Automatic and Provisional Qualifiers

We are back on the road headed this time to Winona, MN for one of two last chance meets today, the other being at USF in Sioux Falls. We are stopping for some Starbucks and as we pause in our trip I can't help but mull over what we have accomplished this year as a program. This has been a phenomenal year so far. Thats what we thought prior to this weekend. Then our athletes traveled to Wisconsin La Crosse and North Central College just outside Chicago. After yesterday we had an even longer list of automatic and provisional  qualifiers. Consult the list below.

Women - 2 Auto/11 Provo (13 national qualifiers)
Womens National List

Molly Clark - 3k Steeple/10k - 10:45/36:21.64 - Automatic Qualifier and provisional qualifier

Kyle Blakeslee - 3k Steeple/5k - 10:43/17:15.58 - Automatic Qualifier and provisional qualifier
Cecilie Udstuen - 800m/1500m - 2:13.15/4:37.30 - 2x provisional qualifier
Caitlin Polgreen - 1500m - 4:33.22 - provisional qualifier
Linn Nilsson - 1500m - 4:33.29 - provisional qualifier
Runa Falch - 5k/10k - 17:11.87/36:16.26 - 2x provisional qualifier
Miriam Hovda - 10k/3k Steeple - 36:26.25/11:16.64 - 2x provisional qualifier
Noel Bentle - Hammer - 171'10" - provisional qualifier

Men - 3 Auto/3 Provo (6 national qualifiers)
Mens National List
Diego Oquendo - 110mh - 14.62 - provisional qualifier
Odou Omot - 800m - 1:49.46 - Automatic Qualifier
Brian Werner - 800m - 1:51.88 - provisional qualifier
Tom Karbo - 3k Steeple - 8:54.79 - Automatic Qualifier
Travis Beniak - 3k Steeple - 9.04.97 - Automatic Qualifier
Dan Black  - 3k Steeple - 9:09.04 - provisional qualifier

Total - 5 Auto/14 Provo (19 national qualifiers)

In closing. I think the best part about this list is the position of the athletes who have provisionally qualified. The girls in the 1500m should get in, Brian Werner in the 800m should get in as well. It speaks volumes about our program that we have this many kids running this fast at this time of year.  What a great time to be a Viking!

Wisconsin LaCrosse and North Central

What a great night for Augustana track and field. First and foremost both Adou Omot and Brian Werner had huge pr's. Adou crossed the line in 1:49.46 which places him 2nd on the national list. Werner crossed in 1:51 which is his fastest clocking ever. Both times put them in position to gain entry to the national meet.

In addition to those performances Cecilie Udstuen ran 2:13 in the 800m for her best time this season. Noel Bentele threw a personal best of 171-10 in the hammer to move up to 16th on the national list.

At the North Central meet just outside of Chicago both Travis Beniak and Dan Black posted personal bests. Beniak ran 9:04 and Black ran 9:09. Beniaks time is an automatic qualifier for the national meet while Dan's time places him 17th on the national list with a provisional mark.

North Central College - Naperville, IL
 The steeple will go off at 9:50 central time this evening. Temps should be in the high 50's and the wind should be around 5 mph from the west. Perfect conditions. Both Dan and Travis are seeking to set new personal bests under 9:10 in the steeple.

North Central College
Dr. Keeler Track & Field Invitational
Thursday, May 13, and Friday, May 14, 2010
Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium

Updated May 4
Entry Procedures
Live Event-by-Event Results

3000m Steeple
Travis Beniak - 9:04 - automatic qualifying
Dan Black - 9:09 - provisional qualifier

Wisonsin Lacrosse - Lacross, WI

Final Results

Steeple
Kyle Blakeslee - 10:48

1500
Linn Nielson - 3:33.29
Caitlin Polegreen - 3:34

Hammer
Noel Bentle  - 51.35m (168 5.75) NEW SCHOOL RECORD!

800m
Cecilie  Udstuen

800m
Brian Werner - 1:51.52
Adou Omot - 1:49.46 - 2nd in the nation as of 11pm central

Believe it or not I am currently writing as we cruise down the interstate on our way to Chicago. Internet access has been spotty at best but as we near the eastern side of Minnesota I seem to be getting better service. As we were driving we got talking about the history of our program. I am a history buff so knowing about our program is very interesting to me. I jumped on the internet archive looking for two things. One was chasingtradtion.com which no longer is on the internet. The other was to look at the Augustana athletic web site back in the day. Posted below is the 1997 team outlook along with a link. I'll be posting updates from the road complete with race video and re-caps. This is the last weekend to qualify for nationals. Check back soon for more details.

