Notes From Tracy Hellman On The National Championship!

Augustana Cross Country = NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!   That has a great sound behind it, huh?  I believe my grad assistant coach sent out a quick email on Saturday, but I wanted to send an email myself and share the great news.  I apologize for the delay in getting the info out......it has been a crazy busy last few days.

Going into this season, I had high expectations for both teams.  I thought we could place both men and women in the top 5-6 and on a great day, place even higher.  Never in my mind did I think we could WIN THE NATIONALS!!!  What an unbelievable feeling this is for the kids, the program and the school.

I knew the ladies had run a great race, but I didn't think we had won.  I was walking back to the team 5-10 min after the finish, and I bumped into a fellow coach from U of Southern Indiana.  He gave me his phone and told me to talk to the person on the other line.  I'm not sure who it was, but the voice on the other line relayed the info to me that we had just won the National Championships!  What a surreal and emotional feeling I was having.....I couldn't believe it!  I ran back to tell the ladies and they went crazy with excitement and joy.  There was tears, celebration, and pride.......we couldn't believe what had just happened.

The top 5 scoring runners for the Augie ladies were in the top 30, with all 5 receiving All-American.  Our time spread from 1-5 was 28 seconds, the best spread among all the teams.  The victory was truly a "team effort".  We ended up winning by 4 points over Western State, the #1 team in the nation.  The 4 point victory was the 2nd closest finish in the history of Division 2 cross country.

Not to get lost in the excitement about our ladies, is the fact that our men had a truly outstanding day.  They placed 6th overall....equaling the best finish in school history!  (Last year, the men's team also placed 6th)  They guys have shown great improvement in the past few years with placing 10th, 6th, and 6th the past 3 years at the National.  We had 2 All-Americans in the men with Paul Yak placing 11th and Ryan Evans 32nd.  We red shirted our best runner this year (Travis Beniak) in hopes that we can make a run at the National Title in the men next year.  With our top 6 men returning, plus Travis......the future looks promising!  We also red shirted some key freshmen this year, so the hope is to continue placing higher at Nationals with hopes of winning a men's title to go along with the women's!  With the rate of improvement in our men......I wouldn't put it past them!

This past Saturday, in Spokane Washington........it truly was a GREAT DAY TO BE A VIKING!  We are glad you are interested in our program, and we would be excited for you to join the momentum and join our program!  

Best Regards,

Coach Tracy Hellman