UND Track and Field

[UND Football Fan]

Great Finish for Ethan Thomas! 

 

[FSSD]

Great Season - Ethan!!  Looking forward to next year.  Any chance you can play DT too?

[Und Princess]

Good Afternoon!!! How are you doing? I have a blog update to share with all of my awesome fellow UND fans. I hope you enjoy my post. Have a fantastic evening!!!

https://ftstspotlight.blogspot.com/2025/06/sun-speed-and-success-track-and-field.html?m=1

[Class_of_98]

https://fightinghawks.com/news/2025/7/30/womens-outdoor-track-field-kenna-curry-to-compete-at-2025-toyota-usatf-outdoor-championships.aspx#:~:text=More-,+

[Class_of_98]

Curry finished 13th in hammer

[Und Princess]

19 minutes ago, Class_of_98 said:

Curry finished 13th in hammer

So does mean Curry moves on to the next round?

[YeahhhSiouxSioux]

1 hour ago, Und Princess said:

So does mean Curry moves on to the next round?

Curry will not move onto the next round unfortunately. On a related note, Grand Forks local Shelby Frank made the national team for the discuss throw!

[Und Princess]

6 minutes ago, YeahhhSiouxSioux said:

Curry will not move onto the next round unfortunately. On a related note, Grand Forks local Shelby Frank made the national team for the discuss throw!

That is a bummer!!! Thank you for sharing.  I didn't know how many places made the next round. But she is #1 in our hearts.

[SiouxFan100]

Our track teams are stepping up. Helps with some foreign recruits. I hope we continue to improve. Sounds like good coaching.

[UND Fan]

On 6/1/2025 at 8:19 PM, HockeyHawk said:

Has anyone actually checked the performance of our track program across all events? We have a few individuals that are doing very well but overall we are nowhere near as good as other Summit League schools. We are not winning the way it is being represented. 

I remember reading this a few months ago but did not respond at that time.  Coach Vahrenkamp has done an outstanding job for us.  He arrived and began to turn the program around before our facilities improved to the current level.  To be successful in T&F, you need many excellent athletes to score points in 20 different events.  That doesn't happen overnight!  So, your comments are quite naive.   Additionally, we were able to hang on to GF athlete, Ehan Thomas, one of the best young throwers in the country.

Here is part of a recent communication I received from Coach Vahrenkamp (I excluded portions of the letter).  It appears the program will continue to improve.  The link at below is from the coach to former T&F athletes and program supporters.  It would be great if those interested could help the program with some $!!!

 

Recruiting has been excellent this year. I won't bore you with the specifics, suffice to say this is the most talent class that we have ever had on the women's side. We picked up the state champion in shot put again on the men's side, also from Grand Forks.

We lost one athlete to the portal last year, Jiri - he was our best 800m runner. Before he had found a home in the portal we had replaced him with a freshman with comparable time. Generally, the portal hasn't been an issue. I think Ethan has been sincere in his desire to stay here on the team while Elijah is the throws coach. His parents live five houses to the west of our house on our street. More than once I've had conversations with them that indicate they support keeping Ethan here with us. We are doing everything that we can do to make him feel appreciated. 

1. Excluded - probably confidential related to NIL for Thomas.
2. Excluded - probably confidential due to increase in scholarship for Thomas.

Things are going well with the progress toward hosting the indoor conference championship. We have a great set up. Lots of places for teams to eat, great hotel options, and a weekend where hockey is not in town. It should be a win for everyone. After the last championships we took some feedback from people and Elijah and I built a raised runway in order to improve the performances in the jumps. We have also hosted more meets which has given us some operational insight into what we can improve to make things the best that they can be. I hope the feed on midcosports+ will be great. I'm hoping we can get Alex Heinert from Hockey to help one other conference expert with commentary.

 

We are still working on fundraising. As you know, engagement is always a process. I have worked the last few years to build some relationships with people through emails, phone calls, in person conversations etc. It will take every year that I am here to explain how much we can do together and still won't be enough. UND is a wonderful place, I enjoy encouraging everyone from our history to continue to support it.

 

Thank you again for your continued support.

 

Jim Vahrenkamp

Head Coach Track and Field & Cross Country

University of North Dakota

😄 701-202-9316

James.vahrenkamp@und.edu

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Link to personal message from Jim to former T&F athletes and boosters:

 

Click for a message from head coach Jim Vahrenkamp!