1997 Augustana Track and Field Web Site

Season Outlook

The 1997 season sees a youth movement on the Vikings team. Although there were only two graduating seniors in 1996, 1997 sees eleven true freshman, and one redshirt freshman on the Augie squad. Gone from last years team are Tom Dow (12-time All-American, 800m; Council Bluffs, IA), and Jason Knudsen (400/800; Custer, SD).
Returning veterans inlude North Central Conference placewinners, Johnny Parks (Sr; Rapid City, SD) in the 1500m, Kyle Anderson (Sr; Scholfield, WI), Matt Merritt (So; Sioux Falls, SD), in the hurdles,Troy O'Hara (So; Sioux Falls, SD) in the 3000m Steeplechase, and three of the four members of the 4 x 400m relay, Merritt, Chris Fischer (So; Yankton, SD), and Joey Gleason (So; Nicollet, MN).
Joining the veterans is an impressive class of freshman. The Viking sprinters have been bolstered by the addition of Jacob Conway (Fr; Waseca, MN), Jay Eilers (Fr; Spearfish, SD), and Chris Norris (Fr; Pleasant Valley, IA). All three were leading sprinters and state place winners in their respective states. The outlook is good for the Vikings to have a lot of depth from 100m to 400m, with a strong group of sprinters pushing each other for positions on the sprint relays.
In addition to the sprints, Norris joins Merritt in the hurdle events, along with Brian Rehnke (Fr; Bloomington, MN), Adam DeCook (Fr; Byron, MN), and Seth Norris (Fr; Estherville, IA). The coaching staff is excited about this large group of talented individuals who provide the team with the most hurdle depth in a number of years.
The hurdles are not the only area where Rehnke excels. The Minnesota State Meet runner-up (6' 8") in the high jump, gives the Vikings strong point scoring potential in the jumps. Gleason and Matt Witt (Fr; Grand Island, NE) give the Vikings firepower in the horizontal jumps, with the possibility of Rehnke joining them in the triple jump.
The distance corp could also be a strong area for the Vikings. Senior Parks is looking stronger than ever in cross-country, and looks to improve on his 4th place finish in the NCC meet 1500m. O'Hara had a tremendous freshman season, breaking the school record in the 3000m Steeplechase, and looks to be one of the the leaders in the North Central Conference in 1997. Duane Bowman (Jr; Rhame, ND) is enjoying a strong cross-country season, and will be among the leaders in the 5000m and 10,000m. Joining the upper classman is a talented group of freshmen. Iowa prepsters Mark Scharnberg (Sioux City, IA), state 4A placewinner in the 800m and 1600m brings strength to the middle distances. Craig Binkley (Erie, CO) and redshirt freshman Scott Schneider (Rhame, ND) add further depth to the longer distances.

NSIC Conference Multi - Decathlon/Heptathlon

The first day of the conference multi is over. After the first day Jacob Pohlmann is sitting in ninth (9th) place while Meagan Grandgenett and Claire Severson sit in ninth (9th) and eleventh (11th) place respectively.

After first day total points.

Jacob Pohlmann - 2831

Meagan Grandgenett - 2339
Claire Severson - 2304

Day 1 Women's Results
Day 1 Men's Results

Last time out the ladies posted the numbers below. They are more than one hundred points ahead of where they were in Emporia and will more than likely both set personal records for total points. Claire Severson had a big pr in the 200m dash today as she ran 27.64 which is a full second faster than she ran last time out. She also ran faster in the hurdles. Today she clocked a 15.99. Her shot put was 42 centimeters further. She threw 9.56 today.

