Two athletes from the University of North Dakota track and field team achieved new top 10 program marks as competition concluded at the Bryan Clay Multis in Azusa, California, on April 10.
The event featured Marta Marksa and Eucabeth Kivikangas competing in Group B of the women’s heptathlon. Both athletes completed their final three events on Friday afternoon, finishing with personal bests that placed them among the all-time leaders in UND history.
Marksa started day two by placing 13th in both the long jump (17-11/5.46m) and javelin throw (94-6/28.81m). She then delivered a strong performance in the final event, securing second place in the 800-meter run with a personal-best time of 2:18.50. This result gave her an additional 844 points—the highest single-event score of her day—and moved her into ninth place overall with a total of 5057 points, which is now fifth-best all-time at UND.
Kivikangas opened with an eighth-place finish in both the long jump (18-4¼/5.59m) and javelin throw (107-7/32.80m), earning a day-high score of 726 points for her long jump effort. She finished seventh in the concluding event, clocking a time of 2:27.95 for another career best. Kivikangas secured an eleventh-place finish overall with exactly 5000 points—her highest ever—which ranks seventh on UND’s historical list.
With their multi-event performances complete, North Dakota track and field will now prepare for its next competition at the NDSU Spring Classic scheduled to take place this weekend in Fargo.
