LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Both the men's and women's cross country teams finished in the top five in Louisville, Ky. at the 2014 NCAA National Championships on Saturday.

"To finish this season with two top five finishes in both the men and women, what else can you say?" Head Coach Tracy Hellman said. "We had a focus all year long that nationals was always our goal and we were very pleased to finish with great team races." 

The men's team put together another historic performance, coming into the meet ranked fifth in the latest US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) rankings. The Vikings defied expectations today in Louisville, Ky. when they finished third with 136 points, this is the third straight top five finish for the men's cross country team in school history.

Adams State won the team title for a third consecutive year with 69 points, while Grand Valley State collected a runner-up finish with 127 points. Colorado Mines and Western State rounded out the top five spots with 144 and 185 points, respectively.

Tabor Stevens of Adams State won the men's individual title for a second consecutive year clocking a time of 30:02.

The depth of the Viking men's team was once again on display as Harald Karbo led the way for Augustana finishing sixth overall with a time of 30:40.5 to record five team points. Karbo tied Paul Yak's sixth-place finish from last season for the highest finisher at the NCAA Championships in school history.

To follow Karbo's performance was Adam Braun, who crossed in 21st-place with a time of 31:11.8 to record 17 points.

Also running together were Nathan Hauge, who finished 32nd (31:26) to earn 28 points, and Glen Ellingson, who crossed the line in 34th with a time of 31:26.8 tallying 30 points for the team.

The final runner to round out the top-five was TJ Gleason, as he recorded a 66th-place finish in a time of 32:01.4 and tallied 56 points towards the team score.

The final two runners were John Klecker in 68th (32:02.2) and Keegan Carda in 125th (32.42.1).

The Vikings had four runners tally All-American honors, as the top-four finished inside the top 40 of the individual results, which is a new program record.

"I thought our men ran one of the best races in Augustana history." Hellman said. "We tied our best finish in school history and really battled in adverse conditions, [Harald] Karbo ran very well and equalled the best individual finish in school history. We had another solid performance from [Adam] Braun as he reached his best all time finish and also earned his second All-American award of his career. [Nathan] Hauge and [Glen] Ellingson were key for us getting third as they were both All-Americans. [Glen] Ellingson passed 20 runners in the last 2k to seal our team finish."

Led by two freshman on the women's side, Leah Seivert and Annie Kruse helped push Augustana to a fifth-place finish on Saturday at the NCAA Championship. This is the fifth top-five finish for the women's cross country program in school history.  

The Vikings tallied 138 points to round out the top five spot. Grand Valley State claimed their fourth national title in the last five years tallying 39 points, Hillsdale followed the Lakers with a runner-up performance with 79 points. Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival Minnesota Duluth, tabbed third-place with 86 points, and Adams State finished fourth with 92 points.

Seivert led the Vikings as the top freshman in today's race on the women's side finishing 10th overall with a time of 21:33, collecting seven points. Kruse was the next Augustana runner to cross the finish line finishing 36th clocking a time of 22:02.9 with 22 points to add to the teams score.

Meritxell Delgado and Kaitlyn Yoerg stuck in a pack finishing 48th (22:13.7) with 27 points and 49th (22:14) with 28 points, respectively. The final scored runner was Avery Selberg, who rounded out the top-five performances for Augustana finishing 110th clocking a time of 22:58.3 with 54 points.

The two final runners were Megan Brown (23:22.1) finishing 148th and Cassidy Soli (23:48) finishing 184th. Sievert and Kruse were the only Vikings on the women's side to earn All-American honors as freshman on Saturday.

"I thought the ladies ran tough and finished with a great finish to the season." Hellman said. "I thought [Leah] Seivert and [Annie] Kruse both ran very well on their first national stage and both finished as All-Americans, which is very difficult as true freshman."

Grand Valley State had three runners finish in the top five, Kendra Foley took the individual title with a time of 21:05.8.

Due to excessive rain on the Tom Sawyer State Park course the men ran 9,560-meters, while the women ran 5,780-meters. 

"At this stage, it is very difficult to be consistently one of the top teams in the NCAA Division II, and if you look at our history the past three to four years we are fighting near the top each year." Hellman said. "This weekend was a great finish to an exceptional season."