North Dakota track and field athletes set two new school records and earned several top-10 finishes at the wind-blown Gary Wilson Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn., according to an April 22 announcement.
The meet was notable for strong performances despite challenging weather conditions, with wind speeds occasionally exceeding 7.0 meters per second. The event brought together regional competitors and saw North Dakota athletes make significant marks in both track and field events.
Anya Williams broke the women’s high jump school record for the third consecutive week by clearing a height of 5-9¼ (1.76m), which also placed her second in the conference standings and second overall in the event. Shane Zierden set a new men’s long jump school record with a leap of 24-1¾ (7.36m) on his fourth attempt, surpassing his previous mark and moving to second place on the conference performance list this season.
Other highlights included Eric Weiss finishing second in the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:34.10, marking the ninth-best result in school history, while Ethan Kimmel finished third with a personal best of 9:34.83. In women’s competition, Katie Rogers secured fourth place in her section of the steeplechase with an eighth-fastest time for North Dakota at 11:16.21.
Additional top performances came from Marta Marksa who took second place in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, Ryan Lange who finished seventh overall—and now ranks seventh all-time at UND—in the men’s hurdles event, as well as Ava Phrakonkham placing sixth overall in the women’s 200-meter dash despite strong winds.
Field events also saw notable results as Tyler Thoreson finished fifth in men’s invitational shot put while Julia Matthews reached finals placements both in shot put and hammer throw—solidifying her spot among UND’s top ten performers historically.
North Dakota is scheduled to compete next at another Gary Wilson Invitational before traveling to Jamestown for the Al Cassell Classic.
