This week
Augustana indoor track and field is back on the road Friday and Saturday, traveling to Minneapolis for the Jack Johnson Invite.
Jack Johnson Invite
The Jack Johnson Invite is hosted by the University of Minnesota at the University Fieldhouse. Teams competing include Augustana, Manitoba, Minnesota, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, South Dakota and South Dakota State. The meet features the long jump, pole vault and heptathlon competition Friday. Saturday's slate of the remaining events will begin at 10 a.m.
Last time out
Augustana recorded six top-three performances, including a first-place finish from Kayla Mescher last Saturday at the University of South Dakota Invite. Mescher won the women's 400-meter dash with a time of 59.16. She also placed seventh in the 60-meter hurdles (9.49). Skyler Kuil and Aduo Omot ran to second-place finishes in the 400-meter dash (50.88) and one mile (4:21.33), respectively. Justin Cook, Aaron Jung, Karmen Nyberg and Paul Yak all took third in their events. Cook ran the 1,000-meter in 2:38.72, while Jung hurled the shot put 49 feet, 2.50 inches. Nyberg finished the 200-meter dash in 26.40, and Yak covered the 3,000-meter run in 8:51.99.
Weekly NSIC honors
Henrick Holmberg is the first Viking of the season to pick up a weekly conference award. He was named men's field athlete of the week by the NSIC on Dec. 3.
|
Date |
Athlete |
W/M |
|
Dec. 3 |
Henrick Holmberg |
M |
2012 Provisional Qualifiers
Three Vikings have provisionally qualified to compete at the national championships.
|
Athlete |
Meet |
Event |
Time/Mark |
|
Hollie Bloom |
Minnesota State Preseason Open |
Pole Vault |
11' 6.5" |
|
Katie Guse |
Minnesota State Preseason Open |
High Jump |
5' 7.75'' |
|
Henrick Holmberg |
WSC Preseason Open |
Heptathlon |
4784 points |
National rankings
The Augustana women's indoor track and field team is ranked No. 13 in the 2012 preseason national rankings released Tuesday by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). A year ago, the Vikings took 22nd in the nation and finished runner-up at the NSIC meet.
According to the coaches
The Augustana women received top billing and the men are third in the NSIC Indoor Track and Field Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Viking women received eight first-place votes and 98 points, while the men earned one first-place vote and a total of 53 points.
|
Women's Preseason Poll |
|
1 |
Augustana (8) |
98 |
|
2 |
U-Mary (3) |
93 |
|
3 |
Winona State |
81 |
|
4 |
Minnesota State |
69 |
|
5 |
Wayne State |
62 |
|
6 |
Minnesota Duluth |
55 |
|
7 |
St. Cloud State |
48 |
|
8 |
MSU Moorhead |
34 |
|
9 |
Bemidji State |
28 |
|
10 |
Northern State |
26 |
|
11 |
Concordia-St. Paul |
11 |
|
Men's Preseason Poll
|
|
|
1 |
MSU Moorhead (7) |
63 |
|
2 |
Minnesota State (1) |
55 |
|
3 |
Augustana (1) |
53 |
|
4 |
U-Mary |
36 |
|
5 |
Wayne State |
31 |
|
6 |
Northern State |
29 |
|
7 |
St. Cloud State |
22 |
|
8 |
Minnesota Duluth |
19 |
|
9 |
Concordia-St. Paul |
16 |
Preseason picks
Augustana distance specialist Runa Falch was named the women's conference preseason track athlete of the year. Falch was voted the NSIC Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year last season after scoring 28 points at the championships, which was tied with U-Mary's Melissa Walker for highest at the national event. At the NSIC Championships she won two races--the 3,000- (9:42.33) and 5,000- (15:42.25) meter runs to set the new conference and school records. Vikings tabbed as “athletes to watch” in 2012 include Aduo Omot, Aaron Jung and Katie Guse. Omot is a returning conference champion in the men's 1,000-meter run (2:32.94) and he was also the 800-meter (1:51.20) national champion last season. Jung will compete in the throws. A defensive lineman with the Viking football team, he played in all 11 games in 2011 and registered 23 tackles, including three for loss. Guse posted a winning height of 5-feet, 6 inches at the Minnesota State Preseason competition a year ago and registered a season's best of 5 feet, 7 inches outdoors.
A look back
A pair of runner-up conference finishes was a great post-season start for the 2011 Augustana men's and women's indoor track and field teams who went on to achieve program-best finishes at the national indoor meet. The men ran their way to 11th-place honors, while the women placed 22nd.
Coaches' corner
Tracy Hellman enters his eighth season as head coach of the Viking track and field program. He's won two conference titles and guided 14 All-America performers. A multiple recipient of NSIC Coach of the Year awards, Hellman is assisted by Jim Vahrenkamp, Chris Parno, Kelsey Maloney and Amber Beman.
Next up
January meets for Augustana conclude next Saturday at the Minnesota State Open in Mankato, Minn.
