Final Results
The Augustana women's indoor track & field team took home a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championship today in Mankato, Minn. Head coach
Tracy Hellman was named Coach of the Year and freshman
Linn Nilsson was named Newcomer of the Year.
This marks Augustana's first ever conference championship in track & field.
Augustana finished with a team score of 146 after finishing Friday's events in thrid place. U-Mary was second with 134 points and Minnesota State came in at third with 116 points.
"It was an overall team effort," Hellman said. "We had people step up and perform when the team needed it the most, and that's what you have to do to win team championships. I couldn't be prouder of them."
Nilsson won the mile run in 4:55.9, a provisional qualifying mark. She was just 0.9 seconds away from reaching an automatic qualifying mark.
Cecilie Udstuen was third with a time of 4:59.18, also a provisional qualifier.
Caitlin Polgreen was fourth with a provisional qualifying time of 4:59.84 and Annie Pfiefle finished in fifth in 5:03.89, also a provisional qualifier.
The women set three provisional qualifying marks in the 5000 meter run.
Runa Falch was second, finishing in 17:27.04.
Molly Clark was fourth, with a time of 17:33.05, and
Kyle Blakeslee was right behind in fifth. She posted a time of 17:37.28.
Augie dominated the 800 meter run, with Udstuen taking home the title in 2:16.48, which is a provisional qualifier.
Miriam Hovda finished in fifth place with a time of 2:21.64 and
Megan Erspamer was sixth in 2:21.74.
In the 1000 meter run, Nilsson was second, completing the race in 2:56.74.
Caitlin Polgreen was two seconds behind, finishing in 2:58.77 with
Molly Kokesh coming in third in 2:59.18.
The Vikings finished well in the 600 meter run, with the second and third place finishers.
Rachel Biederman took second, finishing in a time of 1:39.77.
LeAnn Severson was close behind, finishing in 1:40.41.
Bobbi Jo Buyck finished seventh in the women's 60 meter dash, turning in a time of 7.95.
In the field events,
Noel Bentele was eighth in the shot put with a throw of 12.06 meters. Buyck was fifth in the triple jump, setting a mark of 11.21 meters, and
Hollie Bloom was fifth in the pole vault, clearing 3.41 meters.
Augustana will now wait to see which provisional qualifiers will be selected to compete in the national championships in Albuquerque, N.M. on March 12-13.
Team Scores
1. Augustana-146
2. U-Mary-134
3. Minnesota State-116
4. St. Cloud State-77
5. Winona State-73.5
6. Wayne State-58.5
7. Minnesota-Duluth-47
8. MSU Moorhead-29
9. Northern State-26
10. Bemidji State-16
11. Concordia-St. Paul
