RESULTS (PDF)
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 18, 2019) – Northern Arizona University's men's and women's track & field program participated in its second indoor home meet at the Lumberjack Team Challenge at the Walkup Skydome.
The Lumberjacks played host to Arizona State, Ottawa University (AZ), Southern Utah and UC Riverside on the men's side; women's teams that competed included Arizona State, CSU Bakersfield, Ottawa University (AZ), Southern Utah, UC Riverside and UNLV.
The meet was filled with great performances by both upper and lower classmen on the men's and women's sides.
NAU was able to start the meet with some great throws and performances in the men's shot put competition. Sophomore
Parker Joens won the event with a final mark of 17.37m. Freshman
Jake Arnold set a PR in that event throwing for 16.21m to earn a fourth-place finish. Fellow freshman
William Beaudry took fifth-place with a mark of 15.14m.
Freshman
Matilde Roe was the Lumberjacks highest individual finisher in the women's shot put with a mark of 13.60m. Sophomore
Alexa Dragone (13.23m) placed-sixth and junior
Sara Murray (10.80m) placed 12
th.
Brady Williams set a personal record on the way to taking the top spot in the men's weight throw. The junior's mark of 18.01m was a huge improvement from his previous PR of 17.58m.
Williams's teammates junior Kevin Cooney (17.92m, 2
nd), freshman
William Beaudry (17.37m, 3
rd) and sophomore
Jacob Kaufman (16.76m, 4
th) all set PR's in the men's weight throw.
"A lot of us were not happy with our marks last week," said Beaudry. "We focused on the right things in practice and were able to get the results that we wanted."
The women's weight throw did not fare as well for the Jacks'. Sophomore
Alexa Dragone was the top individual finisher for NAU with a 10
th-place performance after hitting a mark of 14.35m. The winner of that event would be Arizona State sophomore Beatrice Llano at 19.50m.
In one of the most exciting performances of the evening junior
Khalil Dorsey ran a 7.97 second race in the men's 60m hurdles event. Dorsey was just short of his personal record of 7.89 seconds. Arizona State Sophomore Kentre Patterson finished in second in that race at 8.09 seconds.
"We are in the beginning stages of training," said Dorsey. "When we got back in from break we worked a lot with coach Dunson on technique. I honestly felt that I would do that well coming into today, we have been prepared in the right way."
Dorsey would take second-place in the men's long jump (7.27m). Arizona State senior Derrick Monroe's mark of 7.60m would put him just above Dorsey.
Sophomore
Jada Jackson was the top Lumberjack finisher in the women's 60m dash (7.71 sec.). UNLV senior Destiny Smith-Barnett placed first at 7.17 seconds.
The women's 200m dash saw senior sensation
Jasmine Malone take the gold yet again. It was one of the closest races on the day with the top-five finishers crossing the line all between 24.32 to 24.90 seconds. Malone's time of 24.32 seconds was just ahead of Arizona State freshman Nia Brown (24.59 sec.). The next Lumberjack to finish would be Jackson (24.87).
Despite an incredible performance in the women's 400m dash, Lumberjack sophomore
Miracle Onyemaobi placed third with a time of 57.17 seconds. UNLV's sophomore Avi' Tal Wilson-Perteete ended the race in first with a time of 56.01, with Southern Utah junior Linnea Saltz closely following with a 56.44 second finish.
Junior first-year transfer
Aldo Marquez shined in the first heat of the men's mile with a time of 4:28.57. Freshman teammate
Collin Ullrich led the competition for the majority of the race taking second with a time of 4:32.92 after being passed by Marquez during the last lap and a half.
"My teammates and coaches have taught me to not worry about the time and to focus on just competing," said Marquez. "Their confidence has resonated with me as well."
In the second heat of the men's mile freshman
Ryan Raff crossed the finish line in third-place (4:20.25, third-overall). Raff was the only freshman to run for the Lumberjacks at cross country national championships this past November.
"Myself and my teammates are right where we want to be at this point in the season," said Raff. "Focusing on workouts and what coaches tell me has helped me to go out there and just compete regardless of who I am competing against.".
