FINAL RESULTS (PDF)
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Andy Trouard won the NCAA National Championships in the men's 3000-meter race and
Ashley Taylor placed fourth in the nation in the women's 800-meter dash as the Northern Arizona University track and field program concluded the final day of the 2018 NCAA Indoor National Championships at Texas A&M's Gilliam Indoor Stadium on Saturday evening.
Trouard led the pack from the beginning of the race and outkicked Syracuse's national champion Justyn Knight to take home his first-career individual national title with a time of 8:04.94. It was the first national championship earned by a Lumberjack athlete since David McNeill accomplished the feat since 2010.
"This is a career defining moment for Andy," director of track and field Michael Smith said. "I'm so proud of him. No one but Andy deserves the credit on that one. Our coaches can prepare him but that execution was completely his own. He did a fantastic job of controlling the race and winning the straights. On a 200-meter banked track the tactics of passing are unique. His win tonight was a master class in those tactics."
"This was a special moment in NAU track and field history. Earning that individual national champion is what every athlete dreams of," Smith added.
It was the second All-American honor earned by Trouard this weekend after finishing fifth in Friday's 5000-meter race.
Ashley Taylor went from the back of the pack down the final backstretch and outkicked the field as she placed fourth in the women's 800-meter dash with a new personal best and NAU school record of 2:03.66.
"Ashley's fourth place finish tonight was a monumental race," Smith said. "In ten months to switch coaches, training and events, to set a school record to qualify for the national championships, to make a final and then to beat some of the best athletes is the country to finish fourth is hard to wrap your mind around. The whole journey can be summarized with belief including the final 100-meters of the race."
"The strength in the 800-meter event is who decelerates the least last," Smith added. "When we met this morning I told her that her last 100-meters would be the best in the field because she would decelerate the least. I was pretty close to accurate as her strength is the product of the tireless effort from each day we see from her in Flagstaff."
It was the first All-American honor earned by the redshirt senior from Burlington, Ontario.
Brooke Andersen finished 10th in the country in the women's weight throw with a best toss of 21.10m. She earned second team All-American honors.
Matt Baxter rounded out the Lumberjack performance as he placed 11th in the country in the men's 3000-meter race with a mark of 8:10.28. He too earned a second team All-American award.
As a unit the NAU men finished 15th in the country at nationals with 14 team points. The women's program finished 37th in the nation with five points.
The Lumberjacks won't get much rest as the men's and women's teams head down to Tempe, Ariz. for Arizona State University's Baldy Castillo Invitational Friday, March 16 through Saturday, March 17 at the Sun Angel Stadium.
Â
