RESULTS
MANKATO, Minn. - Kristin Brondbo broke a school record and led five Vikings to winning performances at the Chuck Peterson Preseason Open hosted by Minnesota State. Kelsey Kaufmann, Kyle Blakeslee, and Harald Karbo joined Brondbo with qualifying marks as 24 Vikings placed at the season-opening event.
Brondbo's 9:32.31 time in the 3,000-meter run broke former teammate Runa Falch's school record by over five seconds. Brondbo officially becomes the first Augustana qualifier for the NCAA Championships as her winning time is an automatic qualifying mark. In addition to setting a new school record, Brondbo's time is the fastest 3k time by a woman i Soutd Dakota history, replacing South Dakota State's Becka Mansheim's former time of 9:37.49.
Fellow Viking Blakeslee notched a 9:54.97, a provisional qualifying mark, and earned second place by over 30 seconds. In the men's 3k, Karbo posted the fastest time in Division II to date with an 8:31.71.
Coming off a successful volleyball season, Kaufmann cleared 1.66 meters (5 feet, 5.25 inches) to win the women's high jump competition. Kaufmann's winning mark was the third qualifying mark for the Vikings in the first meet of the year.
Also on the field side, Kaylynn Erlandson placed second in the women's triple jump with a best mark of 10.95 meters (35 feet, 11.25 inches) and Christin Campbell placed eighth.
Augustana swept the 600-meter dash with Aduo Omot coasting in the men's race and Kayla Mescher threatening to take down the school record in the women's race. Omot clocked a 1:21.84 in his three laps and freshman Zach Tuschen was third in 1:23.78. Mescher held off the second place finisher on the back stretch and won with a time of 1:35.42.
In his first collegiate track race, Petter Gulliksen turned in a 4:44.38 in the mile race, winning by nearly three seconds.
Augustana also placed three runners in the top six of the men's 300-meter dash with Skyler Kuil (36.18 seconds) taking fifth, Jeremy Botzet (37.36 seconds) placing fifth, and Thomas Sittig (38.86 seconds) finishing sixth. Two women earned top-eight finishes in the 300-meter dash as well with Colleen Everson (42.12 seconds) placing fifth and Charissa Etrheim (42.94 seconds) coming in eighth.
Carina Hofmeister and Kirsten Nyberg were among the top six finishers in the women's 200-meter dash. Hofmeister clocked a 26.19-second time for third place and Nyberg ran her lap in 26.71 seconds to take sixth.
Augustana's men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams each placed in the top four with the women taking second and the men earning fourth place.
The Vikings are idle until Jan. 17, 2014 when they travel to Sioux Center, Iowa for the Dordt Invitational.
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