This week: The Augustana women's and men's cross country teams continue postseason action on Saturday at the Central Region Championship in Wayne, Neb. The men's race starts at 11 a.m., while the women begin at 12:15 p.m.
The Central Region Championship: The Central Region features teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The top four women's teams and top five men's teams qualify for the NCAA Championship. The women will run a 6K course, while the men will run a 10K. Host Wayne State has set up a
home page where results will be posted.
Head Coach Tracy Hellman on the Regional...
"The opportunity to qualify both teams to the NCAA National Meet is a huge motivating factor. We are coming off our best team performance of the season at the NSIC Championship, so I am confident that we are ready to go. Although the path to Nationals will be very difficult, I fully expect our teams to put forth their best effort of the season on Saturday.." |
Last time out: Tom Karbo won the men's race and
Runa Falch won the women's to pace both squads to first-place finishes at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championship on Nov. 6 in Wayne, Neb. Karbo covered the 8K course in 25:19.71--more than 10 seconds ahead of Minnesota State's David Barmasai. Falch's time of 21:10.91 was 10 seconds better than defending NSIC champion Morgan Place from Minnesota Duluth. To see how the rest of the Vikings did, click
here.
Three-peat: The Vikings women's squad had yet to not win an NSIC title. With their win at the conference championship two weeks ago, Augustana made it three in a row for NSIC titles. In its last season in the North Central Conference, Augustana also won a women's conference championship. For the men, it was their second consecutive NSIC title.
Coach of the Year: Tracy Hellman was named the NSIC Coach of the Year for the men at the conference championship. It was the third overall nod for the 10th-year leader, who has the most NSIC titles at Augustana with six.
All-NSIC: Between the men's and women's squads, Augustana had a total of 11 runners earn All-NSIC honors. For the men,
Tom Karbo,
Travis Beniak,
Matt Braithwaite,
Paul Yak and
Daniel Black were named All-NSIC first team, while
Ryan Evans earned second-team honors.
Runa Falch,
Kristin Brondbo,
Miriam Hovda and
Annie Pfeifle garnered first-team accolades for the women.
Kyle Blakeslee was a second-team honoree.
Regional history: The Vikings are looking to build on their regional finishes from a year ago. In 2009, the women netted 90 points to finish third, while the men totaled 143 points to grab fourth-place honors.
Athletes of the Week: The Vikings have had three NSIC Athletes of the Week in 2010.
Matt Braithwaite,
Runa Falch and
Paul Yak have all picked up the honor.
Tom Karbo and
Runa Falch were also named Athletes of the Meet after winning the NSIC Championship.
National news: The men are ranked 11th and the women are 10th in the latest national rankings released by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The men jumped two spots, while the women climbed eight positions.
Regionally speaking: The men checked in at No. 4 and the women were No. 3 in the final Central Region rankings of the season. The women's No. 3 spot was two positions better than the previous week. The men were stationary. To view the final region rankings click
here. To view a week-by-week breakdown, 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 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: If the Vikings qualify, they will be heading to the NCAA Championship on Dec. 4, in Louisville, Ky.
Who's running this weekend:
