BOZEMAN, Mont. – Domination was the name of the game Saturday at the Big Sky Outdoor Track and Field Championships, as the Northern Arizona University men's team, led by meet MVP Jordan Chipangama, rode eight event wins on the final day to a Big Sky record 221 team points and the fourth-ever season sweep for men's cross country and track and field.
Chipangama led all scorers with 26 points—the entirety of which were scored on Saturday—following a win in the 1,500 meters (3:52.58) with a pair of silver medals in the 800 (1:50.96) and 5,000 meters (14:51.70). The honor itself was also a season sweep for the Lumberjacks, as All-American Diego Estrada won both the Big Sky cross country title and the Big Sky Indoor MVP award earlier this year.
The Lumberjack women, in a vast improvement from their eighth place finish in the 2011 outdoor season, finished third overall with 107 team points.
"Today was special," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Eric Heins. "We didn't have a horrible day yesterday, but we also didn't have a great day, so for us to have everybody hitting on all cylinders today and finishing higher than what they were ranked, the guys knew they had to step it up because we knew Montana State would perform well at their home track."
The NAU men faced an uphill battle going into the final day of the championship meet, trailing Montana State by over 30 points. However, the Jacks struck early and often Saturday, chipping away at the Bobcat lead to eventually take over and win the team title by 57 points.
Victories in the hammer throw, discus, triple jump, 200 meters, 400 meters, 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters, and the 4x400-meter relay were too much for the eight other Big Sky men's teams.
Pascal Tang got the men started off Saturday with the men's hammer throw, coming out with a vengeance and looking for his second Big Sky title of the 2012 season. Tang uncorked a personal record toss of 209-10 to win the event decisively.
Chipangama was next to win for the Jacks, taking the 1,500-meter title as the one of three NAU runners to score in the event. John Yatsko took second (3:54.20) and Chris Ganem took sixth (3:55.87) to give the men 21 points in the race.
Adel al Nasser successfully defended his indoor title in the 400 meters with a time of 46.71. Junior Arnaud Froidmont, bouncing back from an injury sustained in the indoor season, also scored in the event, taking fourth in 48.17.
Senior Dennis Givens and Caleb Hoover captured their first career Big Sky titles Saturday—in the 200 meters and the 5,000 meters—despite the fact that Hoover is a true freshman and Givens is a sixth-year senior coming off back-to-back missed seasons due to knee injuries.
Givens, who also took fourth in the 100 meters, gritted his teeth and followed a fiery determination to a victory in the 200 over 100-meter champ Chris Wilson of Montana State, crossing the finish line in a PR of 21.26. Hoover hung with the front pack for the majority of the 5,000-meter race, but cemented himself in NAU distance lore by momentously outkicking Chipangama and Eastern Washington's Kyle King to win in a time of 14:50.18.
The men's jumps came back to form Saturday in the triple jump after a somewhat down day Friday, taking the first three spots and scoring 24 points in the event. Edgar Panford defended his own indoor title by leaping over 49 feet for the first time this outdoor season (49-2). Josh DeKonty (47-0.75) and Thremaine Johnson (46-11.5) followed Panford in second and third.
Closing out the day and putting the icing on the cake for the Lumberjack men were Karl Gehrke and the men's 4x400-meter relay team of al Nasser, Froidmont, Di Sabella, and Givens. Gehrke took the men's discus crown with a toss of 173-2, while the mile relay squad set a new season best by clocking 3:10.08 in the event.
Although NAU's individual winners were the stars of the weekend, neither team could have accomplished their team finishes without valiant efforts from the rest of the Lumberjacks. Notable performances from Saturday included Vernon Jamison (14.59) and Jenne Childs (14.18) placing fourth in the short hurdles, Darriel Banks dual scoring finishes in the 100 (11.94) and 200-meter dashes (24.60), and Jessica Bush finishing with a bronze medal in the women's shot put.
Sophomore Lauren Laszczak took fifth in the women's high jump, Rashida McKinnon crossed the finish line in fourth in the 400 meters (55.04), Agnes Laurent placed fourth in the 800 meters (2:12.62), and Caroline Hogardh and Haley Lawrence took fourth and fifth in the 1,500 meters to highlight some other women's scorers on the day.
The event that had the most Lumberjack scorers over the course of the weekend was the men's 5,000 meters. After the one-two punch of Hoover and Chipangama, NAU finished three other runners in the top-eight. Senior John Yatsko (15:04.72), freshman Alejandro Montano (15:10.41), and sophomore Bahlbi Gebreyohanns (15:16.08) captured fifth, sixth, and seventh place, respectively.
In some senses, victory was sweeter for the Lumberjacks on Saturday. NAU track and field and cross country had one of their best seasons to date, dominating the conference for the entirety of the 2011-12 school year and ending each Big Sky season in record fashion.
NAU men's cross country became the first team to ever win five consecutive team titles with their Big Sky win last fall, the men's indoor squad broke their own record for team points two months ago in Flagstaff, and with the outdoor title now in their pockets, the Lumberjacks are officially the team to beat in 2012-13.
"To be able to win cross country, indoor, and outdoor in the same year is something special," said Heins. "The home school always puts on a good showing at their home track, so it's great to be able to come to a place as competitive as Montana State and be able to compete as well as we did. I'm really proud of the way these guys handled the adversity this weekend."
Only two meets remain for the Lumberjacks in the 2012 outdoor campaign, the first being the NCAA West Preliminary Round in two weeks. The regional meet runs from May 24-26 in Austin, Texas.
