Lumberjack XC Takes On Nuttycombe

Meet Information
Live Stats
FloTrack 
Course Maps

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 15, 2019) - Northern Arizona's cross country program will be heading to familiar territory this weekend as the men's and women's teams are set to compete in the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational Presented by Under Armour. Nuttycombe has established itself as one of the nation's premier collegiate meets. The 11th-annual event will take place in Madison, Wis., on Friday, Oct. 18, 2019. 

The highlight of the event will be an eight-kilometer men's race and a six-kilometer women's race. The event also includes "B" races for both men and women. All races will be held on the beautiful Thomas Zimmer Cross Country Course.

This year's Nuttycombe meet will consist of two races per gender. The women's "B" race will take place at 9:00 a.m. (MST) with the men's "B" race to follow at 9:40 a.m. (MST). The women's "A" race will begin at 10:20 a.m. (MST) and the men's "A" race starts at 11:00 a.m. (MST). Teams are allowed to run only seven athletes in the "A" race and an unlimited amount of athletes in the "B" races.

The NAU men ride into the weekend on the back of a 26 consecutive week stand as the No. 1 ranked team in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) National Coaches' Poll. Last time out the Lumberjack men took first at the John McNichols Invitational placing four runners in the top-six, with three of them being redshirt freshmen. What may be most impressive about the 'Jacks squad this season is the depth of the three-time national champions roster. After two first-place performances by the NAU men the team still has yet to race All-American runners Geordie Beamish and Blaise Ferro.

Northern Arizona's men's team has won the last three Nuttycombe Invites, with a total of four in the Invites 11-year history.

18 of the top-30 programs in the USTFCCCA Men's National Coaches' Poll will be lacing up alongside NAU. Including NAU, six of the top-10 teams in the National Coaches' Poll are expected to take on the course from last year's national championships (No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 Iowa State, No. 7 Oregon, No. 8 Portland and No. 10 NC State).

NAU's women's team is currently ranked No. 27 in the USTFCCCA Women's National Coaches' Poll. During the nearly month hiatus from NCAA competition the Lumberjack women have moved from the No. 24 spot post-John McNichols Invite to No. 27 despite not having competed.

At the John McNichols Invite the NAU women's crew earned 112 points; the only teams that finished ahead of the 'Jacks are four of the top-eight teams in NCAA Division I. No. 5 Arkansas (1st, 49) took home the women's title, followed by No. 8 Stanford (2nd, 54), No.3 Washington (3rd, 66) and No. 4 Michigan (4th, 75). In her first race in an NAU uniform Taryn O'Neill finished first for the Lumberjack women coming in at 13th-place with a time of 17:08.4.

Northern Arizona's women's team will take on 19 other of the top-30 programs in the USTFCCCA Women's National Coaches' Poll. 

Last season the NAU women finished 19th on the team leaderboard at Nuttycombe. A successful team performance on Friday could be a strong indicator of the 'Jacks progress on their way to attempting to qualify for NCAA's for the first time since 2008.

Both the men's and women's teams will be competing in their last races before Big Sky Conference Championships on Nov. 2.

Men's Teams

• Air Force
• Boise State (#26)
• Bradley
• Cal Poly
• Colorado State
• Columbia
• Eastern Kentucky (#25)
• Furman
• Georgetown
• Gonzaga
• Harvard
• Indiana (#15)
• Iowa State (#6)
• Michigan (#18)
• Michigan State
• Missouri
• NAU (#1)
• NC State (#10)
• New Mexico
• Notre Dame (#13)
• Oregon (#7)
• Portland (#8)
• Princeton (#23)
• Providence
• Purdue (#11)
• Southern Utah
• Stanford (#5)
• Syracuse (#12)
• Tulsa (#28)
• UCLA (#20)
• Utah State (#22)
• Virginia
• Wake Forest
• Washington State
• Wisconsin (#19)
• Wyoming (#30)

Women's Teams

• Air Force (#21)
• Arkansas (#1)
• Boise State (#11)
• Cal Poly
• Colorado State
• Columbia (#24)
• Furman (#T18)
• Georgetown (#28)
• Harvard
• Indiana
• Iowa State (#29)
• Michigan State (#10)
• Minnesota (#T18)
• Missouri
• NAU (#27)
• NC State (#9)
• New Mexico (#T4)
• Notre Dame (#16)
• Ohio State (#22)
• Oregon (#14)
• Oregon State (#25)
• Portland
• Providence
• Purdue
• Southern Utah
• Stanford (#T4)
• Syracuse (#15)
• Tulsa
• UCLA
• Utah (#6)
• Utah State
• Villanova
• Wake Forest
• Washington State
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin (#13)

You can follow all the latest up-to-date information on the NAU cross country program by following @NAUTrackFieldXC on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.