MANKATO, Minn. -- The Augustana men's track & field team placed second at the NSIC Championships on Friday in Mankato, Minnesota. Junior Tyl Woelber was the meet's high-point performer for the second-straight year with 29 points. 

The Vikings had a very strong showing in the one and a half day NSIC Championships, amended due to COVID-19 mitigation, but came up 1.5 points short of their first-ever NSIC Indoor Championship. Augustana placed second with 200 points just behind Minnesota State who accumulated 201.5.

Augustana's 200 points came from strong performances by 21 Vikings across the 19 events. The Vikings accounted for six first-place finishes and 17 top-3 spots. 

Also earning an award on the night was senior Tiegen Lindner as he was named the NSIC Elite 18 Award Winner. The full story can be found here. 

Session 2

Starting the second day of competition, and the second session, was the last three events of the heptathlon.

Woelber picked up where he left off Thursday night by winning the 60m hurdles to secure 848 points. He also placed second in the pole vault with a vault of 13-09.25 for 673 points. Freshman Mathias Kollberg placed second in the 1,000m portion for 693 points. 

Woelber won the heptathlon with 5,106 points, his teammates all scored points with the freshmen trio of Kollberg, Muse Abdi, and Jonathan Sikel placing fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

Session 3

Woelber returned for the triple jump in the third session earning a runner-up finish with a jump of 46-02. Sophomore Connor Clayton also tabbed points for the Vikings placing seventh with a jump of 45-04.25.

Starting the distance races was the 5,000m where senior Alec Kray ran a blistering 14:20.27 to take home the second spot. Kray's time was 13 seconds faster than the NSIC record set in 2018. Junior Henry Klitzke took the third spot running 14:35.52. Sophomore Kray Person's sixth-place finish in a time of 14:57.37 ensured Augustana would come out with points from all three entered.

Following the 5,000m was the mile where Augustana showed no flaws with all five Vikings entered claiming the top-five spots. Senior Austin Miller led the charge running a 4:08.88, which broke the NSIC record set in 2018. Junior Evan Johnson and Matt Steiger rounded out all-conference running 4:10.85 and 4:15.01, respectively.

Big performances by the freshmen duo of Colten Brand and Ryan Hartman placing fourth and fifth in times of 4:15.12 and 4:17.55. 

The 400m showcased senior Ryan Sully picking up points by placing sixth in 50.39.

In the 600m, all three Vikings entered left scoring points. Junior Noah Melton claimed runner-up in a time of 1:22.09 and senior Tiegen Lindner placed third in 1:22.35. Sophomore Matthew Schoessow placed eighth to conclude the third session. 

Session 4

Woelber returned for more action in the fourth session in the high jump and 60m hurdles placing fifth in both with a jump of 6-04.75 and running 8.52 in the hurdles.

Sophomore Lawrence Lokonobei and junior Justin Kooiman also scored points for Augustana with Lokonobei placing third in a time of 8.23 and Kooiman placing sixth in 8.55 to earn three more points for the Vikings.

Both Miller and Lindner returned for their second event of the day in the 800m. Miller claimed his second victory of the day running a 1:51.91. Lindner finished fourth in 1:56.34 to rake in five points for Augustana

Also returning for their second event were Johnson and Hartman in the 1,000m. The Vikings would take the top three spots with Johnson taking the top spot in 2:29.31 Sophomore Jonah Breuer took runner-up in 2:30.40 with Hartman having a big finish down the homestretch to take home third in 2:30.60.

Concluding the fourth session was the 3,000m where Kray would better Nadir Yusuf who placed first in the 5,000m earlier in the day placing first in a time of 8:23.74 with teammate Klitzke also beating last year's 3,000m champion in a time of 8:25.62. Three more Vikings would score points in the 3,000m with Steiger placing fourth, Brand placing sixth and Person placing eighth with times of 8:28.01, 8:30.08, and 8:48.84, respectively. 

Session 5

The final session of the meet included the long jump with Woelber and Kollberg claiming points placing sixth and seventh with jumps of 22-10 and 22-03.5, respectively.

The distance medley relay took home the victory in a time of 10:20.18 with Johnson running the 1200 leg, freshman Melik Davis on the 400, Breuer running the 800, and Miller anchoring for the Vikings. 

The championship concluded with the 4x400m where Augustana placed fifth in a time of 3:24.62. The relay order was Lokonobei, sophomore Jed Dooyema, Schoessow, and Sully running the anchor

--GoAugie.com--