Cooper Folkestad
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- Height:
- 6-4
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- Hometown:
- Wadena, Minn.
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- Year:
- Sr.
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- High School:
- Wadena-Deer Creek
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- Major:
- Art
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- Minor:
- Coaching
Bio
Why did you pick Concordia: It feels like home
Post Graduation plans: Work as a creative director
The FOLKESTAD File
Favorite food: Pancakes
Favorite restaurant: Fogo De Chao
Favorite Movie: Smokey and the Bandit
Favorite TV/ Streaming Series: Tires on Netflix
Favorite musical group: Flatland Cavalry
Go-to Karaoke song: Half a Song
The place in the world I most want to visit: St. Lucia
If I could have a super power it would be: Teleportation
If I were famous it would be for: Singing Country Music
Favorite professional sports team: USA Shot Put Team
Favorite professional athlete growing up: Art Venegas
My dream job is: To be a comedian
If I could play another sport (other than Track and Field) I would play: Pickleball
News mentions
Cooper Folkestad became only the second 6-time All-American in school history as he finished second in the shout put at the NCAA DIII National Outdoor Meet.
Cooper Folkestad and Tyler Goss were officially announced as qualifiers for the NCAA Division III III Outdoor Track & Field Championship Meet on May 21-23 in La Crosse, Wis.
Concordia used the arms of its throw crew and the legs of Tyler Goss to move up two spots in the team standings and finish in a tie for fourth place at the MIAC Outdoor Championship Meet.
Tyler Evans became the first Cobber athlete to win the pole vault competition at the MIAC Outdoor Championship Meet and led Concordia on Day 1 of the competition.
Concordia senior Cooper Folkestad is set to compete in only the second home meet of his college track and field career.
It was a beautiful day for track and field and a Senior Celebration Ceremony. Concordia honored its senior before the Cobb Open on Saturday and then had numerous season-best marks and Top 10 MIAC performances during the course of the meet.
Cobber fans needed their GPS app to keep track of Concordia in the annul Drake Relays/Kip Javrin Open/Al Cassell Classic weekend. Despite being in three different places with different groups, and needing a detailed scorecard to keep track of all the times and distances, the Cobbers were able to come away with a school record and several solid performances as they get closer to the MIAC Championship Meet.
Cooper Folkestad (Sr., Wadena, Minn./Wadena-Deer Creek HS) continues to break record in the throwing circles and also continues to break Cobber records for conference weekly honors.
It was another record-setting meet for the Cobbers at the NDSU Spring Classic in their first full-team competition in the month of April. One record was inevitable, and the other is a weekly occurrence. Tyler Evans broke the school record in the pole vault and Cooper Folkestad obliterated his own school mark in the shot put.
Cooper Folkestad used the strength of his two NCAA Division III-leading marks in the discus and shot put to earn his eighth MIAC Field Athlete of the Week honor.
Cooper Folkestad went to Florida and came away with the top distance in Division III in both the shot put and discus.
Cooper Folkestad closed out his indoor career by becoming the first 4-time indoor All-American in program history as he finished third in the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championship Meet.
Cooper Folkestad, Kyla Nygaarg, Lauren Pearson and the 4x400-meter relay team of Nygaard, Emily Rengo, Josie Brown and Emma Warner were all named to the All-Region Team.
Cooper Folkestad was named the MIAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year it was announced by the conference office. Folkestad earned the award for his record-setting performance in the shot put at the MIAC Indoor Championship Meet last weekend.
The Concordia men’s track & field team closed out the third and final day of the 2026 MIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships with a surge of big-meet performances that lifted the Cobbers into fifth place in the team standings. Behind a championship-record throw from senior Cooper Folkestad, a podium-level relay, and multiple All-MIAC field event finishes, Concordia capped a memorable weekend inside Carleton College’s Recreation Center.
Concordia completed the pre-MIAC position of its schedule by competing at the UND Tune-Up meet. The Cobbers were paced by school record holders Cooper Folkestad and Tyler Evans and track athlete Jonas Hagemeister as all three came away with event wins.
It was another record-setting Saturday for the Cobbers. For the second consecutive meet, Concordia had a field athlete break a long-standing school record. Tyler Evans cleared the bar in the pole vault at 15-02.75 which broke the old mark set in 2017.
Following his record-setting, Division III-leading performance in the shot put at the NDSU Bison Open on Saturday, it was inevitable that senior Cooper Folkestad (Wadena, Minn./Wadena-Deer Creek HS) was named the MIAC Field Athlete of the Week.
Cooper Folkestad broke one of the "unbreakable" school records when he brought down the thunder in the shot put with a distance of 60-11.25 which broke Aaron Brank's record set in 1996 by over a foot.
Concordia officially got into the grind of the indoor season when they competed at the UND Open. CC delivered several season-best performances at the second of seven events in the season.
Concordia kicked off the 2026 portion of its schedule in style as they posted eight first-place finishes at the 86th annual Cobber Alumni Open. CC got four event wins from individual track athletes, captured crowns in both the 4x200-meter and 4x400-meter relays and came away with a pair of field victories.
Senior Cooper Folkestad started his quest for a natty title by posting the second farthest distance in DIII in the shot put at the season-opening NDSU Alumni Classic.
Photos
