MANKATO, Minn. - Brayan Augustin led the way for the Beavers on Friday as the NSIC Indoor Track & Field Championships got underway, hosted by Minnesota State, Mankato.

Minot State's sophomore jumper turned in one of two podium finishes on the day for the Beavers with a career-best and school-record-setting effort in the long jump, while Minot State also saw distance runners Bailey Wride and Peyton Tuhy turn in two of the top qualifying times in the women's and men's 1,000 meters, respectively, on the first day of competition.

The NSIC Championships conclude Saturday.

Augustin, a two-sport student-athlete who also plays football, broke his own NCAA Division II-era indoor school record with a career-best leap of 22 feet, 8 inches during Friday's NSIC Championships, finishing 8^th in the event and scoring the Minot State men's team a team point. He broke his own record of 22 feet, 5 inches from earlier this season.

The Beaver men grabbed another point in the men's distance medley relay as the quartet of Holter Bridwell, Zander Grover, Camden Jasmin, and Jake Jenkins finished 8^th as well in the DMR in 10 minutes, 48.94 seconds.

The 2 team points put the Minot State men 11^th overall after 5 events in the team standings. Host Minnesota State leads the team title chase with 41 points, with Augustana in second with 27 points.

The Minot State ladies did not score any team points on Friday, but look poised to do well Saturday thanks to Wride, who advanced to the 1,000-meter finals with the 4^th-fastest qualifying time Friday in the event of 2 minutes, 59.35 seconds, winning her heat. The defending NSIC champion in the event, Wride will go for back-to-back titles when the finals are run at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Also moving on to the men's 1,000-meter finals is Tuhy, who was second in his heat by fractions of a second with a qualifying time of 2:30.62. Tuhy's time was 2^nd-fastest on the day to only Joseph Ringhand from Mary, who won the heat Tuhy ran in with a time of 2:30.43. Tuhy runs in his final on Saturday at 4:10 p.m.

The rest of the Minot State track and field team will look to add to the Beavers' team point totals, go for titles, and All-NSIC honors when the meet resumes Saturday. The multi-events kick things off at 9 a.m. Individual field events begin at 1 p.m. and running begins at 1:30 p.m., starting with the women's mile.