Augustana’s track and field season is coming to a close, and with conference coming quickly, head coach Paul Olsen is hoping to finish out the season to the fullest of his aspirations.
“We are one of the best teams in the nation, and we should finish in the top four at the national tournament,” said Olsen.
Olsen said that, in particular, the 4×400 meter crew is the best in the nation. The four men included in the group are seniors David Devore, Keith Cline, David Voland and sophomore Isaac Smith.
“I am hoping to be in the top five at conference for all of my events, and I would like to place in the individual 400 at nationals, but definitely defend our 4×400 meter title,” said Smith.
This year the team has already won four invitationals including the one they hosted, Meet of Champions.”  Olsen believes that the Meet of Champions was a great reflection of the team.
“This is one of the best Division III events in the nation and we won by 80 points with 76 personal bests and many performances in the top 20 nationally,” said Olsen.
Senior Nick Gornick also knows that his team has what it takes to finish strong.
“We’ve been getting better and better each meet, and we’re going into the end of the season as strong as we have ever been,” said Gornick. “It is really cool to be a part of a team that is this good, and we all want to do our part to contribute to the success.”
Olsen knows that if the team pulls together and competes to the best of its ability they will win conference, and also have a good chance of being one of the top four teams in the nation.