GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota will visit Peoria, Ill., this Friday for the NCAA Midwest Regional. The women's 6K is slated to begin the meet at 11 a.m., with the men's 10K following and starting at Noon.
Live results of the meet will be provided by
Shazam Racing. The meet will also be live streamed on
ESPN+.
Student-athletes finishing in the top-25 of their respective region at the meet will earn USTFCCCA All-Region accolades.
NCAA Qualification
At the NCAA Midwest Regional, 36 teams will compete for a chance to send its runners to the 2024 NCAA Championships on Saturday, Nov. 23, in Madison, Wis. Friday's meet is one of nine regionals taking place across the country, with the top two teams from each region qualifying for the national championships. Teams can also qualify as one of 13 at-large squads picked by the NCAA Division I Cross Country Selection Committee based on performances at regionals.
Individual runners can qualify for the national championships separately from their teams. The first four runners to cross the finish line that do not belong to automatic qualifying teams or at-large teams punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships, as long as they finish in the top 25 of their regions. Two runners are also selected as at-large runners during the NCAA Cross Country Selection Show on Saturday.
Live streams of Selection Saturday will be available at 4 p.m. (CT) on NCAA.com., with a link to the show on the front page of the NCAA site.
2023 NCAA Midwest Regional – UND's Top Two Non-Redshirt 6K Returners
2023 NCAA Midwest Regional – UND's Top Two Non-Redshirt 10K Returners
Last Time Out
North Dakota visited South Dakota for the Summit League Championships on Saturday, Nov. 2. Three Fighting Hawks finished with All-Summit League honors. In the team competition, the UND men took fourth with 101 points, while the NoDak women were fifth with 98 points.
In the 6K, the Fighting Hawk women recorded two of the best individual finishes at the meet in UND history.
Eliana Malnourie was the runner-up with a time of 20:58.29, while freshman
Naja Weiler placed fourth in 21:00.55. Both Malnourie and Weiler earned First Team All-Summit League status.
Malnourie's runner-up finish was the second-best individual finish by a NoDak runner on the women's side at the meet in school history. Weiler's fourth-place finish ranks No. 3 all-time at the meet for UND and was the best finish by a UND freshman at the meet in program history.
In the 10K,
Matej Hrebacka paced the NoDak men and garnered Second Team All-Summit League honors with an eighth-place finish in 24:50.37. His finish gave him the fourth-best finish by a UND runner at the meet in school history.
Malnourie's Peak Performer of the Week Accolades
North Dakota cross country runner
Eliana Malnourie was selected as the Summit League Women's Cross Country Peak Performer of the Week on both Sept. 3 and Sept. 17.
Malnourie garnered her first conference weekly accolade on Sept. 3 after pacing the Fighting Hawks in the 5K at the Ron Pynn Classic and finishing third with a personal-best time of 17:54.5. She was the top runner attached to a team to finish at the meet and helped the Hawks capture the team title.
She received her second Peak Performer of the Week accolade on Sept. 17 after leading North Dakota in the 5K at the Dragon Twilight. At the meet, she broke the meet record and finished third with a personal-best time of 17:34.6. She broke the meet record of 17:47.3, which was set by Jaiden Schutte of UMary in 2018. Malnourie was able to break the meet record by being the top finisher attached to a team.
Hawks to Watch
At the beginning of the season, the Summit League announced the annual preseason poll, along with the names of four UND student-athletes who were named Athletes to Watch in the Summit League this season. Both North Dakota teams were tabbed to finish fourth in the preseason poll. The Hawks named Athletes to Watch were
Frida Giersdorff,
Eliana Malnourie,
Ian Busche and
Aleksa Milanovic.
Giersdorff finished 26th in the 6K at the Summit League Championships last season with a time of 22:32.0. She also ran in the 6K at the NCAA Midwest Regional and finished 147th in 23:08.9 to help the Fighting Hawks to their best regional finish in UND's Division I history. Giersdorff opened her collegiate running career at the Ron Pynn Classic last September and finished fifth with a 5K time of 19:14.6. She also clocked a season-best 5K time of 19:06.9 at the SDSU to take 28th and posted a season-best time of 22:11.5 in the 6K at the Paul Short Run to take 159th.
Malnourie was one spot shy of all-conference status at the Summit League Championships last season, taking 15th with a 6K time of 21:56.1. She was also 84th in the 6K at the NCAA Midwest Regional with a time of 22:15.9 to help North Dakota to its best regional finish in UND's Division I history. Malnourie opened the year at the Ron Pynn Classic and finished third in the 5K with a time of 18:34.2. She also placed fifth at the SDSU Classic with a 5K time of 18:08.5 and crossed the finish line 126th at the Paul Short Run in a 6K time of 21:57.6.
Busche clocked an 8K time of 26:00.0 at the Summit League Championships to take 32nd last season. He also crossed the finish line 139th at the NCAA Midwest Regional with a 10K time of 33:09.4 to help the Hawks to their best regional finish in Division I history. Busche began the year at the Ron Pynn Classic and placed sixth with a 6K time of 19:17.2 and was 23rd with a season-best time of 25:56.5 in the 8K at the SDSU Classic.
Milanovic finished 23rd in the 8K at the Summit League Championships with a time of 25:37.3. He also helped NoDak to its best regional finish in school history and had a 10K time of 33:51.4 and finished 166th at the NCAA Midwest Regional. He opened the season at the Ron Pynn Classic and placed third with a 6K time of 18:53.9 and clocked a season-best time of 25:13.6 in the 8K at the SDSU Classic to finish 14th. At the Paul Short Run, Milanovic took 174th with an 8K of 25:32.5.
On Tap
Qualifiers for the NCAA Championships will compete on Saturday, Nov. 23, in Madison, Wis.
