STRIVE TRIPS WEBSITE

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Augsburg College men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Peru in early January for a nine-day high-altitude training and service learning trip, the first international trip in the cross country program's history.

The Auggies will arrive in Peru on Monday, Jan. 2, and will take part in a series of service projects organized by the trip's arranger, STRIVE Trips, in and around the city of Pisac in the southeastern part of the country. The team will also spend three days in the area of Machu Picchu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most significant archeological sites in the world, an ancient Inca citadel dating to the 15th century. The team will return to the Twin Cities on Jan. 10.

The Auggies will be able to train at high altitudes of 9,500 feet or higher during the trip. The city that the team will be situated in for most of the trip, Pisac, is in the heart of the Andes Mountains, at 9,751 feet above sea level (Click here for STRIVE Trips' Peru page). The team will stay in hostels during its time in Pisac and Machu Picchu, and will fly in and out from the country's capital city, Lima.

"The Augsburg cross country team is excited to embark on our service learning trip to Peru this January," said Augsburg Head Coach Meghan Peyton. "We have been doing a lot of Intercultural Competency Training during the past three months, and I am excited to watch the athletes continue to grow as they are exposed, many of them for the first time, to a culture and society that is vastly different from our own. Fulfilling the Augsburg mission of educating informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers and responsible leaders was top of mind during the past year as this trip was planned, and I believe that we will all return from our trip with an even more keen sense what these four pillars mean to each and every one of us. Furthermore, we will get the chance to train, for the nine days we are in Peru, at 9,500 feet -- literally elevating our Auggie Grit to the next level!"

The team will send updates and photos during the trip, which will be posted on the Augsburg athletic website and its social media.