Colorado State track and field is making its final preparations for the 2025 Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships, being held from Feb. 27 to March 1 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

At the beginning of the indoor season, coach Brian Bedard said the goal was to claim a second consecutive men’s and women’s MW indoor title. But over the last three months, the team dealt with its share of injuries, sickness and missed time.

The final two weeks of training before the championships is considered the “taper down” period, intended to give the athletes time to recover and perform their best at the championships. Despite the adversity present, Bedard is still confident in the goal of sweeping the podiums.

“I mean, we get some folks that may be injured or some sickness going around,” Bedard said. “We’re not completely healthy, but for the most part, we’re in a pretty good position healthwise, and I liked a lot of our performances last weekend in Washington and down in New Mexico at Don Kirby, so we seem to be peaking at the right time.”

Despite the challenges, things are falling into place for the Ram squad on both the men’s and women’s sides. Although Bedard has slightly scaled back his expectations because of the aforementioned challenges, the team overcame similar difficulties to earn titles last season.

The goal is to score the most points across the team, regardless of where an athlete finishes individually. Bedard said he is still confident that is achievable.

“We do have some holes on a few events on the women’s side that we knew were there, but it kind of gets exposed a little bit more when you get closer to the championship,” Bedard said. “And we start looking at projections and where the results are and everything. … We try to do everything we can to have the most well-balanced team we can. That’s how we’ve won championships before.”

Kajsa Borrman is a sophomore thrower with early success on the women’s side of the team. This season, she claimed first place in all five weight throw events she competed in.

Her success is not by chance. Bedard’s message to her was to stay low in the throwing motion. The work done in practice and meets set Borrman on a tear.

“It’s been a lot,” Borrman said. “Just a long process of going through practice every day and trusting the process. So even though my goal is nationals, Mountain West is going to be great.”

Borrman, like the other athletes, is spending the weeks before the championships tapering down her training to maximize her performance.

Setting up for a big weekend in New Mexico, Borrman’s preparation and success at this season’s meets leave her with a sense of excitement and anticipation for the MW championships and a shot at nationals.

“I’ve definitely been training more weight days but less reps so I can go harder on each one because I don’t want to tire myself out,” Borrman said.

Borrman competes in the weight throw at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28.

While Bormann looks to compete in her second MW Indoor Championships, junior jumper Rhys Travis awaits his third appearance. Specializing in the high jump, Travis set a personal best mark this season of 6 feet, 9.75 inches.

“I’m kind of excited, actually,” Travis said. “I’m just going to go out there. It’s kind of fun. There are no expectations for me to do anything because, I mean, (Feb. 22) is my first time practicing it. Just going to get an approach down and see what can happen. But I did it in high school, and I’m proud of myself for some of those performances, so I know I’ve got it in me.”

Even if the triple jump is not Travis’ strong suit at the championships, the point is to score for the team and increase the chances of claiming a MW title again.

“Go help the team out, get some points, see if we can get that championship — that’s what it’s all about,” Travis said. “I missed a conference meet my freshman year, so just being able to go to this meet and just be there in general, that’s always exciting. But I think for the high jump, I think I’m in a good position to go out and win. If not, (I’ll) get another medal this year. And triple jump: (I’m) just looking to see if I can pick off a fifth place, pick up a few extra points for the team.”

With one week remaining until the MW Indoor Championship, veteran Rams like Travis bring a confident experience to the team, which shapes the success of the entire program.

It’s safe to say that Travis speaks for most of the team when he expressed his excitement about taking the Rams back to Albuquerque for a chance at another men’s and women’s title.

“I just feel like a kid for Christmas,” Travis said.

Reach Adam Gross at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @agrose_22.