On Saturday, April 5, the Augustana Track and Field teams hosted the 80th iteration of the Viking Olympics at the Austin E. Knowlton Outdoor Athletic Complex, where both the men’s and women’s teams saw a lot of success. This meet follows the WashU Distance Invitational and the Southern Miss Invitational, which were the first meets of the outdoor season and led to high marks for Vikings athletes.
Notably, senior Heather Michalski started her outdoor season at the Southern Miss Invitational by finishing as one of the top collegiate athletes in javelin after posting a distance of 14.90 meters. At the time, that distance placed her at first in the country and currently she sits at number two in the country. The mark also puts Michalski second all-time in Augustana program history.
“It was the first meet of the season, so I wasn’t expecting much,” Michalski said. “I remembered something [Coach] Gunny said, ‘It doesn’t matter how you feel, it just matters how you do,’ because I wasn’t feeling my best. I was excited because I hadn’t thrown over 40 in two years. It was like a breath of fresh air to say, ‘This is great. I have a chance to go into nationals.’”
Also at Southern Miss, sophomore Laina Nelson placed fourth in javelin with a mark of 39.59 meters, which is fifth in Augustana program history. Other notable finishes include the 4×400 relay team finishing in seventh, consisting of seniors Lauren Oelke and McKenzie Reser, sophomore Cora Deemer, and junior Jordyn Van Santen.
Meanwhile, up in St. Louis at the WashU Distance Invitational, the distance runners competed in events such as the 800-meter race, steeplechase and 1500-meter race. In the 3000-meter steeplechase event, senior Joe Langridge came in sixth place, while Fifth-Year Emma Odle finished in eighteenth place in the same event on the women’s side. In the 1500-meter race, Langridge won at 3:54:85, while seniors Joe Gibbons and Donovan Garro also finished in the top 15. Director of Track and Field Chad Gunnelson knows that athletes setting personal records in events in the first outdoor meet of the season is promising and will help push them as the season progresses.
“Joe [Langridge] right now leads the conference in the steeplechase and the 1500 meter,” Gunnelson said. “His steeplechase mark was fourth all-time in school history. It was his opener, so he’s in a position to do some great things. Lots of times, your first race of the year usually isn’t a lifetime best. To have several lifetime bests in the athletes’ first race of the season is really fun.”
Succeeding those meets, the Vikings returned home to host the Viking Olympics, a yearly invitational with regional schools. This year, however, the event nearly tripled in size, with more schools competing and more athletes coming. Despite the pressure some may feel for hosting an event and having to defend home turf, junior Magnus Wells looked forward to hosting the meet.
“The best thing about it is that you sleep in your own bed the night before, which is nice,” Wells said. “People would be surprised how much better you compete whenever you are in the comfort of your own home. Another thing is you don’t have to get up early and ride on a bus for two hours, or however long it is, which is huge, because riding on the bus takes a toll on your legs.”
During the Viking Olympics, both the men’s team and women’s team cruised through the competition. In the men’s 100-meter hurdles, the Vikings got first, second and third place, with sophomore AJ Banks leading the way with his time of 14.57, which is currently seventh in Division III. Banks was followed by First-Year Brayden Veil and junior Bayley Pierce, who got second and third, respectively.
On the women’s side, senior McKenzie Reser won the 100-meter race, setting a new meet record and also giving her the eleventh-best time in Division III. Reser also won the 200-meter event, again setting a meet record and also giving her the fourth-best time in Division III. Senior Lina Maatouk not only won the 800-meter race but also set a personal record in the event.
“There are a lot of people from conference, and there is a rivalry, but it’s kind of a friendly rivalry,” Michalski said. “We are all pretty nice to each other, and everyone’s super friendly at conference. There are some girls from Carroll [University] who are heavy hitters, so it’s definitely some good competition.”
Out of 11 teams on the men’s side, the Vikings scored 157 points, 36 points ahead of second-place St. Ambrose University, to earn first-place honors. On the women’s side, the Vikings scored 207 points, with almost 100 more points than second-place Ripon College. The teams will be competing in the UW-Platteville Invitational next weekend.
