NAU Men's XC Wins Fourth Nuttycombe Title in a Row

RESULTS

MADISON, Wis. (October 18, 2019) - For the fourth consecutive year in a row the Northern Arizona University men's cross country team raced its way to another Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational victory. The Lumberjacks have claimed the team title in five times in the races 11-year history. NAU placed five runners in the top-21 finishers of the Men's 8K Championship race to ensure that the coveted Nuttycombe trophy would be returning to Flagstaff yet again. What may be even more impressive is the fact that the 'Jacks had three of those top-five individual finishers enter the race listed as freshmen.

The last time Northern Arizona was in Madison the men's squad earned its third straight NCAA Division I championship. NAU has been no stranger to the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wis., and Friday afternoon would be no different. The 'Jacks entered the meet ranked No. 1 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) National Coaches' Poll for the 26th-consecutive week and proved why they have been at the top of the totem pole since 2016.

18 of the top-30 teams in the USTFCCCA Men's National Coaches' Poll laced it up against the Lumberjacks, with six of them being in the top-10. The loaded field would not phase the 'Jacks as they scored just 59 team points. NAU beat the next closest program, No. 5 Stanford, by a total of 74 points. It was the second-largest spread in Nuttycombe history, with the largest being Syracuse's 2015 win (85 points). The Cardinal  were the only team to produce two runners in the top-5, but the middle and back-half of their lineup was unable to stick with the NAU men.  No. 28 Tulsa surprised the entire field by placing third with 175 points. No. 6 Iowa State (180) and No. 20 UCLA (219) would take fourth and fifth-place.

"I saw a lot of things I really liked in this race from our men," said Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Michael Smith. "There is room for improvement and more work to be done but overall I was pleased with the performances today."

Junior Luis Grijalva was the first finisher for the 'Jacks with a time of 23:43.2 to earn fifth-place. Grijalva matched his fifth-place performance from last year's Nuttycombe Invite and secured his third top-five finish of the 2019 fall season. He would have a steady pace throughout the race never dropping out of the top-five after the 2000m mark.

"We have really been focusing on our training," said Grijalva. "It was great to be out there with the boys again after such a long break in competition. Our eyes are on conference championships as we prepare for post-season races."

"Luis has been training at a really, really high level," added Smith. "It is more than he has ever done before. It shows that he is competing in a way that is a real testament to that training. We'll get him a little more rest before conference championships."

Senior Geordie Beamish (23:48.5) and freshman Abdihamid Nur (23:48.6) were not far behind as they finished the race in eighth and ninth-place respectively. Nur leaped up three spots between the 6000m and 8000m marks. Fellow freshman Theo Quax (23:56.7) and Drew Bosley (23:59.4) rounded out the scoring for the Lumberjack men coming in at 16th and 21st-place.

Bosley made his return to his home state early in his career and did not disappoint in his performance and effort. For the majority of the race Bosley was in the top-five, only during the last 2000m would he drop back to his finishing position as he was at a pace of 17:49.6 by the 6000m point.

"I think the result with Drew today was that he showed he belonged at this level of the NCAA's," added Smith. "As a freshman he still has some patience to work on in racing but to have that problem as young as he is is actually a good thing."

"It felt really good to put on an NAU jersey," said Bosley. "The last 2000m hurt and was really hard but I felt accountable to my teammates and being able to push through it was awesome."

The Lumberjack women wouldn't be outdone by the men's squad. Last year they placed 19th, only to see a huge leap in results this season as they placed sixth overall on the team leaderboard.

"I really think the women's race was the highlight of our day," said Smith. "This result has been years in the making. They made massive gains from a performance standpoint but also from one of belief. Believing that they belong here with this level of competition is something that comes from inside them and the community of that group."

For the second meet in a row Taryn O'Neill was NAU's top women's finisher. Her time of 20:23.3 would earn her the 20th spot on the individual leaderboard. Between the 2000m and 4000m O'Neill moved up four spots clocking in a time of 13:36.7 by the 4000m mark. 

"It felt good to be uncomfortable in the middle of the race," said O'Neill. "Trusting the training and altitude that we practice with in Flagstaff got me through the last leg of the race and even though it was hard, it was exactly what I wanted because it confirmed all the work that we have put in."

Senior Mikayla Malaspina was NAU's second runner to cross the finish line in 39th-place. Her time of 20:37.8 was not even a full second ahead of NAU's next finisher fellow senior Miranda Myers. Myers earned a 41st-place spot off of a 20:38.4 race. Both Malaspina and Myers return to the course this season after a year hiatus has been an extremely integral part of the Lumberjacks big leap in improvement.

Junior Hannah Behunin would be the 'Jacks fourth runner to put points on the board, placing 71st with a time of 2:04.7. Friday's race was a bbig indicator of Behunin's progress as last year she was NAU's first finisher at Nuttycombe coming in 92nd-place. Fellow junior Pipi Eitel's 21:10.3 race was the last one to make it on the team leaderboard for the 'Jacks. Her 80th-place performance was essential in ensuring that NAU finished ahead of the next closest program in Boise State (282). Between the 2000m and 6000m marks Eitel jumped up 36 spots to earn her place.

Both the men's and women's teams also had runners competed attached to NAU in the B races at Nuttycombe. The men took first-place in that race being led by junior Cade Burks who took fifth-place with a time of 24:35.5. The women's B race saw senior Shannon Molvin place 20th with a time of 21:43.1 to lead NAU to a fifth-place finish. Both squads showed great depth to compliment the Men's and Women's Championship races.

Up next Northern Arizona cross country will enter the postseason stage of the year competing in the 2019 Big Sky Conference Championships in Greeley, Colo., on Nov. 2. 

"We have to make sure we recover from these meets," concluded Smith. "We are heading into a really heavy period of competition with the post-season coming up. This next part goes by fast and we have done a lot of really good training but now is a time for rest."  

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