PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – Dual track meets at the collegiate level are about as rare as nice weather in the Midwest in early April. And, it was that lack of nice weather that forced Augustana to alter its schedule this past weekend and it resulted in one of those rare dual meets. That rare dual meet ended well for Head Coach Paul Olsen's charges as they defeated the Pioneers 207-166 and won 12 events along the way.
 
The Vikings were supposed to compete in LaCrosse, Wisconsin at the Ashton May Invitational but snow and the threat of more snow forced the cancellation of that meet. A few phone calls later and Augustana and Wisconsin-Platteville decided to get together in Platteville, Wisconsin.
 
Fighting cold temperatures and a biting wind, the Vikings won a total of 12 events including all four of the throwing events. Augustana won both relays, four running events and six field events.
 
Senior Travon Aldridge (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) was a busy young man as he won the long jump (21' 11 ½") and the triple jump (43' 3 ¾") and anchored the winning 4x100 relay to a time of :43.31. He was joined on the 4x100 relay by junior Michael Johnson (Owensboro HS, Owensboro, Ky.), freshman Noah Patterson (Mattoon HS, Mattoon, Ill.) and senior Alec Lidinsky (Sandwich HS, Sandwich, Ill.). Patterson also took second in the 100 in :11.02.
 
Senior Ethan Ehlers (St. Joseph HS, Kenosha, Wis.) led a one-two-three sweep in the shot with a winning toss of 52' 2". Senior Kevin Barbian (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) took second (50' 2 ½") and senior Keith King (Peoria Richwoods HS, Peoria, Ill.) placed third (44' 4 ¾"). Barbian won the discus with a toss of 141' 2" and was second in the hammer throw at 168' 6". Junior Cody Wheeler (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) won the hammer throw when he uncorked a distance of 188' 10" while junior Ryan Ganson (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) took the javelin with a throw of 160' 1". Senior Andrew Adams (Downers Grove North HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) placed third in the javelin (155' 0").
 
Senior Jeffrey Swanson (Winnebago HS, Winnebago, Ill) won the 400 in :50.40. Senior Josh Yamamoto (Fremd HS, Palatine, Ill.) with a time of :53.85 and junior Clayton Sommers (Saydell HS, Des Moines, Iowa) in :54.03 completed a one-two sweep in the 400 hurdles. Junior Brandon Wilkerson (Tri-Point HS, Stelle, Ill.) won the 3000 steeplechase in 9:31.9.
 
The Vikings swept the 1500 with senior Mitchell Johnson (Pleasant Plains HS, New Berlin, Ill.) winning in 4:14.65. Senior Tim Hyde (Willowbrook HS, Villa Park, Ill.) was second in 4:18.43 and senior Kevin Claus (Riverdale HS, Port Byron, Ill.) took third in 4:18.66.
 
The 4x400 relay team of sophomore Jack Miller (Alleman Catholic HS, Rock Island, Ill.), freshman Joshua Teets (Burlington Central HS, Maple Park, Ill.), freshman Peyton Couch (Ottawa HS, Marseilles, Ill.) and freshman Bradley Kohler (Woodstock North HS, Woodstock, Ill.) won in 3:27.75. Teets took second in the 800 earlier in the meet with a time of 2:00.87.
 
Senior Alex LaMendola (Dixon HS, Dixon, Ill.) was second in the 200 in :22.22 with senior teammate Kyle Hucker (Wauconda HS, Wauconda, Ill.) close behind him in third (:22.32).
 
Freshman Ryan Thornton (Limestone HS, Mapleton, Ill.) finished second in the high jump with a leap of 6' 4 ¾" and junior Gage Sears (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) was third at 5' 10 ¾". Sophomore Arthur Atwell (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) cleared 14' 0 ½" to take second in the pole vault and junior Patrick Crompton (Hood River HS, Hood River, Ore.) was third with a height of 13' 6 ½".
 
Junior Tyler Burns (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) placed second in the long jump with a leap of 20' 4 ¼". Freshman Mason Wright (Polo Community HS, Woosung, Ill.) was third in the triple jump (41' 9 ¼") and sophomore Whitaker Siaw (Christian Life HS, Rockford, Ill.) placed third in the 100 (:11.27).
 
Augustana will be in action again on Saturday, April 14 at the Carroll Invitational in Waukesha, Wisconsin.