Oct. 27—GRAND FORKS — Jadyn Keeler, perhaps the best runner in UND history, graduated this offseason.
But the Fighting Hawks women’s cross country team hasn’t missed a beat this year.
The Hawks, who were picked No. 1 in the conference preseason poll, will defend their Summit League championship as the favorites this Saturday at the Highland 9 Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn.
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“Our women are looking to repeat this year, that’s our goal,” head coach Tom Scott said. “I think a lot of people thought this year, because we were going to graduate Jadyn Keeler, a six-time NCAA All-American, that this might be kind of an off year. But believe it or not, we’re even deeper than what we were last year, and stronger.”
Elle Sondag was another key loss in the offseason. UND struggled to find leaders to replace Sondag and Keeler during the opening weeks of the season.
Lately, though, senior Frida Giersdorff and junior Olivia Correale have helped fill that role.
“We lost two big leaders last year,” Scott said. “Those were two seniors that everyone on the team looked up to. … But we’re in a good place. We went through the storming phase, and now we’re getting into the norming phase, and hopefully we’ll get to the performing phase.”
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Correale has also been a standout on the course. She holds the Summit League’s best time in the 6K this season, recording a time of 19:55.3 in the Gans Creek Classic.
Shewaye Johnson is another runner who has continued to establish herself as one of the Hawks’ best. She was named the Summit League Peak Performer of the Week after pacing UND with a 43rd-place finish (20:17.6) at the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 16.
Last year, Johnson placed fourth (20:25.43) at the Summit League championship.
Correale and Johnson aren’t just the Hawks’ best runners — they’re two of the best in the Summit League. According to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s
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rating index
, Correale is ranked No. 157 among Division I runners, while Johnson is No. 175.
They are the only two Summit League women’s runners inside the top 200.
Junior Naja Weiler, sophomore Marie-Louise Jorgensen (who finished fifth at last year’s conference championship) and Giersdorff have consistently contributed as scoring runners this season as well.
As a team, UND is ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Division I Midwest Region. The USTFCCCA ratings index places the Hawks’ scoring five at No. 44 nationally and No. 1 in the Summit League.
The NCAA Division I championship meet includes 32 teams. Scott is hoping that, after the Summit League championship, the Hawks can make a push for that national stage at the NCAA Midwest Regional meet on Nov. 13.
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“If we can figure out a way to upset one of those schools (at regionals), we might get a bid to the NCAA championships,” Scott said. “It’s not going to be easy, but there’s always a chance. We’re going to work our butts off to try and do that.”
First, though, UND will have to prove it can win the conference crown as the favorites.
South Dakota State was the favorite last season, when the Hawks won their first-ever Summit League championship.
“Last year, on both the men’s and women’s side, we talked about how there’s no pressure, we’re not supposed to win,” Scott said. “That’s what we’ve talked about this year, just because we are the favorites on the women’s side — it’s a little bit of a different conversation. There’s a bit of pressure, so we just have to adjust our train of thought to learn how to win when we’re supposed to win.”
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The UND men’s team is still on the hunt for its first title.
The Hawks are expected to finish second to South Dakota State at the Summit League championship, as they did last year.
“Last year, our guys got within eight points,” Scott said. “The guys are ready. We’ve improved drastically from where we were at the beginning of the season compared to how we did at (Pre-nationals), just a lot of (personal bests), lots of performance improvements. So we’re in a good position, and this is a sport — just because SDSU is ranked first, that doesn’t mean that they’re going to win, and we’re not going to just give it to them.”
UND junior Louis-Lys Fanucchi, who finished third at last year’s conference championship meet, has put together another stellar year. He holds the Summit League’s best time in the 6K (17:33.9) and second-best in the 8K (23:26.4).
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Sophomore Matej Hrebacka also earned a top-10 finish at the league meet last year, placing seventh (24:01.06). He led the Hawks at the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 16 with a time of 24:09.2, good for 70th.
