SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A stunning career capped by a pair of All-American finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships has resulted in another shimmering accolade as Jadyn Keeler was named the Summit League Women's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year, league officials announced on Wednesday.
 
The recognition comes mere days after Keeler's historic performance at the national championships where she represented the Fighting Hawks in both the 5000-meter and 10,000-meter runs.
 
She first made headlines in the late-night 10,000-meter run after erupting for a sixth-place finish in the event to secure First Team All-America honors after clocking a time of 32:04.97. It marked the first time a UND track athlete earned First Team distinction at an NCAA Track and Field Championship in program history while also tying the highest-ever finish for a UND athlete at the national meet (sixth place, also collected by Molli Detloff in 2019 in the hammer throw). But the senior was nowhere close to being done quite yet.
 
Keeler followed that up with a Second Team All-America showing in the 5000-meter run where she finished 12^th overall alongside a time of 15:27.43, just .56 seconds off her own school record. With the honor, she became the first-ever three-time Division I outdoor track All-American in program history and the first-ever UND athlete to earn two All-America honors at the same national meet. She is just the third-ever UND athlete to appear in multiple NCAA D1 outdoor championships, the first-ever athlete to earn two outdoor national bids in the same season and remains as the only female track athlete to ever compete the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships for North Dakota.
 
Her performance on the national stage came after a stunning showing on the regional level. It began in the 10,000-meter run when Keeler bested her original No. 4 rank heading into the regional by clocking the third-best time in the field at 32:11.14 to book a ticket to nationals. That performance initially secured her back-to-back appearances at the NCAAs, but she still had one more event to go.
 
The final day of action at the NCAA West Preliminary Round saw Keeler run the 5000-meter run in 15:26.87 to finish fourth in her heat and fifth overall. That time marked a brand-new school record, a new personal best, her second ticket punched to the NCAA Championships and a grand improvement from her initial regional rank of No. 10 in the event.
 
Her tickets to the prelims were booked early into the season at a pair of meets out in California. The 31:56.03 showing in the Stanford Invitational 10,000-meter run gave her the No. 4 best time in the region to help initially secure a post-season bid before her time of 15:26.98 in the 5000-meter run at the Bryan Clay Invitational gave her the No. 11 spot in the region.
 
Keeler also collected a triple crown during competition at the Summit League Outdoor Track and Field Championships last month after taking gold in the 3000-meter steeplechase (10:00.45), 5000-meter run (16:13.10) and 10,000-meter run (35:03.58). She also added in a runner-up showing in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:27.46 to take the silver medal and secure four All-Summit League accolades.
 
She closes her outdoor track and field career as a three-time All-American, a six-time Summit League champion, a four-time Summit League Women's Outdoor Track Peak Performer of the Week, a two-time Summit League Women's Outdoor Track Championship MVP, the 2022 Summit League Women's Newcomer of the Championship and a two-time Summit League Women's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year.
 
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