The Jacks' captured second through fifth-place in the women's mile race. Senior
Miranda Myers placed second with an impressive time of 5:10.42; just a few seconds behind the 5:06.06 performance of Southern Utah's senior Angie Nickerson. Senior
Maggie Carruth (5:19.17), freshman
Jenna McCaffrey (5:20.34) and junior
Zoe Wall (5:24.62) would follow up Myers in spots three through five.
NAU got to show off two of its All-American cross country athletes when
Geordie Beamish and
Tyler Day got to run in the men's 800m race. In the last 80m of the race Beamish passed teammate junior
Cade Burks (1:54.44) to win first-place with a time of 1:53.95. Day would place fourth crossing the line at 1:57.57, with freshman teammate placing fifth with a time of 1:59.48.
Junior
Helena McLeod placed third in the women's long jump with a mark of 5.90m. UC Riverside junior jumper Dilini Amarasekara (6.08m) took the top spot in the long jump, just barely beating out Arizona State senior Jessica Barreira (6.05m).
Freshman
Jenna Figueroa placed fifth in the women's triple jump (10.95m). UNLV's freshman Jonon Young was the first-place finisher in that event with a mark of 12.16m.
Christopher Grant, a freshman out of Jamaica, won the men's 60m dash, setting an impressive PR on the way to doing so. His time of 6.76 seconds was just milliseconds ahead of Arizona State freshman Austin Kratz.The young talent has continued to impress early on in his collegiate career, with his performance in the men's 60m being another telling sign of possible success to come.
"I came here to compete and I came prepared," said Grant. "I knew when I came to Flagstaff that if I put in the time and the effort I would get the results I wanted."
"I think Christopher is exactly where he should be in relation to his training," said graduate assistant sprints and hurdles coach Vernon Jamison. "Because of his trust in our process and training he has been able to probe he belongs and
In one of the last events of the evening the Lumberjacks raced nine runners in the men's 3000m. The Jacks' would place second through seventh, with Day taking second-place (8:33.75) just behind Southern Utah's junior Kasey Knevelbaard (8:32.14).
"I feel really pumped about what we did in this meet," said Day. "Even though I got second-place I am happy with the result. Smith has instilled a great culture that doesn't focus on times or places but instead on effort. Since it is the middle of January we are still building up a lot and are in a really good place."
UNLV was able to top the Lumberjacks in the women's 4x400 race, but only slightly. NAU's time of 3:49.76 ran by Carruth, Malone, Jackson and freshman
Melanie Loff earned them a second-place finish. The Rebels ran for a time of 3:46.27.
Obang Odol would be the only Lumberjack athlete to compete in the men's high jump, however he fouled out during the first three 1.95m attempts. Frank Harris, a sophomore from Southern Utah, took the crown in that event clearing 2.10m his first try.
There were a few events that the Lumberjacks did not participate in despite hosting the meet.
In the women's pole vault Tommi Hintnaus took first-place with a 3.70m jump after successfully clearing the bar on her first try at that mark. Her freshman teammate Julianna Park took second-place clearing 3.70m on her second attempt, with Julianne Finch a junior out of CSU Bakersfield taking third-place doing so on her third endeavor.
The men's pole vault saw Arizona State sophomore Cole Riddle reach 5.32m on his way to clinching the top spot in that event.
For the women's high jump competition UC Riverside freshman Purnima Gunarathna earned a first-place spot on the leaderboard with a mark of 1.70m. She would hit that mark on her first attempt at that distance. UNLV sophomore Jartierra Grissom would finish close at second-place, clearing the 1.70m mark on her third attempt.
The women's 60m hurdles saw UNLV freshman Jada Hick (8.34 sec.) finished .12 seconds ahead of her teammate senior Taylor Pegram (8.46 sec.).
The men's triple jump final saw sophomore Anthony Reyes earn a mark of 13.95 to win the event and beat out Ottawa freshman KyShaun Myers (12.47m).
PERSONAL RECORDS SET:
