SPORTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011 12

ANDREW SOGNajsogn08@ole.augie.edu

A Prairie Spirit blunderIt’s basketball season,

an exciting time across campus, and while I love the thrill of basketball games, it is also a time of worry for me.

What worries me this week is how good Augus-tana’s teams can be, and whether or not they will live up to that potential.

Augustana’s men’s and women’s teams took on the University of Sioux Falls (USF) in the Prairie Spirit Challenge. All the pro-ceeds from the two games went to Feed Sioux Falls, a charity aiming to end hun-ger in our city.

!at’s fantastic, it really is, but perhaps our school got a little bit too into the giving spirit. !e teams gave USF numerous turn-overs, and handed them open looks from around the court.

For the "rst time in 10 years, the USF women de-feated the Viking squad, 65-59. Many Augus-tana players le# the court knowing they should have given more.

In an interview the

next day, sophomore Katie Meister summed up what we were all thinking.

“We played awful,” Meister told me. “If you were to see us play in prac-tice, you wouldn’t have been able to recognize the team that played against USF. It seemed like no one gave a lot of e$ort.”

It’s sad to say, but true. All of Augustana—fans

and athletes alike—strug-gled against the supposed-ly weaker USF opponent.

Yes, the fans.I don’t see it o#en, but

Augustana was outcheered by an opponent.

A week a#er the Augie-holics took over Williams Arena for the University of Minnesota basketball game and cheered louder than Minnesota’s fans, they looked so# in the Sioux Falls Arena, as if “Pajama !eme Night,” re-ally did put them to sleep.

On the men’s side of things, the outcome was di$erent—but the story was the same.

I turned to several peo-

ple throughout the game, and we all had the same dumb look on our faces as if asking, “What Augusta-na team are we watching?”

Neither team said out-right that they expected to run over the USF squads, but it seemed somewhat out of the question that they wouldn’t.

From an Augustana fan point of view, it was almost “good” versus “evil.” !ere never seemed to be any doubt from fans that Au-gustana wouldn’t win.

It’s an odd feeling, watching the bad guy win.

Now I hope this ar-ticle isn’t seen as complete hopelessness in the Viking squads. In fact, I am more excited than I’ve been in awhile to watch our teams compete.

If the teams get back on track and put these games behind them, I don’t see why they won’t be playing in March for the Regional tournament.

Senior Molly Hayes dribbles the ball up the court during the women’s game against the University of Sioux Falls on Nov. 15 in the Prairie Spirit Challenge.

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Senior Drae Murray drives along the baseline, guarded by University of Sioux Falls’ guard AJ Holland. Murray scored 12 points in the 64-63 victory.GoAugie.com

Augustana struggles against University of Sioux Falls

10 SPORTS AUGUSTANAMIRROR.COMFRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Cross Country squads gear up for NCAA TournamentANDREW SOGNajsogn08@ole.augie.edu

!e Augustana cross country teams travel to Spokane, Wash., Satur-day for the 2011 NCAA Championships.

!e 2011 NCAA Championship will be run at the Plantes Ferry Athletic Complex in Spo-kane, Wash., with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference serving as this year’s host.

“Both teams head into this weekend extremely focused and excited about the opportunity in Spo-kane,” head coach Tracy Hellman said.

!e women will have a 6,000-meter course, while the men will tackle a

10,000-meter route. !e last time the teams

ran was at the Central Re-gion Championship on Nov. 5 in Denver, Colo. !e Viking women netted 70 points to "nish third, while the men totaled 116 to "nish fourth.

Junior Leah Hansen was the top "nisher for the Viking women, running the course in 22:59 to cap-ture seventh place.

Sophomore Kristin Brondbo ran a time of 23:17 to take 11th, while junior Kyle Blakeslee placed 14th with a time of 23:36.

Finishing 17th and 21st was junior Annie P"e%e (23:49) and senior Kelly Kougl (24:19), respective-ly.

For the men, sopho-more Paul Yak paced the team, "nishing sixth with a time of 33:06, while se-nior Tom Karbo placed 11th with a time of 33:28 and junior Ryan Evans was 20th, running 33:56.

Freshman Adam Braun (34:26) and sophomore Jordan Slusser (35:28) were 31st and 48th, re-spectively.

Rounding out the Vi-king men were freshman TJ Gleason (35:37) and junior Halvard Lange (36:21) in 50th and 71st, respectively.

“We are very positive and motivated to "nish the year with a great team race,” Hellman said. “We have a veteran team, which helps in races of this mag-

nitude. All year we have worked to put ourselves in a position to perform at a high level at the right time, and I feel very strongly that we are ready for this opportunity.”

