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SMU Invitational Saturday, Sept. 2 |
 Invitational |
SMU's Berndt finds plenty to smile about at season-opening meet
| 1. Augustana 17 |
| 2. Luther 80 |
| 3. Saint Mary's 88 |
| 4. Concordia-SP 99 |
| 5. Winona State 102 |
| 6. Northwestern 172 |
| 7. Crown 197 |
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Men's Team
Standings |
| 1. Augustana 27 |
| 2. Luther 30 |
| 3. Winona State 92 |
| 4. Concordia-SP 114 |
| 5. Northwestern 123 |
| 6. Saint Mary's 148 |
| 7. SMU Alumni 192 |
| 8. Crown 207 |
Just don't ask him where his teams placed.
That's the least of his concerns.
"This meet is all about getting back into a competitive mode," said Berndt, whose women's team placed third in the seven-team field, while the SMU men were sixth among eight teams. "It's been a long offseason and it's important for everyone to get back into the swing of things.
"We aren't concerned about team finishes at this point in the season — we were finish as a team is the least of our worries. How each person did individually, that's our top priority right now."
Tera Bollig (Cambridge, Minn.) led the Cardinal women's charge, placing seventh overall with a five-kilometer time of 20:25. Augustana's Jullian Tholen led a 1-2-3 finish as the Vikings placed five runners in the top six en route to the women's team title.
John Vallez (Eagan, Minn.) was the Cardinals' first finisher on the men's side, as the freshman put together a time of 23:39 over the four-mile course. Augustana completed the team sweep, getting a first-place effort from Chad Backsen in edging Luther by three points.
"I thought we had some very good performances — both from our returners and our freshmen," said Berndt. "This meet is always a good measuring stick for everyone — and I think we measured up pretty well."
Along with Bollig's seven-place effort — the fastest NCAA Division III time of the day — SMU got a 12th-place time of 20:56 from Kate Boisjolie (Austin, Minn.), followed by Anne Shutte (Columbia Heights, Minn. / 28th, 21:42), Kim Koecheler (St. Paul, Minn. / 29th, 21:55) and Ashley Davis (Hugo, Minn. / 30th, 21:57).
Andy Accola (DeForest, Ill.) followed up Vallez's 15th-place effort with a 35th-place time of 24:44, while Martin Howard (Chicago, Ill. / 53rd, 25:42), Jon Sopcak (Steamwood, Ill. / 61st, 26:17) and Dan Applen (Redwood Falls, Minn. / 67th, 26:49) rounded out the top five.
"Our times aren't quite where I'd like them to be," admitted Berndt. "But we've been training very hard lately — this was more like a speed workout with a race result."