ST. PAUL, Minn. – Yonca Kutluk (10,000 meters) and Kenna Curry (hammer throw) were the first Fighting Hawks to medal at the Summit League Outdoor Championships at O'Shaughnessy Stadium on Thursday. North Dakota placed seven times on the opening day of competition and posted a pair of improvements to the UND top-10 list.

Kutluk earned the silver medal and All-Summit League status in the 10,000 meters on Thursday night, finishing as the runner-up in a time of 35:25.78. She was less than three seconds shy of winning the title. Leah Hisken of South Dakota State claimed the gold in 35:23.27 and won the race in the final 200 meters.

Curry was the first Hawk to gain All-Summit League honors at the meet, earning the bronze in the hammer throw with a toss of 183-9 (56.02m). Her finish gave North Dakota its first six points of the day.

Justina Esangbedo placed sixth in the javelin with a personal-best throw of 132-5 (40.36m). Her finish was a seven-spot improvement from where she was slated to finish coming into the meet.

Trenton Hanseder and Jamie Burns both placed sixth in their respective events to combine for the first six points of the meet for the UND men. Hanseder was sixth in the javelin with a season-best mark of 175-10 (53.60m), while Burns took sixth in the 10,000 meters with a time of 30:27.10.

Emily Ash placed eighth in the pole vault and improved her No. 3 height on the UND top-10 list with a personal-best clearance of 12-4 3/4 (3.78m). Her finish was a one-spot improvement from where she was projected to finish coming into the meet.

Tiffanie Magnusson tied for eighth in the high jump with a height of 5-3 3/4 (1.62m).

Through the first four heptathlon events, Malene Kollberg is in second with 3,146 points. She opened the day with the top time in the 100-meter hurdles (14.32) for her first 934 points of the competition. She was also second in the high jump with a clearance of 5-5 1/4 (1.66m) for an additional 806 points. Her lone PR of the day came in the shot put, where she had a toss of 35-7 1/4 (10.85m) and bettered her previous best of 35-3 3/4 (10.76m). In the 200 meters, she finished fourth for her final 821 points of the afternoon with a time of 25.73.

Magnusson, who tied for eighth in the high jump, is third in the heptathlon after the first four events with 3,106 points. Her top event was the heptathlon high jump, where she had a personal-best clearance of 5-6 1/2 (1.69m) and moved up to No. 9 in school history in the event. Her clearance held up as the best mark in the heptathlon high jump. She also tied her PR in the 200 meters to close out heptathlon competition for the day with a time of 25.93. She received a day-high event total of 879 points to begin the heptathlon in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.72 and had the sixth-best mark in the shot put (35-5 1/4, 10.80m).

Elle Thorson sits fifth in the heptathlon at the end of day one with 2,953 points. She had the third-best toss in the heptathlon shot put with a personal-best throw of 36-5 (11.10m) and bettered her previous best of 35-2 (10.72m). She also put down a season-best clearance in the high jump with a height of 5-3 (1.60m). Thorson earned a day-high event total of 821 points in the 100-meter hurdles after clocking a time of 15.16. She was also sixth in the 200 meters with a time of 26.04.

Eucabeth Kivikangas is also in the top-eight and is currently sixth in the heptathlon with 2,919 points. She won the shot put with a mark of 40-2 3/4 (12.26m) and picked up 678 points for that performance. She also had personal bests in the 100-meter hurdles (15.23) and high jump (5-0 1/2, 1.54m). Her PR in the 100-meter hurdles was good for a day-high event total of 811 points. She finished the day in the 200 meters and received 764 points with a time of 26.38.

Jenna Koppelsloen, competing in her first Summit League Outdoor Championship meet, is 11th in the heptathlon with 2,581 points. She recorded personal bests in both the high jump (5-0 1/2, 1.54m) and 200 meters (26.94). Her time in the 200 meters earned her a day-high event total of 717 points. She also had a throw of 34-0 1/4 (10.37m) in the shot put and a time of 16.59 in the 100-meter hurdles.

Prior to the start of the meet, Claire Leach, who will compete in the triple jump on Saturday morning, was named the Scholar of the Championship. She carries a perfect 4.0 GPA and is working towards a degree in psychology. The Scholar of the Championship award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative undergraduate grade-point average participating at each of the Summit League's 19 championships.

Through the first five scored events of the conference championships, the North Dakota women sit fourth with 18.5 points. The UND men are sixth after their four events with six points.

North Dakota will resume competition at the Summit League Outdoor Championships on Friday. Combined events will resume at 9:45 a.m., followed by field events starting at 4 p.m. and preliminary rounds on the track opening at 6 p.m. The finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase will also take place on Friday night and will begin at 8:15 p.m. Live results from the Summit League Outdoor Championships will continue be provided by Hero's Timing. Portions of the meet will also be streamed on The Summit League Network.