Augie Men win Griak, Women fifth!

I had a chance to catch up with some of the kids following their races this past weekend. Every one was genuinely excited about how things went. I can't help but look forward to the rest of the year. Both the men and the women have a ton of potential.


Griak Post Race Interview - Men from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.



Griak Post Race Interviews - Women from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.

Week Three Poll Released!

We had a pretty good week with cross country. The men ran well as a group and came away team champions at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis. The women ran without many of our top women and took fifth as a team. Both teams will race again in Vermillion this weekend and again on October 16th in Fayetville, AR.

http://www.ustfccca.org/featured/d-ii-regional-cross-country-rankings-week-2-september-28

Coaches Corner

This is one of our new segments. We managed to put one of these together last year right near the end of the year and now we would like to do a quick wrap up  when new things happen around here. Coach Hellman takes some time and talks about what's happening and what will be happening with the cross country team. Enjoy!


Coaches Corner 9-21-2010 from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.

Water Stop and Meet of Champions

Each year at Augustana we do a waterstop at the Sioux Falls Half Marathon. This year the race was extended to a full marathon. We were there again, this year with an 80's theme. I shot some footage and took a few pictures while I was there. I'll be compiling and editing the footage today and posting the video tonight. We won the award for best waterstop for the fifth year in a row. That means that this next sunday we will be enjoy a free pizza dinner at Red Rossa. Our kids really enjoy getting out and doing things in the community and it gives us a chance to get some exposure as a team.

We also hosted the meet of champions the day prior out at the polo grounds. We had over twenty teams participate and while the course was a bit muddy everything else went great. Our kids worked to help sell t-shirts, park cars, drive pace vehicles and make the day run as smoothly as possible. It was a good time of team building and without our athletes we wouldn't be able to do what we do.

Remembering 2009-2010

Last year was a great year. I put together some quick footage today that highlights just some of the things that happened. There is no order, just a fun video to expose some of our athletes to the public. Next up, a video from cross nationals last year!


Augustana Track and Cross Country in 2010 from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.

September Testing!

Each year I find it prudent to test the abilities of my athletes. This helps me to monitor their progress throughout the fall track season. During the course of the season we have weekly races that allow me to see if they are improving. These tests allow both myself and the athletes a chance to see where they are. Additionally the athletes get a chance to compete against one another.

The most important aspect of this testing, in my mind, is feedback. Below I have supplied charts that show how each athlete fared compared with last year. Keep in mind that last year we tested after four weeks of track practice had passed. This year we are testing immediately. Our testing will be limited to the Standing Long Jump (SLJ), Flying 30m Dash, 30m from 3pt and Over Head Backward shot toss (OHB.)

We have a new timing system this year and I am looking forward to setting it up today and putting it through its paces. Our timing system allows us to automatically time each athlete up to the thousandth of a second. Furthermore we are able to quickly and efficiently time athlete after athlete.

2010 Results

Girls	SLJ	SLJ	SLJ	SLJ	Note
Katie T	2.22	2.06	1.84
Kacia	2.07	1.99			Slipped
Emily H	2.08	2.09			Slipped
Katie G	2.12	2.13			Slipped
Drew T	1.86	2.01			Slipped
Holly B	2.10	2.14			Slipped
Carissa H	2.36				Slipped
Mary H	2.34	2.17			Slipped
Anne P	2.29	2.42	2.47
LeAnn S	2.28	2.35	2.43
Carmen N	2.16	slip	2.17
Meagan G	2.39	2.54	2.59
Colleen E	2.48	2.45	2.39
Kirsten N	2.15	2.16	2.13
Karissa P	2.20	2.20	2.19
Lauren W	2.42	2.42
Guys	SLJ	SLJ	SLJ	SLJ	Note
Blake R	3.02	2.92
Taylor O	2.82	2.77	2.67
Matt W	2.47	2.44	2.42
Paul M	2.72	2.73	2.80
Thomas F	2.80	2.87	2.86
Darkness	2.56	2.70	2.70
Jake R	2.65	2.62	2.57
Phil R	3.02	2.96	2.95
Corey	2.93	2.84	2.82

2009 October Results

Girls	SLJ	SLJ	SLJ
Carissa h	1.83	2.03	1.93
Karissa p	1.87	2.01	1.89
Emily h	1.75	ND	ND
Chanesse Schaefer	1.72	1.94	1.89
Hollie b	1.84	1.84	1.65
Meagen g	1.94	1.93	1.93
Claire s	2.00	2.03	2.09
Bobbi Jo b	2.30	2.32	2.21
Sara d	1.74	1.80	1.90
Guys	SLJ	SLJ	SLJ
Sam	2.40	2.28	2.25
Henrik	ND	ND	ND
Paul	2.40	2.60	2.56
Adam	2.26	2.42	2.46
Cory	2.46	2.44	2.40
Aduo Omet	2.40	2.40	ND
Jacob Pohlmann	2.39	2.32	2.36
Blake Ridgway	2.73	2.77	2.79
Zak Moriss	2.40	2.30	ND

Cross Country Pre Season Interviews

I had a chance, recently, to sit down with some of our athletes and talk with them about last season and their expectations for this coming season. Below are their interviews. Please feel free to share these with friends and family. As the year progresses I will be taking the time to interview more and more of our athletes. My goal is to enable you to get an inside view of just what happens here. Go Vikings!


Interview Dan Black from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.



Braithwait Interview from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.


Kyle Blakeslee Interview from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.


Leah Hansen Interview from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.

Cross Country Camp Videos

I finally had a chance to get to some video uploaded from our recent trips to the black hills. Please enjoy. Next I'll be adding some interviews with athletes from the team. Look forward to that. Track starts in a week. I'll be posting some video from our testing that we will be doing the first week. I'll be shooting some video from practice and from our high school cross country meet this coming weekend. We will also be hosting a water stop at the Sioux Falls Marathon. Look for video to be posted of that some time next week.


Coach Vahrenkamp



Cross Country Camp day 1 from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.




Cross Country Camp Day 2 from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.



Cross Country Harney Peak Run from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.



CC Mt Rushmore from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.

Welcome to the Black Hills

Day one has begun. We got up this  morning, ate some great breakfast and headed into Hill City to do an easy recovery run. Below I've compiled a nice video of some of our warm up. I also sat down with some of our kids when we got back to the cabin and did some interviews. I have four that I will post this afternoon after I get a chance to edit the video and find a place with a fast enough connection to upload them! Lucky for me I'm able to tether my phone to my laptop so that I can work on the road. Look for videos and pictures to come soon! While your waiting check out our facebook page! facebook.com/augustanatrackandfield