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This week
The Augustana cross country teams travel to Spokane, Wash., Saturday for the 2011 NCAA Championships. The women run at 1 p.m. CDT, while the men start at 2 p.m. CDT.
The NCAA Championship
The 2011 NCAA Championship will be run at the Plantes Ferry Athletic Complex in Spokane, Wash., with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference serving as this year's host. The women will have a 6,000-meter course, while the men will tackle a 10,000-meter route. The NCAA will stream both races live
here. To learn more about the NCAA Championship, follow these links:
Women |
Men
Last time out
The Augustana women's and men's cross country teams finished third and fourth, respectively, at the Central Region Championship Nov. 5 in Denver, Colo. The Viking women netted 70 points, while the men totaled 116. Leah Hansen was the top finisher for the Viking women, running the course in 22:59 to capture seventh place.
Paul Yak paced Augustana's men, finishing sixth with a time of 33:06.
Kristin Brondbo ran a time of 23:17 to take 11th, while
Kyle Blakeslee was 14th (23:36). Finishing 17th and 21st was Annie Pfiefle (23:49) and
Kelly Kougl (24:19), respectively. For the men,
Tom Karbo placed 11th with a time of 33:28 and
Ryan Evans was 20th, running 33:56. Adam Braun (34:26) and
Jordan Slusser (35:28) were 31st and 48th, respectively. Rounding out the Viking men were TJ Gleason (35:37) and
Halvard Lange (36:21) in 50th and 71st, respectively.
What Tracy Hellman says
"Both teams head into this weekend extremely focused and excited about the opportunity in Spokane. We are very positive and motivated to finish the year with a great team race. We have a veteran team, which helps in races of this magnitude. All year we have worked to put ourselves in a position to perform at a high level at the right time, and I feel very strongly that we are ready for this opportunity. Although we realize it will be difficult, we understand what to expect and are ready to put forth our very best effort."
Recent championship history
Augustana's presence on the national cross country scene has increased under
Tracy Hellman. The Viking women logged their best national finish in school history in 2008, claiming fifth-place honors. Last season, the women placed seventh. The men put together their best national showing last season with a sixth-place finish. A top-10 finish by the men this season would be their third such outing in as many years.
Keeping up appearances
The Augustana cross country programs have made a combined 22 appearances at the NCAA Championship. The men account for 13 of those trips, while the women add nine. Men's appearances include 1963, 1973, 1974, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011. The women have went in 1993, 1994, 1995, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
All-America
A trio of All-Americans are looking for repeat performances in 2011. A year ago,
Tom Karbo placed 27th to earn the first All-America citation of his career with the Viking men.
Kristin Brondbo (17th) and
Runa Falch (29th) turned in All-America performances last season, too. The top 40 finishers from each race are deemed All-America. All told, the Vikings have produced 18 women and nine men All-Americans.
|
Women |
Men |
AIAW All-America
1979 - Pat Reisdorfer (14th)
NCAA All-America
1989 - Andrea Devries (17th)
1993 - Hiedi Reed (6th)
1993 - Leah Devries (20th)
1994 - Leah Devries (27th)
1995 - Stacy Johnson (26th)
1995 - Hiedi Reed (29th)
1996 - Hiedi Reed (6th)
1996 - Stacy Johnson (8th)
1997 - Stacy Johnson (9th)
1998 - Leah Giffort (25th)
1999 - Leah Gifford (21st)
2004 - Sara Hayes (23rd)
2006 - Jillian Tholen (14th)
2007 - Rachel Stangler (6th)
2008 - Alyssa Anderson (39th)
2010 - Kristin Brondbo (17th)
2010 - Runa Falch (29th) |
NCAA All-America
1983 - Leslie Woods (7th)
1985 - Allan Severude (23rd)
1989 - Matt Kiesow (19th)
1990 - Matt Kiesow (17th)
1990 - Phil Biteler (23rd)
1991 - Matt Kiesow (8th)
1991 - Carl Fritz (17th)
2010 - Matt Braithwaite (20th)
2010 - Tom Karbo (27th) |
Repeat performances
If Kristin Brondo and
Runa Falch were to earn All-America status again this year, they would be the first athletes to do so since the 1990s. Leah Gifford earned back-to-back All-America honors in 1998 and 1999. An All-America performance by
Tom Karbo would make him just the second in Augustana men's cross country history to earn a pair of nods in consecutive year. Matt Kiesow did it back-to-back in 1989 and 1990.
Top-heavy region
Augustana will get a chance to run against a host of teams it faced in the Central Region Championship two weeks ago--most of which are highly ranked. On the women's side, Central Region programs Western State and Adams State are ranked No. 1 and 3 in the nation, respectively. No. 1 Adams State, No. 2 Western State and No. 4 Coloardo School of Mines--all Central Region schools--are making a trip to nationals for the men. A total of six Central Region institutions are listed when you combine the top-five national rankings of the women and men.
All-region honors
Top-25 finishes at the Central Region Championship guaranteed athletes a spot on the all-region squad. Leah Hanson,
Kristin Brondbo,
Kyle Blakeslee, Annie Pfiefle and Kelly Kougle picked up the honor for the women. Men's honorees included
Paul Yak,
Tom Karbo and
Ryan Evans.
