VERMILLION SD – North Dakota added 13 medals to its count on the final day of the Summit League Outdoor Championships on Saturday, including a pair of gold medals. At the conference meet, UND finished with 18 medals, with five of them being gold.

The Fighting Hawk women had their best performance at an outdoor conference meet since 2019, placing third with 162 points. North Dakota State’s women won the meet with 222 points, trailed by South Dakota (175 points).

On the men’s side, North Dakota finished fifth with 83 points, giving them a one-spot improvement from last season. South Dakota State won the team title with 197 points.

Jadyn Keeler won the gold medal and picked up All-Summit League accolades for the third time of the meet by winning the 5,000-meter crown in a time of 16:09.70 on Saturday evening. With that time, she broke the Summit League Championships record time of 16:16.48, set by Amber Eichkorn of South Dakota at the 2015 conference meet. Keeler beat the rest of the field by over 20 seconds in that race.

Earlier in the day, Keeler was the silver medalist in the 1,500 meters in 4:24.35. On Thursday, Keeler similarly ran away from the field in the 10,000 meters and won in a time of 35:32.01 and finished 25 seconds faster than the rest of the competition. At the end of the meet, Keeler was named the Summit League Track Championship M.V.P.

Kenna Curry was victorious in the shot put and earned the gold medal and All-Summit League status on Saturday with a toss of 51-6 1/4 (15.70m). Earlier in the day, she gained the silver medal in the discus with a throw of 163-7 (49.86m).

Curry was also the gold medalist in the hammer throw with a personal-best distance of 223-1 (68.01m) on Thursday and broke the Summit League Outdoor Championships meet record mark of 217-6 (66.29m), which was set by Maddy Niles of North Dakota State in 2022. Curry was a three-time all-conference performer at the meet and earned the title of Summit League Field Championship M.V.P.

Frida Giersdorff gained the silver medal and All-Summit League honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Saturday morning with a time of 10:44.92.

Ethan Thomas scored the final six points for the North Dakota men and earned the bronze medal and All-Summit League status in the shot put with a throw of 58-0 1/4 (17.68m). Earlier in the afternoon, he took fourth in the discus with a toss of 175-5 (53.47m). At the conclusion of the meet, Thomas was named the Newcomer of the Championships.

Henrik Lindstrot was the bronze medalist and picked up All-Summit League accolades in the men’s section of the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:01.79. Teammate Louis-Lys Fanucchi was right behind Henrik Lindstrot and was fourth in 9:08.19, trailed by Eric Weiss in seventh in 9:30.83.

Jiri Ceska surged in the final 100 meters to earn the silver medal and All-Summit League accolades in the 800 meters with a time of 1:51.51.

Jory Vasek and Jerzie Finstad were both the runners-up in their respective 400 meters to become silver medalists and earn All-Summit League honors. Vasek ran a time of 47.49 in the men’s section, while Finstad clocked a time of 54.23 in the women’s section. They also both finished fifth in their respective sections of the 200 meters, where Vasek had a time of 21.56 and Finstad finished in 23.93.

Marta Marksa picked up the bronze medal and all-conference status in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing third and clocking a time of 13.80. Less than an hour later, she also placed fourth in the 400-meter hurdles and bettered her own school record with a PR time of 59.88. Her previous program record was 59.93, which she set at the Pacific Coast Invitational last month.

Brooklyn Brouse was all-conference and the bronze medalist in the 800 meters in 2:12.02.

Eve Goldstein scored six points in the shot put, was the bronze medalist and picked up All-Summit League accolades with a mark of 46-2 (14.07m).

James Weninger and Carson Kunz combined to add nine points to the total for the UND men in the high jump. Weninger finished fourth with a height of 6-7 (2.01m). Kunz took fifth with a personal-best height of 6-7 (2.01m) and improved his No. 8 clearance on the UND top-10 list.

Malene Kollberg placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.88. Earlier, she was also seventh in the high jump with a clearance of 5-4 1/4 (1.63m).

