LONG BEACH, Calif./AZUSA, Calif. – North Dakota took part in two meets on the West Coast on Thursday, with most of the team competing at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate at Long Beach, while combined event athletes and select distance runners began competition at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa. At the two meets, the Fighting Hawks placed twice, recorded eight improvements to the UND top-10 list and broke one school record.
Thursday night at the Bryan Clay Invitational, Luke Labatte broke his own school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal-best time of 8:38.25. He bettered his own record, which he previously set at 8:40.76 at the Stanford Invitational two weeks ago.
Frida Giersdorff also climbed the UND top-10 list in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at Azusa, posting the second-fastest time in school history with a PR time of 10:40.78.
The 3,000-meter steeplechase record book was also updated at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate on Thursday afternoon. Eric Weiss led the way for the Fighting Hawks at Long Beach State and placed third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal best of 9:19.41. With his PR, he moved up to No. 3 in school history in the event.
Ian Busche was fifth in the 1,500 meters at Long Beach with a time of 3:56.54.
Towards the end of the meet, Claire Leach moved up to No. 3 in program history in the triple jump with a personal-best leap of 38-11 3/4 (11.88m).
The men's 4x100-meter relay team of Red Wilson, Caleb Severson, Jory Vasek and Maxwell Roller helped the Hawks get off to a good start at LBSU, clocking a time of 42.26, which was good for the No. 9 time on the UND top-10 list.
Throughout the day, six Fighting Hawks participated in combined events in Azusa. With the vast number of multi eventers competing at the Bryan Clay Invitational, student-athletes were divided into groups and competed in various clusters throughout the day. Eucabeth Kivikangas (section F) and Justina Esangbedo (section E) were the first Fighting Hawks to see action after drawing the earlier group sections. Maguire Petersen was in section C of the decathlon and competed shortly after the first two sections of the heptathlon began. Elle Thorson was in section C of the heptathlon, which started in the afternoon, while Malene Kollberg and Tiffanie Magnusson were selected for section B and competed closer to Thursday evening.
Kivikangas led her heptathlon group at the end of day one with 2,794 points. Her best event was the shot put, where she recorded the second-best toss of her group with a mark of 40-8 1/4 (12.40m). She received a day-high event total of 763 points in the 200 meters after running a time of 26.40. Kivikangas currently has a 10-point lead over the rest of the competition in her group.
Petersen sits second in his decathlon group at the end of the first five events with 3,909 points. He trails Cole Wilson of High Point University (3,982 points) by just 73 points. Petersen tied the No. 6 long jump mark in school history with a personal-best leap of 23-4 1/2 (7.12m) and had the second-best mark of his group. He also claimed the top high jump clearance of his group with a PR height of 6-8 3/4 (2.05m) to move up to No. 5 on the UND top-10 list. His top event based on point total was the high jump. He also recorded the third-best shot put mark of his group with a personal-best toss of 45-10 (13.97m).
Esangbedo will enter day two of the heptathlon in fifth place with 2,782 points. She claimed the top spot in the shot put in her group with a toss of 44-3 1/4 (13.49m) for 760 points. Her event-best point total came in the 100-meter hurdles at the beginning of the day, where she racked up 796 points and had a time of 15.35. She currently trails the top spot by 292 points.
Thorson will begin day two of the heptathlon with 2,928 points, which puts her in 12th place in her group. She started the day with a personal-best time of 14.97 in the 100-meter hurdles and capped the day with a PR time of 25.60 in the 200 meters. Those two events were also her best point totals, with her picking up a day-high 846 points in the 100-meter hurdles and 833 points in the 200 meters.
Kollberg is also 12th in her heptathlon section after the first four events with 3,045 points. Her top event based on point totals was the 100-meter hurdles, where she piled up an event-high 897 points with a time of 14.59. She also posted a personal-best toss of 36-7 3/4 (11.17m) in the shot put, beating her previous best of 35-3 (10.74m).
Magnusson is in the same heptathlon section as Kollberg and will enter day two in 14th place with 2,939 points. She got off to a hot start, posting the No. 8 time on the UND top-10 list in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 14.63. Her PR in the 100-meter hurdles earned her an event-best 891 points. She also posted a personal-best time (25.93) in the 200 meters to close out the day.
North Dakota will resume action at the Bryan Clay Invitational on Friday, while also starting competition at the Beach Invitational. Live results from all meets can be found on FightingHawks.com.
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