SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Summit League announced the Preseason Coaches' Poll on Wednesday morning, with the North Dakota women selected second and the Fighting Hawk men picked fourth. Kenna Curry, Jadyn Keeler, Ethan Thomas and Jiri Ceska were also named Athletes to Watch in the Summit League this season.

Last season, the UND women finished fourth at the 2024 Summit League Outdoor Championships, while the NoDak men took sixth.

Curry, a qualifier for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the weight throw this season, qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round in the hammer throw last season and did not record a mark at the meet. By throwing at the meet, she became the first Fighting Hawk to throw the hammer at the NCAA Regional in back-to-back years since Molli Detloff threw the hammer at the NCAA West Preliminary Round from 2017-19. Curry moved up to No. 2 in school history in the hammer throw with a toss of 207-2 (63.14m) at the Ole Miss Classic, which qualified her for the regional meet. She was also the runner-up in the shot put (50-4, 15.34m), took third in the hammer throw (183-9, 56.02m) and fifth in the discus (146-5, 44.62m) at the Summit League Outdoor Championships. She won the discus title at the NDSU Spring Classic and was victorious in the hammer throw at both the Ashland Open and NDSU Tune-Up.

This indoor season, Curry became a Second Team All-American in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a toss of 71-5 1/2 (21.78m). By competing at the meet is now the first student-athlete in UND's Division I history to compete at back-to-back indoor nationals, also gaining Second Team All-America status last season in the weight throw and taking 14th with a mark of 67-3 1/4 (20.51m). She qualified for indoor nationals this season with a weight throw mark of 75-0 1/2 (22.87m) at the East Coast Invitational at the beginning of February. In Virginia Beach, her toss won the weight throw and shattered the school record mark of 72-1 3/4 (21.99m), set by Molli Detloff at the 2019 Summit League Indoor Championships. At the Summit League Indoor Championships, Curry won the weight throw (70-6 1/4, 21.49m) and the shot put (50-3 1/2, 15.33m) and was named the Field Championship M.V.P. at the end of the meet. During the regular season, she captured six weight throw titles and four shot put crowns and bettered her own shot put school record with a throw of 52-0 (15.85m) at the SDSU Indoor Classic.

Keeler, the first qualifier for the NCAA Indoor Championships in a track event in UND's Division I history, qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Round in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and finished 38th with a time of 10:51.59 last season. By competing in the event at the NCAA Regional, she became the first North Dakota runner, along with Frida Giersdroff, to qualify in the event in UND's Division I history. She won the 3,000-meter steeplechase crown with a time of 10:28.86 at the Summit League Outdoor Championships and broke her own school record with that time. She also placed sixth in the 5,000 meters at the conference meet with a time of 17:40.02. During the regular season, she won the 3,000-meter steeplechase title at the Ben Brown Invitational.

Most recently, Keeler became the fourth Fighting Hawk to participate at an NCAA Indoor Championship meet in UND's Division I history and the first student-athlete to qualify for a track event. At nationals, she took 10th in the 5,000 meters with a time of 15:31.63 and garnered Second Team All-America accolades. She qualified for the meet with a time of 15:28.29 in the 5,000 meters in Boston this February. Keeler was the fifth collegiate runner to cross the finish line at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational and completely obliterated her previous school record time of 15:57.19, which she set on that same track at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener this past December. At the Summit League Indoor Championships, she was a triple crown winner and was victorious in the mile (4:45.90), 3,000 meters (9:21.78) and 5,000 meters (16:20.88). Her time in the 5,000 meters at the conference meet shattered the Summit League Indoor Championships record time of 16:25.16, set by Jennie Baragar-Petrash of North Dakota State in 2021. At the conclusion of the meet, Keeler was named the Track Championship M.V.P. During the regular season, she was victorious in the 3,000 meters at the Jim Emmerich Alumni Meet and the mile at the UND Open.

Thomas is entering his first collegiate outdoor season and already owns the indoor shot put record at UND. He won the shot put title at the SDSU Indoor Classic and shattered the shot put record that stood for nearly four decades with a throw of 59-6 1/4 (18.14m). He broke the record of Dave Levos, who held the record since 1986 after setting it at 59-1 1/2 (18.02m) in Fargo. Throughout the season, Thomas continued improving the record and most recently bettered his own record with a toss of 60-11 1/4 (18.57m) at the Summit League Indoor Championships to finish as the runner-up. He also finished fifth in the weight throw at the conference meet with a mark of 59-3 (18.06m). Thomas posted the No. 3 weight throw distance in school history with a toss of 62-4 (19.00m). During the regular season, he won seven shot put titles and three weight throw crowns.

Prior to his time at UND, Thomas was a standout for the Grand Forks Central track and field team and was victorious in the shot put (63-11), discus (191-7) and javelin (185-7) at the 2024 NDHSAA Class A State Championships. By achieving that feat at the state meet, he became the first student-athlete to capture all three titles at the North Dakota State meet since 1915.

Ceska is also coming into his first outdoor season with the Fighting Hawks. This indoor season, he was the runner-up in the 800 meters at the Summit League Championships with a time of 1:51.30. One week prior, he broke the 800-meter school record with a time of 1:48.57 at the UND Tune-Up and won the title, breaking the record of Alec Nelson, who set it at 1:49.83 at the 2024 David Hemery Valentine Invitational. To begin the year, he recorded the No. 2 mile time in UND history with a time of 4:07.05 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener.

Before competing at North Dakota, Ceska was a seven-time national champion while competing for Gymnazium Opatov in Ricany, Czech Republic. He qualified for both the 2023 U20 World Championships and the 2023 U20 European Championships.

2025 Summit League Women's Outdoor Track & Field Preseason Poll

	Team	Score (1st place votes)
1.	North Dakota State	49 (7)
2.	North Dakota	39
3.	South Dakota	37 (1)
4.	South Dakota State	35
5.	St. Thomas	25
6.	Kansas City	18
7.	Omaha	11
8.	Oral Roberts	10

  
2025 Summit League Men's Outdoor Track & Field Preseason Poll

	Team	Score (1st place votes)
1.	North Dakota State	35 (5)
2.	South Dakota	28
3.	South Dakota State	27 (2)
4.	North Dakota	19
5.	St. Thomas	17
6.	Kansas City	13
7.	Oral Roberts	8

North Dakota will resume its outdoor season in April at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic (April 3-5) and the Stanford Invitational (April 4-5).

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