FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Entering the 2015 campaign, the Northern Arizona University men's cross country team was in search of its ninth-straight Big Sky championship, while the women's side was attempting to defend its 2014 conference title. In addition to the team accolades, Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Eric Heins was the reigning two-time conference coach of the year.

Unlike previous years, though, the men were expected to go through what many would call a "transition period" or "rebuilding process" in 2015. Losing some key athletes following the 2014 season coupled with the fact this season's speculated one-two punch of Futsum Zienasellassie and Nathan Weitz were redshirting, the Lumberjack men faced a challenge unlike any other during the Heins era.

"I'd say maybe on the outside looking in it didn't look like too big of a drop-off, but both programs definitely caught a little bit of the injury bug," said Heins. "On both sides, we knew we didn't have any room for error."

For the women, expectations remained high with the returns of redshirt senior leader Kayla Freeman and redshirt junior Melanie Townsend. Redshirt sophomores Paige Gilchrist and Kylie Goo were the other two staples for the Lumberjack squad, solidifying the women's top-four athletes.

"They looked great coming into the season," said Assistant Coach Leah Rosenfeld. "We definitely had an experienced team coming back. Townsend, Goo and Freeman were all on that Big Sky Conference championship team [last season], so they had been to conference and knew what it took to win."

With both sides prepped and ready to begin their conference title defenses, the NAU men and women roared out of the gate and claimed first place victories at the season-opening George Kyte Classic.

That meet actually allowed NAU fans to get their first taste of redshirt sophomore Cory Glines, who finished first overall at GKC and set the tone for the Lumberjack squad in 2015.  

"Glines ran lights-out all year for us and was someone the guys could really count on as being a solid No. 1 runner," said Heins. "If you have that, then that makes your job as a two, three, four, five guy a lot easier and much less stressful. The guys knew that they could count on him and that he wasn't going to have a bad day."  

For the women, it was Gilchrist highlighting the early part of the season for NAU. After sitting out last year due to injury, the redshirt sophomore from Montana claimed third place at George Kyte, followed by a 14th-place performance at the team's first national race of the season, the Cowboy Jamboree.

The Cowboy Jamboree—being the first true test of the 2015 campaign—was a stage the Lumberjacks wanted to take advantage of, and they certainly did by notching a second place team finish. Glines continued his impressive start, finishing fifth overall and first for the 'Jacks, while freshman Tyler Day began his emergence as a top-athlete for NAU with a ninth-place mark.

The race in Stillwater, Okla., also marked Melanie Townsend's first race of the year. NAU's top-athlete on the women's team began the 2015 season right where she left off in 2014, earning fourth-place overall and finishing first for the 'Jacks. Gilchrist, Goo (11th) and Freeman (16th) also logged top-20 finishes for NAU en route to a third-place team finish.

The first real hurdle of the season, however, came at the highly-anticipated Adidas Invitational in Madison, Wis. Going up against 35 other teams, the men's depth was definitely challenged as the team earned a 30th-place finish.

"I think just the way they ran that race, you could tell that we were young," said Heins. "I've been doing this long enough to know what we had on paper and what the guys' capabilities were, and the depth of teams and athletes [at that race] is something our freshmen have never seen or witnessed before."

The Lumberjack women, on the other hand, matched expectations for the race, finishing 21st of 36 teams. Townsend logged a top-40 finish while freshman Mikayla Malaspina was the second 'Jack to cross the finish line at 106th.

"Like we had done all year, we had kept setting goals," said Rosenfeld. "We had an excellent goal, a good goal and an average goal for every race, and the team kept hitting the 'good' goal. The problem at Wisconsin, though, was that not everyone ran what they were capable of on the same day. But overall, the end result of coming in 21st…that was a good day for our team."

Instead of letting the finish at Adidas hang over their heads, the men's team forged on and rebounded nicely going into the conference meet in Cedar City, Utah. And despite the fact neither team was able to repeat as conference champions this season, the Lumberjacks still competed like winners.

"The way they ran the meet at conference was phenomenal," said Heins. "Going up against a top-25 team in Southern Utah and knowing that we weren't a top-25 team this year, the guys didn't back down and weren't intimidated. They gave them a run for their money. I think 75 percent of our guys ran a really strong race and they followed through on the game plan."

"The women had such high expectations to win the Big Sky this year and were just so emotionally amped up for the race, which is great but it almost hurt us in the end," said Rosenfeld. "They expended a lot of energy the first 2K loop and they had another 3K or so left to go. I think we showed a little too much enthusiasm too early in the race, which ended up nipping us in the butt."

Following conference, both teams traveled to New Mexico to compete in the Mountain Regional Championships, a certain springboard to NCAA Nationals with a good enough finish. While both squads showed a ton of heart and grit at the regional competition—Day, Townsend and Freeman all earned all-regional accolades for their times—both teams narrowly missed the cut.

However, because of her showing, Townsend was the fourth and final individual to be selected from the region for the national competition. The bid marked her second-consecutive trip to nationals, where the Melbourne, Australia native actually improved her time by 12 seconds from 2014's NCAA national meet.

"With Townsend, her impact on the team is leading by example," said Rosenfeld. "She lives the elite lifestyle. Through that, she leads by example and the girls look to her and ask her for advice. She's really grown and matured as an athlete and a person throughout the past three years."

While you won't be able to find the same kind of individual and team awards of past years when looking back at this NAU cross country season, the argument could be made that the Lumberjacks achieved much more than two or three trophies could ever amount to.

"In athletics, we get caught up in wins and losses, but I think that's the beautiful thing about being at a place like NAU," said Heins. "You'll hear Dr. Campos, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics at NAU, say that we do athletics and we do it the right way."

"We had a young team on the men's side, but everyone—men and women—really competed at such a level that brought a ton of pride to the university. The cross country program really did go out and represent NAU in a first-class manner. I think that's what you really want to see. If you get too caught up in wins and losses, then things can get out of hand or taken out of context."