It truly was a great weekend for cross country! Who would have guessed that southern Indiana would be able to boast 70 degree weather the third weekend in November? I, of course, planned for cool weather and suffered by sweating quite a bit as I ran all over the course trying to catch a glimpse of the vikings as they ran their way to two top fifteen finishes at nationals.
The men nearly equaled the highest finish by the program of 9th by the 1991 and conference champion team. It's impressive to say that this was, but most measures, the second greatest mens cross country team in the history of Augustana. Sorry every one else in our conference, we're bringing just about every one back. Senior Matt Heesch ran a downright tough race finishing 115th in a very tough field on a pretty tough course. Travis Beniak managed to lose a shoe early on which would have been fine had the whole course been on grass. The part in the trees (most of the course) was, however, a bit more rough and I'm sure it affected his finish. He still ran a great race. I'm not sure what I would have done if I had lost my shoe, running another 4-5 miles in my sock doesn't come to mind though.
Of course there were twenty-four men and women who joined the fourteen that qualified for the national meet. They covered them selves in paint, carried flags and even got our mascot to join them in cheering on the Vikings. The local Fox channel took notice and took some time to interview Laura Johnson and Mellisa Jackson. Even the mascot got some press. Of course Augustana was not the only team that made the trek. There were at least twenty kids from Chico California that made the forty hour drive to Indiana. I've been impressed with how many of them have been at the national meets I've attended. There were also kids from Grand Valley, Western and Adams. To be real honest the course was packed. I'm not sure I've seen that many people at a national meet ever.
The down side was that the course wasn't that viewer friendly. Most of the race occurred back in the trees and fans weren't able to run to the back of the course to catch a glimpse of their team. For the women, two trips up the hill right before the finish put a few girls in debt. Grand Valley State had one girl stumble/meander/wander her way over the finish line after going out pretty hard. The men went out through the first mile in a brisk 4:34 pace which was hard on some of the athletes in the end. We got the following mention on d2cross.blogspot.com
It was easy picking Adams State and Western State to go 1-2, but my picks from that point suffered a bit. Colorado Mines -- a distant third at the Central Region -- really put it together. Is the conference now a three-team race? And region-mates Augustana (S.D.) were an impressive 10th.
As I get media uploaded I'll add it. Thanks to every one who has followed this season. We're looking forward to a great indoor season.
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