OGDEN, Utah - The Northern Arizona University men's and women's cross country teams swept the Big Sky Conference Championships for the third time in the past four years on Saturday afternoon at Riverside Golf Course.

Not only did both teams successfully defend their conference titles, Tyler Day also won the individual championship on the men's side while Paige Gilchrist won the individual title for the women. It is the first time since 2009 that a team has swept both the team and individual championships.

"I was happy for the men's and women's teams," Director of Cross Country Michael Smith said. "I'm excited they defended their titles and competed as a team. Cross Country is only a team sport to us, and the joy we saw today, and running together and doing it for each other is what it's all about."

For the NAU men, it was another strong showing it what has been an outstanding season.

Day won the individual championship with a 23:21.0 performance. Like in past races, it was Day, Matt Baxter and Andy Trouard leading the way for the Lumberjacks it what looked at times could come down to a photo finish.

Day ended up pulling away at the end for the title, but Baxter was right behind to finish second with a time of 23:22.0. Trouard placed third with a 23:58.7 performance.

While the individual title came down to the wire, so did the team scores as Northern Arizona and Southern Utah traded places back and forth for much of the race.

"When we planned our training, we knew that we would run the Big Sky race in an aggressive manner from the start," Smith said. "It gives us some good callusing for what we expect the race to be like in Louisville for the national meet. We had a battle on our hands, that's a really strong Southern Utah team and it was a low scoring meet so we wanted to declare very early what our intentions were from a competitive standpoint to make a statement to those guys and if we did it correctly, we would break them physically with that initial pace. I give Southern Utah credit, they held on pretty well but we were really strong up front."

Strong performances from Luis Grijalva (8th at 24:28.0) and Cory Glines (10th at 24:32.9) sealed the victory for the NAU men, who have now won 10 of the past 11 Big Sky titles. 

"I really liked how Cory Glines held down that fifth spot for us today," Smith said. "He's getting better for us by the week and he showed a lot of leadership out there today."

Also competing for the Lumberjacks was Harvey Nelson (20th, 25:07.1), Cade Burks (51st, 26:20.4) and Ryan Wolff (56th, 26:37.8).

With his performance, Grijalva was named the Big Sky's Male Freshmen Athlete of the Year. Day, Baxter, Trouard, Grijalva and Glines were all named to the Big Sky All-Conference team.

On the women's side, Gilchrist won her first career individual title to lead a strong performance for the Lumberjacks, who won the conference championship for the third time in the past four seasons.

"We really wanted to practice some patience there and that was their race plan, to move with the pace but not necessarily being the ones asserting ourselves to do it," Smith said.

"I'm really happy for Paige, as someone who has been a lot during her time at NAU," Smith added. "She's given NAU a lot, and worked through a whole bunch of adversity, so to see it come together for her on a special day, and leading her time like that is something I'll remember for a long time."

Mikayla Malaspina placed third (17:32.1) while Miranda Myers finished right behind them in sixth (17:42.6).

Emily Roughan came in 18th (18:04.9) and Pipi Eitel finished 23rd (18:09.6) to round out the NAU scoring.

Also competing for NAU was Emma Keenan (36th, 18:25.7), Delaney Rasmussen (43rd, 18:40.1) and Kylie Goo (44th, 18:42.4).

It is the 16th time in program history that NAU has swept the conference championships in what was a true team performance.

Gilchrist, Malaspina, and Myers all earned All-Conference honors.

"Today just shows how well rounded this program is," Smith concluded. "We have strong teams, strong individuals on both the men's and women's side and we're not titled or dominate in just one place. So I think that says a lot about our resources, our staff, our recruiting. It really speaks a lot about the strengths of our program."


Men's Top Five Team Scores
1. Northern Arizona - 24 Points
2. Southern Utah - 36 Points
3. Weber State - 82 Points
4. Idaho - 123 Points
5. Montana State - 145 Points

Women's Top Five Team Scores
1. Northern Arizona - 51 Points
2. Montana State - 83 Points
3. Idaho - 95 Points
4. Southern Utah - 100
5. Weber State - 131 Points

Men's Finishes
1. Tyler Day - 23:21.0
2. Matt Baxter - 23:22.0
3. Andy Trouard - 23:58.7
8. Luis Grijalva - 24:28.0
10. Cory Glines - 24:32.9
20. Harvey Nelson - 25:07.1
51. Cade Burks - 26:20.4
56. Ryan Wolff - 26:37.8

Women's Finishes
1. Paige Gilchrist - 17:12.1
3. Mikayla Malaspina - 17:32.1
6. Miranda Myers - 17:42.6
18. Emily Roughan - 18:04.9
23. Pipi Eitel - 18:09.6
36. Emma Keenan - 18:25.7
43. Delaney Rasmussen - 18:40.1
44. Kylie Goo - 18:42.4