RESULTS
BISMARCK, N.D. - Augustana's Aduo Omot and Tom Karbo collected titles for the Viking men on the final day of the 2012 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Outdoor Championships to lead the team to a third-place finish with 115 points. Kyle Blakeslee and Runa Falch led the charge for the Viking women by winning a title apiece to help Augustana place third with 95 points at the two-day championships held at the Bismarck Community Bowl.
“Every year the NSIC gets more and more competitive, and this year is not different” said Augustana head coach
Tracy Hellman. “We had some tremendous performances from our athletes today, and the coaching staff is extremely proud of both teams.”
The men's finish is the highest for Augustana at the outdoor championships since joining the NSIC in 2008-09. Minnesota State earned the title on the day with 212 points and MSU Moorhead claimed second with 179 points. U-Mary rounded out the top four with 103 points.
The Viking women beat out Wayne State for third-place honors by one point. U-Mary won with 200.5 points and Winona State took home second with 116 points.
Hellman said, “To place third on both the men's and women's side shows the consistency we have established in our program. Very few seniors are graduating so we should be in an excellent position for another great team finish next year. We will miss our seniors and are thankful for all they have done for the program.”
Augustana ran a 1-2-3 finish in the men's 5,000 meters. The defending champion in the event, Karbo, took first in 15 minutes, 23.40 seconds to claim his fourth overall outdoor title at the championships. Paul Yak and Jordan Slusser were on his heels, finishing second (15:24.54) and third (15:24.93), respectively.
Omot, a junior, earned the first outdoor NSIC title of his career in the men's 800 meters. He circled the oval in 1:52.86, which was followed by Khor Kong's fourth-place finish of 1:55.39.
Blakeslee set a conference record and defended her title in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, running 10:39.12. She beat the old record by four seconds. On the men's side, Yak placed second in 9:32.35 and Shane McCallum was seventh in 9:47.47.
The Viking women finished 1-4-5-6-8 in the 5,000 meters. Falch blazed the track in 17:23.32--nine seconds faster than the runner-up finisher from U-Mary. Blakeslee was fourth in 17:35.48, while Hansen placed fifth in 18:03.78. Rounding out Augustana's top eight in the event was Annie Pfeifle in sixth (18:09.34) and Maddy Jourgensen in eighth (18:36.97). Falch, the defending champion in the event, earned the fourth NSIC outdoor title of her career with the win.
Augustana's women drew in another 12 points in the 1,500 meters. Falch and Kristin Brondbo placed fourth (4:26.73, automatic qualifying time) and fifth (4:31.93), respectively. Both of their times broke the old conference record of 4:32.34. Molly Kokesh earned seventh in 4:40.85 and Kelly Kougl placed eighth in 4:43.64.
In the men's 1,500 meters, Henrik Hansson beat the previous record with a time of 3:53.27 and placed third. Slusser was fourth in 3:55.19.
LeAnn Severson was eighth in the women's 800 meters (2:16.73) and Katie Tonner was sixth in the women's 400-meter hurdles (1:03.17). Tonner also placed seventh in the triple jump (37 feet, 7.75 inches).
Matt Winder placed fifth for the Viking men in the 400-meter hurdles (54.99 seconds) and Gathin Veldhuizen was eighth (57.16 seconds). Veldhuizen earned the Vikings another five points in the men's 110-meter hurdles, earning fourth (14.95 seconds).
Augustana men's 4 x 400-meter relay team of Omot, Kong, Skyler Kuil and Paul Mallory ran well, placing third in 3:20.50 seconds.
The men's 4 x 100-meter relay squad also earned the Vikings points by placing sixth. The crew made up of Brett Anderson, Kuil, Phil Rien and Brock Bills sprinted 43.61 seconds.
CJ Hamm turned in top-eight performances for Augustana in field events. He was sixth in the shot put with a throw of 49 feet, 3.50 inches and eighth in the discus throw with a mark of 145 feet, 5 inches.
The Vikings will travel to Pueblo, Colo., on May 24 for the NCAA Championship.