Justina Esangbedo took fifth in the discus with a personal-best throw of 147-10 (45.07m). Coming into the meet, Esangbedo was not projected to score points in the event and had a previous best discus throw of 127-11 (38.98m). Later in the meet, Esangbedo was also fifth in the shot put with a toss of 44-6 1/4 (13.57m).

Marksa, Brouse, Finstad and Kimberly Hitchen teamed up in the 4×400-meter relay and scored the final four points of the meet for the UND women and finished fifth in 3:46.95. That time now sits No. 3 in school history.

The team of Vasek, Ceska, P.K. Moore and Henry Nelson finished fifth in the 4×400-meter relay with a personal-best time of 3:15.33. That time now ranks No. 4 on the UND top-10 list.

UND’s 4×100-meter team of Hitchen, Alimath Salou, Porsha Miles and Patricija Grosberga took fifth with a time of 47.39, which was good for the No. 3 time in UND history.

Shane Zierden placed sixth in the long jump and broke the school record with a PR leap of 24-1 (7.34m). He edged out the record of Justin Schiele, who set it at 24-0 1/2 (7.32m) at the 2002 Bison Open. Towards the end of the meet, Zierden was also seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 47-8 (14.53m) and improved his No. 4 mark on the UND top-10 list.

The men’s 4×100-meter squad of Michael Mallory, Maxwell Roller, Maverick Kneefe and Cruz Megazzini placed seventh in a time of 41.93. That time currently ranks No. 7 in school history.

Later in the meet, Mallory and Megazzini both posted improvements to the UND top-10 list in the 100-meter final. Mallory ran a personal-best time of 10.75 and is now No. 8 in program history, while Megazzini clocked a PR of 10.76 and is now No. 9.

Lennart Lindstrot finished seventh in the 1,500 meters, clocking a time of 3:51.72.

Morgan Hartze took seventh in the 800 meters with a time of 2:13.70.

Matej Hrebacka was seventh in the 5,000 meters in 14:39.32.

Hitchen finished eighth in both the 400 meters (56.31) and 400-meter hurdles (63.06).

Julia Matthews placed eighth in the shot put with a throw of 43-6 (13.26m).

Trenton Hanseder upgraded his No. 5 mark on the UND top-10 list in the triple jump with a leap of 46-7 1/4 (14.20m).

Qualifiers for the NCAA West Preliminary Round will be determined early next week, with athletes sitting in the top-48 of the West Region earning bids to the competition. The NCAA West Preliminary Round is slated for May 28-31 in College Station, Texas.

Post-Meet Notes
* North Dakota finished the Summit League Outdoor Championships with 18 medals, including five golds.
* The UND women had their best finish at a conference meet since 2019 and finished third with 162 points. North Dakota State won the women’s crown with 222 points.
* The NoDak men recorded a one-spot improvement from last season and were fifth with 83 points. South Dakota State won the title with 197 points.
* At the conclusion of the meet, three Fighting Hawks earned awards. Kenna Curry was the Field Championship M.V.P., Jadyn Keeler was the Track Championship M.V.P. and Ethan Thomas was the Newcomer of the Championship.
* Curry (hammer throw, shot put), Keeler (10,000 meters, 5,000 meters) and Malene Kollberg (heptathlon) each earned gold medals in their respective events.
* Curry (discus), Keeler (1,500 meters), Ethan Thomas (javelin), Eucabeth Kivikangas (heptathlon), Frida Giersdorff (3,000-meter steeplechase), Jiri Ceska (800 meters), Jory Vasek (400 meters) and Jerzie Finstad (400 meters) were the silver medalists for the Fighting Hawks.
* Thomas (shot put), Henrik Lindstrot (3,000-meter steeplechase), Marta Marksa (100-meter hurdles), Brooklyn Brouse (800 meters) and Eve Goldstein (shot put) were the bronze medalists.
* Each Hawk that medaled earned All-Summit League accolades.
* North Dakota posted 18 upgrades to the UND top-10 list at the meet, including three school records.