SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The nationally-ranked Augustana cross country teams are prepped for the NSIC Championships hosted by Wayne State at the Wayne Country Club in Wayne, America, on Saturday.

The women's 6,000m race is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start with the men's 8,000m race at 11:15 a.m.

Live results and a live stream of the meet will be available at GoAugie.com/Live and on the GoAugie app, presented by CellOnly, found in the app store and on Google Play.

"We are very excited to finally enter this next phase of the season," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Tracy Hellman said. "Our teams have worked extremely hard over the past two months to prepare for excellence as we strive to accomplish our team goals.

"We certainly are not overlooking any teams or individuals and are ready for the challenge that awaits us. This will be a good test for our teams and I am eager to see them compete."

The No. 3 nationally-ranked women of Augustana's last showing came at the Chile Pepper Festival hosted by Arkansas. Where the Vikings placed third overall behind the NCAA Division I No. 10 Arkansas and Tulsa.

In the team race, Augustana bested the entire Division II field, highlighted by beating the then No. 2 ranked Colorado Mines who placed sixth. 

Nicolette Schmidt was the first Viking through the chute placing 19th in 17:27.3. The Vikings' depth proved to be a big factor in the team standings, as the top-five spread was 35 seconds, with a team average of 17:43.

The No. 4 nationally-ranked men of Augustana also had a strong showing at the Chile Pepper Festival, placing second behind the No. 1 Ranked Colorado School of Mines.

The second place finish was good enough to defeat Western Colorado, who placed third along with Division I opponents Arkansas (fourth), Central Arkansas (eighth), Nebraska (ninth) and Texas State (10th).

Freshman Ryan Hartman led the charge for the Vikings placing 18th in 24:31.1, with the top-five having a spread of 36 seconds and an average time of 24:48.

One last thing

The men of Augustana will be competing to defend their 2019 NSIC Championship as the women will look to become NSIC champions for the first time since 2014.

--GoAugie.com--