Track rosters tally two sets of twins

Track and field is often considered an individualized team sport, where athletes typically compete against their own teammates and their previous personal records. But for a few runners on Augustana’s track and field teams, the competition also includes their twin siblings. 

Juniors Cole and Luke Berends and freshmen Amanda and Ashley Overgaauw are two sets of twins on this year’s rosters for Augustana men’s and women’s track and field teams. The Berendses run 100 and 200-yard sprints while the Overgauuws run distance.

Both sets of twins said they started running track when they were old enough to compete with their schools in seventh grade. Luke Berends, a nursing major, said he and his twin brother both did not like baseball, so track and field was the next best option for a sport. 

“We were just these small little guys that could run fast,” Cole Berends, also a nursing major, said. 

Amanda Overgaauw, an engineering physics major, said she and her twin sister both wanted to do track, but she was eventually convinced to do cross country with her sister, too.

“I went to the eligibility meeting, and a parent's friend was like, ‘Oh, it's only a mile. You should do it,’” Amanda Overgaauw said. “And then I signed up that night.” 

Ashley Overgaauw, a sports management major, said having a twin on the same team helps to have a built-in training partner outside of practice. 

“If she can do it, I can do it, so it's like a motivational thing,” Ashley Overgaauw said. 

Amanda Overgaauw said she and her twin sister always push each other to be better and faster. 

“We're there for each other, but we're also competitive too,” Amanda Overgaauw said. 

Luke Berends said he sees having a twin as an advantage because he always has someone there for him, and he also looks out for his twin.  

“I can watch him at practice and be like, ‘I think you should do this,’ and he can do that for me,” Luke Berends said. “But some people don't have that person that's constantly looking at them at practice and critiquing their form.”

Cole Berends said twins help each other out in their sport, but they also sometimes fight.

“We get over it, but sometimes we just have bad days,” Cole Berends said. 

Despite the occasional disagreements, the Berends said they chose to go to Augustana and continue living together because of the track and nursing programs.

“We've done everything together our entire lives, and it's like, why wouldn't we just go somewhere [for college] together?” Luke Berends said. 

The Overgaauws had a similar experience. Ashley Overgaauw said they liked the team and atmosphere when they visited. 

“I thought [the team] was really close, and they seem like a good group of girls and people to run with,” Ashley Overgaauw said. 

Amanda Overgaauw said she and her twin sister originally were not sure if they would end up at the same college, but they then thought about being a package deal for running and sticking together.

“I feel like it'd be hard to go somewhere else because we're close and [your twin]'s kinda like your built-in best friend,” Amanda Overgaauw said.  

Since being at Augustana, both sets of twins have competed against each other in races. Amanda Overgaauw said she has not run in a track meet yet due to injury, but they ran against each other in cross country meets this fall. 

The Overgaauws also ran against each other many times in high school meets, often finishing right next to each other. 

“We [once] played rock, paper, scissors down the final stretch just to see who would win,” Amanda Overgaauw said. 

Amanda Overgaauw said her twin won rock, paper, scissors, and that race. 

As Vikings, the Berends compete against each other often. Cole Berends said they were in the same heat in their first collegiate 200-yard race, and he was just a bit upset that his twin brother beat him. 

Luke Berends said Cole also hands off to him in their 4x100-meter relay. 

“We've done that [handoff] since high school,” Cole Berends said. “It's like muscle memory, just handing it off to him. I know exactly when he's going to put his hand back.” 

Coach Tracy Hellman said both sets of twins had good marks in high school, and it’s always advantageous to recruit athletes together. Hellman said twins are quite common on the track team. 

“We actually have a long history of twins on our team,” Hellman said. “I feel that we have had twins on our team for at least 15 straight years.” 

Hellman said he has noticed that the twins are each other’s best friend, and they are very positive towards the team.  

Ella Bakken, a junior biology major and member of the women’s track and cross country teams, said she met the Overgaauw twins this fall at the Vikings’ yearly team camp in the Black Hills. Bakken described the twins as being quiet initially, but as they opened up, she saw that they were kind, funny and hard-working. 

“On the track, they really push each other to be better and faster,” Bakken said. “This extends off the track as well, whether it be in school or just hanging out.” 

Jonathan Sikel, a senior business major and member of the men’s track team, said he initially struggled to tell the Berends twins apart, but he could tell they were hard workers and fun to be around. 

“Over time, my relationship with the Berends has become a strong friendship,” Sikel said. “We've spent countless hours together, both on and off the track.” 

Sikel said seeing how they support each other on and off the track reminds him and the rest of their teammates of how they should support each other too. 

“Their relationship sets a great example for the rest of us,” Sikel said. 

Identical twins can sometimes struggle with their separate identities, especially when they are always together, on and off the track. 

Cole Berends said the two have always been together besides this past summer, when he went home and his brother stayed in Sioux Falls, which they saw as a good time to establish themselves more as individuals. 

“People don't know us, like, just as me and just as him,” Luke Berends said. “They just think of us as twins.”

Cole Berends said people cannot always tell them apart, but their close friends can because they have very different personalities that set them apart from each other. 

Although both sets of twins said they don’t see a disadvantage to having their twin be their teammate, the Berendses and Overgaauws said people mix them up with the other twin. 

“They'll mix [the names] up in the heat sheets, or you'll run a race, and then people think they ran against you twice or something. Other teams don't realize that we're twins,” Luke Berends said. 

Both the Berends and Overgaauw siblings said having their twin on their team has positively impacted their athletic careers and they are grateful to run collegiately together. 

“I feel like [having my twin] makes it easier, because track isn't an easy sport,” Luke Berends said. “But because you have somebody that's right there doing it with you, you can kind of be like, ‘This sucks, but at least I have someone to go through that pain with me.’”