Augustana University Athletics

This week
Six athletes from Augustana have qualified to compete at the 2012 NCAA Championships this week in Pueblo, Colo. Competition runs Thursday through Saturday and is hosted by Colorado State-Pueblo at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl. 

More information
The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Association has set up a "Championship Central" page, which can be found by clicking here. The NCAA's Championship home page is available here.

Who's going
Representing Augustana at the 2012 NCAA Championships are Kyle Blakeslee, Kristin Brondbo, Runa Falch, Leah Hansen, Tom Karbo and Aduo Omot. For more information on each athlete, click here.

What coach Hellman says
"These six athletes representing Augustana at the championship have all had a great year. We look forward to their participation and are in search of more All-America awards."   

Last time out
Both the Augustana men and women captured third-place finishes two weeks ago at the 2012 NSIC. The Viking men racked up 115 points to earn their highest finish since joining the NSIC in 2008-09. The women garnered 95 points.  

NSIC honors
Tom Karbo was named the 2012 NSIC Men's Track Athlete of the Year after setting four school records this outdoor season and running the second fastest time in Division II in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (8.44.37) to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. The Vikings also had 12 athletes named All-NSIC. To view the complete list, click here.  

Viking champions
Augustana returned home with two title winners and five athletes who earned All-America status at last year's NCAA Championships in Turlock, Calif. Runa Falch and Aduo Omot earned national titles in the 1,500 meters and 800 meters, respectively. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Tom Karbo took second in the men's event and Kyle Blakeslee was fourth on the women's side. Kristin Brondbo was sixth in the 1,500 meters.

Championship history
Augustana is sending its men's squad to the NCAA Championships for the 22nd time in school history, while this season marks the 12th appearance for the women. The men logged their best finish last season when they tied for 12th place. In 2011, the women's team placed 10th to tie with the 1997 squad for the best finish. 

800-meter speedster
Heading into the NCAA Championships, Aduo Omot holds the top time in the nation in the 800 meters. The junior already has two national titles under his belt in the event, finishing first at both the indoor and outdoor championships last season. 

Been there before
Tom Karbo will have two chances to grab national titles this week. He is currently ranked second in the nation in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and is a two-time All-American in the event. In 2011, Karbo was a runner up in the steeple to better his fourth-place finish from the previous season. He will also race at the championships in the 5,000 meters.  

Norway natives
Two Viking women will be competing against each other at the NCAA Championships. Kristin Brondbo and Runa Falch will both compete in the 1,500 meter-run. The distance specialists from Steinkjer, Norway, are ranked eighth and ninth, respectively.

Blakeslee doubles up
Kyle Blakeslee has impressed fans all season in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and this week she will also have a chance to show off her skills in the 1,500 meters. She is the only Viking on the women's side to qualify for the national championship in two events.

Shining in the distance
Leah Hansen has a chance to grab the first All-America honors of her career this week, competing in the 10,000-meter run.   

Record snapped
Tom Karbo placed 11th and turned in a time of 8 minutes, 41.69 seconds--an Augustana and South Dakota state record--in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2012 USATF Oxy High Performance Meet last Friday evening at Occidental College. Karbo broke his own school of record of 8:42.40 set in 2011. He broke the state record of 8:43.02 set by South Dakota State's Craig Cassen in 1991 (Karbo's record from 2011 record does not count as a state record because it was recorded overseas). A junior from Stord, Norway, Karbo was aiming for the Olympic B standard time of 8:32.  He'll have several more chances to hit that time, including at the NCAA Championships next week and at this summer's Norwegian Championships.

Athlete of the week
The Vikings had five athletes earn NSIC track athlete of the week seven times during the season.

Athlete	T/F	Date
Tom Karbo	Track	April 16
Tom Karbo	Track	April 23
Kyle Blakeslee	Track	April 23
Kyle Blakeslee	Track	May 1
Paul Yak	Track	May 1
Kristin Brondbo	Track	May 8
Aduo Omot	Track	May 8

According to the coaches
The Augustana women's outdoor track and field team was selected second and the men were picked third in the NSIC Preseason Outdoor Track and Field Coaches' Poll released March 29 by the league office.

1	U-Mary	100
2	Augustana (1)	90
3	Winona State	82
4	Minnesota State	70
5	MSU Moorhead	61
6	Wayne State	52
7	Minnesota Duluth	50
8	St. Cloud State	41
9	Northern State	25
10	Concordia-St. Paul	18
11	Bemidji State	16

1	Minnesota State (7)	63
2	MSU Moorhead (1)	56
3	Augustana (1)	52
4	U-Mary	40
5	St. Cloud State	39
6	Minnesota Duluth	24
7	Wayne State	22
8	Northern State	17
9	Concordia-St. Paul	11

In the nation
The Augustana men moved up one spot to No. 24 in the nation, the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Association announced Monday.

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 and five All-America relay teams. A multiple recipient of NSIC Coach of the Year awards, Hellman is assisted by Jim Vahrenkamp, Chris Parno, Kelsey Maloney and Amber Beman and Jeremy Klaassen.