Pittsburgh, Pa. — In cold and rainy conditions, the Augustana men's and women's cross country teams finished their season strong at the 2018 DII NCAA cross country championships.  Under the direction of head coach Tracy Hellman, the Viking men turned in a 10th place finish and the women finished 18th.

The men were the first to compete and the tough conditions in Pittsburgh made for a muddy course. The start was recalled due to the conditions.

Once, the race got underway, the Vikings used a pack mentality as they have all year. Augustana was led by Sean Heaton who finished in 57th place (33:55.2), Aaron Runge in 72nd (34.10.3), Nathan Schroeder crosses the finish line in 74th (34:11.2), in 84th was Matt Steiger (34:21.8), Bonheur Mvuyekure finished in 107th (34:40.8), Skylar DeJong finished in 171st (35:32.1) and Jesus Urtusuastegui finished in 199th (36:02.3). The men, who totaled 358 points, will head back to Sioux Falls with their 9th top-ten finish in the last ten years.

At the national meet in 2013 and 2014 the men turned in third place finishes, which were the  highest in men's program history.

Grand Valley won the men's team event with 89 points. Marcelo Laguera of CSU-Pueblo won the individual national championship with a time of 31.46.4.

With the women's 18th place finish the Vikings totaled 503 points. Leading the way for the women was Nicolette Schmidt. The freshman crossed the finish line in 24:09.02 for a 75th place finish. Behind Schmidt was fellow freshman Cait Savey. Savey finished with a time of 24:28.2 giving her a 107th place finish. Rounding out scoring for the women is Emily Tromp (135, 24:46), Rebekah Rairdon(137, 24:47), Courtney Hottovy (144, 24:52.1), Claire Boersma (152, 25:02.9) and Mackenzie Kelly (189, 25:35.1).

In 2011, the women's team won the National Championship title and followed up in 2012 as runner-up.

Grand Valley State won the women's team event with 41 points. Sarah Berger of Grand Valley State won the individual national championship with a time of 22:07.7.