Augustana's women's cross country team returned to form as they participated at the NCAA National  Championships  Nov. 23. The women had a strong showing from all five runners to earn fifth.

 

The Augie women’s cross country team entered the national meet ranked 14th, their lowest entering the NCAA Championships since 2009. Led by the development of three new faces to Augustana's scoring quintet, the Vikings improved on their third-place finish at the Central Region Championships by taking fifth overall.

 

Meritxell Delgado's (22:19.2) steady climb erased 22 runners in front of her and finished 66th. Yoerg (22:28.8) picked off several runners in the final 200 meters to move up to 82nd. True freshman Cassidy Soli's (22:43.8) season-long improvement shined through with a crucial 110th-place finish to give Augustana 236 points and fifth place, falling one short of earning a trophy for the third straight year.

 

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and Central Region champion Jennifer Agnew of the University of Mary won the individual title and pre-meet favorite Grand Valley State won the team championship with 54 points.

 

Yoerg, who is in her junior year at Augustana, grew up in Clear Lake and excelled at  several high school activities including cross country, track, basketball, youth group and was part of the National Honor Society. She is the daughter of Deb and Dennis Yoerg and Kaitlyn has dreams of being a physical therapist after graduation.

 

In 2013, Yoerg placed 82nd (22:238.8) at the NCAA Championships, finished 30th (6k, 22:12.0) at the NCAA Central Region Championships, earned second team All-NSIC honors, placing 16th (6k, 22:10.1) at the NSIC Championships, finished 51st (5k, 18:49.2) at the Division I Chile Pepper Invitational, placed 42nd (6k, 23:39.8) at the Roy Griak Invitational, finished 38th (3m, 17:57.8) at the Augustana Twilight Invitational and was named Academic All-NSIC. 

 

In 2012 as a sophomore, Yoerg placed 43rd at the NSIC Championships, finished 20th at the Dan Huston Invite (6k, 23:16.3), collected a 45th place finish at the SDSU Classic (5k, 20:05.3) and finished 27th at the Augie Twilight with a 3-mile time of 18:29.6.

 

Her freshman year, Yoerg placed 27th at NSIC Championship (6K, 22:34.62), took 28th place at Briar Cliff Invite (5K, 19:14.67), finished 65th at Roy Griak Invite (6K, 24:04.10) and placed 23rd at Augustana Twilight (3 mile, 18:21.13), running unattached.

 

Yoerg also made the dean’s list at Augustana this fall semester.

 

 

Buntrock of Clear Lake was part of the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) rugby team that won the USA Rugby Division II fall championship Dec. 8, beating Salisbury 31-7 in the championship game played at Bowling Green University.

 

It was their first national title.

 

The UMD team, nicknamed the Duluth Fighting Penguins, were coming off a defeat to Salisbury in last year’s championship match, a loss that has left a bitter taste in their mouths, but has also provided fuel for their motivation. 

 

“As a team, we were 35 players who had a common goal of winning the National Championship and avenging last year’s loss,” said Duluth Rugby President Lars Anderson. “We pushed each other to be the best players that we could be.” Anderson, who is pursuing a degree in secondary education, further recounts that “when time expired on December 8, all 35 of us celebrated, knowing that each of us had contributed to the title.”

 

Forty years ago, Bob Pratt (‘77) wanted to play rugby at UMD. He learned the game in his hometown of Albert Lea and set out to form a team in Duluth.

 

After rounding up a group of enthusiastic players, declaring a green space at the end of Park Point their home field and constructing goal posts out of poplar trees, the UMD rugby team was born. 

 

UMD's captain Blake Martin was named the tournament's MVP based on his superior work rate and leadership, while the forward pack of Derreck Van Klein, Sam Torvinen, and Austin Haecherl each had one try and converted on two scrum tries in the winning effort.

 

Trace Bolstad helped UMD's cause with two conversions in the match, while Cody Christenson also had a conversion for the Fighting Penguins.

 

Buntrock and Andy Godeen manned the engine room for Duluth almost the entire weekend. They relished every scrum and the chance to sap the energy from Salisbury’s and Whitewater’s forward packs.

 

The “engine room” is the second row of forwards (also known as locks) of the scrum and the target men in the lineout, meaning that they need to be tall, powerful players with excellent scrummaging technique and pinpoint timing.

 

“Our front row sets a good base for them and they were doing a great job driving through, for basically 160 minutes over two days,” said Duluth Coach Jeramy Katchuba of his locks. “We pride ourselves in our fitness level, and Godeen played two full matches as a second row, and when you’re scrummaging that much and you’re doing that well, that’s a lot of work.”

 

2013 was a big year for the UMD Men's Rugby Club, the Fighting Penguins. The Penguins had an undefeated record, shutting out many of their opponents. The highest points they gave out during a game was just seven points.

 

The men's rugby team is graduating one starter, Godeen, but will have the rest of the team back for the 2014 season.

 

Duluth Fighting Penguins Rugby is a championship caliber rugby team that plays in the Northern Lights Conference and is part of UMD's Recreational Sports Outdoor Program. 

 

Buntrock is  is the son of Kevin and Nancy Buntrock and is looking to earn a degree in writing.