Augustana cross country ready to compete at the Roy Griak Invitational

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.- After two weeks of rest, the Augustana cross country teams return to action this week at they compete in the 30th annual Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota on Saturday in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Vikings will be competing in the men's and women's Maroon Division II races. The Vikings will be joined by 34 other collegiate teams in Division II, including several Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents. The women will be running in the 6,000 meter race, followed by the men racing in the 8,000 meter race.

Last year, the men's and women's teams both took second in the Maroon Division II races.

On the women's side, the Vikings tallied up 97 points and were led by Leah Seivert and Annie Kruse. Seivert turned in the best performance for Augustana placing third with a time of 22:22.6, Kruse finished sixth in the race clocking in with a time of 22:28.2.

Along with Seivert and Kruse, Augustana will be running Emma Anderson, Courtney Hottovy, Mackenzie Kelly, Annika Rotvold and Avery Selberg in the invitational.

On the men's side, the Vikings accumulated 99 points, only nine points behind the leader Wisconsin-Parkside.

Keegan Carda is the fastest returning starter for Augustana, coming in with a time of 26:36 which was good enough for 16th place. Nick Larsen, Glen Ellingson, and Nathan Hauge finished 23rd, 26th and 27th respectively

Rounding out the men's side will be Logan Burns, Chance Freese, Sean Heaton, Adam Kost and Shane McCallum.

"The Griak invite is one of largest cross country meets in the nation" Head Coach Tracy Hellman said. "It's going to be a tough race and it's one of the steps to help us get to the ultimate goal and that goal is a national championship."