ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Augustana claimed three individual events and placed third as a team Saturday at the Washington University Mini Meet at Francis Stadium. Coach Jake Shaver's squad will open the outdoor home season with the Viking Olympics on Saturday, March 30 at Paul V. Olsen Track.
 
Shaver got winning efforts from senior Brandon Wilkerson (Tri-Point HS, Stelle, Ill.) in the 3000 (8:47.50), senior Clayton Sommers (Saydel HS, Des Moines, Iowa) in the 400 hurdles (:53.59) and junior Joshua Mathis (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) in the discus (144' 10") .
 
Senior Ryan Ganson (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) turned in a second-place 164' 10" in the javelin, while Mathis put the shot 46' 4¼" to place third.
 
Augustana had three-place winners in the pole vault. Seniors Mark VanderHeyden (Mercer County HS, Aledo, Ill.) and Patrick Crompton (Hood River HS, Hood River, Ore.) each cleared 13' 3½" to tie for third and fifth, respectively, based on fewest misses. Sophomore Kyle Baus (Naperville Central HS, Naperville, Ill.) went 12' 3½" to place eighth.
 
Freshman Jack MacDonald (Batavia HS, Batavia, Ill.) finished sixth in the long jump with a mark of 20' 4¼" and junior Brandon Keleher (Orion HS, Orion, Ill.) leapt 20' 3½" to place eighth. Keleher also went 42' 6" to finish seventh in the triple jump.
 
Senior Michael Johnson (Owensboro HS, Owensboro, Ky.) turned in a sixth-place :22.45 in the 200. Freshman  Judd Anderson (Farmington HS, Elmwood, Ill.) placed sixth (:15.98) in the 110 hurdles and senior Tyler Burns (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) cleared 5' 8¾" to finish sixth in the high jump.
 
Sophomore Josh Teets (Burlington Central HS, Maple Park, Ill.) ran a seventh-place 4:01.10 in the 1500.
 
Shaver's 4x100 relay finished fourth in :42.64 and the 4x400 unit placed sixth in 3:25.87.
 
Host Washington University finished atop the team standings with 226 points. Rose-Hulman was second with 135.5 and Augustana third with 80. Lincoln (Mo.) (68) finished fourth and Webster (62.5) fifth, while Wheaton (55) and Greenville (55) tied for sixth. Illinois College (48) rounded out the standings in eighth place.