CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The Augustana Vikings men's and women's teams opened the season at the Jack Jennett Invitational hosted by the Northern Illinois Panthers on Friday. The men's team earned a fourth-place finish, while the women grabbed third. The team saw several event winners and multiple lifetime bests against teams ranging across different divisions. 

On the men's side, Joe Langridge grabbed first place in the mile with a time of 4:17.77, which is a lifetime best and was nine seconds faster than the individual that followed. With the top time, Langridge sits at No. 21 in the mile in Division III and is No. 10 all-time at Augie. 

Another top finisher was Connor McBride, who won the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.85 and out-ran the second place by .02. The 4x400 meter relay team of McBride, Cameron Tomko, Jason Smith, and Dean Check grabbed a second-place finish with a time of 3:30.50. 

In field events for the men, Derek Butts won the pole vault event with a finishing height of 4.40 meters, which marked a new lifetime best. 

For the women, Anna Boardman crossed the finish line first in the 3000-meter race with a time of 10:37.70, which was 4.5 seconds faster than the runner-up. Emma Odle finished second in the mile at 5:20.04, which was less than a second under the first-place time. The 4x400 meter relay team of McKenzie Reser, Cora Deemer, Elizabeth Hayes, and Jordyn Van Santen found victory with a time of 4:16.53 to help highlight running events. Van Santen anchored a lifetime best split to help clinch the race for the Vikings.

In field events for the women, Rhiannon Marshall and Allison Hunt both grabbed a top-three finish in the high jump with a height of 1.51 meters. 

On Saturday, the team sent a group of athletes to Monmouth for the Monmouth Invitational. Ethan Gabrys was the top finisher in 60-meter hurdle with a time of 9.72. Heather Michalski took third in the shot put with a toss of 11.42m, while Luke Cowan was second on the men's side with a heave of 13.35m. Michalski also took second in the weight throw with a final mark of 13.91m. Afi Gati took fourth in the event with a toss of 13.36m. In the men's throw, Magnus Wells finish third with a mark of 15.88m, followed by Cowan in fourth with a 14.91m toss. 

The Vikings will be back in action on Thursday, January 25 for the two-day Dutch Winter Multi in Pella, Iowa.