FARGO, N.D. – Jesse Middendorf (800 meters) and Aleksa Milanovic (1,500 meters) became the final North Dakota athletes to earn medals and All-Summit League honors at the Summit League Outdoor Championships on Saturday.

The Fighting Hawks ended the meet with nine medalists (three gold, four silver and two bronze), a Summit League Outdoor Championships record, a shattered school record and 12 improvements to the UND top-10 list. UND finished fourth on the women's side with 85 points, while the North Dakota men took sixth with 50 points.

Middendorf earned the silver medal in the 800 meters on Saturday with a personal-best time of 1:49:05. That time improved his No. 2 time in school history. That was also a three-spot improvement from where Middendorf was projected to place coming into the meet.

Fellow distance runner Milanovic also medaled, claiming the bronze in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:48.93. He finished less than a second away from breaking his own school record. Milanovic was projected to come in fifth before the meet.

Jerzie Finstad missed the podium by less than a second, taking fourth in the 400 meters with a PR time of 55.18. That improved her No.4 time on the UND top-10 list.

Maggie Dervis, Mackenzie Severson, Courtney Werner and Finstad combined to make up the women's 4x400-meter relay squad for UND and placed fifth with a time of 3:56.24.

The women's 4x100-meter relay team of Severson, Aleece Durbin, Carley Johnson and Elise Ulseth scored the first points for the Fighting Hawks on Saturday afternoon, finishing sixth in a time of 47.61. That time now ranks No. 3 in the event in school history.

Less than 45 minutes later, Ulseth returned to the track to compete in 100-meter hurdles and added another point to UND's total, taking eighth with a time of 20.27.

Alec Nelson added three points to the total for the UND men, placing sixth in the 800 meters with a time of 1:51.63.

Jory Vasek, Alex Kaffine, Nelson and Middendorf were the 4x400-meter relay team for the UND men and took seventh to score the final two points of the meet for the Fighting Hawk men with a time of 3:18.94.

The men's 4x100-meter relay squad of Ben Hidani, Vasek, Kaffine and Harris Maclean were the first Fighting Hawks to take the track on Saturday and finished eighth in 44.87.

Eve Goldstein was eighth in the discus with a toss of 137-5 (41.90m). That was a two-spot improvement from where Goldstein was projected to finish coming into the meet.

Towards the end of the meet, Ellyssa Peterson added a point for the UND women and finished eighth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:23.67. Peterson was not projected to score points in that event prior to the meet.

Qualifiers for the NCAA West Preliminary Round will be determined early next week, with athletes sitting in the top-48 of the West Region earning bids to the competition. The NCAA West Preliminary Round is scheduled for May 24-27 in Sacramento, Calif.

North Dakota's 2023 Summit League Outdoor Champions
Kenna Curry, Shot Put, 51-9 1/4 (15.78m)
Austin Wolf, High Jump, 7-0 1/4 (2.14m)
Luke Labatte, 3,000m Steeplechase, 8:49.89

Post-Meet Notes
* North Dakota finished the outdoor conference meet with three Summit League champions.
* The Fighting Hawks piled up nine medals (three gold, four silver and two bronze).
* UND earned nine All-Summit League honors by finishing in the top-three at the meet, led by Kenna Curry getting all-conference accolades in both the hammer throw (third) and shot put (champion).
* The Fighting Hawks posted 12 improvements to the UND top-10 list at the meet, including one school record. 
* Curry shattered the school record in the shot put on Friday, claiming the crown and destroying the previous school record with a PR toss of 51-9 1/4 (15.78m). She broke the record of Katelyn Weber, who set it at 50-4 (15.34m) at the 2018 NDSU Tune-Up.
* Luke Labatte broke the Summit League Outdoor Championships record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Friday night, winning the title in a time of 8:49.89. That time broke the conference meet record of 8:56.96, set by Jeffrey Mettler of South Dakota at the 2014 Summit League Outdoor Championships.