ASU Invite Results (Men and Women)

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona University cross country teams wrapped up the 2015 regular season this afternoon, with both squads earning third-place finishes at the Arizona State Invitational.

For the men, freshman Jackson Crose looked very impressive during the four-mile run, maintaining a steady pace throughout and sticking to his target times. Crose ended the ASU Invite with a third-place finish and a time of 20:54.58.

Following Crose, NAU had a solid pack running together, with freshmen Kyle Havriliak (No. 9), Ryan Wolff (No. 13), Sebastian Kwit (No. 15) and Makai Clemons (No. 19) rounding out the top-five for the Lumberjacks. In fact, Havriliak, Wolff and Kwit all crossed the finish line within mere seconds of one another. Christian Cucuta also competed for NAU, logging a 23rd-place finish.

"We talked about getting out around a 5:05 pace and just trying to be in the front pack," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Eric Heins. "[Crose] was at that time, and he wasn't leading the race but he was in the front pack. As the race started to string out, [Crose] just kept racing people and passing people, and he even had a shot to get into the top-four there at the end."

On the women's end, freshman Caitlin Heldt was NAU's top athlete on the day, recording a time of 18:28.78. Through the first half of the race, Heldt paced herself nicely before making a move in the last 1,600 meters to end her day with a stellar sixth-place finish overall. 

Freshmen Miranda Myers roared out of the gate for the Lumberjacks, but fell just slightly in the pack before crossing the finish line with a ninth-place finish overall. Just like Heldt, Myers' finish at the ASU Invite was her highest placement in a collegiate race.

Other NAU runners at the ASU Invite included junior Melanie Zibrat (No. 12), freshmen Savannah Gaffney (No. 13), Jessie Williams (No. 14), Natalie Cox (No. 18) and redshirt freshman Maggie Carruth (No. 19).

"The women had a really tough workout on Tuesday, so I think we expected they would be a little tired coming into this race," said Heins. "But hats-off to [Heldt], she ran this course today almost perfectly. She didn't get out too hard, but put herself in that front pact to give herself a chance to finish in the top-10. She passed people the whole race and that's what you want to see."

The Lumberjacks are back in action next Saturday, Oct. 31, when both teams travel to Cedar City, Utah, to compete at Big Sky Championships. Both the NAU men and women will look to defend 2014 conference titles. For the women, they're looking for back-to-back championships while the men are going for their ninth-straight.

For all news and updates regarding Lumberjack cross country, follow us on Twitter @nautrackfieldxc.