Cale Wallace, who was serving as a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater. An All-American in the distance medley relay with personal records of 3:40 in the 1,500-meters and 8:41 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Wallace made an immediate impact on the distance recruiting scene for the Fighting Hawks. Engel and Wallace signed four of the top 27 finishers in the boys 2019 Minnesota Class AA State Cross Country Championship, led by Buffalo High School product Nick Oak who finished sixth overall. The talented group of four will join Minnesota native Labatte to bolster the men's distance roster. The distance coaching staff of Engel and Wallace teamed to reach further than the upper Midwest to round out the men's recruiting class with signees Tyler Jackson of Cherokee (N.J.) High School, who won the 1,600-meters at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Indoor Meet of Champions. On the women’s side a more balanced class signed to compete for the Fighting Hawks. Distance ace Cornelia Wohlfahrt, a two-time Austrian National Senior Champion highlights the women distance signees. As some things change, others stay the same – in the field, the throws group under the direction of assistant coach Drew Jones continued to shine. The throws group was led by senior Adam Mehr who broke his own school record in the weight throw on multiple occasions including three times in the same day at the UND Tune Up. On the women’s side, the high point was senior Makayla Keefe who improved to second all-time at North Dakota in the weight throw. Jones, who recruited and developed former UND thrower Molli Detloff into a three-time All-American continues to add high caliber studentathletes to the throws group with a pair of highly decorated high school state champions in Eve Goldstein of Somerset (Wis.) High School and Kenna Curry of Elk Point-Jefferson (S.D.) High School. Goldstein and
Curry will add immediate quality depth to Jones’ throws crew in one of the nation’s top throws conferences.
Hurdling to success Assistant Coach Dan McCarty’s group turned in a solid indoor season with senior Erin Brown leading the way finishing second at The Summit League Indoor championships in the 60-meter hurdles. McCarty mentored Brown as she bested her own school record on numerous occasions over the last two seasons. McCarty led sophomore Jack Vetsch and junior Erica Benson each to school records in the indoor multievents. In the lone outdoor meet of the season, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Brown became the only hurdler in program history to finish the 100-meter hurdles in under 14-seconds clocking a time of 13.96 to set yet another school record. The meet saw 12 other Fighting Hawks take event wins and two meet records including Brown’s 100-meter standard and Eades’ 800-meter time of 2:10.09. Junior Destinee Rose-Haas hurled the discus 163-11 (49.97) which was further than the previous meet record but finished second in the meet. McCarty — who also coached a UND All-American last year, Kyley Foster — welcomes a promising group of women jumpers and sprinters for 2020-2021 including three-time Alaska state hurdle champion Brooklyn Gould. The changes continued as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the nation and the world, preventing the outdoor season from completion for the first time at UND since the flood in 1997. As the university, athletic department and track and field program continue to navigate the future with Engel leading the way, more changes and history will be made. /// — by Kyle Doperalski
Overby nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year Senior Madison Overby, a three-time All-Summit League runner who will soon begin dental school at Harvard University, has been announced as a nominee for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year. The NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility in their primary sport and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service, and leadership throughout their collegiate careers. Overby earned All-Summit League honors during the 2019-20 cross country and indoor track & field seasons, and Academic All-Summit League distinction during the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. The Austin, Minn., native helped set the indoor distance medley relay record on Feb. 15, running the opening leg at the South Dakota State Indoor classic, her final of three school records she set with the Fighting Hawks during her career. She also finished in the top 10 in eight different events at the University of North Dakota. Off the running paths, Overby served three years as the track & field program’s representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was Sports Editor for The Dakota Student, UND’s student newspaper. Like other spring sport student-athletes, Overby’s season was cut short. Though the NCAA has granted these student-athletes with waiver exceptions to compete next season, Overby has decided to pursue her graduate studies at Harvard University in the prestigious Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM). Overby’s name was submitted by UND to The Summit League, where it will now select up to two nominees each from the pool of school nominees. Then, the Woman of the Year selection committee will choose the Top 30 honorees – 10 from each division.
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