GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota will resume action this Friday at the Dragon Twilight Invitational in Moorhead, Minn. The women's 5K race will begin at 8:10 p.m., with the men's 6K race slated to begin at 8:40 p.m.

Live results of the meet will be provided by Hero's Timing. The meet will also be streamed on the NSIC Network.

UND Women Ranked in USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Rankings
In the USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Rankings released on Aug. 25, the North Dakota women came in at No. 9 in the poll. The Fighting Hawks ranked No. 21 in the poll at the end of last season.

Last Time Out
North Dakota swept all the titles at the Ron Pynn Classic last week. Both UND squads captured the team titles with 15 total points, while Jadyn Keeler earned the 5K crown and Aleksa Milanovic won the 6K title.

Keeler captured the first crown of the meet, winning the 5K in a time of 18:30.2 and finishing over a minute faster than any other competitor on the course. Marie-Louise Jorgensen, running in her first meet as a Fighting Hawk, was the runner-up in 19:28.3. A flock of Hawks were the final point scorers in the race. Elle Sondag and Olivia Correale tied for third, clocking matching times of 20:58.6. Addison Beuche, Frida Giersdorff and Gabrielle Wahl each tied for fifth just 0.1 seconds later, finishing with times of 20:58.7.

Milanovic was victorious in the 6K with a time of 20:26.2, trailed immediately by Matej Hrebacka in 20:26.3. Owen Chapman, competing in his first race in a UND uniform, took third in 20:26.4. Ethan Adams and Louis-Lys Fanucchi tied for fourth with matching times of 20:26.5. Ethan Kimmel ran a time of 20:41.6 to take sixth. Niko Angell, Eric Weiss and Jonas Weschle tied for the final scoring place for North Dakota, all running times of 20:41.7.

Last Year at the Dragon Twilight
North Dakota earned both team titles at the Dragon Twilight last season. UND claimed the women's 5K title with 15 points, while the Fighting Hawk men were victorious in the 6K with 17 points.

Eliana Malnourie led UND in the 5K and broke the meet record in the process, finishing third with a personal-best time of 17:34.6. She broke the record time of 17:47.3, set by Jaiden Schutte of UMary in 2018. Malnourie broke the meet record with the third-place finish because the first two finishers were unattached. Yonca Kutluk, a standout for the UND cross country team in 2023, ran unattached and won the title in 16:56.4. Jadyn Keeler also ran unattached and was the runner-up in 17:13.2.

Naja Weiler, competing in her first collegiate 5K, was right behind Malnourie and placed fourth at the meet in 2024 with a time of 17:38.4. Weiler's time would have also broken the previous meet record. Weiler was trailed by Olivia Correale in fifth with a time of 18:03.8. Frida Giersdorff finished just outside the top five and placed sixth with a PR of 18:09.8. The Final Fighting Hawks scoring at the meet in the 5K were Elle Sondag in seventh (18:16.5), Olivia Krafty placing eighth (18:26.6) and Gabrielle Wahl taking ninth (18:37.8).

Ian Busche was the runner-up in the 6K with a PR time of 17:52.8. Aleksa Milanovic and Matej Hrebacka were right behind Busche and placed third (17:58.4) and fourth (17:58.7), respectively. Jonas Weschle and Louis-Lys Fanucchi, both competing in their first collegiate races as Fighting Hawks, took sixth (18:04.2) and eighth (18:14.1). Eric Weiss was also in the top 10 and finished ninth with a personal-best time of 18:23.4. Cian Nagle was the final Hawk to score at the meet and took 12th in 18:26.5.

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 NoDak teams were tabbed third in the preseason poll. The Hawks named Athletes to Watch are Jadyn Keeler, Shewaye Johnson, Ian Busche and Matej Hrebacka.

Keeler redshirted last cross country season but previously earned Second Team All-Summit League honors in 2023 and First Team All-Summit League accolades in 2022. This August, Keeler made headlines at the Jr. Pan American Games in Asunción, Paraguay, where she ran for her home nation of Canada and was the gold medalist in the 10,000 meters (34:16.61) and silver medalist in the 5,000 meters (15:56.77).

Johnson, a transfer from Texas A&M, finished 22nd in the 6K with a time of 20:08.4 at the NCAA Division I South Central Regional Championships last season. She also finished 67th in the 6K at the SEC Cross Country Championships in 20:37.0. In 2023, she was a national qualifier for the NCAA Championships, where she took 231st in the 6K with a time of 22:07.5.

Busche ran a time of 26:06.0 at the Summit League Championships to finish 39th last season. He also clocked PR times of 23:58.7 in the 8K at the Arturo Barrios Invitational and 17:52.8 in the 6K at the Dragon Twilight Invitational.

Hrebacka garnered Second Team All-Summit League status with an eighth-place finish in the 8K in 24:50.37 last season. His finish gave him the fourth-best finish by a UND runner at the meet in school history. He also paced the UND men at the NCAA Midwest Regional and took 83rd, clocking a time of 31:04.96.

On Tap
North Dakota will have next weekend off before visiting Minnesota for the Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 19.