NAU Shows Positive Signs at Don Kirby and Iowa State as Several Athletes Put Themselves Amongst Top National Marks

Don Kirby Invitational
RESULTS (PDF)
Iowa State Classic
RESULTS (PDF)
 
Albuquerque, N.M. & Ames, Iowa (February 9, 2019) – Northern Arizona University's track & field program participated in the final day of competition for both the Don Kirby Invitational and Iowa State Classic on Saturday.
 
"I am very pleased with how we competed in the variety of situations our athletes found themselves in this weekend," said Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Michael Smith.
 
The Don Kirby Invite hosted by New Mexico saw plenty of Lumberjacks compete in both field and track events.
 
After a solid team performance by the men's throws team on Friday at Don Kirby the Lumberjacks would answer back with a top-five finisher in the shot put competition.
 
Junior Parker Joens placed first for the 'Jacks again in the men's shot put. His fourth-place mark of 17.98m put him just above fifth-place finisher Kyle Morris out of Utah State (15.97m) and just short of third-place finisher Cal St. Northridge's Clint Meyer (18.26m). UCLA's Dotun Ogundeji would take the top spot with a mark of 19.18m hit on his first throw.
 
Joens was joined by freshman Jake Arnold (14^th, 15.55m), sophomore William Beaudry (17^th, 14.99m) and senior Brady Williams (19^th, 14.90m) in the shot put.
 
NAU had one female thrower participate in the shot put event. Sophomore Matilde Roe earned a 17^th-place finish after hitting a mark of 13.78m. That mark was made on her third attempt and fell just short of her personal best of 13.88m set at Mountain T's last week.
 
The women's triple jump at Don Kirby saw both freshman Jenna Figueroa and senior Kaitlyn Wayne faulting on their three attempts in that event.
 
Junior Helena McLeod placed 38^th in the women's 60m dash qualifying round. Her time of 7.95 seconds earned her a close fourth-place finish in her heat/section.
 
In one of the most exciting Lumberjack performances this weekend in both Ames and Albuquerque, junior Cameron Rayford set a new personal record in the men's triple jump. Rayford placed fourth with a mark of 15.21m; his previous personal best was a mark of 14.47m set at last year's Big Sky Championships.

"As a group we took steps towards the things I emphasized this week throughout practice and leading up to our most important meet: conference," said new head jumps coach Matthew Harmeyer. "Cam's PR put an exclamation point to what this group is capable of doing the rest of the indoor season. Overall I am pleased with the weekend, we will evaluate and get back to work Monday!"

Khalil Dorsey would place sixth in the men's 60m hurdles finals with a time of 7.98 seconds. The junior qualified for the final round after posting a time of 8.02 seconds to earn the last spot in the finals. Braxton Canady of Oregon was the first collegiate finisher in the 60m hurdles event finishing in 7.74 seconds.

The men's 60m dash saw both Dorsey and freshman Christopher Grant just barely missing out on the final round after Grant placed ninth (6.76 sec.) and Dorsey placed 14^th (6.87 sec.) in the qualifying round. Grant's time was .01 milliseconds short from qualifying, falling just below Southern Utah's Tre James's time of 7.65 seconds.

NAU's men's 4x400 team would place 11^th overall finishing in 3:27.06. Grant and Dorsey would be joined by sophomore and New Mexico native Alex Alton and freshman Michael Marchica in the 4x400.

On the women's end of things the 4x400 team would place 18^th overall. Sophomores Miracle Onyemaobi and Jada Jackson, along with senior Clarrisa Maxey and McLeod finished the event in 4:01.64.

Neither senior Jasmine Malone nor Jackson qualified for the final round of the women's 60m dash at Don Kirby. Malone's time of 7.75 seconds put her in 21^st-place and Jackson's time of 7.76 seconds put her in 22^nd-place in the qualifying round.

Onyemaobi also placed 18^th in the women's 400m dash (57.83 sec.).

