MANKATO, Minn. – Augustana men's and women's track and field opened up the first day of the NSIC Indoor Championships in tremendous fashion as six Vikings were named NSIC Champions and an additional four Vikings garnered All-Conference honorees. 

The medley distance relay team of Alex Otten, Tyler Sellin, Tyson Ricker, and Ryan Hartman opened up the championship in podium fashion as the team crossed the podium in first place and were named NSIC Champions with a time of 10:06.83. 

Two-sport athlete Bryn Greenwaldt jumped into being an NSIC Champion, recording a leap of 1.67m. Greenwaldt was named NSIC Swimmer of the Year last week and is now the reigning women's indoor high jump champion. 

Erik Gundersen rocketed to an NSIC Championship in the men's 5000m as he crossed the finish line at 14:46.89. Gundersen was joined by Jesse Kaas and Evan Myran who garnered All-Conference honors with second and third place. 

Maria Pedroso recorded a second-place finish in the women's high jump, placing second with a leap of 1.67m.

Aubrey Surage and Ella Bakken grabbed podium finishes and All-Conference honors in the women's 5000m with times of 17:02.01 and 17:09.49. 

Andrew Martens crossed the finish line with a time of 8.01 in the men's 60m hurdle preliminaries and secured a spot in Saturday's final with a third-place finish. 

Hartman turned on the burners in the men's 1000m preliminaries and crossed the finish line first with a time of 2:32.08 and will race in the finals on Saturday. Hartman's DMR teammate Ricker scored a spot in Saturday's final with an eighth-place finish and time of 1:58.93 in the men's 800m. 

Ethan Boyens and Matthew Schoessow earned spots in Saturday's men's 600m finals as they crossed the finish line in second and third with times of 1:24.05 and 1:25.34. 

Maia Peterson continued the Vikings' strong day with a fourth-place finish in the women's 400m preliminaries and earned a spot in the finals with a time of 58.12. 

Sydnee Serck collected a new personal record in the women's 600m preliminaries and scored a spot in the finals with a time of 1:37.76.

The duo of Nyanas Kur and Lily Juhnke will be running in Saturday's 200m final as they both earned qualifying times of 25.03 and 25.63. 

Caroline Sudbeck propelled to Saturday's 800m final with a qualifying time of 2:15.26. Teammate Ashley Overgaauw continued her strong season with a second-place finish in the women's 1000m run with a time of 2:59.35 and a spot in Saturday's final. 

Director of Track & Field/Cross Country - Tracy Hellman
"It was a great first day at the indoor championships. I felt like our teams were ready to go and it showed in the results. Our men's DMR started the day with a great race to get the win and the 5k crew closed out the day with some big team points. Over the day, we had kids qualifying for the finals and getting points for the team. Our jumpers had a great day as we placed high in both the long jump and high jump.  Overall it was a solid first day but we know we have to bring our best effort tomorrow.  We will be ready and motivated for the final day of the indoor championships"

Up Next
The Vikings return to action tomorrow for the second and final day of the NSIC Indoor Championships in Mankato, Minnesota. The events begin at 9:00 a.m.