NEW ORLEANS, La. – After all four heptathletes recorded improvements at the Bryan Clay Invitational last week, North Dakota is ranked No. 2 in the nation as an event group in the USTFCCCA #EventSquad Rankings, which came out late Monday afternoon.

As a team, the UND heptathletes accumulated 20,329 points at the Bryan Clay Invitational and trail only Duke with 22,198 points as a team. The #EventSquad rankings use the best qualifying marks from a team's top-four ranked athletes in the event. The previous week, North Dakota was not ranked in the heptathlon and this is the best a UND heptathlon group has ever been ranked in the USTFCCCA #EventSquad rankings since the creation of the poll in 2008.

With the large number of multi eventers competing at the Bryan Clay Invitational last week, the heptathletes were split into groups and competed in various clusters throughout the meet. Elle Thorson went first with section three, followed by Erica Benson and Brooklynn Gould in section two. Elise Ulseth drew section one and was the final Fighting Hawk heptathlete to compete last week.

Ulseth finished in third place in her section of the heptathlon with a personal-best point total of 5,685 points and broke her record of 5,500 points set at the Texas Relays earlier this season. Ulseth's point total currently ranks No. 9 in the NCAA.

On her way to the heptathlon school record, Ulseth broke her own program record in the long jump with a leap of 20-0 1/4 (6.10m). That mark made Ulseth the first Hawk to go over 20-0 in the long jump in school history. Ulseth also recorded the top throw in her section of the javelin with a distance of 149-5 (45.55m). In total, the Kristiansun, Norway, native finished with four new PR's in the seven events, including the shot put (36-11, 11.25m), 200 meters (25.66) and 800 meters (2:17.73).

Benson became the second Fighting Hawk in program history to eclipse the 5,000-point mark in the heptathlon, finishing ninth in her section with 5,020 points. That point total ranks second in school history.

In the heptathlon, Benson recorded a personal-best of 18-5 (5.61m) in the long jump on day two to improve her No. 10 mark in school history. Benson was later bumped from the UND top-10 list in the event later that day when Autumn Stokes entered the top-10 list with the No. 8 leap in school history (18-6 1/2, 5.65m) at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate, making Benson's long jump personal-best sit just outside the top-10 list currently. Benson's biggest event improvement came in the shot put where she smashed her previous best of 35-1 1/4 (10.70m) with a throw of 38-1 1/2 (11.62m). Benson also recorded a personal-best in the 100-meter hurdles (15.17) and 800 meters (2:21.79).

Gould competed along with Benson in section two of the heptathlon and became the third Hawk in history to amass more than 5,000 points in the event, finishing 10th with a PR point total of 5,014. Gould's point total currently ranks No. 3 in school history.

Gould recorded two event improvements on the UND top-10 list on her way to her PR in the heptathlon. She put down the No. 4 mark in school history in the long jump with a leap of 18-9 3/4 (5.73m) and also ran the No. 9 time in program history in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 14.82. Along with her improvements on the UND top-10 list, Gould tied her personal-best leap of 4-11 3/4 (1.52m) in the high jump, ran a PR of 25.62 in the 200 meters and clocked a personal-best time of 2:20.91 in the 800 meters.

Thorson competed in the early section of the heptathlon and took third with a personal-best total of 4,610 points, moving her up to No. 4 in school history in the event. Thorson recorded personal bests in all four heptathlon events on day one and finished the competition with five PR's in the seven events.

Thorson's most remarkable improvement came in the shot put, where she obliterated her previous best of 31-7 1/4 (9.63m) with a toss of 34-8 1/2 (10.58m). Thorson had the second-best long jump leap in her section with a mark of 17-6 (5.33m) and tied for the second-best high jump mark in her section with a PR leap of 5-3 1/4 (1.61m). Thorson also put down personal-bests in the 100-meter hurdles (15.46), 200 meters (26.30) and 800 meters (2:36.08).

The beginning of the UND top-10 list in the heptathlon currently reads…
• #1 – Elise Ulseth – 5,685 points
• #2 – Erica Benson – 5,020 points
• #3 – Brooklynn Gould – 5,014 points
• #4 – Elle Thorson – 4,610 points

The Fighting Hawks will travel to Vermillion to compete in the South Dakota Challenge on April 22-23.