SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Nyanas Kur is a freshman on the Augustana track & field team. She made her collegiate debut at the D2 Invitational hosted by SDSU on Friday, having an impressive start to her young career. 

Kur, hailing from Sioux Falls, advanced to the 60m finals, running a time of 7.93. It marked the second-fastest time in the preliminary round, then improved on her prelims time to place fourth in 7.86. Her time was among one of the best in Augustanas' history, climbing to No. 5 on the Top-10 list.

The Washington High School product had a break before running her favorite event, the 200m. She placed fifth in the race, running a time of 25.42, notching another time within Augustana's Top-10 list, coming in at No. 3 all-time.

"I ran it [the 200m] and it felt super good," said Kur. "I think I jumped a little when I looked at the time."

Augustana's associate head coach Greg Binstock has seen Kur's determination since she arrived in August.

"Nyanas always brings energy to practice," said Binstock. "She is someone who is quiet when you first meet her, but once you get to know her, she has an incredibly infectious personality.

"She is smaller in stature, but that shouldn't fool you because she will never back down from a competition."

Making the transition from high school to college track is not always easy. Although Kur was able to find guidance from her teammates.

"I went up to some of the seniors a few times during the meet wondering how or when I was supposed to warm up," Kur said about her first meet.

Binstock attested to the adjustment from high school to collegiate track & field.

"College track & field can feel very different from high school, but they have done an exemplary job of buying into our program.

"This is a big adjustment and sometimes the year can feel long during training stints, but these young athletes are working through the year very well."

Kur was not the only freshman to see a Top-10 performance. Ella Heinitz, Kylee Sallee and Anna Schmidt also made their way up the ladder at the D2 Invitational.

Heinitz was also in the 60m dash, clocking in at 7.88, while Sallee made her mark in the long jump with a leap of 18-00.50. Both performances are seventh on the Top-10 indoor list. 

Schmidt placed ninth overall with a vault of 10-00. 

Coach Binstock has been impressed with the early success of the freshmen class.

"Our women's freshmen class will be one of our best. They are working very hard right now and believe in the process.

"Right now they are learning from their older peers and coaches and over time at Augustana, this group will leave their mark on Augustana track & field."

The men of Augustana have also turned out notable marks early in the season.

NSIC Preseason Field Athlete of the Year, Tyl Woelber, has two marks within the top-six in the NSIC coming in the high jump (6-6.75) and the long jump (22-11.75).

A few Vikings have top marks from the first meet of the season standing high within the conference ranks.

Lawrence Lokonobei has clocked the third-fastest 60m hurdle time in the conference running 8.25, just shy of the NCAA DII Provisional Qualifying time. Freshman Gavin Fischer ran 22.20 in the 200m back on Dec. 3, which marks him tied for the seventh-best time in the NSIC this season. Matthew Schoessow's performance in the 600m (1:23.80) is the fourth-best in the conference.

The Vikings return to action at the Mark Schuck Open hosted by Minnesota State taking place on Friday and Saturday. Both live results and live video can be found at GoAugie.com/Live

–GoAugie.com–