eric.baranoski
Sep 15, 20228 min
Edits and additional commentary by John Cusick & Garrett Zatlin
It’s hard to ignore consistency.
It's hard to ignore depth.
It's hard to ignore firepower.
It's even harder to ignore a team that has all three of those things.
Coached by Tracy Hellman, the Augustana (SD) women are once again projected to be one of the top teams in Division Two this fall.
The fall of 2021 featured one of the Vikings' best teams in school history outside of their 2011 and 2012 squads which won a national title (2011) and then finished runner-up a year later (2012).
But when you consider how many women on this roster return from an already-brilliant 2021 lineup, then there's a good chance that this may end up being the most talented group of distance runners that the Augustana women have ever assembled.
Right from the gun, one could see that the 2021 cross country season had the potential to be historic for the Lady Vikings who tied for 2nd place at their home opener. That meet featured respectable Division One programs such as South Dakota, Nebraska and South Dakota State.
PJ English emerged as the lead scorer that day, placing 11th overall while fellow low-stick Nicolette Schmidt was 13th. That lethal 1-2 punch was supported by an excellent cast of scorers such as Megan Means (19th), Mia Salas (20th) and Mallory Delmont (27th).
While certain aspects of the Vikings' lineup could have been better, there was still plenty to like about their first race of the season. They stayed competitive with a few respectable Division One programs and had a top-five that truthfully didn't have too many scoring deficiencies.
Improvements needed to be made, but for the most part, it was a solid start.
Once October hit, the Vikings would venture to the very competitive Chile Pepper XC Festival, hosted by the University of Arkansas. Once there, everyone in Augustana's set personal bests on the very fast 5000 meter course.
However, more importantly, the Vikings thrived as a team over other top-tier programs.
As expected, Schmidt (19th) and English (20th) were a potent scoring duo yet again. Behind them, the combination of Haylee Waterfall, Mia Salas and Megan Means closed out the scoring by going 41-46-59 in the final results.
On paper, this team matched the same scoring structure that we saw from them at their earlier rust-buster. However, this time, Waterfall stepped up to emerge as a valuable middle lineup scorers and the field as a whole was significantly better.
With Rachel Rairdon, Cait Savey and Rebekah Rairdon also going 64-67-70, depth seemed like the least of Augustana's concerns heading into the postseason. The only question remaining was, who else can join Schmidt and English at the top of this lineup?
Despite having to face U-Mary and Minnesota-Duluth at their conference meet, the Vikings continued their overwhelming display of firepower by scoring just 20 points for the win. They put six women in the top-nine.
Two weeks later, a very similar result ensued as the Vikings scored 33 points at the Central Regional XC Championships.
However, the Augustana women eventually saved their best team performance for last.
At the NCAA XC Championships, the Vikings put together one of the best collections of firepower that they had shown all season long, having their top-four scorers emerge as All-Americans.
Coming into the 2021 cross country season, expectations were high for Megan Means after a breakthrough 2021 outdoor track season where she ran 16:24 for 5000 meters. However, throughout most of last fall, she proved to be a modest middle-lineup scorer, not showing too many signs of having All-American talent.
But then, out of nowhere, Means flipped a switch. She earned a jaw-dropping 8th place finish in her season finale, blowing away expectations. That incredible injection of scoring potency was complemented by Schmidt's 20th place All-American finish, English's 28th place All-American finish and Salas' 32nd place All-American finish.
For English and Schmidt, those were excellent results, although somewhat expected as well.
Salas, however, also had the race of her life. Despite being a solid supporting scorer throughout the fall months, seeing her emerge as an All-American was likely a very pleasant surprise for the Augustana women.
With Rachel Rairdon placing 45th overall and her sister Rebekah placing 54th, the overall depth and scoring support of this lineup proved to be flat-out incredible.
But for as good as the Augustana women were on the national stage, they just couldn’t match the collective firepower of Grand Valley State (who went 1-2-14-35-36) and Adams State (who went 6-10-11-15-21). Instead, they would settle for a still-excellent 3rd place finish.
We have good news and bad news when it comes to this team's 2022 lineup.
The bad news is that the Vikings lose three of their top-seven women from last year's podium team.
The good news is that the three women who the Vikings lose were the bottom-three runners in their seven-person national meet lineup. All four of their All-Americans return.
Let's start our analytical conversation with Megan Means who caught fire throughout the 2021 postseason last fall. She finished 3rd at the Northern Sun XC Championships, runner-up at the Central Regional XC Championships and, of course, 8th place at the national meet.
Means may have peaked better than almost anyone else last fall. She even had a solid year on the track, showing the country that she has truly improved her overall fitness.
But which version of Means will we see in the next couple of weeks? Will it be the same version of her that we see in December? Will it be anything close to how she performed at last year's national meet?
These feel like fair questions to ask, especially since she finished an unexciting 44th overall in her first race of the season at the beginning of this month.
