GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The North Dakota track and field teams will host the UND Open inside the Pollard Athletic Center on Friday and Saturday.

Friday's portion of the meet will feature all five events of the pentathlon, the opening four events of the heptathlon and the discus. The pentathlon kicks off the meet at 3 p.m., trailed by the heptathlon at 3:20 p.m. and the discus at 6 p.m.

Saturday will commence with the final three events of the heptathlon starting at 10 a.m. Individual field events will begin at 11 a.m. and events on the track start at 1 p.m.

Live results of both days of competition will be available at HerosTiming.com.

Ranked in the Midwest Region
The first USTFCCCA rankings of the season came out this week and both North Dakota track and field teams are in the top-30 of the Midwest Region. The UND men come in at No. 23, while the Fighting Hawk women are just outside the top-25 regionally at No. 26.

Jesse Middendorf paces the UND men and is No. 8 in the Midwest Region in the 800 meters. Both Luke Labatte and Nelson Ruto round out the top-10 in the 5,000 meters and are No. 9 and No. 10, respectfully. Austin Wolf is also in the top-15 and comes in at No. 14 in the high jump.

McKenzie Burian is the top Hawk in the region and is No. 7 in the 5,000 meters. Elle Thorson and Greta McLagan also sit within the top-15, with Thorson ranked No. 11 in the pentathlon and McLagan at No. 15 in the 5,000 meters.

Last Time Out
The North Dakota distance teams and select throwers competed at the Jim Emmerich Invitational on Saturday. Two school records were set at the meet, while a total of six improvements were posted to the UND top-10 lists.

Jesse Middendorf finished as the runner-up in the 800 meters and broke the school record in the process, clocking a time of 1:50.59. He edged out the previous record of 1:51.65, set by Jesse Fenstermacher at Iowa State in 2013. Middendorf's time currently sits No. 30 nationally.

Luke Labatte broke the program record in the mile, finishing sixth with a personal-best time of 4:07.09. The previous record holder in the mile was Chad Heltemes with a time of 4:08.61 at Iowa State in 1997.

Aleksa Milanovic and Jake Hall joined Labatte in the mile and posted new marks to the UND top-10 list. Milanovic ran the fifth-fastest time in school history with a time of 4:12.01, while Hall recorded the No. 6 time on the list with a time of 4:13.11.

Nelson Ruto and Justin Jelaca also made their marks on the UND top-10 list in the 3,000 meters. Ruto ran the No. 3 time in school history with a PR of 8:24.91. Jelaca ran a personal-best of over 33 seconds and is now No. 4 in the event in UND history with a time of 8:25.51.

The UND throwers had four Hawks place in the weight throw. Natalie Mohring paced the Hawks, finishing fourth with a toss of 59-10 1/2 (18.25m). Allison Lardy and Kenna Curry were right behind her, taking fifth (59-1 1/4, 18.01m) and sixth (58-6 1/2, 17.84m), respectively. Eve Goldstein was eighth with a PR mark of 57-10 1/4 (17.63m).

Earlier in the meet, Goldstein and Lardy also competed in the shot put. Goldstein placed fourth in that event with a throw of 45-1 3/4 (13.76m). Lardy was fifth with a toss of 44-9 (13.64m).

The 4x400-meter relay team of Labatte, Ian Busche, Eric Weiss and Jelaca took sixth with a time of 3:27.95.

Top-10 Hawks
The Fighting Hawks have already set three new program records and posted 19 new top-10 marks in school history this season:
• Luke Labatte – 5,000m (No. 1 – 14:25.12)
• Jesse Middendorf – 800m (No. 1 – 1:50.59)
• Luke Labatte – Mile (No. 1 – 4:07.09)
• Nelson Ruto – 5,000m (No. 2 – 14:31.97)
• Jake Hall – 3,000m (No. 2 – 8:23.52)
• Tiffanie Magnusson – Long Jump (No. 2t – 18-10 3/4, 5.76m)
• Allison Lardy – Shot Put (No. 3 – 47-1, 14.35m)
• Nelson Ruto – 3,000m (No. 3 - 8:24.91)
• Austin Wolf – High Jump (No. 4 – 6-9 3/4, 2.08m)
• Justin Jelaca – 3,000m (No. 4 – 8:25.51)
• Aleksa Milanovic – 800m (No. 5 – 4:12.01)
• Jerzie Finstad – 400m (No. 6 – 56.78)
• Malene Kollberg – 60m Hurdles (No. 6 – 8.92)
• Jake Hall – 800m (No. 6 – 4:13.11)
• Aleksa Milanovic – 3,000m (No. 6 – 8:26.51)
• Eve Goldstein – Shot Put (No. 6 – 46-9, 14.26m)
• McKenzie Burian – 5,000m (No. 8 – 17:19.25)
• Justin Jelaca – 5,000m (No. 8 – 14:56.59)
• Jerzie Finstad – 200m (No. 10 – 25.50)

Spectator Information: Admission for the UND Open
• $10 (Ages 18 and up)
• $5 (Ages under 18 years)
• Free (Kids aged 0-10)
• Free (Anyone with a Military I.D.)
• Free (Anyone with a UND Jr. Champions I.D.)

On Tap
Next weekend, North Dakota will visit Fargo for the Bison Open on Friday (Feb. 3) and Saturday (Feb. 4).