Cross Country Wins Nuttycombe for the Fourth Time in Six Years

MADISON, Wisc. (September 28, 2018) – The Northern Arizona men's cross country team dominated the field at the 10^th-annual Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisc., taking the title of first place for the third year in a row.
 
This is the fourth time that the team has taken the top spot at Nuttycombe having also done so in 2013, 2016 and 2017. NAU had an astounding four runners finish in the top eight spots on the way to recording its lowest score ever at Nuttycombe bringing in just 46 points as a team.
 
The top finisher for the Lumberjacks in the 8K Men's Championship "A" race was returning All-American senior Tyler Day with a time of 23:20.9. His time was a drastic improvement over last year's Nuttycombe having finished that race with a time of 23:41.9 and a fourth place finish. Day would finish the race in third place overall this time around.
 
"It was a more difficult layout this year because they changed the route of the course," said Day. "Being able to get that second wind and see all of our guys grinding not wanting to quit was great. Our performance reaffirms that we are on the right track and our workouts are speaking for themselves."
 
The four week break between the George Kyte Classic and Nuttycombe and the training that took place at that time was vital in creating momentum for this Invitational.  
 
"Coming off of the four week block of training we were wondering where we would stack up on the men's side," said Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Michael Smith. "The evidence is in the results. We competed against some of the best teams in the country and we are right where we are supposed to be."
 
Sophomore Luis Grijalva (23:23.5) and senior Peter Lomong (23:26.3) followed Day up with fifth and seventh place finishes. Fellow sophomore Blaise Ferro came in eighth place racing for a time of 23:28.6.
 
Despite not finishing at the front of the pack the rest of the attached runners for NAU assisted in obtaining such a low score and catapulting the Jacks to the top of the team leaderboard. Geordie Beamish was the next runner to finish for the Lumberjacks coming in 25^th place crossing the finish line at 23:46.8. Freshmen Ryan Raff (24:02.7) and Jack Shea (24:36.5) rounded the scoring out for the Lumberjacks coming in 52^nd and 121^st place respectively.
 
Each NAU men's runner would race with a less than five minute pace per mile.
 
All-American senior Matt Baxter, the Jacks oldest veteran, did not compete in the event. With Pre-Nationals on the horizon on October 13^th the addition of Baxter to the lineup could mean even greater things for the Lumberjacks.
 
"It was great to see our guys take care of business today," said assistant coach Jarred Cornfield. "Matt is a huge cornerstone of our team. Having him there today despite not racing was important. We are excited for his return however, I think they executed extremely well without him in race."
 
The men's dominating performance may have been expected but certainly not in this fashion. The only team that even came close to the Lumberjacks score was host Wisconsin with a team score of 135.
 
On the women's side it was a day of valuable experience. In the 6K Women's Championship "A" race the Lumberjacks had five out of six runners compete as sophomores. The women would finish the race in 19^th place as a team posting a score of 553, which was better than the last time they competed at Nuttycombe having posted a score of 590 in 2016 coming in 24^th place that year.
 
The youth of the women's team is no secret and Nuttycombe was used as a starting point in the process of trying to compete on the national level again. Moving forward Nuttycombe is being seen as an experience that the Jacks can learn and build from.
 
"This is the start of a journey," said Smith prior to the Invitational. "The preparation leading up to Nuttycombe was meant to give the women a true feel for how NAU operates as a program."
 
The top finisher for NAU was sophomore Hannah Behunin placing 92^nd overall with a time of 21:08.4.
 
"We finished the race and were just reminded that we weren't even invited to the Invitational last year," said Behunin. "We are still young but this is where it starts. I love these girls and there is no other group of people that I'd want to run my guts out for."
 
Between 105^th and 120^th place is where the bulk of the women's team would finish. Sophomores Jessa Hanson (21:17.1) and Pipi Eitel (21:19.2) ended the race in 105^th and 110^th place. Shannon Molvin, the Lumberjacks lone senior runner, finished with a time of 21:23.9 good for a 117^th place finish.
 
"It was exciting because we were all mostly together during the race," said Molvin. "We are in a really good place as a program. Some of the girls that raced were not able to do so at George Kyte so it was great to get them some more experience at such a high level. I did not feel a lot of pressure being the lone senior running because a lot of the sophomore girls have stepped up into leadership roles as well."
 
Sophomores Delaney Rasmussen (21:29.8) and Jenna McCaffrey (22:06.0) would complete the scoring for NAU coming in 129^th and 178^th place overall.
 
"The goal of our women's team is to get tested and stabilize ourselves in this kind of environment," said Smith post-race. "We did that today. We did a really good job competing in tough situations. The way they were engaged in their given scenarios is very telling of how we will continue to develop in the future."
 
The entire women's team had a mile pace of 5:56 or less during the Invitational.
 
"Our women's team is really young and most of them have not been in this type of environment before," said Jarred Cornfield. "Today was all about gaining experience for them. Nuttycombe was huge because it creates a foundation for us moving forward. They'll be together for a lot of years so it was exciting to see such great efforts out there."
 
"We hold each other accountable every step of the way," added Behunin. "We will be back and better knowing that we have each other. I couldn't ask for anything more out of these women."
 
Cross country is slated to return to Madison on October 13^th to race in Pre-Nationals which will also be on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course. Nationals will also be at the same course, making the Nuttycombe race crucial in regards to preparation for those events.
 
"We viewed today as the first step in the process," said assistant coach Becca DeLoache. "We were really pleased with the efforts that we saw out there today. We have a template set moving forward and if the men can repeat what they did here today the results will look really good."
 
"There is a physical and emotional element to preparing for Pre-Nationals," concluded Smith. "Emotionally we have to be business as usual and just get back to work. We can be excited today but come Monday morning we have to start another week of training. At this point it is a really calculated mental game."
 
Other notable highlights from the day included the men's and women's "B" races.
 
The women's race featured all freshmen with NAU coming in at fifth place as a team. Jesselyn Bries was the top finisher coming in 13^th place with a time of 21:39.8.
 
The men's race saw the Lumberjacks coming in second place as a team. Freshman Elliot Gindi (24:47.6) and senior Kyle Havriliak (24:48.0) lead the pack coming in third and fourth place. Freshman Joey Defeo also had a top ten finish coming in fifth place with a time of 24:53.4.
 
As previously stated, the NAU cross country team will return to action on October 13^th at Pre-Nationals in Madison, Wisc., at the Thomas Zimmer Cross Country Championship Course.