GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The North Dakota women and North Dakota State men will take double-digits leads into the final day of the 2026 Summit League Indoor Track and Field Championships after building 22-point and 14-point advantages, respectively Friday inside the Frederick "Fritz" Pollard, Jr., Athletic Center.
The Fighting Hawk women piled up 29 points in the 3,000-meter run after seeing four Fighting Hawks lead the pack to the finish line.
The Bison men racked up 24 points in the long jump thanks to first, third, fourth and seventh-place finishes as they look to claim their first title since the 2021 event. The Fighting Hawks have never won a women's indoor title as the hosts will have to fend off an NDSU squad that was won back-to-back titles and 16 of the last 18 overall.
Men’s Current Standings
| Place |
School |
Score |
| 1. |
North Dakota State |
61 |
| 2. |
South Dakota State |
47 |
| 3. |
South Dakota |
43 |
| 4. |
North Dakota |
16 |
| 5. |
Oral Roberts |
14 |
| 6. |
St. Thomas |
8 |
| 7. |
Kansas City |
3 |
Women’s Current Standings
| Place |
School |
Score |
| 1. |
North Dakota |
58 |
| 2. |
North Dakota State |
36 |
| 3. |
South Dakota |
35 |
| 4. |
St. Thomas |
31 |
| 5. |
South Dakota State |
25 |
| 6. |
Kansas City |
4 |
| 7. |
Omaha |
3 |
| 8. |
Oral Roberts |
2 |
Top Performers
St. Thomas' Olivia Keller clocked a field-best 2:13.13 in the 800-meter run to capture the hepathlon title and the first gold medal of her Summit League career. The Tommie senior also posted the best long jump among the 14 competitors, leaping 18-09.75" (8.28m) as she overtook North Dakota's Marta Marksa in the final two events. Marksa finished second with 3,757 points, snapping a streak of four-consecutive years a Fighting Hawk had won the event. North Dakota State's Paige Halder finished third with 3,717 points.
South Dakota's Delaney Smith won the weight throw after opening the competition with her best toss. The Coyote senior's winning mark was 70-6.25" (21.49m) and nearly six feet further than a season ago when took fourth at the indoor championship. North Dakota's Julia Matthews took silver with a throw of 64-09.25" (19.74m), while South Dakota State's Josie Curry rounded out the top three with a throw of 61-08.50" (18.81m).
In the women's long jump, South Dakota's Rylie Hansen improved her mark by nearly a foot on her final attempt to move from eighth to the top of the podium. The Coyote freshman set a personal best with a leap of 19-11" (6.07m) to unseat defending champion Ella Gardner of North Dakota State. The Bison junior finished second with a mark of 19-02.75" (5.86m), while another rookie, South Dakota State's Johanna Pihl, set a personal best of 18-11.75" (5.78m) to place third.
In the men's weight throw, South Dakota State's Caiden Fredrick outdueled North Dakota State's Kaden Pastian to take the title. Fredrick, who placed second in this event a season ago, threw a personal-best 69-01.25" on his final attempt after Pastian had taken the lead for the second time in the series with his own personal-best toss of 67-04" on his fifth attempt. Fredrick's Jackrabbit teammate Ethan Fischer gave SDSU a pair on the podium as he took third with a mark of 62-11.25" (19.18m).
In the men's and women's 3,000-meter runs, defending champions won both races as North Dakota's Jadyn Keeler cruised to her second straight title and South Dakota State's Cody Larson followed suit. Keeler ripped off a 10-second victory, while the five finishers behind her all ran personal bests to score points for their respective teams, including three Fighting Hawks that gave the hosts the top-four finishers in the race. Sophomore Olivia Correale took silver (9:29.96), while Frida Giersdorff (9:31.44) earned the bronze and Katherine Rogers (9:35.18) rounded out the Fighting Hawk quartet.
Larson pulled away over the final 150 meters, outracing North Dakota's Louis-Lys Fanucchi to the finish line in a time of 8:15.48. The Fighting Hawks freshman held on for second with a time of 8:19.20, while South Dakota's Isaac Ochoa finished third in 8:19.95. Larson will look to defend is 5,000-meter title Saturday.
South Dakota's Caelan Harland won the men's pole vault that saw the top four finishers all the clear the heighest mark of 17-03.50". The Coyote freshmen earned gold after not taking a miss into the final height, while the North Dakota State duo of Aaron Cummings and Zach McGlynn shared second after posting identical series throughout the event. Both missed on their first attempts when the bar was at 16-03.50"
The SDSU team of Nina Dawson, Vivian Dalton, Madalyn Childs, and Eleni Lovgren were awarded the victory in the distance medley relay with a time of 11:32.56 after North Dakota was disqualified for an out of zone handoff. South Dakota nearly clipped the Jacks at the finish line but settled for second with a time of 11:32.90. The Coyotes' team, who posted a season-best time, consisted of Jade Ecoffey, Claudia Werner, Berkeley Engelland, and Alexus Sindelar. St. Thomas moved up to third after posting a time of 11:54.25.
In one of the most exciting races of the night, South Dakota took the lead late, then held off a recharge by North Dakota, to earn the victory in a meet record time of 9:53.49. The Coyotes' pack of Tommy Hensley, Braxton Smith, Andrew Atwood, and Natnael Kifle clipped the Fighting Hawks by .05 seconds and South Dakota State by .49 seconds as all three teams were under the previous championship record of 9:54.51 set last season by NDSU. UND would end up being disqualified, resulting in the Jackrabbits moving up to second and NDSU (9:54.54) moving up to third.
The Bison closed out the opening day with a men's long jump title compliments of freshman Carter Reckelberg, who edge Oral Roberts' Woedem Vasmark-Voegborlo by just over three inches to claim the gold. Reckleberg's winning leap of 24-07.75" (7.51m) came in round three after Vasmark-Voegborlo opened the competition with personal-best mark of 24-04.50" (7.43m). McGlynn, who scored seven points in the pole vault earlier in the night, added six for the Bison by placing third in the long jump with a mark of 24-03.75".
Men's Champions Crowned
Pole vault: Caelan Harland, South Dakota | 17-03.50" (5.41m)
Weight throw: Caiden Fredrick, South Dakota State | 69-01.25" (21.06m)
Long jump: Carter Reckleberg, North Dakota State | 24-07.75" (7.51m)
3,000m: Cody Larson, South Dakota State | 8:15.48
DMR: South Dakota | 9:53.49
Women's Champions Crowned
Pentathlon: Olivia Keller, St. Thomas | 3,822 points
Weight throw: Delaney Smith, South Dakota | 65-04.75 (21.49m)
Long jump: Rylie Hansen, South Dakota | 19-11" (6.07m)
3,000m: Jadyn Keeler, North Dakota | 9:19.62
DMR: North Dakota | 11:24.72
Up Next
The championships continue Saturday inside the Pollard Athletic Center with the final events of the men’s heptathlon starting at 9:30 a.m. CT, field events at 11:30 a.m. CT and track events at 1 p.m. CT.
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