This week: The Augustana women's and men's cross country teams return to action on Saturday at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark. The men's race begins at 9:45 a.m., while the women start at 10:30 a.m.
The Chile Pepper Festival: Regarded as one of the most competitive meets in the country, the Chile Pepper Festival is held annually in Fayetteville, Ark. More than 60 NCAA Division I, II and III, and NAIA institutions are expected to be at this year's event. To learn more about the Chile Pepper Festival, click
here.
Head Coach Tracy Hellman on the Chile Pepper...
"What makes this meet unique is that all Divisions run together. Our teams will get an opportunity to measure ourselves against the best cross-country programs in the nation, regardless of division" |
It's been awhile: The Vikings will have been idle for three weeks by the time they hit the course for this weekend's meet. Augustana last ran in the Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 25. The Vikings were scheduled to run in the Tim Young Open hosted by the University of South Dakota on Oct. 1, but wet conditions forced that meet to be canceled.
Last time out: The men won the Roy Griak Invitational on Oct. 1 with a score of 60.
Matt Braithwaite was the top finisher for the Vikings, taking 12th with a time of 25:52. The Augustana women's team finished fifth with a score of 211.
Kyle Blakeslee led the Viking women, taking eighth with a time of 22:43.2. To check out how the rest of the Vikings did, click
here.
Conference honors: The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced Sept. 28 that Augustana's
Matt Braithwaite was named the men's cross country Athlete of the Week after his performance at the Roy Griak Invitational. Braithwaite is the first Viking this season to pick up the honor.
National news: The men are ranked eighth and the women are ranked 18th in the lastest national rankings released Wednesday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. To view this week's complete national rankings, click
here. To view a week-by-week breakdown of where Augustana has been ranked, click
here.
Regionally speaking: The Augustana men's and women's cross country teams are ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in the latest U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Central Region Rankings released Tuesday. The Vikings made no movement from last week's rankings. To view this week's rankings, click
here.
According to the coaches: Augustana was selected as the preseason favorite for both women's and men's in the NSIC Coaches' Poll. The women received seven first-place votes and 97 points, while the men garnered nine first-place votes and 81 points. The poll was voted on by the conference's head coaches.
| Women's CC Preseason Poll |
| 1. |
Augustana (7) |
97 |
| 2. |
U-Mary (2) |
88 |
|
Minnesota Duluth (2) |
88 |
| 4. |
Minnesota State |
70 |
| 5. |
Winona State |
64 |
| 6. |
St. Cloud State |
48 |
| 7. |
MSU Moorhead |
44 |
| 8. |
Wayne State |
41 |
| 9. |
Northern State |
36 |
| 10. |
Bemidji State |
17 |
| 11. |
Concordia |
12 |
|
first-place votes in ( ) |
|
| Men's CC Preseason Poll |
| 1. |
Augustana (9) |
81 |
| 2. |
Minnesota State (1) |
73 |
| 3. |
St. Cloud State |
63 |
| 4. |
Minnesota Duluth |
52 |
| 5. |
MSU Moorhead |
45 |
| 6. |
Northern State |
39 |
|
Wayne State |
39 |
| 8. |
U-Mary |
33 |
| 9. |
Winona State |
17 |
| 10. |
Concordia |
10 |
|
first-place votes in ( ) |
|
Coaches' corner: Tracy Hellman is back for his 10th season as the head coach of the Augustana cross country program. He was last year's NSIC Cross Country Coach of the Year and led the both men and women to the conference title last season. Hellman is assisted by
Jim Vahrenkamp, Heath Moenck and
Chris Parno.
A look back: Augustana cross country had one of its best seasons in school history in 2009. Both the women and men took the title at the NSIC Championships, and both teams qualified for nationals, too, as the women were third at regionals, while the men were fifth. Nationally, the women placed 13th, while the men were 10th.
Up next: The Vikings travel to the Mount Marty Invitational in Yankton, S.D., on Oct. 23.
Who's running this weekend:
