NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's track & field team boasted four individual conference champions and finished third as a team at the CCIW Outdoor Track & Field Championships over the weekend. 

On Friday, Joe Langridge highlighted a successful day for the Vikings, winning the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 8:57.15, good for a conference meet record. The senior sat in second place for most of the race before a late surge through the final 400 meters put him out in front. Finbar Martin and Donovan Garro also scored in the race, with Martin's time of 9:24.58 placing him fourth and Garro's mark of 9:32.74 putting him in eighth. AJ Banks posted a time of 14.41 in the 110 hurdles prelims, also good for a meet record. Andrew Johns tallied a point in the 10,000m for Augie.

In field events, Magnus Wells and Landon Wierenga both placed in the top eight to score for the Vikings, while Wells came in second in the javelin with a toss of 59.47m. Hudson and Wierenga also found success in the javelin to make it three Vikings in the top eight, with Hudson placing fourth with a distance of 54.73m and Wierenga in seventh at 50.06m. Noah DeMarco and Dakota Straight both earned top-five standings in the pole vault.

Staying in field events on Saturday, Wells continued his momentum with a title in the shot put after posting a mark of 15.81m. Wells also placed second in the javelin and sixth in the discus on the day. Wierenga was the top Augie finisher in the discus with a fifth-place standing. Mike Hudson won the decathlon for the second year in a row, stretching his seven-point lead on Friday to over 400 by the end of Saturday's events. August Haak also scored with an eighth-place finish. Caden Eller scored for Augustana after earning sixth in the high jump with a mark of 1.83m.

On the track, Banks was the CCIW champion in the 400m hurdles with a time of 53.49 to make it four individual titles on the weekend for the team. Banks also finished second in the 110m hurdles after clocking 14.61, with teammate Brayden Veil coming in fifth at 15.44. Langridge continued his successful weekend with a second-place standing in the 5,000m after putting up a time of 14:45.92. Martin also scored in the race in the seventh place, while Garro earned a point in the 1,500m in eighth. Ben Char secured a fourth-place time of 21.75 in the 200m and also was a part of the 4x400 relay team that finished third. Banks, Char, Jaymel Brackens, and Mohamed Benbrahim crossed the finish line 3:22.36 to earn six points for the Vikings. 

Following the meet, Wells was named the CCIW Field Athlete of the Meet after scoring in four events. He is the first Augustana student-athlete on the men's side to win Field Athlete of the Meet since Travon Aldridge in 2018. Mitch Dolynchuk ws named the recipient of the CCIW's RESPECT Award.

The Vikings placed third as a team with 125 points, their best finish at the outdoor championships since 2019.