RESULTS
MANKATO, Minn. - By the time the first event was over, Augustana could have called their trip to the Minnesota State Open a success, but the Vikings left with eight qualifying marks in another successful trip to Myers Fieldhouse. Augustana won five events on top of their qualifying marks, and placed 26 times on Saturday.
The first track event was the distance medley relay and Augustana lived up to the reputation they've built in the event by earning an automatic qualifying bid for the men and a top-three provisional qualifying time for the women.
Consisting of 1,200-, 400-, 800-, and 1,600-meter distances, the Viking men earned a spot at the NCAA Championships with the second best Division II time this year at 9:54.65.
Henrik Hansson opened with a sub-three minute 1,200-meter leg then handed the baton off to
Skyler Kuil who posted his top 400-meter time of the season. Former 800-meter national champion
Aduo Omot put together another stellar four laps and
Harald Karbo secured the Vikings a trip to Winston-Salem, N.C. with a qualifying-worthy 1,600 meters.
The women may not have earned an automatic qualifying time, but their 11:50.58 ranks third in Division II and all but ensures them a spot in the national DMR race.
Emma Anderson opened the Vikings with the 1,200-meter leg,
Carina Hofmeister ran the 400-meter leg,
Kayla Mescher ran a quick 800 meters, and
Kyle Blakeslee brought the Vikings home after the 1,600-meter run.
More impressive was the Viking women achieved their provisional qualifying time with no other relay team on the track, competing only against the clock. Head coach
Tracy Hellman knows the indoor season is winding down and his team is really starting to perform at their best.
"We always focus a lot on the end of the season," Hellma said. "We are just two weeks out from the [NSIC Championships] and it's great to see our athletes have a number of personal-bests at a meet of this caliber. We are definitely rounding into form so some of our best performances are yet to come."
Doubling on event wins, Blakeslee notched her third qualifying time of the season in the 3,000-meter run, but couldn't improve on her best time of the season, winning the event with a 10:00.76.
John Klecker has improved his times in several events this season, but none more than an 8:23.65 time in the 3,000-meter run which ranks 12th in Division II and is a provisional-qualifying time that earned him an event win.
TJ Gleason also turned in an impressive 3,000-meter performance, placing fifth with a time of 8:48.03.
On the field side,
CJ Ham continued to improve his marks every time he enters the throwing circle. For the fourth time this season, Ham broke the Augustana weight throw record, taking fifth with a provisional 17.93-meter (58 feet, 10 inches) mark. Ham also improved his shot put mark, placing third in the event with a 16.22-meter (53 feet, 2.5 inches) heave.
Proving why Augustana's women's DMR team is elite, Mescher won the 800-meter run with another qualifying time. Mescher finished her four laps in 2:16.26 to add a second title on the day. Three men placed in the top eight of the men's 800-meter run, Hansson (1:57.96) took fifth, Karbo (1:58.01) placed sixth and
Justin Cook (1:59.36) came in eighth.
Kaitlyn Yoerg has used her strong cross country season to achieve new heights on the track. The junior from Clear Lake, Minn. won the women's 1,000-meter run in a time of 2:58.13.
Consistently shaving time off his 60-meter hurdles time,
Ryan Heuer finally broke through with a qualifying mark of his own. Heuer clocked an 8.30-second run to earn the Vikings' eighth provisional mark of the day.
The Greenway brothers turned in an impressive performance in the sprint events.
Jason Greenway took third in the 60-meter dash with a 7.03-second time and
Justin Greenway placed fourth in 7.06 seconds, clocking an Augustana-best 7.0-second run in the prelims. Justin edged his brother in the 200-meter dash, finishing fourth in 22.49 seconds while Jason placed fifth in 22.91 seconds.
Hofmeister was nearly the third member of the women's DMR team to win a second event, placing third in the 200-meter dash with a 25.94-second mark.
Colleen Everson set a new season-best in the long jump, finishing fourth with a best leap of 5.35 meters (17 feet, 6.75 inches).
Calliann Brunswig joined Everson in the top eight of the long jump with a seventh place mark of 5.15 meters (16 feet, 10.75 inches).
Zach Tuschen continued an impressive freshman campaign, placing third in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:25.14.
Anne Parsley made her debut in the same event, taking fourth in the women's 600 meters, clocking a time of 1:37.85, nearly hitting a personal best.
Christine Campbell hit a career-high mark in the women's high jump, clearing 1.57 meters (5 feet, 1.75 inches).
Augustana ends their three-week shuttle from Sioux Falls to Mankato and will split its squad next weekend. Vikings will either head to the Nebraska Tune-Up in Lincoln, Neb. or to the South Dakota Twilight meet in Vermillion, S.D. on Saturday, Feb. 22.
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