Ulseth Named Summit League Athlete of the Month

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – University of North Dakota heptathlete Elise Ulseth was named The Summit League Athlete of the Month, league officials announced on Thursday afternoon. The award this month counts both activities that occurred in the month of May and at the beginning of June.

Ulseth becomes the first women’s track & field student-athlete at UND to earn the award and the second Fighting Hawk this year to gain the accolade, joining current women’s basketball player Kacie Borowicz who claimed the honor in January. The Norwegian native also becomes the fourth female Hawk in school history to achieve the status of Summit League Athlete of the Month, aligning herself with the ranks of not only Borowicz, but also former UND student-athletes in Lexi Klabo (women’s basketball, Dec. 2018) and Olivia Swenson (soccer, Sept. 2018).

At the beginning of June, Ulseth gained honorable mention All-America accolades at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, finishing 17th in the heptathlon with 5,362 points – just one spot shy of Second Team All-America status. By competing at the National Championships, Ulseth became the first combined events athlete at UND to ever compete at a National Championship meet.

Towards the end of May at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, Ulseth took 23rd in the javelin with a throw of 154-0 (46.95m). With that finish, Ulseth recorded the top finish by a UND javelin thrower at the NCAA Regionals since 2016. The Norwegian native also took 39th in the long jump with a leap of 19-2 1/2 (5.85m), finishing with the best leap in Division I history at North Dakota at the regional meet.

Midway through May, Ulseth earned the title of Field Events Championship MVP at the end of the Summit League Championships. Ulseth reached the podium on the first day of the conference meet, taking the silver medal in the javelin with a mark of 151-3 (46.11m). On day two of the championships, Ulseth claimed the gold medal in the long jump with a personal-best leap of 20-10 3/4 (6.37m) for a new school record, obliterating her previous record of 20-0 1/4 (6.10m). Ulseth also finished fifth in the high jump with a height of 5-7 1/4 (1.71m) on day two. On the final day of the conference championships, Ulseth placed third for the bronze medal in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 13.97, also breaking her own school record in prelims the day before with a PR time of 13.65.