MOVING TO THE SUMMIT SERIES

July 10	Basketball (Women)
July 17	Basketball (Men)
July 24	Golf
July 31	Soccer
Aug. 7	Volleyball
Aug. 14	Tennis
Aug. 21	Track & Field/Cross Country
Aug. 28	Softball

The University of North Dakota will compete in The Summit League for all of its varsity sports (except hockey and football) beginning this season. The staff at FightingHawks.com will put together a sport-by-sport breakdown of what to expect, who the major players are, and some history and stats to know as UND makes the transition.

This eight-part weekly series looks at track & field and cross country this week. The final sport preview will run on Aug. 28 with a look at softball.

A LITTLE HISTORY LESSON
On July 1, 2018, the University of North Dakota officially joined The Summit League for all of its varsity sports (except for football and hockey). The Summit League moved its offices from the Chicago suburbs to Sioux Falls, S.D., this summer and is in its 37th season, starting as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU) in 1982 before rebranding as the Mid-Continent Conference in 1989. In 2007, the conference changed its name to The Summit League. 

HOW MANY SCHOOLS IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE?
All eight Summit League schools sponsor women's cross country: North Dakota, North Dakota State, Omaha, Oral Roberts, Purdue Fort Wayne, South Dakota, South Dakota State and Western Illinois. All but Omaha sponsor men's cross country.

It's the same structure for track and field, with every member sponsoring women's indoor and outdoor track and field and all but Omaha competing on the men's side.

WHO HAVE BEEN THE RECENT SUMMIT LEAGUE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONS?
The state of South Dakota has dominated the recent Summit League cross country scene, with South Dakota having won four straight women's championships and South Dakota State having captured the last two men's titles (and five of the last eight).

South Dakota's four-year reign on the women's side was preceded by three straight title runs by North Dakota State. 
 

Year	Men's	Women's
2010	South Dakota State	Oakland*
2011	Southern Utah	North Dakota State
2012	South Dakota State	North Dakota State
2013	South Dakota State	North Dakota State
2014	IUPUI*	South Dakota
2015	IUPUI*	South Dakota
2016	South Dakota State	South Dakota
2017	South Dakota State	South Dakota
*No longer in Summit League

WHO HAVE BEEN THE RECENT SUMMIT LEAGUE INDOOR TRACK CHAMPIONS?
The path to the top of the Summit League runs through North Dakota State, which has won every women's indoor championship since 2007-08 while claiming each of the past three men's crowns.
 

Year	Men's Indoor	Women's Indoor
2010-11	North Dakota State	North Dakota State
2011-12	Southern Utah*	North Dakota State
2012-13	South Dakota	North Dakota State
2013-14	South Dakota	North Dakota State
2014-15	South Dakota	North Dakota State
2015-16	North Dakota State	North Dakota State
2016-17	North Dakota State	North Dakota State
2017-18	North Dakota State	North Dakota State
*No longer in Summit League

 
WHO HAVE BEEN THE RECENT SUMMIT LEAGUE OUTDOOR TRACK CHAMPIONS?
The Bison's Summit League reign has been even more pronounced during the outdoor season. NDSU is riding the same 11-year run on the women's side, while the men's program has won or shared 10 of the last 11 titles. South Dakota was able to grab a share of the women's championship last season and the men's championship in 2014.
 

Year	Men's Outdoor	Women's Outdoor
2010-11	North Dakota State	North Dakota State
2011-12	North Dakota State	North Dakota State
2012-13	North Dakota State	North Dakota State
2013-14	North Dakota State	North Dakota State
	South Dakota
2014-15	North Dakota State	North Dakota State
2015-16	North Dakota State	North Dakota State
2016-17	North Dakota State	North Dakota State
2017-18	North Dakota State	North Dakota State, South Dakota

LOOKING AHEAD
South Dakota will host the 2019 Summit League Indoor Championship Feb. 22-23 at Mildred J. Hillenbrand Memorial Track in Vermillion. The league's outdoor championship will take place May 9-11 at Hanson Field on the campus of Western Illinois.