The Augustana men's and women's cross country teams went to Wayne, Neb., knowing the day would be successful, but weren't sure where they would stand at the end of the race.
The men had six runners in the top 10, with senior Tom Karbo taking first, and scoring only 19 points in the meet, effectively blowing away any competition opponents hoped would be present.
"The team went out in the front and worked together for a majority of the race," junior Travis Beniak said. "When I finished I knew Tom had won, and I was extremely excited for him. That excitement increased drastically when I turned around and saw the next three runners were my teammates. We are always focused on what the team can do, and if one of us accomplishes something extraordinary along the way, it is a bonus."
The team had set a pre-season goal of scoring less than 30 points in the conference meet, and achieving that goal was a proud moment for all of the men.
"We knew that we were expected to win, but we weren't going to allow ourselves to be complacent with just a win," Beniak said. "The whole week leading up to Saturday we talked about making a statement, and seeing just how good we [could] be."
That dominance will hopefully be continued at the regional and national tournaments, according to Karbo.
The win "tells us that we are ready for bigger challenges and gives us confidence going into regionals and nationals."
While the top five teams in the region will advance, Beniak and the rest of the team realize that the task of making nationals is not as easy as some believe.
"Our region is arguably the best region in the nation so there is no guarantee we make it to nationals," Beniak said. "We need to just run the best we can. I would be ecstatic to be third at the regional meet, and beat Colorado School of Mines. That goal may be a bit lofty in some people's eyes, but splitting up the three RMAC (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) schools would be a huge accomplishment that I believe to be a possibility."
With the men being the favorites, the biggest surprise of the day was that the women's team won for the second year in a row.
Head coach Tracy Hellman noted last week that they weren't the favorites to win, yet freshmen Runa Falch and Kristin Brondbo, senior Miriam Hovda and sophomore Annie Pfeiefle led the team to a second consecutive conference championship.
"The guys were pretty sure they were going to win," Falch said, "but the girl's team knew that every single runner had to put in an extra effort in order to win."
The women did just that, as Falch raced alongside Minnesota-Duluth's Morgan Place, who hadn't lost this season, for much of the race before pulling ahead
to finish first.
"What they [the women] did was amazing," Beniak said. "Runa beat…Place…who had not lost a conference championship title until this year. They all ran like a team and put everything they had out there."
Next weekend the women will hope for another performance that surpasses most critics' expectations in order to reach the national tournament, something Falch feels the team "can run fast enough to do."
With both conference championships being won by Augustana, Hellman was named the NSIC Coach of the Year for the second time in a row. The coach has been at Augustana for more than 10 years and has earned respect in the eyes of his athletes and others around the conference.
"Tracy loves cross country," Beniak said. "He is extremely passionate about running, and that makes him a great coach. He is always looking for ways to make us a better team."
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