Emporia State Day One Totals

8 Severson, Claire 16.26 1.36m 9.14m 28.75
Augustana College w: 1.2 4-05.5 30-00 w: 0.3
2199 (683) (470) (473) (573) 2199 (0) (0) (0)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
9 Grandgenett, Megan 16.34 1.36m 8.63m 28.44
Augustana College w: 1.2 4-05.5 28-03.75 w: 0.3
2180 (673) (470) (440) (597) 2180 (0) (0) (0)

Emporia State Totals

----------------------------------------------------------------------
6 Severson, Claire 16.26 1.36m 9.14m 28.75 4.49m 24.46m 2:42.81
Augustana College w: 1.2 4-05.5 30-00 w: 0.3 w: 4.0 80-03
3538 (683) (470) (473) (573) 2199 (426) (372) (541)

----------------------------------------------------------------------
8 Grandgenett, Megan 16.34 1.36m 8.63m 28.44 4.66m 21.65m 2:47.21
Augustana College w: 1.2 4-05.5 28-03.75 w: 0.3 w: 3.1 71-00
3462 (673) (470) (440) (597) 2180 (469) (320) (493)
----------------------------------------------------------------------


MVI 1596 from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.



MVI 1595 from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.




100m Hurldes - Claire Severson 15.99 from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.


MVI 1545 from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.

Womens 4x800m, Mens DMR Capture Drake Relay's Title

UPDATE*
The men just captured the DMR title at the Drake relays with a 9:54 clocking. Below are the splits for that group provided by Sara Drew who is at the meet watching. That wraps up competition at the Drake Relays for the Augustana Vikings and brings the total to two (2) relay victories and three (3) school records. All in all it makes for a great weekend of competition. Next week the Vikings will compete at the Howard Wood Relays as they prepare for the conference championships in Moorehead, MN the following weekend.

1200 - 3:04 Austin
400 - 48.3 Adou Omot
800 - 1:53 Brian Werner
1600 - 4:08 Tom Karbo

The finals featured the top two distance teams in the conference in Mankato and Augustana. Dakota State also ran well to finish third.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Finals
1 Augustana (SD) 9:54.55
1) Austin Vande Berg SR 2) Aduo Omot FR
3) Brian Werner SR 4) Tom Karbo SO
2 Minnesota St-Mankato 9:56.41
1) James Krajsa SR 2) Sam Lance SR
3) Jonathan Stoltman SR 4) Denise Mokaya SR
3 Dakota St 9:59.04
1) Anthony Drealan SR 2) Cody Foreman SR
3) Matt Fideler JR 4) Tyler VanPeursem SR


The women's 4x800m relay team captured a title at the Drake Relays with a time of 8:59. That time sets a new school record and breaks the previous state record of 9:09 which was held by the team of Karst, Woodruff, Hahn, Axman of Black Hills State set in 2004. This is the 3rd school record set this weekend by the Augie men and women. Earlier Tom Karbo established a new school record in the 3000m Steeple by running 8:54. The second record came in the women's DMR that ran 11.54.62 The men are currently running the DMR and have a great chance to capture another title and set another school record.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Event 45 Men 3000 Meter Steeplechase Univ/Col
===============================================================
Drake Relays: D 8:31.02 1977 Henry Marsh, BYU
Stadium: S 8:28.08 6/13/2008 Kyle Alcorn, Arizona St
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================
Finals
1 Martin Kirui JR Mississippi 8:46.68
2 Tom Karbo SO Augustana (SD) 8:54.79
3 Andrew Kirwa JR Alabama 9:00.93
4 Kyle Engnell SO Illinois 9:02.27
5 Michael Disher JR Indiana St 9:02.93
6 David Adams JR Nebraska 9:03.77
7 Mark Battista JR Iowa 9:04.60
8 Carl Stones SO Tulsa 9:07.53

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Event 240 Women 10000 Meter Run Invitational Univ/Col
===============================================================
Drake Relays: D 32:57.38 1988 Patti Murray, Club Nike
Stadium: S 32:44.95 2008 Lisa Koll, Iowa State
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================
Finals
1 Obsie Birru SO Grand View 35:50.18
2 Simone Childs Walker SO Carleton 35:55.46
3 Karina Garcia SO Texas-El Paso 36:11.64
4 Lana Kelley SR Tulsa 36:51.14
5 Margo Branigan SR Hamline 37:11.08
6 Jaclyn Rollins FR Tulsa 37:26.52
7 Amy Guinn JR McNeese St 37:26.55
8 Lauren Versweyveld FR Olivet Nazarene 37:32.22
9 Angie Berry SR Central 37:46.38
10 Runa Falch FR Augustana (SD) 37:49.39

