This week: The Augustana women's and men's cross country teams travel to Louisville, Ky., on Saturday for the NCAA Championship. The men's race begins at 10 a.m. CST, while the women start at 11 a.m. CST.
The NCAA Championship: The 2010 NCAA Championship is hosted by Bellarmine at Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky. The men will run a 10K course, while the women will run a 6K. The NCAA has set up a
home page for Saturday's event.
Head Coach Tracy Hellman on the Championship...
"We have goals of placing high with both programs, and I know that with a strong mental focus and a postive attitude, we will have an opportunity to attain those goals. Both teams are ready and motivated to finish the season on a high note." |
Last time out: The women captured a third-place finish and the men were fourth at the Central Regional two weeks ago in Wayne, Neb. NSIC champion
Runa Falch paced the women's team, which accumulated 65 points, on the 6K course, grabbing a fifth-place finish with a time of 21:21.50.
Kristin Brondbo was also a top-10 finisher, earning ninth-place honors after covering the course in 21:45.55.
Kyle Blakeslee was 15th with a time of 22:16.50, while
Annie Pfeifle was 16th, running the course in 22:21.50.
Miriam Hovda rounded out scoring for the Vikings with a 20th-place finish at 22:30.05. The Augustana men were led by
Travis Beniak, who ran his way to 12th-place accolades after navigating the 10K route in 31:31.87. The Vikings netted 125 points.
Tom Karbo, who won the NSIC Championship two weeks ago, finished 17th with a time of 31:54.87.
Matt Braithwaite was 28th (32.15.02),
Daniel Black was 33rd (32.33.52) and
Paul Yak was 35th (32:43.87).
Vikings at nationals: The men earned 10th-place honors at last year's NCAA Championship, and the women ran their way to a 13th place finish. The men's effort was the third top-10 finish in program history. In 2010, the men are making their 12th appearance at nationals, and the women are making their ninth trip.
All-America: The top 40 finishers in each race on Saturday will earn All-America status. The Vikings nearly had two garner the honor last season as
Matt Braithwaite and
Kyle Blakeslee both came in 41st.
Three-peat: The Vikings women's squad has yet to not win an NSIC title. With their win at the conference championship last month, 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.
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 sixth in the final national rankings released by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The men were stationary, while the women climbed four positions. To view the complete rankings, click
here.
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.
Who's running this weekend:
