Michael Smith Named as Big Sky Conference 2019 Men's & Women's XC Coach of the Year

Big Sky Conference Press Release

FARMINGTON, Utah (November 7, 2019) - Northern Arizona University's Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Michael Smith has been named as the Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the 2019 season. The announcement was made Wednesday afternoon by the league office.

This is Smith's 12th time receiving a Coach of the Year award from the Big Sky Conference. It is also the 26^th time a coach from NAU has won the men's cross country version of the award and the 20th time on the women's side. It is the third straight men's honor for Smith.

Smith and his staff led the Lumberjack men and women to a sweep of the Big Sky Conference XC Championships last weekend in Greeley, Colo. In the process NAU placed four runners in both the Men's 8K Championship Race and Women''s 5K Championship Race top-10, earning a total of eight All-Conference honorees.

Smith also coached true freshman Drew Bosley to a first-place finish in the men's race, which would earn the Wisconsin native the conference's Male Athlete of the Year and Male Freshman of the Year awards. Bosley led a Lumberjack group that claimed the top three spots with Geordie Beamish and Brodey Hasty finishing with times of 26:55.7 and 26:56.2. Ryan Raff added a sixth-place finish with a time of 27:06.2, while Jack Shea rounded out NAU's top five with a 12^th place showing in a time of 27:26.6. It was the fourth straight title for the defending national champions. The Lumberjack men won every race they competed in this season, as they picked up the conference win.

The Lumberjack women, who entered the race ranked 11^th in the nation, won their third Big Sky title in just four years. NAU was led by Mikayla Malaspina, who placed second with a time of 18:15.3. Pipi Eitel raced to a time of 18:21.3 for fifth place, while Taryn O'Neill was right on her heels with a time of 18:21.9. Miranda Myers also earned all-conference honors with a time of 18:36.4. Bryn Morley finished in 14^th place with a time of 18:57.1 to complete the top scorers for the Lumberjacks.  

Northern Arizona's coaching staff is considered one of the top in the long distance running world and the program's performance at conference this season was a huge indicator of why they garner so much respect in the running community.

"I believe that Mike is the best coach in the NCAA," said assistant coach Jarred Cornfield. "The way he operates, the attention to detail and the care for all the people around him is unmatched. He is so genuine; it is always easy to be happy for him when he receives these awards because he truly deserves them."

"Coach Smith is very deserving of this accolade," added assistant coach Rebecca DeLoache. "Both of our conference championship wins are a testament to Coach Smith's continuous outpouring of himself into each of our student-athletes. Sure he writes great workouts, but more importantly, he has a way of making our runners truly believe in themselves which results in a great team race and ultimatley a championship."

The men's and women's cross country teams are currently preparing for the NCAA Division I Mountain Regionals in Salt Lake City, Utah on Nov. 15^th. The NAU men's team will be running against top-tier programs like BYU, Colorado, Air Force and Colorado State; the 'Jacks have won five of the last seven Mountain Regional meets. On the women's end they will see defending champions New Mexico, Colorado, BYU and Big Sky Rival Southern Utah.

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