SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana outdoor track & field squads claimed six NCAA Division II provisional qualifying marks across the Oregon Twilight, the Portland Twilight, and the Maverick Open #2 this weekend to close out the regular season.
"This weekend we took advantage of some last chance qualifying opportunities to give our athletes the best opportunities to qualify for the NCAA Championships," said Augustana Director of Track & Field, Tracy Hellman. "Overall, there were some great performances by our student-athletes, and we added some additional NCAA qualifiers to our list."
Beginning the weekend performance was Patty Jo English, who grasped an NCAA provisional mark in the 1500m run at the Oregon Twilight. English ran a time of 4:36.69 in the event. At the Portland Twilight, English claimed her second provisional mark of the weekend, with a 16:27.97 finish in the 5000m run.
Joining in on the NCAA provisional qualifying affairs, was Colten Brand who grasped an additional provisional mark in the 1500m and 5000m this season. Brand collected his provisional mark in the 1500m at the Oregon Twilight where he ran in a time of 3:46.93. He garnered his second provisional mark of the season and a personal best in the 5000m with a time of 14:15.31 at the Portland Twilight.
Megan Means was the third Viking to claim a provisional mark at the Portland Twilight. Means clinched an 11th place finish with a time of 16.29.67.
Ryan Hartman was the final runner for Augustana to collect a provisional mark this weekend. Hartman collected his provisional mark in the1500m run, seeing a 13:59.04 finish to claim a personal best in the event.
Mia Salas collected a personal best in the 1500m run at the Portland Twilight to close out action in Oregon for Augustana. Salas saw a ninth place finish in the 1500m with a time of 4:34.15.
Olivia Amundson collected a personal best in the 400m hurdles at the Maverick Open #2 on Saturday. Amundson shattered her record by a 1.48 of a second, while placing third in the event. Amundson saw an additional personal best on Wednesday at the Maverick Open #1, where she garnered a pb in the 100m dash with a finish of 12.63.
Jayda Becker collected two personal bests at the Maverick Open, seeing one pb in the 100m hurdles with a time of 15.39, and her second pb in the long jump with a distance of 5.65m. Lauren Merkley joined Becker in the long jump, also seeing a personal best with a distance of 5.35m.
"We now reset and get our focus ready for the upcoming NSIC Championships on Friday, Saturday and Sunday,' said Hellman." Both teams are close to hitting their season peak and I am excited to see what our teams can do next weekend at the conference championships."
Up Next
The Vikings run into the postseason Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the NSIC Outdoor Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota. Following the conference championships, Augustana have sights set to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships May 25-27 in Pueblo, Colorado.
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