EUGENE, Ore. – North Dakota track and field distance runner Luke Labatte earned Second Team All-America status at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field on Wednesday night, finishing 16th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:41.70.

By running at the meet, Labatte became the first student-athlete in UND's Division I history on the men's side to compete at the NCAA Championships. He was also the first member of North Dakota's steeple crew to compete at a national championship meet in UND's Division I history.

Labatte qualified for the NCAA Championships by finishing with the seventh-fastest time (8:44.01) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, giving him the best finish at the meet by a member of the UND steeple crew in school history.

The Minnesota native qualified for the NCAA Regional meet with a time of 8:38.25 at the Bryan Clay Invitational, a time which ranked No. 18 in the NCAA at the end of the regular season. His time in Azusa broke his own school record, which he previously held at 8:40.76 at the Stanford Invitational earlier this season.

At the Summit League Outdoor Championships at the beginning of May, Labatte was named the Most Outstanding Performer of the Championships after posting a pair of All-Summit League performances. He started the meet by winning the gold medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:50.89 and his race was not close, with him winning the conference title by over eight seconds. With the win, he successfully defended his titles from the 2022 and 2023 Summit League Outdoor Championships and became the first steeplechase runner in the conference to become a three-time champion at the conference meet since Jeff Mettler of South Dakota did it from 2012-14. On the final day of the conference meet, Labatte also earned the bronze medal in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:29.10.

This season alone, Labatte rewrote the UND record book with new school records in both the 1,500 meters (3:47.45) and 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:38.25) and he also recorded the second-fastest 5,000-meter time (14:10.09) in program history.

For more information on North Dakota track & field, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDtrackfieldXC.