The men’s cross country program wrapped up their final home meet last weekend when the Vikings hosted the Augustana Inter-regional Invite on Saturday, Oct 14. 47 schools from around the country traveled to Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, IL, to compete in one of the largest invitationals in the Midwest this year.
“It’s big Augie pride. It’s our home course. It’s a blessing to have this course just because it’s different from other courses,” senior Jack Bathje said. “Last year, there were 400 people in my race alone. Being surrounded by that many people at the start of a race is a different feeling.”
The size of the race is something that may bring pressure to the team, especially being from the host school. However, the Vikings were excited for the opportunities that the invitational brought.
“I think it’s super fun,” junior Finbar Martin said. “It’s exciting to see all these very good race teams come here. It’s good competition.”
In the varsity men’s meet, Augustana placed 25th overall. Their top three runners were junior Grant Ackard, junior Joe Langridge and Martin, who ranked 46, 55 and 134, respectively.
The invitational was an important stepping stone for the team with a coach in his first year at the school.
In the offseason, Kyle Flores was hired as the head coach after a successful tenure at Pomona-Pitzer in California. Moving from one school to another in a completely different region of the country could be stressful for coaches, but Coach Flores is thankful for the team captains to help guide the team.
“They’ve been great. I lean on them significantly because it’s my first year here. I still have a lot to learn about the school and the program in general,” Flores said. “It’s been nice knowing I can count on them for certain things.”
Throughout the season, some team members felt the team had much to prove.
First-Year Peyton Sand said he wants to use this season as a way for people to learn his name and to prove himself and the team to the rest of the conference.
“One of my biggest motivations is no one knows who I am, which makes me want to work harder to make a name for myself,” Sand said. “Having to make a name for yourself can also help everyone on the team overall and stick with good habits, not getting into anything that’s going to ruin your season.”
Currently the Vikings are ranked 9th in the Midwest region, and their next meet is on Oct. 28, when the team will travel to Warrenville, Illinois, for the CCIW championships.
It is an essential event for the team because they are racing against other conference teams and the intensity of racing increases. This is especially important since there is a sense of familiarity with the other conference schools.
“Everybody knows a little bit of everybody that you’re racing against. So there’s that sense of familiarity and rivalry at the same time. You think to yourself, ‘Hey, that guy beat me last week, and now I have[to] beat [them] this week,’” Bathje said.
As the season continues, one of the main goals for the team is to send multiple runners to the NCAA National Championship meets. That goal would not only be good for the individuals being recognized but also good for the school in terms of having a representative at the championship. The last men’s runner from Augustana to run in nationals was in 2021 when Michael Gille finished top 100.
“The big goal is to send a couple of guys to nationals. We had one of our assistant coaches, Michael Gille, go a couple of years ago, so the big goal is to make the Nationals this year, which looks doable,” Sand said. “That’s not only going to spark more excitement for us, but it’s also going to spark more excitement for recruits coming in.”