Augustana University Athletics

• Augustana continues their indoor season at the Jack Johnson Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 24 and 25 at the University of Minnesota.

• The Vikings traveled to the Dordt Open on Jan. 18 and five athletes won event titles as CJ Ham broke a school record.

• No Viking was able to hit a provisional mark at last week's meet, but four athletes have registered qualifying numbers this season, led by Kristin Brondbo's automatic qualifying time in the 3,000-meter run.

• In the NSIC preseason coaches' poll, the men and women each received first place votes, with the men slotted at second and the women in sixth.

CJ goes Ham, breaks school record at Dordt Open

• Although he didn't win the event, CJ Ham still managed to set Augustana history in the men's weight throw .

• Ham finished with a 17.04-meter (55 feet, 11 inches) heave, breaking the previous record by nearly half of a foot.

• The mark, which ranks fourth in the NSIC this season, was two centimeters shy of hitting the provisional mark.

• Ham's record highlighted the day, but Augustana still took home five titles at the meet.

• Again, Augustana swept the 600-meter run; Kayla Mescher cruised to a three-second win and Henrik Hansson clocked the third-fastest time in the NSIC, collecting his first win of the season.

• Kelsey Kaufmann notched her second win of the season, taking home the high jump crown.

• Kyle Blakeslee led a trio of Vikings in the top five of the women's mile run, winning by over 10 seconds.

• The final Viking champ was the women's 4x400-meter relay team of Mescher, Carina Hofmeister, Colleen Everson, and Charissa Ertheim.

Let's get provisional

• No Vikings managed to hit qualifying marks at the Dordt Open, but several Vikings are knocking on the door.

• Three of the four Vikings who have earned qualifying marks currently rank in the top 10 in Division II in their respective events, all in the top five.

• Kristin Brondbo was the first Viking to earn an auto-bid with her record-breaking time in the women's 3k.

• Three Vikings, two women and one man, have logged qualifying marks in the 3,000-meter run. 

2013-14 Qualifying List
Men	Event	Mark	DII Rank	Top Mark	Meet
Harald Karbo	3,000m	8:31.71	4th	8:26.43	MSU Preseason
Women	Event	Mark	DII Rank	Top Mark	Meet
Kristin Brondbo*	3,000m	9:32.31	1st	--	MSU Preseason
Kyle Blakeslee	3,000m	9:54.97	5th	9:32.31	MSU Preseason
Kelsey Kaufmann	High Jump	1.66m	14th	1.74m	MSU Preseason

Blakeslee is back

• After a season derailed by injury, Kyle Blakeslee returns for her senior season, seeking her fourth All-American finish.

• A two-time All-American in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Blakeslee has already provisionally qualified in the women's indoor 3,000-meter run.

• Blakeslee also flirted with a provisional mark in the mile run, winning the event, but came up short at the Dordt Open

• A three-time NSIC steeplechase champion, Blakeslee has her name etched throughout the Augustana and NSIC annals.

• Blakeslee has never qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in an individual event, but she did help the Vikings to their fifth-place, All-American finish in the women's distance medley relay in 2012.

• In cross country, Blakeslee is a two-time All-American, helping the Vikings to their 2012 national championship with her 18th-place finish.

How the Vikings stack up in the NSIC

• After two meets, Augustana has 20 athletes ranked in the top 10 of the NSIC performance list.

• Holding down first-place spots are Harald Karbo and Kristin Brondbo in the men's and women's 3,000-meter run.

• Kelsey Kaufmann is tied for first in the women's high jump with a best mark of 1.66 meters.

• Three Viking men are in the top eight of the 600-meter run; Aduo Omot and Henrik Hansson currently sit second and third, respectively, and Zach Tuschen ranks eighth.

• Hansson also ranks third in the 1,000-meter run after doubling up at the Dordt Open.

• The only other event with three Vikings in the top 10 is the men's 60-meter hurdles.

• Brandon Gildemaster and Ryan Heuer rank four-five with Zach Jones owning the ninth spot on the list.

• Kyle Blakeslee is the second-rated athlete in the mile run and the 3,000-meter run.

• Emma Anderson joins Blakeslee in the mile run top 10, with the eighth-best time.

• John Klecker (fourth) and Keegan Carda (ninth) make it two for the men's team in the indoor mile.

• In a stacked conference for throwing events, CJ Ham sits at third in the shot put and fourth in the weight throw.

• Kayla Mescher, the 2013 NSIC 800-meter run indoor champion, ranks second in the 600-meter run.

• Both 4x400-meter relay teams are in the top ten with the women ranking third and the men eighth.

Hansson off to strong start

• After a strong Dordt Open, senior mid-distance specialist Henrik Hansson is primed for a strong season.

• Hansson took home the 600-meter run title and was the runner-up in the 1,000-meter run.

• In both events, the Stromstad, Sweden native ranks third on the overall NSIC performance list.

• Last season, Hansson earned All-NSIC honors in the mile run, taking third at the NSIC indoor championships.

• At the Outdoor championships, Jones nearly swept the mid-distance races, winning the 800-meter run and taking second in the mile run by two tenths of a second. 

• Hansson has yet to qualify for this year's NCAA Championships, but he also looks to play a key role Augustana's storied distance medley relay squads.

• Running the 800-meter leg, Hansson helped the Vikings to the 2012 national title in the event. 

• In the 2013 outdoor season, Hansson ran the 1,200-meter leg and helped Augustana to the Accusplit/USTFCCCA relay of the year award for the DMR.

Augustana picked to finish in top half of NSIC by league coaches

• Both men's and women's teams were pegged as top-half teams in the NSIC according to the preseason coaches' poll.

• Augustana's men's squad was slotted second, just four points behind two-time defending champion Minnesota State

• The Viking men collected four first-place votes for a 114-point total in the 12-team conference.

• Augustana's women also received a first-place nod, but were placed sixth in the 14-team league.

• The Vikings earned 123 points and U-Mary was tabbed as the favorite with seven first-place votes and 161 points.

•  the full polls are located on page three in the sidebar.

Four Vikings cited as athletes to watch

• In the NSIC preseason release, four Vikings represented Augustana as athletes to watch.

• Aduo Omot and CJ Ham were selected on the men's side and Kyle Blakeslee and Kristi Porter represented the women's team.

• A two-time national champion, Omot returns after sitting the 2012-13 seasons out due to injury.

• Omot won both 800-meter run titles in 2011 and placed third at the 2012 outdoor championships.

• Ham returns after a All-NSIC finish in the shot put at the 2013 NSIC indoor championships then placed seventh at the NSIC outdoor championships.

• Another three-time All-American, Blakeslee also sat out the 2012-13 season, and returns for her senior season.

• Blakeslee has twice placed fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and ran the 1,200-meter leg of Augustana's fifth-place distance medley relay squad in 2012.

• Noted for her All-NSIC javelin performance in 2013, Porter was tabbed as Augustana's field athlete to watch.

The staff

• In his 11th season as the head coach, Tracy Hellman enters 2014 with hopes of another award-filled season.

• Hellman has directed 75 All-Americans in his combined duties of leading the track and field teams as well as the 

successful cross country teams.

• With four individual national championships and a relay title in 2012, Hellman has also earned 19 coach of the year 

honors, including the 2011 national women's cross country coach of the year after leading his squad to the first national championship in program history.

•Assistant coach Greg Binstock enters his second season as the lead assistant.

• Directing sprinters and jumpers, Binstock helped Henrik Holmberg to two All-American finishes in multi-events last season.

• Graduate Assistants Riley Northrup (jumps) and Dan Allen (distance) round out the coaching staff.