COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Jadyn Keeler (5,000 meters), Kenna Curry (discus) and Frida Giersdorff (3,000-meter steeplechase) wrapped up North Dakota's stay at the NCAA West Preliminary Round on Saturday.

Keeler came less than three seconds shy from qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 5,000 meters and finished 14th in 16:04.12. The final qualifying spot in her heat went to Zofia Dudek of Stanford with a time of 16:01.80. By competing in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA West Regional, Keeler became the first athlete in school history to compete in the event at the regional.

On Thursday night, Keeler punched her ticket to the national championship meet in the 10,000 meters and had the fifth-fastest time (34:07.67) at the meet. By qualifying for nationals, she became the first women's distance runner in UND's Division I history to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

The Ontario distance runner entered Saturday as the No. 12 seed in the 5,000 meters. She qualified for the meet with a time of 15:33.59 at the Bryan Clay Invitational and annihilated the program record in her invitational section at that meet. Keeler shattered the previous record time of 16:04.26, set by Yonca Kutluk at the 2024 Bryan Clay Invitational. Keeler's PR was an improvement by 1:26.09 to her previous best.

At the Summit League Outdoor Championships, Keeler paced the UND track athletes and piled up three all-conference accolades. On the final day of the conference meet, she was the gold medalist in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:09.70. With that time, she broke the Summit League Outdoor Championships meet record time of 16:16.48, set by Amber Eichkorn of South Dakota in 2015. She was also the silver medalist in the 1,500 meters in 4:24.35 and ran away from the field in the 10,000 meters to gain the gold in 35:32.01, crossing the finish line 25 seconds faster than the rest of the competition. At the end of the conference meet, she was named the Track Championship M.V.P.

Throughout the season, Keeler has rewritten the UND record books and owns the program records in the 1,500 meters (4:20.03), 5,000 meters (15:33.59) and 10,000 meters (32:06.70). After competing in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Championships in two weeks, Keeler will run for Canada at the Junior Pan American Games in Asunción, Paraguay this August.

Curry finished 29th in the discus with a toss of 170-9 (52.05m). She is just the fifth Hawk on the women's team to compete in the event at the NCAA West Regional and her throw was good for the second-furthest throw at the meet in school history, trailing only Destine Rose-Haas' throw of 176-0 (53.65m) in 2021. By throwing the discus on Saturday, Curry became the first athlete in school history to throw the discus, hammer and shot put all at the NCAA West Preliminary Round in the same year.

The thrower from Elk Point, S.D., qualified for the NCAA Championships on Thursday in the hammer throw with a toss of 208-2 (63.44m) at the NCAA West Preliminary Round. By qualifying for the NCAA Championships, Curry became the second UND thrower to qualify for the meet in UND's Division I history, joining Molli Detloff, who competed at the national meet in the hammer throw in both 2017 (sixth) and 2019 (12th). On Thursday evening, Curry returned to the E.B. Cushing Stadium to take part in the shot put, where she finished 24th with a throw of 51-3 (15.62m).

Curry came into the meet on Saturday as the No. 40 seed in the discus and qualified for the regional with her toss of 172-2 (52.48m) at the USD Tune-Up. Her throw at that meet won the event crown and improved her No. 5 mark on the UND top-10 list.

At the outdoor conference meet, Curry led the UND field athletes with three All-Summit League performances. She was the gold medalist in the shot put with a toss of 51-6 1/4 (15.70m) and the silver medalist in the discus with a throw of 163-7 (49.68m) on the final day of the Summit League Outdoor Championships. On the opening day, she also captured the gold medal, broke the school record and shattered the conference meet record in the hammer throw with a PR of 223-1 (68.01m). Her throw broke the program record of Detloff, who set it at 222-1 (67.94m) at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Curry's hammer throw mark also bettered the conference meet record of 217-6 (66.29m), which was set by Maddy Niles of North Dakota State in 2022. At the conclusion of the conference meet, Curry was named the Field Championship M.V.P.

During the regular season, Curry set a new shot put school record with a throw of 53-8 1/4 (16.36m) and recorded the No. 5 mark in the discus in program history with a toss of 172-2 (52.48m). She also captured eight throwing titles.

Giersdorff took 39th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:41.44. She became the first UND distance runner on the women's side to compete in the steeplechase at the NCAA West Regional in back-to-back years, also taking 45th in 11:15.85 at the meet last season. Giersdorff remains just the second Hawk on the women's side to compete in the steeplechase at the meet in program history and her time of 10:41.44 beat the previous best time in the event at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, which was 10:51.59 by Keeler last year.

The German steeplechaser entered the meet as the No. 39 seed after clocking a time of 10:18.85 at the Bryan Clay Invitational. With that time, she shattered the school record and took eighth in the open section with a PR. Her time destroyed the previous school record of Keeler, who set it at 10:28.86 at the 2024 Summit League Outdoor Championships.

At the Summit League Outdoor Championships two weeks ago, Giersdorff was the silver medalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:44.92. During the regular season, she won the title in the 3,000 meters at the Riverside CC Open.

Keeler and Curry will conclude North Dakota's season at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Thursday, June 12.