Same story, different year
Tracy Hellman added to his already illustrious career as the head coach of Augustana cross country on Oct. 22 when he led both his teams to the NSIC titles. It didn't go unnoticed as he was selected both the women's and men's conference coach of the year. All in all, Hellman has seven coach of the year citations when you include his stint in the old North Central Conference.
|
Year |
Accolade |
|
2007 |
NCC Women's Coach of the Year |
|
2008 |
NSIC Women's Coach of the Year |
|
2009 |
NSIC Women's Coach of the Year |
|
2009 |
NSIC Men's Coach of the Year |
|
2010 |
NSIC Men's Coach of the Year |
|
2011 |
NSIC Women's Coach of the Year |
|
2011 |
NSIC Men's Coach of the Year |
All-NSIC
The Vikings landed five women and six men on the 2011 All-NSIC teams via performances at the NSIC Championship. Athletes finishing in the top 10 are All-NSIC first team, while those placing 11th through 20th are second-team honorees. Since joining the NSIC in 2008, 24 women and 23 men have earned all-conference accolades.
|
Women |
Men |
Runa Falch, 1st
Kyle Blakeslee, 1st
Leah Hansen, 1st
Kelly Kougl, 1st
Kristin Brondbo, 1st
Annie Pfeifle, 2nd
Miriam Hovda, 2nd |
Paul Yak, 1st
Ryan Evans, 1st
Tom Karbo, 1st
Adam Braun, 1st
Jordan Slusser, 2nd
Halvard Lange, 2nd |
Weekly NSIC honors
Augustana dominated the NSIC Athlete of the Week awards this season. Five Vikings have picked up the honor in 2011. An Augustana athlete earned recognition each week the Vikings were in action during the regular season.
Regionally speaking
The Viking women are ranked third and the men fourth in the USTFCCCA Central Region rankings released last week. Neither squad has many any movement in the regional rankings this season. To view the complete rankings, click
here.
|
Date |
Women |
Men |
|
Preseason |
3 |
4 |
|
Sept. 20 |
3 |
4 |
|
Sept. 27 |
3 |
4 |
|
Oct. 4 |
3 |
4 |
|
Oct. 11 |
3 |
4 |
|
Oct. 18 |
3 |
4 |
|
Oct. 25 |
3 |
4 |
National news
The women fell one spot and the men made no movement in the national rankings released last week by the USTFCCCA. The women dropped three spots to No. 5, and the men kept their No. 7 position. Both squads have been nationally ranked all season. To view the complete poll, click
here.
|
Date |
Women |
Men |
|
Preseason |
6 |
6 |
|
Sept. 21 |
7 |
6 |
|
Sept. 28 |
7 |
8 |
|
Oct. 5 |
7 |
8 |
|
Oct. 12 |
7 |
8 |
|
Oct. 19 |
7 |
8 |
|
Oct. 26 |
4 |
7 |
|
Nov. 9 |
5 |
7 |
According to the coaches
The Augustana men's and women's cross country teams are the favorites to the win the NSIC, according to the preseason coaches' poll. The men received 81 points and the maximum of nine first-place votes (coaches cannot vote for their own team). The women garnered 99 points and nine first-place votes.
|
Men's Preseason Poll |
|
1 |
Augustana (9) |
81 |
|
2 |
Minnesota State (1) |
70 |
|
3 |
Minnesota Duluth |
66 |
|
4 |
St. Cloud State |
51 |
|
5 |
University of Mary |
48 |
|
6 |
Wayne State |
42 |
|
7 |
MSU Moorhead |
31 |
|
8 |
Northern State |
30 |
|
9 |
Winona State |
21 |
|
10 |
Concordia-St. Paul |
10 |
|
Women's Preseason Poll
|
|
|
1 |
Augustana (9) |
99 |
|
2 |
University of Mary (2) |
92 |
|
3 |
Minnesota Duluth |
78 |
|
4 |
Minnesota State |
71 |
|
5 |
St. Cloud State |
65 |
|
6 |
Winona State |
56 |
|
7 |
MSU Moorhead |
43 |
|
8 |
Northern State |
37 |
|
9 |
Wayne State |
34 |
|
10 |
Bemidji State |
20 |
|
11 |
Concordia-St. Paul |
10 |
Preseason picks
In conjunction with the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll, Augustana's
Tom Karbo and
Runa Falch were named the conference's preseason athletes of the year. A 2010 All-America honoree, Karbo returns for his senior term. The Stord, Norway, product was a 27th-place finisher at last year's NCAA Championship and finished 17th at the Central Region meet. Karbo is a two-time All-NSIC first-team performer. Falch returns for her sophomore campaign in 2011 to defend her conference crown. In her rookie year with the Viking cross country club a year ago, Flach obtained All-America status by finishing 29th at the NCAA Championship and was a fifth-place finisher at the Central Region meet. A native of Steinkjer, Norway, Falch scorched the course at last year's NSIC race, winning by more than nine seconds.
A look back
A pair of top-10 national finishes highlighted the 2010 campaign for the Augustana cross country teams. The Viking men posted a program-best sixth-place national finish, while the women ran their way to seventh-place honors.
Tom Karbo and
Matt Braithwaite picked up All-America accolades for the men, while
Runa Falch and
Kristin Brondbo earned those laurels for the women. Both squads won the NSIC, and Karbo and Falch were the individual champions.
Coaches' corner
Tracy Hellman enters is 11th season as head coach of the Viking harriers. He's won six conference titles and guided eight All-America performers. A multiple recipient of NSIC Coach of the Year awards, Hellman is assisted by Jim Vahrenkamp, Chris Parno and Kelsey Maloney.
