DES MOINES, Iowa/INDIANOLA, Iowa – North Dakota opened competition at a pair of meets in the Hawkeye State on Thursday, highlighted by two school records falling at the Drake Relays.

Luke Labatte shaved time off his 3,000-meter steeplechase program record and was fourth at the Drake Relays with a PR time of 8:41.75. As of Thursday night, Labatte's steeplechase time ranks No. 18 in the NCAA.

Aleksa Milanovic placed sixth and reclaimed his 1,500-meter school record at the Drake Relays with a personal-best time of 3:48.40. Two weeks ago, at the Bryan Clay Invitational, Milanovic's previous record of 3:51.17 was broken by Labatte with a time of 3:49.19.

Also at Drake, Jesse Middendorf inched closer to the school record in the 800 meters and ran a PR of 1:50.65, improving his No. 2 mark on the UND top-10 list. His time is now 0.62 seconds away from the record.

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Kip Janvrin Open, Eric Weiss came less than one second shy of bettering his No. 4 time in school history, finishing with a time of 9:22.37. Two weeks ago, at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate, Wiess hit the USATF junior standard with a time of 9:21.83, which qualified him for the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships this July.

North Dakota will continue action at the Drake Relays and Kip Janvrin Open on Friday, before partaking in the Ron Masanz Classic on Saturday. Live results for all meets can be found on FightingHawks.com.