UND T&F: Fighting Hawks Visit Vermillion for South Dakota Challenge

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – After breaking four school records and posting 16 improvements to the UND top-10 list last week, the North Dakota track and field teams will head to Vermillion, S.D., to compete in the South Dakota Challenge this Thursday through Saturday.

The meet begins Thursday at 5 p.m. with the 400-meter hurdles and a distance carnival. Friday is field-event heavy, commencing with field events at 2:30 p.m. and the 200-meter dashes taking place on the track at 5:30 p.m. Field events kick off the meet on Saturday at 10 a.m., while running events will start at Noon.

Teams Competing in the South Dakota Challenge: North Dakota, North Dakota State, Omaha, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Briar Cliff, Buena Vista, Dakota State, Minot State, Morningside, Mount Marty, Northwestern (Iowa), Sioux Falls and Wayne State.

Ranked in the Midwest Region
The North Dakota women moved up five spots in the latest Midwest Region Rankings of the NCAA Division I track and field poll, sliding up to No. 14 in the region. The only Summit League teams ahead of the Fighting Hawks are South Dakota in seventh and North Dakota State at the 11-spot.

Elise Ulseth is the top Hawk regionally, holding the top spot in the heptathlon, while also sitting fifth in the javelin and seventh in the long jump. Erica Benson ranks seventh regionally in the heptathlon, followed by Brooklynn Gould in eighth. Elle Thorson sits just outside the top-10 and is ranked 12th in the region in the heptathlon.

The Fighting Hawk men also improved two spots and are now sitting at No. 24 in the Midwest Region. Luke Labatte is the highest ranked Hawk regionally and is sixth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Austin Wolf is in the top-15, sitting No. 12 in the region in the high jump.

Heptathlon Highlights USTFCCA #EventSquad Rankings
After all four heptathletes recorded improvements at the Bryan Clay Invitational last week, North Dakota is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation in the heptathlon #EventSquad Rankings. The Fighting Hawks have 20,329 points as a heptathlon group and trail only Duke with 22,198 points. The #EventSquad rankings use the best qualifying marks from a team’s top-four ranked athletes in the event. The previous week, North Dakota was not ranked in the heptathlon
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North Dakota has four #EventSquads ranked highly:
• #2 – Women’s Heptathlon
• #24 – Women’s Long Jump
• #29 – Women’s Javelin
• #32 – Women’s High Jump

Heptathletes Make Program History at Bryan Clay Invitational
The Fighting Hawks broke four school records and posted 16 improvements to the UND top-10 lists at the Bryan Clay Invitational and Pacific Coast Intercollegiate last week. The improvements to the UND top-10 list was highlighted by the heptathletes, who currently own the top-four spots on the list.

Elise Ulseth finished in third place in her section of the heptathlon with a personal-best point total of 5,685 points and breaking her record of 5,500 points set at the Texas Relays earlier this season. Ulseth’s point total currently ranks No. 9 in the NCAA.

On her way to the heptathlon school record, Ulseth broke her own program record in the long jump with a leap of 20-0 1/4 (6.10m). That mark made Ulseth the first Hawk to go over 20-0 in the long jump in school history. Ulseth also recorded the top throw in her section of the javelin with a distance of 149-5 (45.55m). In total, the Kristiansun, Norway, native finished with four new PR’s in the seven events, including the shot put (36-11, 11.25m), 200 meters (25.66) and 800 meters (2:17.73).

Erica Benson became the second Fighting Hawk in program history to eclipse the 5,000-point mark in the heptathlon, finishing ninth in her section with 5,020 points. That point total ranks second in school history.

In the heptathlon, Benson recorded a personal-best of 18-5 (5.61m) in the long jump on day two to improve her No. 10 mark in school history. Benson was later bumped from the top-10 list in the event later that day when Autumn Stokes entered the top-10 list with the No. 8 leap in school history (18-6 1/2, 5.65m) at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate, making Benson’s long jump personal-best sit just outside the top-10 list currently. Benson’s biggest event improvement came in the shot put where she smashed her previous best of 35-1 1/4 (10.70m) with a throw of 38-1 1/2 (11.62m). Benson also recorded a personal-best in the 100-meter hurdles (15.17) and 800 meters (2:21.79).

Brooklynn Gould competed along with Benson in section two of the heptathlon and became the third Hawk in history to amass more than 5,000 points in the event, finishing 10th with a PR point total of 5,014. Gould’s point total currently ranks No. 3 in school history.

Gould recorded two event improvements on the UND top-10 list on her way to her PR in the heptathlon. She put down the No. 4 mark in school history in the long jump with a leap of 18-9 3/4 (5.73m) and also ran the No. 9 time in program history in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 14.82. Along with her improvements on the UND top-10 list, Gould tied her personal-best leap of 4-11 3/4 (1.52m) in the high jump, ran a PR of 25.62 in the 200 meters and clocked a personal-best time of 2:20.91 in the 800 meters.

Elle Thorson competed in the early section of the heptathlon and took third with a personal-best total of 4,610 points, moving her up to No. 4 in school history in the event. Thorson recorded personal bests in all four heptathlon events on day one and finished the competition with five PR’s in the seven events.

Thorson’s most remarkable improvement came in the shot put, where she obliterated her previous best of 31-7 1/4 (9.63m) with a toss of 34-8 1/2 (10.58m). Thorson had the second-best long jump leap in her section with a mark of 17-6 (5.33m) and tied for the second-best high jump mark in her section with a PR leap of 5-3 1/4 (1.61m). Thorson also put down personal-bests in the 100-meter hurdles (15.46), 200 meters (26.30) and 800 meters (2:36.08).

The beginning of the UND top-10 list in the heptathlon currently reads…
• #1 – Elise Ulseth – 5,658 points
• #2 – Erica Benson – 5,020 points
• #3 – Brooklynn Gould – 5,014 points
• #4 – Elle Thorson – 4,610 points

School Records Fall in California
A total of four school records fell last week, with the first two records coming late Wednesday night at the Bryan Clay Invitational, including one that came after midnight in North Dakota Time.

Nelson Ruto was the final Hawk to compete on Wednesday, at approximately 12:05 a.m. (CT), and did not disappoint, shattering the school record in the Invitational 10,000 meters with a personal-best time of 29:49.79. His time broke the record of 30:05.24 set by Josh LaBlanc in 2011.

Luke Labatte broke his own record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and improved it by over seven seconds with a personal-best time of 8:54.44. Labatte’s time currently ranks No. 33 in the NCAA West Region and No. 54 in the NCAA.

Elise Ulseth broke two of her own school records, setting a new PR in the heptathlon with 5,685 points and currently sits No. 9 in the NCAA. On her way to the heptathlon record, Ulseth also broke her own program record in the long jump with a leap of 20-0 1/4 (6.10m).

Late Wednesday night, Jadyn Keeler ran a time of 10:57.49 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, bettering her previous best by over 10 seconds. At the time of the meet, it was believed that time broke the school record of Veronica Sackett who ran a time of 10:58.70 at the conference meet in 2004; however, further research shows Sackett clocked a time of 10:51.74 in St. Thomas in 2005 and Jessica Lynch ran a time of 10:57.30 at Coastal Carolina in 2015, which were never added to the UND Top-10 list. With the correction, Sackett remains the record holder in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, while Keeler moved up to No. 3 with her PR time at the Bryan Clay Invitational last week.

UND Top-Eight Finishers Last Week

On Tap
North Dakota will compete in the Drake Relays on April 27-30, while select Fighting Hawks will also compete at the Kip Janvrin Open on April 29.

*Tyler Wells, UND Athletics