FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – North Dakota track and field saw its first ticket to the national meet punched off the performance of none other than Jadyn Keeler in Thursday NCAA West Preliminary competition that saw Fighting Hawks competing in the day's first and last events.
 
The marquee moment came in the late-night 10,000-meter run as a trio of Hawks took the stage. After besting her original No. 4 spot in the regional ranking to clock the third-best time in the field, Keeler crossed the finish line in a time of 32:11.14 to book her ticket to the national meet. It will mark a back-to-back showing for the senior at the outdoor NCAA championships who still has one more event yet to compete in at the regional this weekend.
 
Joining as the lone three Summit League athletes to compete in the event were Shewaye Johnson and Naja Weiler. Johnson entered the race ranked No. 41 but quickly put such a placing to shame as she bolted out to a time of 34:06.28 to finish 26^th overall. Weiler rounded out the competing Hawks with her 44^th-place finish overall after running a 36:23.38, improving her position from her original No. 48 ranking earlier in the week.
 
Johnson's junior year campaign comes to close just a few short weeks after a memorable showing in Fargo. She collected a pair of silver medals at the Summit League Outdoor Championships earlier this month in the 5000 and 10,000-meter runs after a season that saw three new personal bests. Johnson rewrote her career marks in the 1500, 5000 and 10,000-meter runs at the Duke Twilight, Bryan Clay Invitational and Stanford Invitational, respectively, while serving as a key member of the nationally ranked UND 10k squad.
 
In her first-ever outdoor track season, Weiler also saw a trio of new personal bests come to fruition. Her 10k time at the Stanford Invitational was what earned her the NCAA West Prelim bid before a pair of PRs came in the 1500 and 5000-meter runs at the Bryan Clay Invitational and a top-five finish followed at the conference meet earlier this month.
 
Impending weather in the area pushed North Dakota's opening event to an early 9 a.m. start to kick off the day with Julia Matthews and Cailey Moton in the women's hammer throw. The high-octane duo saw their outstanding respective seasons come to an end as Moton placed 33^rd overall (187-5, 57.14m) and Matthews followed in 37^th place (183-4, 55.89m) in the field of 48. Their finishes marked overall improvements from the regional rankings heading into the meet that saw Moton at No. 40 and Matthews at No. 43.
 
Consistency has been key for Moton, the sophomore who erupted into the UND Top 10 lists. She saw six top-five finishes during the season with a trio of those coming in the form of event fins in the hammer throw. Her personal best of 194-5 (59.27m) gave her first place at the Cobb Open, earned her the NCAA West Prelims bid and placed her fifth in UND history.
 
On the other half of the duo, Matthews concludes her season that recently sparkled with a pair of scoring performances at the conference meet. She grabbed a bronze in the hammer throw while taking fourth in the shot put to help guide the UND women to its best-ever finish at the outdoor championships. Individually, she tallied 13 top-five finishes on the season which was highlighted by a runner-up placing in the hammer throw at the Cobb Open off her PR mark of 191-2 (58.27m) to sit sixth in UND history.
 
Competition at the NCAA West Preliminary Round will resume for North Dakota on Friday evening as Louis-Lys Fanucchi will represent the Fighting Hawk men in the 3000-meter steeplechase at approximately 5:40 p.m.

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