Augsburg University Athletics

Larssen was an outstanding athlete in two sports at Augsburg, soccer and track and field. Named the MIAC’s Most Valuable Player in 1996, Larssen played three seasons of soccer for the Auggies, finishing her career with 14 goals and 23 assists for 51 points. She currently ranks second in school history in career assists, sixth in points and 10th in goals. Larssen earned All-MIAC honors in each of her three seasons (1993, 1995, 1996), while earning UMBRO All-Central Region honors in 1995. In track and field, Larssen was one of the top sprinters in school history, setting school records in both the 100- (11.96 seconds) and 200-meter (25.05 second) dashes that stood for eight years. She qualified for the NCAA Division III national championships five times -- in the outdoor 100-meter dash in 1996, 1997 and 1998, and in the outdoor 200-meter dash in 1997 and 1998. At the 1998 national championships, she earned All-America honors twice, finishing sixth in the 200 and third in a dramatic three-way photo finish in the 100. She earned Outstanding Performance of the Meet honors at the 1998 MIAC outdoor championships with her conference-record 11.96-second victory in the 100. A native of Oslo, Norway, Larssen earned her degree in chemistry from Augsburg and later earned her master’s (interactive multimedia) and doctorate (computer science) degrees from the University of Technology, Sydney (Australia). Currently, Larssen serves as an assistant professor in the computer science department at Ashesi University College in Accra, Ghana, the first liberal arts college in West Africa. Larssen and her husband, Matthew Taggart, have two children, Ingrid Akosua and Benjamin Owusu.