FINAL RESULTS | DAY ONE RECAP
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana's men's track and field team grabbed three event wins on day two of the NSIC Track and Field Championships to finish second while the women's squad earned two more titles and came in third place. The men tallied 135.5 total points and the women collected 104.
Minnesota State finished the day atop the men's team leaderboard with 166 points and the University of Mary scored 180 points for another outdoor track and field title.
“I was really proud of both squads,” said head coach
Tracy Hellman on his assessment of the NSIC Championships. “I think we surpassed our expectations of what we could do this outdoor season.”
The men's team led at several junctures of the meet, but Minnesota State was too much to handle and came away with their second straight title. “Our men getting second and taking a real serious shot at Minnesota State was a great thing to see,” Hellman said of his men's performance on day two.
Travis Beniak paced the men's team with a pair of top-two finishes to add to his 10,000-meter win on day one. Beniak took the men's 5,000-meter run in the penultimate event of the day and finished second as part of a 1-2-3 sweep in the 3,000-meter men's steeplechase.
Harald Karbo won the steeple and Adam Braun came in third. Karbo also passed two runners in the final 50 meters to come in seventh in the 5k.
Runa Falch was one point away from being the women's high point scorer for the entire meet collecting a second win and a runner-up finish on the closing day of the meet. Falch won the women's 5,000-meter and was the second in the 1,500-meter run.
Kristin Brondbo was third in the 5k after she won the 10,000-meter race on day one. Gabi Swoboda placed fifth and Annie Pfeifle eighth to give the Vikings 22 points in one event.
“Travis [Beniak] and Runa [Falch] definitely had some standout performances,” Hellman said of his high-scoring seniors. “Doing that triple, both won the 10k, both won the 5k and to place in another event, Travis in the steeplechase and Runa in the 1,500-meter, that is not an easy thing.”
Henrik Hansson grabbed 18 points for the men's squad, narrowly missing going 2-for-2 in his events. Hansson used a big kick to win the 800-meter run and was edged by 0.22 seconds to finish as the runner-up in the 1,500-meter run.
For the Vikings' final event win, Kayla Mescher provisionally-qualified despite windy conditions in the women's 400-meter hurdles event to earn her second conference championship. In the men's 400-meter hurdles, Jason Greenway came in second and Ryan Heuer placed sixth for a combined 11 points.
Karmen Nyberg completed her busy day on the track by placing fourth in the 200-meter dash, seventh in the 400-meter dash and helped the Vikings to a pair of fourth-place finishes in the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays.
The men's 4x400-meter relay second heat may have been the race of the day. Henrik Holmberg anchored the quartet of Vikings and passed two runners on the back stretch setting the Vikings up for the win. 100- and 200-meter dash winner Jerell Hancock of Minnesota State had different plans for the final event of the day.
Hancock came from fourth to pass Holmberg and give the Mavericks the event win. MSU clocked a 3:20.84 and MSU Moorhead was seven hundredths of a second slower and the Vikings were 0.01 behind them.
Members of the 4x400-meter relay team, Khor Kong and Skyler Kuil placed fourth and seventh, respectively, in the men's 400-meter dash. The other relays squad, the men's 4x100-meter, finished fifth.
Collecting points on the field side, Aaron Jung finished second in the men's shot put and AJ Scarborough finished sixth in the discus throw.
The Vikings now shift their focus to the NCAA Championships where eight Vikings have provisionally qualified in nine different events. The NCAA Championships will be held in Pueblo, Colo. on May 23-25.
