RESULTS
PHOTO GALLERY

GRINNELL, Iowa -- Five of Augsburg's top seven runners achieved personal-best times, including three all-region performances, as the Auggies ran to a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Division III Central Regional hosted by Grinnell College (Iowa) on Saturday. Augsburg's seventh place finish represents the team's best ever finish at an NCAA Regional (Augsburg restarted the cross country program in 1991 and prior to that time, all cross country teams competed in the NAIA).

Leading the way was Brent Haglund (SR, Fridley, Minn.), who recorded a fifth-place finish with a time of 25:11.3, cutting more than a minute off his time from the MIAC Championships two weeks ago. The fifth place finish earns Haglund his second consecutive all-region honor.

Next for the Auggies was Ben Rodriguez (SO, Buffalo, Minn.), who finished in 30th place, posting a personal-best time of 26:05.2. Rodriguez's time was 11 seconds faster than his previous best, set earlier this season at the UW-La Crosse Invitational. Also recording a person-best time for Augsburg was veteran Shane Wyborny (SR, Detroit Lakes, Minn.), who finished with a time of 26:14.4, good for 34th place. Wyborny cut 32 seconds of his previous-best, also set this season at the UW-La Crosse Invitational. Both Rodriguez and Wyborny earned their first all-region honors due to their top-35 finishes.

Newcomer Matt Schafer (FY, New Brighton, Minn./Irondale HS) continued his impressive Auggie debut season, posting a 43rd place finish with a time of 26:30.5, recording a personal-best time by nearly 15 seconds in the process. Schafer was the top first-year runner in the meet. Rounding out the top-five for Augsburg was Victor Sanchez (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest HS), who finished 50th with a time of 26:38.1, cutting nearly 40 seconds off his time from the MIAC Championships.

Augsburg's Geoffrey Gillmor (SO, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) and Ryan Norman (FY, North Branch, Minn./North Branch HS), finished sixth and seventh for the Auggies, both recording personal-best times in the process. Gillmor finished with a time of 27:09.9, while Norman posted a time of 28:01.4.

The Auggies now await the announcement from the NCAA Championships Selection Committee to determine if they will receive one of the at-large bids to the NCAA Championships. The 2009 NCAA Championships will be held in Cleveland Ohio on Saturday, Nov. 21.