MEN'S RESULTS | WOMEN'S RESULTS
JOPLIN, Mo. – Augustana men's and women's cross country swept the Central Region meet on Saturday morning with both teams placing their top five individual runners 12th or higher to win the region championships. This marks the first region title for the women's team and the second for the men. Augustana's men last won the region title in 1991.
The Viking men, ranked fifth in the country, finished with 31 team points while the women, ranked first in the nation, finished with 28 team points. With the team title's, both squads qualify for the national meet on Nov. 17 in Joplin, Mo.
Head coach
Tracy Hellman described the victories as "a tremendous accomplishment for both programs."
The men's team has qualified for the national meet 16 straight seasons, and for the 35th time in school history. The women's team qualified for the 13th straight season and 26th time in school history.
Travis Beniak was the men's individual champion finishing with a time of 29:57 much to the joy of the coach. "It was great to see Travis step up and race his best performance of the season," Hellman said.
The NSIC coach of the year also expressed his satisfaction in the team's performance. "The great thing about our men was our 42 second spread from runners one through five. If we can have that same performance," Hellman described, " we should be in great position for our best finish [at nationals]."
Beniak could feel a strong performance coming on for the Vikings. "Everything just came together," Beniak said. "It has been a long season, some disappointments, but today even before the race I knew it was going to be a good day for myself and our team."
Runa Falch earned the women's individual title with a time of 20:39.
"I felt the strongest that I have felt all season," Falch said. "The team chemistry is awesome and we are working so hard together. Now as a team we turn our attention to the national race in two weeks."
The Viking men had five runners finish in the top 11 of the men's 10,000-meter run.
Adam Braun finished second with a time of 30:10.
Paul Yak delivered a seventh-place finish crossing the line in 30:33.
Nathan Hauge finished 10th with a time of 30:35 followed by
Harald Karbo who finished 11th with a time of 30:39.
TJ Gleason (30:50) and
Ryan Evans (31:21) finished 18th and 38th respectively.
On the women's side,
Leah Black crossed the finish line in second place with a time of 20:49, just 10 seconds behind teammate and champion Falch. Hellman was happy to see one of his top runners return to form. "It was great to see Runa bounce back like that, " Hellman said. "That was a great confidence boost for her."
Kristin Brondbo finished fifth overall with a final time of 21:09 followed by
Kyle Blakeslee who picked up a 10th-place finish at 21:39.
Annie Pfeifle was just two spots behind and finished 12th with a time of 21:49.
Molly Kokesh (23:01) and
Gabi Swoboda (23:08) finished 70th and 74th respectively yet Hellman still believes that the team can do better.
"I thought, team-wise, it was a dominating effort," Hellman said. "But we still have room for improvement. We know that we need to perform our best in two weeks and I know both teams will be ready."
The top four men's teams and the top five women's teams, including the top three individuals that are not a part of a qualifying team qualified for the national tournament.
The national meet will be held Nov. 17 in Joplin, Mo.
