SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana indoor track & field squad is ready to take on the NSIC Championships in Mankato, Minnesota, Friday and Saturday. 

Complete action can be found at GoAugie.com/Live where there will be a live stream of each field event and a camera on the track at all times. The meet will begin Friday at 9:20 a.m., while Saturday races begin at 8:50 a.m.

Back in December, Nyanas Kur was named as a preseason track athlete to watch after having a strong Sophomore season. Now in her Junior season, she has the fifth-best time in the conference in the women's 200 meters, where she recently finished first in the SDSU Last Chance on Feb. 16. Joining Kur on the entry list for the 200m dash is Lily Juhnke and Jennifer Noutsougan.  

On the men's side, Andrew Martens was named a preseason track athlete after being named NSIC All-Academic, placing ninth at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.032, 60m Hurdles National Qualifier and NSIC 60m Hurdles Champion. Now in his junior season, Martens holds the second-best time in the NSIC in the men's 60m hurdles with a time of 7.94. 

Other notable men's athletes who have had a strong campaign this season include Ryan Hartman, Jesse Kaas, Tyson Ricker, Erik Gundersen, and Ethan Boyens. 

Hartman kicked off the indoor season in tremendous fashion as he broke the South Dakota Collegiate record in indoor 5k with a time of 13:54.58 at the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. The junior distance runner will take part in the men's 1 mile and the men's 1000 meter run, Hartman holds the best 1 mile time in the conference. 

Kaas holds the best conference time in the men's 3000 meters with a time of 8:22.29, he will run in the men's 3000 meter run and men's 5000-meter run.

Ricker will take part in the men's 3000-meter run and the men's 800-meter run. The freshman runner ran to a fifth-place finish in the SDSU Holiday Open & Multi in early December with a time of 8:39.23.

Gundersen sits second in the conference in two events as he ran to a time of 8:31.69 in the 3000-meter run and bolted to a time of 14:42.60 in the 5000-meter. 

Sophomore runner Boyens recorded a top-five time in the conference in the 600 meters with a time of 1:22.98. 

On the women's side, multiple Vikings are poised to finish strong as Aubrey Surage sits second in the conference in the 5000-meter run with a time of 16:59.65. Surage also claimed the sixth spot in the conference in the 3000-meter run with a time of 10:02.30. 

Ashley Overgaauw opened up her freshman campaign strong as she holds the second-best time in the conference in the 1000-meter with a time of 2:58.03 and is ranked to finish second in the event this weekend. 

Caroline Sudbeck is entered in the women's 800 meter run where she holds a college best time of 2:12.46. 

Sudbeck is joined on the relay team with Kur, Maia Peterson, and Ella Heinitz in the women's 4x400 relay team that holds a season best time of 3:50.70 and is expected to be a strong contender in the championship event. 

Maria Pedroso and Kylee Sallee claim top five spots in the Pentathlon with scores of 3,451 and 3,380. Pedroso has also jumped to the seventh-best leap in the conference in the women's High Jump as she hit a mark of 1.64 meters. 

The women's distance medley team of Overgaauw (1200), Heinitz (400), Sudbeck (800), and Surage (1 mile) is expected to make a splash this weekend in a highly competitive field. The men's distance medley team of Alex Otten (1200), Tyler Sellin (400), Ricker (800), and Hartman (1 mile) is also expected to cross the finish line in stellar fashion. 

One Last Thing
In last year's NSIC Indoor Championships, Augustana collected six NSIC Champions and eight NSIC All-Conference finishers.