her career as a seven-time NCAA All-American and the NDSU school record holder in eight different events, including the mile (4:32.35), indoor 3000m (9:02.40), outdoor 5000m (15:41.35), and 3000m steeplechase (9:40.07).
The Bison distance runners have earned 12 bids to the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds under Carlson, including three straight years with a qualifier advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the women’s steeplechase.
In all, Carlson-coached athletes have captured 40 Summit League titles in the distance events since 2014. The Bison dominated in 2020, sweeping the women’s indoor conference titles in every event from 800m to 5000m, including the distance medley relay.
On the men’s side, Carlson led NDSU’s Tim Heikkila to the 2020 Summit League championship in the mile and Alex Bartholomay to the 3000m title.
In 2017 and 2018, Carlson guided Jake Leingang to NDSU men’s school records in the indoor 3000m (8:06.18), indoor 5000m (14:01.32), and outdoor 5000m (14:03.13).
Carlson coached NDSU’s Erin Teschuk to four All-America honors in 2016 – one in cross country, two in indoor track, and one in outdoor track. His training plan also guided Teschuk to a spot on Team Canada for the 2016 Rio Olympics after she captured the Canadian national championship in the 3,000m steeplechase. Teschuk’s accomplishments resulted in her signing a professional contact with ASICS Furman Elite.
Carlson guided the Bison distance program to new levels of success on the national scene in 2015, coaching athletes to a total of four first-team All-America honors. Teschuk was named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year and claimed first-team All-American recognition in the mile and 3,000m indoors, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively, at the NCAA Championships. Outdoors, Carlson coached Teschuk and Maddie Van Beek to top-eight finishes in the 3,000m steeplechase at the NCAA meet.
Van Beek was named The Summit League’s 2015 Indoor and Outdoor Championships Track MVP after scoring 28 points with two event titles at the indoor meet and netting 24 points outdoors.
A 2005 graduate of the University of Minnesota, Carlson was a three-time NCAA All-American in cross country and track and set the school record in the 5,000 meters at 13:44.64. He was the 2002 and 2004 NCAA Midwest Region champion in cross country, a two-time runner-up in the Big Ten outdoor 5,000 meters, and also owned the second-fastest time in school history in the 10,000 meters (28:56:59).
Post-collegiately, he joined Team USA Minnesota in 2005, winning the USA 15K road championship in 2008 and the USA 25K title in 2010. He was a member of four World Championship events for Team USA – three in the half-marathon, and one in cross country.
In 2012, Carlson placed sixth at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 2:11.24 – a time that still stands as the seventh-fastest marathon debut in U.S. history.
Carlson is a graduate of Fargo South High School where he was a four-time all-state honoree and a North Dakota state cross country champion. He and his fiancée, Shannon, reside in West Fargo with their three dogs, Rocket, Chewie and Charlie.
