SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Augustana cross country teams opened up the 2021 campaign hosting the 10th annual Augustana Twilight at Yankton Trail Park on Friday night. The No. 3 Viking women placed second in a tie with Nebraska, both scoring 83 points. The No. 9 men of Augustana also earned the runner-up spot scoring 35 points.

"We tried to implement a team-style race," head coach Tracy Hellman said. "I was real happy with some of the things I saw. We had some pleasant surprises in the women's race and obviously Ryan Hartman had a good race.

"Our spreads from one to five are good and I think that's going to help us in championship meets."

The women kicked off the race under the lights placing second overall out of 27 teams. Augustana's first runner to complete the 4,000m course at Yankton Trail Park was Patty Jo English, running a time of 18:44.07 to place her 11th. 

She was followed closely by Nicolette Schmidt who placed 13th in 18:48.70. 

Megan Means placed 19th (18:54.26) followed by Mia Salas in 20th (18:54.58). The scoring was rounded out by sophomore Mallory Delmont who placed 27th in 19:03.56.

Only twenty seconds were between the Vikings' first and seventh runner, spanning between 11th and 30th place. 

The men's race was highlighted by sophomore Ryan Hartman claiming individual victory for the Vikings. Hartman paced the four-mile course in 19:25.25. 

Kray Person placed sixth running in 19:49.69, Henry Klitzke placed eighth (19:53.02) Alec Kray placed ninth, (19:55.64) and Evan Johnson placed 11th to round out the scoring for the Vikings. 

The top seven placed within the top-17 overall and runners two through seven were within 28 seconds of each other. 

Up Next

The Vikings return to action at the historic Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota on Friday, Sept. 24. 

—GoAugie.com—