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Event 30 Men 10000 Meter Run Invitational Univ/Col
================================================================
Drake Relays: D 28:07.40 1980 Kipsubai Koskei, Albuquerq
Stadium: S 28:07.40 1980 Kipsubai Koskei, Albuquerq
Name Year School Finals
================================================================
Finals
1 Hunter Mickow SO Illinois 30:29.72
2 Brandon Reed SO Baylor 30:40.12
3 Ryan Chastain SR Lipscomb 30:50.17
4 Jeff Sadler JR Baylor 31:10.34
5 Luka Thor SR Concordia (NE) 31:32.96
6 Todd Gulizia JR Nebraska 31:39.24
7 Anthony Oberle JR Nebraska 31:53.63
8 Dainel LePage JR Tulsa 32:20.63
9 Brett Koehn SR Tulsa 32:24.36
10 Kyle Neumann SO St. Cloud St 32:28.41
11 Ethan Heppner Grinnell Col 32:35.31
12 Tony Nicolosi SR Tampa 32:39.09
13 Matt Heesch SR Augustana (SD) 32:46.66
14 Mike Bumgarner JR Drake 32:47.56
15 Devon Berkness JR Dakota St 33:07.83
16 Matt Braithwaite JR Augustana (SD) 33:08.3

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Event 80 Men 4x800 Meter Relay College
===============================================================
Drake Relays: D 7:23.7h 1974 Prarie View
(yards)
Stadium: S 7:14.89 1985 Nebraska
School Finals
===============================================================
Finals
1 Oklahoma Baptist 7:35.10
1) Billy Christy SR 2) Cody Camacho FR
3) Andre Thomas SO 4) Jabar Rolle JR
2 Dordt 7:36.15
1) Josiah Luttjeboer FR 2) David Christensen FR
3) Ryan Tholen FR 4) Mark Eekhoff FR
3 Dakota St 7:37.32
1) Andy Coy FR 2) Tyler VanPeursem SR
3) Cody Foreman SR 4) Matt Fideler JR
4 Wheaton 7:39.43
1) Parker Thompson FR 2) Will Phillips SR
3) Kyle Kunz JR 4) Luke Vance FR
5 UW-Stevens Pt 7:43.49
1) Alex Steiner FR 2) Derek Nechuta JR
3) Adam Lang SR 4) David Litsheim JR
6 Morningside 7:43.52
1) Taylor Champan FR 2) Brian Gesink FR
3) John Harris FR 4) Monte Larsen FR
7 Missouri S&T 7:44.12
1) Bryan Kluge JR 2) Eric Fairbairn SO
3) Brandon Etzold JR 4) Brendan Smith JR
8 UW-Oshkosh 7:44.40
1) Ben Wizner JR 2) Dan Rammer SO
3) Brett DeNure FR 4) Nate Stymiest SO
9 Concordia (NE) 7:50.28
1) Zach Meineke SR 2) Matt Trampe SO
3) Caleb Egger JR 4) Jared Hoffman FR
10 UW-Eau Claire 7:51.32
1) Adam Flyte SR 2) Wes Fischer SR
3) Jake Zander JR 4) Paul Hetke FR
11 Augustana (SD) 7:51.36
1) Austin Vande Berg SR 2) Brian Werner SR
3) Travis Beniak SO 4) Daniel Black SR

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Drake Relays and Conference Multi

So far this has been a very busy weekend. Most of the athletes traveled to Madison South Dakota to compete at Dakota State. We had some very rough weather but returned from the meet with some great performances in the bag. Karissa Pepin started the day of right as she cleared 5'3 in the high jump to establish a Collegiate PR (personal record). She had excellent attempts at 5'5 and I fully expect her to compete for a conference championship in the high jump when we travel to Moorehead. Following that performance both Paul Mallory and Claire Severson posted season bests in the hurdles with 14.51 and 15.72 respectively. The times were hand held and convert with an addition of .24.

Freshman Katie Hjerpe captured a victory in the 1500m. Both she and Laura Johnson ran well. The race went out pretty hard and would have resulted in some great times had the weather not been a factor.

