MIAC CROSS COUNTRY PAGE

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Augsburg College women's cross country team is looking to make strides up the ladder at the 2011 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships. With all five of the team's top finishers from last year's competition back again this season, along with the addition of some talented first-year runners, Augsburg is poised to improve its position in the overall standings this season. The conference meet will be held this Saturday (10/29) at Como Park Golf Course in St. Paul. Action begins at 2 p.m.

Augsburg has seen improvement throughout the season, as five runners recording personal-best 6,000-meter times on Sept. 30 at the Wisconsin-Eau Claire Open.

The Auggies have been led by a veteran group of runners including Kacie Bahr (SR, Brainerd, Minn.) Anika Clark (SO, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) and Haley Diem(JR, Stillwater, Minn.). Diem and Bahr have finished among the team's top three performers in every race this season, while Clark has recorded a top-four team finish in every race this year. Diem has shown significant improvement over her performance a season ago, as her time of 24:34 at the Wisconsin-Eau Claire Open is almost two minutes faster than her season-best time last year. Bahr's time of 24:39 at the same race also marked a personal best performance during her four-year career at Augsburg.

Augsburg newcomer Hannah Ehling (FY, Montevideo, Minn.) has been solid addition to the team this season, as she has posted four top-three team finishes this year, including a season-best time of 25:02 at the Wisconsin-LaCrosse Invitational Oct. 15.

Jennifer Pulscher (SR, Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty HS) and Shayla Fulford (SO, Perham, Minn.) should also be in contention for Augsburg this weekend, as both runners have shown improvement throughout the season. Pulscher and Fulford posted season-best performances for the Auggies at the Wisconsin-La Crosse meet.

Carissa Miller (JR, Woodbury, Minn.), Emily Knudson (FY, Lake Elmo, Minn./Stillwater HS) and Adrienne Young (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./St. Anthony Village HS), will round out the Augsburg team, and have all shown improvement this season.