Under Hellman, the team has increased their presence in the nation-al scene, as the women placed "#h nationally in 2008 and seventh nation-ally in 2011.

!e men placed sixth in the nation last year.

In addition to chasing team accolades, three Vi-king runners are looking for their second consecu-tive All-American awards.

Runners who "nish in the top 40 of each race earn an All-American status, and Karbo (27), Brondbo

(17) and sophomore Runa Falch (29) are looking to do it for the second time in their careers.

If Brondbo and Falch manage to "nish in the top 40, they will be the "rst women to do so since the 1990’s. Karbo would be only the second male runner to "nish as an All-American in back-to-back seasons.

“We realize it will be di&cult,” Hellman said.

“We understand what to expect and are ready to put forth our very best e$ort.”

!e Vikings also earned several spots on the male and female All-Region teams. Hansen, Brond-bo, Kougl, Pfei%e and Blakeslee earned spots on the women’s team, while Karbo, Yak and Evans were named to the men’s team.

!e NCAA Champion-ships will be broadcast live on NCAA.com.

Intramural !ag football team wins stateANDREW SOGNajsogn08@ole.augie.edu

Augustana’s Recreational Services Department sent eight students to compete in the South Dakota Flag Football State Championship, where the team won Augustana’s second state %ag football championship.

Seniors Casey Jacobson, Pat Coyne, Lucas Larson, Charlie Du-banoski, Brian Voigt, Spencer Taylor and Alex Smith, along with junior Paul Berndt, won Augustana’s intra-mural %ag football league, and were given the opportunity to compete in the one-day State Tournament.

!e team’s "rst game was against the University of South Dakota.

At hal#ime, the squad was down 6-13, but came back strong in the second half to top the hometown fa-vorites, 38-20.

!e championship game pit-ted Augustana against Dakota State

University (DSU), a perennially strong team that earned a birth to the National Championship last year.

A u g u s t a n a ’ s squad was outsized, as DSU had several wide receivers over six feet tall to play on the team, but the Vikings continued to "nd ways to score.

“It seemed like we might have been outmatched, but we found a way to overcome this obstacle,” Smith said.

!e game ended 28-13 in Augus-tana’s favor.

!e last time an Augustana squad won the State Flag Football Champi-onship was over 10 years ago.

!e squad will now take on teams in the Central Regional Champion-

ship in Lincoln, Neb. next weekend.No other Augustana team has

competed in the regional tourna-ment, but if the squad topples the opposition in Lincoln, they will have an opportunity to play in the Na-tional Tournament in Washington D.C.

“!is is a lot of fun, and we are re-ally excited to get the chance to play in the regional tournament,” Smith said.

BY DEVIN DE ROON

SPOR

TS ED

ITOR

As the National Bas-ketball Association (NBA) continues its lockout, col-lege basketball has begun its season without hesita-tion.

It’s never too early to look ahead at what teams will be competing in March for the NCAA Tournament.

!e University of North Carolina (UNC) returns an experienced team from last season that made a run to the Elite Eight. UNC opened the season ranked No. 1 and has proven itself worthy of that ranking already with an impressive open-ing victory over Michigan State University in the "rst game ever played on the %ight deck of the USS Carl Vinson.

Ranked No. 2 behind UNC is the team that knocked them out of the Elite Eight to move onto the Final Four: the Univer-sity of Kentucky.

As usual, Kentucky head coach John Calipari has brought in some tal-ented freshmen that will help Kentucky toward possibly winning their "rst championship since 1998. Kentucky also returns three players that saw sig-ni"cant playing time last year.

!is is probably the most experienced team

Calipari has ever coached.!e University of Con-

necticut will look to repeat as National Champions. !ey begin the season ranked in the top 5.

Playing a grueling schedule in the Big East should bode well for Con-necticut in preparation for the NCAA Tournament.

Another team ranked high is the most polarized team in college basketball.

You will "nd Duke Uni-versity is a well-coached a team, as head coach Mike Krzyzewski continues to add to an illustrious career full of conference and na-tional titles.

Krzyzewski won his 903rd game this past week when No. 6 Duke beat Michigan State and be-came the all-time leader in wins at the Division I level for a head coach.

When March roles around, it’s always smart to pick the teams that are well-disciplined with great head coaches.

One other team to keep an eye on is Ohio State University. Starting center Jared Sullinger passed on the opportunity to be a lot-tery pick in the NBA Dra# last season to come back for his sophomore year.

Ohio State will be as hungry as any team come tournament time.