In comparison to Means, veteran returner Nicolette Schmidt is a more established and steady presence in this varsity lineup. She had been to the national meet before last year and had been right on the cusp of being an All-American prior to last fall.
Finishing 19th at the Chile Pepper XC Festival, 4th at the Northern Sun XC Championships, 3rd at the Central Regional XC Championships and 20th at the NCAA XC Championships not only showcased Schmidt's improvement on grass in 2021, but also her reliability.
There's admittedly not much more to say about Schmidt. If she can be closer to a top-10 finisher at the national meet, then that will likely help this team move from 3rd place to runner-up in their season finale.
But if Schmidt can simply replicate last year's results, then that will be plenty fine as well.
PJ English and Nicolette Schmidt had almost the same 2021 cross country season in terms of overall finishes. English was 20th at the Chile Pepper XC Festival, 2nd at the Northern Sun XC Championships, 5th at the Central Regional XC Championships and 28th at the national meet.
Having two high-octane scorers run stride for stride for almost the whole season has to bring a sense of calm and relief to Coach Hellman this fall. While the consistency of Means is less clear, knowing that the Vikings will still have other two elite low-sticks, both of whom have room to improve, is encouraging to know.
But just how much better can English be on the national stage? She had a fantastic year on the track, specifically in the 1500 meters and the mile, but how will those improvements translate to a better All-American finish over 6000 meters, if at all?
Next, we have Mia Salas.
Only a junior this year, she performed very well last fall despite her limited racing experience. Before last year, she had never raced at either a regional or national meet. And to perform so well at the national stage, placing 32nd overall, demonstrates how well some of these Augustana women were able to peak in the postseason.
However, much like Means, we'll need to see if Salas can, a) replicate that All-American result at this year's national meet, and b) replicate that kind of fitness throughout the entire season. None of those things are guarantees, but it's also clear that Coach Hellman is able to have her athletes peak at the perfect time.
Others who raced for the Vikings last fall (and have the potential to contribute this season) are junior Cami Streff and sophomore Aubrey Surage, both of whom competed at the 2021 Northern Sun XC Championships, finishing 18th and 21st, respectively.
Streff is going to be a very interesting name to monitor this fall. She was incredible in the middle distances this past winter and spring, running times of 2:09 (800) and 4:29 (1500), showing a clear jump upwards in her fitness.
But how will that middle distance success translate to the grass? Streff has shown potential in cross country, but will these improvements make her a viable fifth scorer in 2022? That could certainly happen, but it's hard to say for sure.
Be sure to also keep an eye on Taylor Melton. She ran 17:31 for 5000 meters last spring as just a freshman. The current sophomore could be due for a big breakout season if she continues to follow the same encouraging trajectory that she showed as a rookie.
It's a very similar story for the aforementioned sophomore Aubrey Surage who ran 17:41 for 5000 meters earlier this year.
We should also highlight a fairly strong recruiting class which is headlined by Eleni Lovgren, Tenly Nelson, Laura Thompson, Iris Velting and Lindey Young.
Lovgren hails from North Dakota and was recently named North Dakota's Gatorade Player of the Year for cross country. She brings a handful of state titles to Augustana as well as personal bests of 5:13 (1600) and 11:08 (3200).
Nelson was one of Minnesota’s best prep runners this past year, going undefeated during her senior season in the 800 meters, eventually getting down to a 2:14 PR and winning a state title. And not only was she a top-tier 800 meter runner, but Nelson also posted times of 5:14 for 1600 meters and 10:57 for 3200 meters.
Laura Thompson is another rookie who could step into this lineup right away with personal bests of 18:10 for 5000 meters on grass and 10:51 for 3200 meters. She has the aerobic capacity to make an impact right away if a varsity spot opens up.
Don’t count out Lindsey Young from Minnesota, either. She doesn’t have nearly the same times as the rest of this class, but she still comes to Augustana with marks of 5:19 (1600) and 18:50 (5k XC).
Lastly, coming to Sioux Falls as an international commit, is Iris Velting who has head-turning personal bests of 4:28 for 1500 meters and 9:47 for 3000 meters. Considering that those are only track times, it is difficult to predict what she is capable of doing on grass.
Still, Velting looks like she could be a secret weapon for this team in 2022. She clearly has the fitness to be one of the better runners on this roster and her best marks lean towards the longer distances.
On paper, she could contend for an All-American honor this fall if everything goes perfectly.
With numerous All-American returners, underrated depth and a few high-potential additions, the Vikings are likely going to be favored in most of their races this season.
However, most of this team's success in 2022 will likely come down to whether or not certain women can replicate last year's stunning postseason peak and do it on a more consistent basis. If that happens, then a silver medal at the national meet is plenty realistic for a team that is arguably just as talented as Grand Valley State through four runners.
And if this team finds one more than runner who has a breakout season, then having all five of their scorers emerge as All-Americans in December doesn't feel like it would be out of the question.
Augustana won't be able to surprise anyone like they usually do, but that won't make them any less dangerous in the coming months.