The rest of the team was at the Drake Relays. Yesterday Tom Karbo broke the school record held by Luke Baltrush with a 8:54 clocking. That time puts him 4th on the current national list. Runa Falch competed in the 10k and posted a 37:49

That

recruitMEaugie.com Launches

I'm constantly trying to find a better way to get information from recruits to our database. My latest effort has resulted in the creation of recruitMEaugie.com Interested High School athletes now have a short web address that they can easily remember and navigate to where they can share their information with us. We'll be sending out post cards to the young men and women who fit our recruiting profile this next week asking them to visit recruitMEaugie.com to share their information. Do you know some one that wants to run college track for a competitive college? We'd love to hear about them. Tell every one you know about recruitMEaugie.com

My goal is to make this the best year of recruiting in Augustana's history. We've signed some phenomenal kids this year and I fully expect next year to be just as great!

Below is the form to send us your information. It's never to late to let us know what you've done!

Looking Back at Cross Country

I've been fighting with my computer to get it to code the video that I have correctly. Unfortunately after letting it run for lord knows how long yesterday the file I created was still in the wrong format. So I'm posting some of the work I have done right now. I hope that you enjoy it. If you really want me to post more like this please send a fully loaded Mac so that I can more efficiently process all of the raw video I have. Otherwise you'll just have to wait!

Coach Vahrenkamp


Cross Country Pre Regionals from Jim Vahrenkamp on Vimeo.

Multi's to Kansas full team to Nebraska

This coming week get's started on Thursday. Emporia State will host their annual D2 challenge multi event where Jake Pohlmann, Bobbi Jo Buyck,Claire Severson and Meagan Grandgenette will compete in the Decathlon and the Heptathlon respectively. The Decathlon is made up of ten events while the heptathlon is made up of seven. The competition is a two day affair that begins Thursday afternoon and wraps up Friday afternoon.

The rest of the team will travel to Lincoln, NE for a track meet at the University of Nebraska Lincoln on Saturday. Both meets have great weather predicted and should produce some great times. Last week out the men had several great performances.

Paul Mallory ran 15.07 to open the year this past weekend, look for him to run faster provided the weather is good and we don't have a strong headwind. Both he and Zach Morris competed in the 400m hurdles last week and with some good weather this weekend both young men should look to run below the 56 second mark.

Adou Omot ran a collegiate best of 49.32 in the 400m dash this weekend. Had he gone out harder in the first 200m of the race he would have been able to crack the 49. barrier for the first time in his life. Each week look for him to run 48. As his fitness improves I wouldn't be surprised to see him run 48.low

The Augustana women had some great opening races in the 400m hurdles from Megan Erspamer who clocked a 1:10.18 It was her first collegiate attempt at the race. Look for her to run faster each week and move her time down toward the 1:07 area. That time will be competitive at the conference level. Meagan Grandgenett will join her in the following weeks in this event.

Augustana had a group of men run very well in the 1500m. They were led by Brian Werner who clocked a 4:03.25. Werner who typically specializes in the 800m turned in a great performance. Later in the year he'll move down to the 800m. Both Austin Vande Burg and Jordan Slusser also ran and will look to cut their times each week as the season progresses.

Look for more coverage after this weekend! I'm off to bed and will be celebrating Easter with my family tomorrow.

Coach Vahrenkamp

Oquendo Posts Provisional Qualifier at Spartan Opener

In his first race of the year Diego Oquendo ran 14.62 to surpass the 14.65 provisional qualifying in the 110m hurdles at the Spartan Invite in Lansing, MI on Saturday April 3rd. The meet was postponed multiple times because of rain and strong winds. In spite of the strong wind Oquendo's race was run under legal wind conditions and will count as a qualifier. Oquendo's time will rank as the 2nd fastest time in the conference by just .03 seconds. Both he and Paul Mallory now rank in the top three in the conference and finish the weekend sitting 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Oquendo also competed in the 100m dash where he clocked the fastest time of the day in a 10.82. That time also places him second on the conference performance list. The NCAA provisional mark in the 100m dash is 10.60 while the automatic mark is a bit faster at 10.35.

"Its early in the season, I fully expect Diego to run much faster in both the hurdles and the 100m dash. The poor weather was less than ideal for sprinting and I can only imagine just how much faster Diego will be able to run with a few more weeks of training and some good weather. As always the ultimate goal is running fast at the conference meet and qualifying for nationals. I'd say we're on track on both fronts."
- Vahrenkamp

"The cold wind and rain made it difficult to keep warmed up throughout the day but I was able to get through the race and at this point that is what is important."
- Oquendo