While it isn’t too early to look ahead, the past couple of years have prov-en to us that anything can happen during the NCAA Tournament. Upsets are a regular occurance, and all of these teams will con-sider themselves lucky to be cutting down the nets at the end of the season.

We are...motivated to !nish the year with a great team race.”

Tracy Hellman

With lockout, fans look to NCAA March Madness

The Augustana !ag football team poses after winning the State Championship. Top Row (left to right): Se-nior Luke Larson, senior Spencer Taylor, senior Brian Voigt, junior Paul Berndt. Bottom Row: (left to right): Senior Alex Smith, senior Charlie Dubanoski, senior Pat Jacobson and senior Pat Coyne.

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SPORTS 11AUGUSTANAMIRROR.COM FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2011

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Nov. 18Men’s Bball vs. St. Martin’s (in Oregon)Nov. 19Men’s Bball @ Western Oregon (in Oregon)Women’s Bball vs. Minot StateCross Country @ NCAA ChampionshipsNov. 22Men’s Bball vs. Dakota StateNov. 26Women’s Bball vs. Mount MartyNov. 29Women’s Bball vs. Dakota StateDec. 2Women’s Bball vs. Southwest Minnesota St.Men’s Bball vs. Southwest Minnesota St.Dec. 3Women’s Bball vs. Minnesota StateMen’s Ball vs. Minnesota StateWrestling @ Minnesota State-Moorhead OpenTrack @ Minnesota State Pre-SeasonDec. 9Women’s Bball @ University of MaryMen’s Bball @ University of MaryWrestling vs. Northwestern (Iowa)Wrestling vs. Dakota WesleyanDec. 10Women’s Bball @ Northern StateMen’s Ball @ Northern StateDec. 17Women’s Bball vs. Minnesota CrookstonMen’s Bball vs. Minnesota CrookstonDec. 18Women’s Bball vs. Minnesota State-MoorheadMen’s Bball vs. Minnesota State-Moorhead

A#er graduating four key players last spring, the Augustana women’s basketball team is working to "ll their positions with younger team members this season.

Head coach Dave Krauth and his team acknowledge the chal-lenges of being a young team.

“We are very inexpe-rienced and I think the execution and decision-making are areas where we can make improve-ments,” Krauth said.

Krauth said practices have gone well so far this season despite the inexperience that comes with their youth.

Junior Faith Tinklenberg agrees, acknowledging the team’s excite-ment for the upcoming season. !e opening of so many positions on the team presents last year’s redshirted freshmen with many opportunities for playing time.

“We have a lot of girls that are will-ing to "ght for those open positions,” Tinklenberg said. Tinklenberg her-self received a medical redshirt last season and said she’s excited to get

back out on the court to play. !ough Tinklenberg is back, in-

jury has continued to disrupt the team’s early practices this season.

Senior Molly Hayes returned to practice last week a#er nearly three weeks of recovering from a sprained

ankle. Hayes said watch-ing practice with an in-jury is both di&cult and fun. She enjoys watch-ing the team’s progress but gets anxious to re-join them on the court.

Krauth said the team’s annual goal is to qualify for post-season play, speci"cally the NCAA tournament.Senior Molly Hayes said

a few of the team’s short term goals include focusing in on every game individually and improving their re-cord on the road.

Hayes said the presence of sup-portive fans helps the team’s energy level during home games. “We have such a good crowd at the Elmen that it gets hard when we go on the road,” Hayes said.

Despite the challenge of slim crowds, junior Alex Feeney said the team’s speed will work to their ad-vantage.

“I think we can be a much better

defensive team this year,” she said.Tinklenberg said she believes

the team’s defensive ability will help them win more road games. !e team has guards who are quick and posts that work hard to run the court.

Tinklenberg adds learning to work and play as a cohesive unit to the team’s list of goals for this season.

“We only lose one girl next year so this is a team we’ll build for two years,” Tinklenberg said.

As a group they are excited to build the long-term team and to see what the season has in store for them. Hayes said there are a lot of very good teams in the conference that will make for good competition. “It makes it exciting when every team [in your conference] is good,” she said.

“I think we have a very eager team,” Feeney said. “We’re eager to be on the court and hungry to play.”

!e Vikings lost their season opener, 65-59 to the University of Sioux Falls. Feeney netted her "#h career double-double, with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

!e team will take on Minot State on Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. for their home opener in the Elmen Center.

Despite youth, women look to make noiseMEGAN WENDT

mewendt09@ole.augie.edu

Junior Alex Feeney looks to have a big role in the success of the women’s basketball squad.

GoAugie.com

MOLLY HAYES