SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The 13th annual Augustana Twilight delivered once again as the men's and women's cross country programs opened their seasons in one of the largest cross country meets in the region. The Vikings women finished third, first among non-Division I opponents, while the men finished fourth, also first among non-Division I opponents. 
 
"The atmosphere for the sport of cross country that the event creates is something I'm very proud of," said head coach Tracy Hellman. "I was also extremely proud at our pack running and how we attacked the race."

"A long road still, but this was a great stepping stone for us with bigger things to come."
 
The Augustana women, ranked fourth in the nation, had five runners place in the top 21 with Ella Bakken pacing the group of Vikings, crossing the finish line 17:13.14 to place sixth. Placing in seventh was Ashley Overgaauw, finishing at 17:21.29 while Laura Thompson placed 17th in 17:45.04.
 
Tenley Nelson closed in 19th with a time of 17:47.32 while Caroline Sudbeck turned in a 21st place finish, clocking in at 17:54.02. Taylor Melton was the sixth Viking to finish inside the top 30, placing 27th with a time of 18:01.16.

For the men, Ryan Hartman opened his senior campaign with authority, running the 4 mile race in 18:08.78, nearly a minute faster than last season's twilight to finish in second place. The time was just over a second ahead of third and just under 20 seconds ahead of fourth. 

Erik Gundersen was the second Viking to cross the finish line, ending with a time ot 19:23.16 to place 30th. Just behind him were Daniel Street and Tyson Ricker, closing the race in 33rd (19:27.58) and 34th (19:28.45) respectively.
 
In 43rd place was Nick Batchelor, finishing in 19:38.69 and in 49th was Brady Hogan in 19:41.85. 

The men's race totaled four miles and 28 placing teams while the women's race ran a 5K with 20 different team placements.
 
Augustana returns to action Friday, September 20, tackling the Roy Griak Invitational in Falcon Heights, Minn.