Augustana men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Wayne, Nebr., to compete in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Championships.

"It'll be a good day," head coach Tracy Hellman said.  "We are feeling pretty confident.  We are the defending champions, so we should feel confident."

Last year, both the men and women won the NSIC tournament, and many of the top runners are returning.

On the men's side, senior Matt Braithewaite, juniors Tom Karbo and Travis Beniak and freshman Paul Yak should help the Vikings place in the upper echelon.

"With the men's team it's hard to see anyone beating us," Hellman said.

The team's closest competitor is likely to be Minnesota State-Mankato, who is placed seventh in the region, compared to Augustana's fourth place ranking.

Braithewaite and Yak have each claimed NSIC runner of the week awards this season, and Braithewaite's senior leadership has anchored a team ranked 13th in the nation.

"I think anytime you are in a position of leadership it's important to lead by example," Braithewaite said.  "If younger runners see you training hard, hopefully it will rub off on them."

The women's squad will be led by freshman Runa Falch, who won the final regular season race at Mount Marty by 20 seconds.

Joining Falch as top runners for Augustana, ranked 18th nationally, are senior Laura Johnson, sophomores Kyle Blakeslee and Leah Hansen, and freshman Kristin Brondbo.

"We should contend," Hellman said.  "Minnesota-Duluth is tough, as are most teams in the our conference, but I think we will contend."

One head-to-head matchup to watch will be a three way race between Falch, Minnesota-Duluth's senior Morgan Place, who hasn't lost a race this season, and University of Mary's sophomore Melissa Agnew, who has led U-Mary all season.

"Certainly we aren't the favorite," Hellman said, "but we should do well."

After the conference tournament, the Vikings will return to Wayne, Nebr. a week later for the regional championships.

"That will be interesting," Hellman said, "because we don't know how we really match up against the teams, simply because we don't see them until the end of the year."

The women are ranked fifth in their region.

"The next couple of weeks will be exciting for us," Hellman said.  "Hopefully we can put a couple of solid days together."