SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – After having an unexpected weekend off due to weather conditions, the Augustana track & field teams are back in action at the historic Drake Relays hosted by Drake in Des Moines, Iowa. The Vikings will also be competing at the Kip Janvrin Invitational in Indianola, Iowa.

"We are excited to compete in the prestigious Drake Relays again this year," director of track and field/cross country Tracy Hellman said. "Our teams are looking forward to the competition and many of our athletes have aspirations of winning a Drake Relays Title. It should be a fun weekend of racing."

The Drake Relays will be three days worth of competition starting on Thursday and going through Saturday. Due to forecasted weather, the Kip Janvrin Invitational will have a 5,000m race on Thursday evening with the remainder of the meet on Friday.

There will be live results for both meets available at GoAugie.com/Live.

Last time out, the Vikings continued to rewrite history in the Golden State with 13 new marks within the Top-10 in Augustana history. 

Austin Miller turned out two personal bests, highlighted by the No. 10 time in Division II history in the 1,500m. He also lowered his 800m time, clocking 1:48.61. With his performances, Miller repeated as NSIC Track Athlete of the Week.

Miller represents Augustana as No. 3 in the nation in the metric mile and No. 7 in the 800m. 

Ryan Hartman also had a big weekend in the Golden State, running the No. 4 time in the nation in the 3,000m steeplechase in 8:44.07. He returned a day later to break 14 flat in the 5,000m. His 13:59.04 ranks him 13th in the nation this season.

Tyl Woelber also left California with a few NCAA Provisional Qualifying marks. He turned out a throw of 203-6 in the javelin, ranking him 19th in the nation. He also set a new personal best in the long jump with a leap of 23-11, ranking him 23rd in the nation.

On the women's side, Cami Streff set a personal best in the 800m running the No. 8 time in the nation with her 2:09.04. She also returned in the metric mile with her 4:29.79 performance, ranking her 32nd in the nation.

Three Vikings turned out NCAA Provisional Qualifying times in the 5,000m led by Patty Jo English running 16:50.76. Joining her were Nicolette Schmidt (16:57.60) and Cait Savey (17:07.69).

At the Mt. SAC Relays, Megan Means ran a personal best 34:55.50 in the 10,000m, ranking her 13th in the nation.

In the women's 3,000m steeplechase at the Bryan Clay Invitational, both Rebekah Rairdon and Rachel Rairdon ran season-best times of 10:36.61 and 10:44.73. Their performances rank 11th and 16th in the nation, respectively.

One Last Thing

Last year at the Drake Relays, the Vikings came away with one individual winner and two Drake Relay titles. Alec Kray started the meet on Thursday, winning the seeded 5,000m in school record fashion, running 12 seconds under the previous school record and becoming the first Viking to break 14:00 with his 13:56.24. 

On the final day of the Drake Relays, the Vikings swept the DMR relays, with both the men's and women's team taking home hardware. 

The women's distance medley relay of Patty Jo English, Sydney Mudgett, Meagan Schenk and Nicolette Schmidt bested the field by nearly three seconds, running 11:53.76.

The men's distance medley relay followed suit with a victory of their own. The team of Evan Johnson, Ryan Sully, Tiegen Lindner and Austin Miller won the event in 10:07.80.

–GoAugie.com–