MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. -- The Augustana men's and women's cross country team turned in an impressive effort at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. early today. The Viking men finished in first place with the women finishing just short of the team win in second.

Head Coach Tracy Hellman was happy with the result and is ready to keep working. "It was a solid meet for our teams. There were some good performances, considering we haven't raced in a month," said Hellman. "We need to keep working hard to reach our goals. We look forward to our next opportunity in 2 weeks."

The 6th-ranked men finished with their third consecutive Griak victory. The Vikings are the first team in history to take home the first place hardware three years in a row. Augustana finished in front of Sioux Falls (second) and Iowa Lakes Community College (third). The men finished the race with 59 points to take the title. Last year's team total of 49 points was the lowest recorded team score in more than a decade at the Griak Invite.

Leading the Viking men was Nathan Schroeder with a time of 25:19.4. Schroeder finished in fifth place overall. Other top-20 finishers for the men included Aaron Runge who finished in eighth, just under ten seconds behind Schroeder. Wyatt McLeod followed,finishing in 13th, and rounding out the top-20 finishers were Bonheur Mvuyekure (16), Jesus Urtusuastegui (17), and Skylar DeJong (19).

The 5th-ranked Augustana women rolled into second place with 75 team points and finished 14 points ahead of the third place finisher, University of Colorado Colorado Springs. U-Mary took the team title with a team score of 60.

Mackenzie Kelly led the pack for the Vikings, crossing the finish line in third place with a time of 22:24.1. Other top-20 finishers were Nicolette Schmidt (13), Courtney Hottovy (14), and Rebekah Raridon (18). The top-five runners for the Vikings were separated by a mere 32 seconds.

Augustana will have have next weekend off before returning to action in Wisconsin for the Wisconsin-LaCrosse Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 13.