WOMEN'S RESULTS | MEN'S RESULTS

MINNEAPOLIS - Runa Falch set a course record at the Roy Griak Invitational as both men's and women's cross country teams won the Division II race on Saturday morning. The Griak was the first race for the Vikings since they opened the season with the Augustana Twilight Invitational on Sept. 6.

Runa Falch clocked a 21:34.3 on the 6,000-meter course to break the record set back in 2011. Falch was in 13th after the first mile and in 7th at the hallway point, but closed hard in the final 600 meters to take the individual crown.

"What can you say about Runa?" head coach Tracy Hellman commented on Falch's record-breaking performance. "She really ran smart and was in control the whole time. What a way to finish her last year at Augie with a course record at Griak."

Falch led the Vikings to an 83 point total and the team win with fellow Norwegian Kristin Brondbo placing fifth (22:45.8) for the Vikings. Gabi Swoboda and Megan Brown placed 18th and 24th, respectively, and Kaitlyn Yoerg rounded out Augustana's scoring five with a 33rd place finish.

"Runa continues to raise the bar and her passion and competitiveness is contagious. It fuels our team." Hellman said.

The men's team was led by Paul Yak and Adam Braun's 2-3 finish and took home the title with a 53 point total -- nearly 50 points better than the second-place team. Yak finished with a time of 25:21 Braun was right on his tail with a 25:25 final time. 

"It was a great team performance by both our men and women." Hellman said. "In both races, we started conservatively and moved up. We talked about pack running and this was a great execution by both teams. I thought that we had some standout performances and that helped us with our team scores."

Tom Karbo's late surge moved him from the middle of the pack to an 11th-place finish and the men's teamwork helped seal the win with John Klecker and Keegan Carda finishing 18th and 19th, respectively. Augustana's women also implored the pack strategy as they moved up from a conservative start to their finishes that gave the Viking women their second team win in as many races in 2013.

"This was an excellent starting point with our first major competition and I am pleased with the results." Hellman said. "We still have a ways to go to reach our goals, but this was definitely a step in the right direction. We continue the march at the Chili Pepper Invite next Saturday."

The Vikings will head south to Fayeteville, Ark. for the University of Arkanasas-hosted Chili Pepper Invite on Oct. 5.