All-Around Success Propels North Dakota in Sunday Action

4/12/2026 9:40:00 PM | By: Sydney Smith, FightingHawks.com

FARGO, N.D. – The second day of competition at the NDSU Spring Classic saw all-around success for the North Dakota track and field squads on Sunday afternoon, highlighted by a brand new school record.

The marquee result came in the women's triple jump as Anya Williams leapt her way into history on her final jump of the day in the event finals. Her jump of 40-0 1/2 (12.20m) gave her a runner-up finish, a new personal best, and became the first mark in UND women's history to surpass 40 feet.

Williams also added in a runner-up finish in the women's high jump with her clearance of 5-7 (1.70m) and Elliotte Becker (5-3, 1.60m) finished third.

Further success for North Dakota came on the track, where two Fighting Hawks cracked the top five in the women's 100-meter dash, led by Ava Phrakonkham's time of 12.09 seconds for fourth and Alimath Salou's time of 12.15 seconds for fifth.

In the men's 110-meter hurdles, Ryan Lange clocked a 14.79 for fourth place while Wyatt Genelin took eighth in 15.73. UND also placed three in the top five of the 400-meter hurdles as Josh Neil (54.35, PR, tied for ninth all-time) took runner-up, Lange (56.22, PR) was third and Brady Paulson (59.09) came fifth.

Sprints also featured two more top-five finishes from Dash Ohlsen (21.84, fourth place) and Cruz Megazzini (21.87, fifth place) in the men's 200-meter dash while in the women's portion of the event, Phrakonkham (24.83) was runner-up and Salou (25.32) came fourth.

Wyatt Grueneich ran a time of 50.23 for third place as Henry Nelson followed close behind in 51.72 seconds for sixth place in the men's 400-meter dash.

Another UND Top 10 time came in the men's 800-mter run through Till Woldrich, who clocked a 1:52.19 for second place to lead four total Fighting Hawks to the top five. Luke Fehrenbacher ran a PR of 1:53.28 for third place, Darby Griffin crossed the finish line in 1:53.42 for fourth place and Tanner Schiller came fifth in 1:53.78.

Callie Steen placed in the top-five of the women's 1500-meter run with her personal best time of 4:45.28 for fourth place as Paris Hoverson (4:57.54) and Rachel Hughes (4:59.01) each also clocked new personal bests.

In the men's 3000-meter steeplechase, UND finished back-to-back as Ethan Weiss took third with a time of 9:41.19 and Ethan Kimmel finished fourth with his personal-best clocking of 9:43.64. Another distance event resulted in a 15:37.65 clocking for Weston Forward as he claimed fifth place overall in the men's 5000-meter run.

Two Hawks broke into the women's pole vault top five as Emily Ash (11-11 3/4, 3.65m) claimed runner-up and Jerzie Horner (11-11 3/4 (3.65m, PR, sixth all-time) finished fourth.

Shane Zierden leapt his way into second place with his mark of 23-3 1/4 (7.09m) for the runner-up finish while in the women's portion of the event, Phrakonkham claimed third place with a mark of 18-0 1/2 (5.50m).

In the women's shot put, three athletes made the event finals, led by Julia Matthews' runner-up placing alongside a mark of 46-2 3/4 (14.09m). Haidyn Skeen took seventh place off a throw of 43-9 1/4 (13.34m) and Katelyn Rath rounded out the placers with a mark of 41-6 (12.65m). The men's half of the event saw Tyler Thoreson finish fifth in the finals with a throw of 55-0 (16.76m), marking a new personal best and the 10^th-best throw in program history while in the men's javelin, with a throw of 176-1 (53.67m), Carter Byron finished fourth overall.

Ilaria Villa won the women's discus throw—leading a trio of Fighting Hawks to the event finals—off her mark of 163-2 (49.75m). Skeen followed in sixth place after a mark of 137-6 (41.93m) and a throw of 134-1 (40.88m) placed Cailey Moton in ninth overall.

The women's 4x100-meter relay squad of Phrakonkham, Salou, Gretchen Raney and Williams clocked a time of 47.74 to take second place with a time that now ranks sixth in school history. Fehrenbacher, Griffin, Kimmel and Schiller teamed up in the men's 4x400-meter relay to run a 3:26.84 for third place.

North Dakota track and field will return to competition with four meets between California and Texas at the Pacific Coast Invitational, Beach Invitational, Bryan Clay Invitational and Tom Tellez Alumni Invitational.

Post-Meet Notes