Paradise Valley transfer Aldo Marquez set a new personal best in the men's mile. He placed sixth in the event. His time of 4:16.04 beat his previous record of 4:24.06 set at Mountain T's. Freshman teammate Collin Ullrich placed 12^th after crossing the finish line at 4:23.45; Ullrich also set a new PR beating his previous best of 4:30.88 that was also set at Mountain T's last weekend. Tulane's Emmanuel Rotich won the men's mile at 4:09.18.

Redshirt-junior Shannon Molvin would add to her already impressive weekend by placing eighth in the women's mile. Molvin was able to finish the mile in 5:12.39, obliterating her previous top mile of 5:24.96 set at Friday Night Duals earlier this indoor season. Much like the first day of the Don Kirby Invite teammate and fellow redshirt-junior Mikayla Malaspina had a great performance in the same event as Molvin. Malaspina placed 11^th with a time of 5:15.21. Junior Zoe Wall was not far behind in 16^th-place (5:20.9) and freshman Abby Riordan would place 21^st (5:27.35). Wall was just short of her personal best of 5:18.65 set at the 2018 Desert Heat Classic.

Across the country in Ames NAU had a few more members of the men's and women's distance squads get the opportunity to perform on the national stage.

Sophomores Pipi Eitel and Hannah Behunin left it all out on the track after leading the 'Jacks in the women's mile. Eitel placed 10^th at 4:49.60 and Behunin placed 11^th at 4:49.60. Eitel beat her personal record of 5:09.37 set at Friday Night Duals in January; Behunin also broke past her own personal best mile of 4:58.16 set at the 2018 Desert Heat Classic meet. The pair of sophomores saw fellow underclassmen Jesselyn Bries (freshman) and Delaney Rasmussen (sophomore) both run the mile as well. Bries would set a new personal record after finishing 18^th (4:51.01) beating her previous mark of 5:06.76 set last week during Mountain T's. Freshman Emma Sjolund would also place in the mile (27^th, 4:55.64).
Senior Maggie Carruth placed 13^th in the women's 800m race. She would end the race in 2:08.95.

For the men's 800m race NAU had junior Ryan Lanley lace up as the only Lumberjack runner in that event. Lanley would see his efforts earn him a 14^th-place finish at 1:50.68.

"The basics are in place for us to be at our best in the coming weeks," concluded Smith. "I am looking forward to continuing our momentum forward."

In regards to national attention the Lumberjacks have a few student-athletes that as of right now are in the top NCAA marks in their respective events:

• Rayford now has the 67^th best mark for the men's triple jump after his performance this weekend.
• Kevin Cooney sits at 37^th in the men's weight throw with a mark of 19.92m also set this weekend.
• Malone is currently tied for the 18^th best women's 400m at 53.28 seconds. The junior is tied with Sothern California's Bailey Lear. Malone is also in a four-way tie for the 75^th best women's 200m with Oklahoma's Ja'Leesa Giles, Miami's Tiara McMinn and Arkansas's Morgan Burks Magee at 23.92 seconds.
• Lanley is also amongst the country's top Division I performers this year. He now currently sits at 66^th in the men's 800m race after his performance at the Iowa State Classic. Carruth is also in the top ranks for the 800m on the women's side. Her time puts her at 71^st in the standings (2:08.95).
• The men's mile features a total of three 'Jacks in the top-20 times for the 2019 indoor season. Geordie Beamish is in third with a 3:57.99 mile. Tyler Day currently sits at 20^th (4:00.18) and Luis Grijalava at eighth (3:58.92).
• Beamish (26^th, 7:56.84), Day (44^th, 8:01.15) and Grijalva (22^nd, 7:55.26) are all three also amongst the top men's 3000m finishers.
• Day also leads the country in the men's 5000m with a time of 13:31.36. Beamish joins Day at 27^th (13:53.62) along with Blaise Ferro (42^nd, 14:00.74) and Brodey Hasty (69^th, 14:10.40).

NAU will see one final home indoor meet on Feb. 15^th at 3 P.M. (MST) at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome for the NAU Tune Up meet. After that the 'Jacks will head to Bozeman, Mont., for three days for Big Sky Indoor Championships on Feb. 21^st – 23^rd.