This week: Seven athletes from Augustana will travel to the 2011 NCAA Championship in Turlock, Calif., this week. Competition runs Thursday through Saturday at Cal State Stanislaus.
More information: The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has set up a "Championship Central" page, which can be found
here. The NCAA's Championship home page is available
here.
Who's going: Aduo Omot, Tom Karbo, Travis Beniak, Runa Falch, Kristin Brondbo, Kyle Blakeslee and Andrea Whitney will represent Augustana at the national meet. For a complete biography on each athlete, click
here.
Last time out: The Augustana women won their first outdoor conference title in school history two weekends ago, racking up 162 points at the NSIC Championship in Aberdeen, S.D. The men finished fourth with 78 points. The title by the women is the first outdoor championship since the Viking men won the North Central Conference in 1942.
Conference honors: Sophomore distance specialist Runa Falch was the recipient of a pair of conference awards at the NSIC Championship. She was named the NSIC Women's Track Athlete of the Year and was the women's high-points performer.
Tracy Hellman was also tabbed the women's conference coach of the year. Furthermore, 12 Vikings picked up All-NSIC honors by capturing at least third-place finishes. To view a complete list of Augustana's all-conference honorees, click
here.
Dynamic coaching duo: The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has announced that
Tracy Hellman is the Central Region Women's Coach of the Year and Jim Vahrenkamp is the Men's Assistant Coach of the Year. It's the first such honor for both. Hellman is in his 11th season, while Vahrenkamp is a second-year assistant coach.
A look back: The Vikings qualified a school-record 10 athletes for nationals last season. Three returned with All-America honors, including Aduo Omot in the 800-meter run and Tom Karbo in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Championship history: The Viking men are sending athletes to the NCAA Championship for the 21st time in school history. Augustana's men logged their best finish in 1967 when they finished 19th. The women are sending athletes for the 11th time; their best finish is a 10th-place effort by the 1997 squad.
Top time: Statistically, Aduo Omot has the best chance of grabbing an individual national championship for the Vikings this season. The sophomore has the nation's top 800 time at 1:49.45. Omot won a national title in the indoor event this past season as well. He was a sixth-place national finisher a year ago.
Double threats: Runa Falch and Kristin Brondbo will each compete in two events at the NCAA Championship--the 1,500 and 5,000. The distance runners have battled all season, but their similarities run deeper than their parity in track events. Both are from Steinkjer, Norway, and the two even ran with the same club in their native country.
Tommy boy: Tom Karbo will be looking to pick up his second All-America citation in as many years in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He turned in a fourth-place finish last season with a time of 8:53.09.
In the NSIC: Here's how Augustana has fared at the NSIC Championship since joining the conference in 2009--
|
Men |
Women |
| 2009 |
9th |
7th |
| 2010 |
4th |
3rd |
| 2011 |
4th |
1st |
NSIC honors: Augustana has had eight NSIC Athletes of the Week this season.
| Date |
Athlete |
T/F |
| April 5 |
Andrea Whitney |
Field |
| April 13 |
Diego Oquendo |
Track |
| April 18 |
Dylan Buehler |
Field |
| April 18 |
Noel Bentele |
Field |
| April 26 |
Aduo Omot |
Track |
| May 3 |
Aduo Omot |
Track |
| May 10 |
Runa Falch |
Track |
| May 10 |
Tom Karbo |
Track |
National news: The Augustana women are No. 13 in the latest national poll released Monday by the USTFCCCA. To view the complete poll, click
here.
According to the coaches: The Augustana women were picked second and men were picked third in the 2011 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Outdoor Track and Field Preseason Coaches' polls released March 29 by the conference office. The women's squad received 100 points and one first-place vote, while the men received 68 points and one first-place vote. Both polls were voted on by the conference head coaches (11 for women, 10 for men). U-Mary was the top team in the women's poll; MSU Moorhead was the No. 1 pick for the men.
| Women's Poll |
| 1. |
U-Mary (10) |
100 |
| 2. |
Augustana (1) |
90 |
| 3. |
Winona State |
83 |
| 4. |
Wayne State |
68 |
| 5. |
Minnesota State |
66 |
| 6. |
Minnesota Duluth |
58 |
| 7. |
St. Cloud State |
46 |
| 8. |
MSU Moorhead |
32 |
| 9. |
Bemidji State |
27 |
| 10. |
Northern State |
24 |
| 11. |
Concordia |
11 |
| Men's Poll |
| 1. |
MSU Moorhead (8) |
80 |
| 2. |
Minnesota State (1) |
69 |
| 3. |
Augustana (1) |
68 |
| 4. |
Wayne State |
53 |
| 5. |
Northern State |
49 |
| 6. |
U-Mary |
44 |
| 7. |
St. Cloud State |
31 |
| 8. |
Concordia |
24 |
| 9. |
Minnesota Duluth |
21 |
| 10. |
Bemidji State |
11 |
Preseason honors: Runa Falch was named the women's Preseason Track Athlete of the Year in conjunction with the Preseason Coaches' Poll. Falch enters the 2011 outdoor season as one of the NSIC's top distance runners after putting together a stellar indoor campaign. The sophomore was named the NSIC Track Athlete of the Year after setting a conference and school record in the 5,000-meter run, clocking in at 16:41.77, at the NSIC Indoor Championship. She also finished sixth nationally and picked up All-America honors in the event with a time of 6:56.96 at the NCAA Championship. At least year's NSIC Outdoor Championship, Falch finished second in the 5,000-meter run (17:25.92).
Indoor season recap: The Vikings enjoyed another successful indoor track and field season. Augustana finished second in both the women's and men's indoor track and field NSIC Championship. Augustana's women's and men's distance medley relay teams earned All-America status. Aduo Omot won the men's 800-meter run, Travis Beniak was fifth in the men's mile and Runa Falch was sixth in the women's 5,000-meter run.
Coaches' corner: Tracy Hellman is now in his 11th season as the head track and field coach at Augustana. Hellman has been named indoor Coach of the Year twice, once by the NSIC in 2010 after leading the Vikings to their first-ever conference championship and also in 2006 after the Vikings took third at the NCC Championships. Hellman is assisted by Jim Vahrenkamp, who is in his second season with the Vikings and Jeremy Klaassen, in his seventh season. Klaassen works primarily with the throwers. Chris Parno enters his inaugural season as a graduate assistant.
