WINONA, Minn. — When Kirk Nauman arrived on the Saint Mary’s University campus in early August, he looked at himself as the little fish in the big pond that was SMU track and field.

After all, as Paul Thornton’s assistant, Nauman figured he’d have plenty of time to get himself acquainted with the ins and outs of the track and field program — not to mention familiarize himself with the student-athletes.

On Sept., 19, 2003, however, that all changed.

Thornton abruptly stepped down as the Cardinals’ head coach, accepting a position as the the head track and field coach at Washington (Mo.) University.

With Thornton’s leaving, Nauman suddenly found himself swimming in some uncharted waters.

“It was a bit of an adjustment, going from an assistant coach to being the head coach,” admitted Nauman, who spent time as a coach at UW-Superior, Allegheny and, most recently, Minnesota State-Mankato. “I was pretty excited about coming here as an assistant and getting my feet wet a bit — I never expected when I got here that I would be the head coach.”

Yet, here he is, preparing his team — yes, his team — for the upcoming seasons, which kick off on Jan. 17 at the Minnesota State-Mankato Invitational.

“There’s been a pretty big learning curve,” explained Nauman. “Not only did it take some time for me to get to know the athletes, but for the athletes to get use to me – how I coach, what my philosophies are, and what my expectations are.”

And so far, Nauman admits, things have been going rather smoothly.

“I really like what I’ve seen so far,” he said. “Everyone is working hard. It will be good to get a meet under our belts so we can really see where we’re at and what we need to focus on.”

At least for the start of the season, Thornton won’t be the only one missing from the Cardinal team. Junior Ashley Dingels (Gibbon, Minn.) — last season’s Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion in both the pentathlon (indoor) and heptathlon (outdoor) — is out indefinitely as she recovers from a torn ACL she suffered during the volleyball season.

“Obviously, when you take someone like Ashley out of your lineup, it hurts in terms of points (at the conference meet),” said Nauman of his junior All-American, who placed seventh overall in the heptathlon at the NCAA Division III National Outdoor Championships. “She was a major contributor for us at the conference meet, and without her, it certainly changes your expectations at the conference meet.”

Just what are Nauman’s expectations?

In a word … improvement.

“When I look back and evaluate the success of this year, I’m going to look at individual improvement — did we get better in each event. I’m not going to get too caught up in where we finish at the conference championships, but if we continue to improve as the season progresses, I think we are going to score more points (than a year ago).

“We have some very talented individuals, on both the men’s and women’s sides,” continued Nauman. “What we don’t have is a lot of depth.

“We have the equivalent of one individual in every event who can get the job done — but the top teams we are going to face have two, three, four individuals who can compete at that highest level.

“I’m excited about the season – we have the potential for some really, really good things.”