Men's and Women's Track & Field Picked to Sweep Conference Title Again in Big Sky Preseason Coaches Poll

BIG SKY CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE

OGDEN, Utah. (March 14, 2019) - The Big Sky Conference has released its 2019 Outdoor Track & Field Preseason Coaches' Poll with Northern Arizona's men's and women's teams both picked to finish first this season. The women tied with Sacramento State with an equal number of points received.

NAU has won the conference title 22 times on the men's side and 11 on the women's.

Last season the Lumberjack men won the title with 131 points while the NAU women took home the championships with 128 points. The women's squad has won the last four straight conference titles; the men are the defending champions on their side.

The NAU men's team was selected as the unanimous No. 1 with 11 first place votes and a max of 121 points. The Lumberjack women took the top spot with six first-place votes and 113 points overall. 

The women's side has Sacramento State and Montana both receiving some first-place votes with the Hornets being chosen at the top spot four times and the Grizzlies having only one vote. The Hornets also finished with 113 points tying the 'Jacks. 

Both NAU crews have a strong cast of athletes set to represent the 'Jacks this season.

On the men's side freshman sprinter Christopher Grant has made a big splash during his first collegiate season, having won the 60m and 200m dash indoor conference titles. For the distance team Blaise Ferro was selected as the 2019 Big Sky Indoor Men's Most Valuable Athlete. The New Jersey native won the men's 3000m race at indoor conference championships. Geordie Beasmish is fresh off of an indoor national title in the men's mile. In the throws NAU made a statement at indoor conference championships with Kevin Cooney taking home the gold in the men's weight throw competition. The jumps squad saw Cameron Rayford place third in the triple jump at conference championships in Bozeman. 

The 'Jacks will also be returning a plethora of talented student-athletes. Sprinter Jada Jackson earned the silver medal in the 60m dash at indoor conference championships. She will also be joined by teammate Jasmine Malone. Last season Malone took first-place in two events at outdoor conference in the 200m and 400m dashes and was a member of two first-place relay teams. The Lumberjack distance crew saw Hannah Behunin win the women's mile run event at indoor conference championships this season. Maggie Carruth added another gold medal to her impressive collection after winning the women's 800m run event at 2019 indoors. Both Behunin and Carruth were members of the first-place DMR team as well this past indoor season. The throws team will see Alexa Dragone and Matilde Roe continue to improve and grow in their events. The women's jump squad will see the return of Kaitlyn Wayne and Jenna Figueroa, who were both able to score at indoor championships this year. 

The rest of the poll is as follows:

Men
Northern Arizona (11) 121
Southern Utah 106
Montana State 99
Eastern Washington 87
Weber State 67
Idaho 65
Idaho State 54
Northern Colorado 42
Montana 41
Sacramento State 29
Portland State 15 

Women
Northern Arizona (6) 113
Sacramento State (4) 113
Montana State 94
Montana (1) 79
Weber State 79
Southern Utah 76
Idaho State 46
Eastern Washington 44
Idaho 38
Northern Colorado 32
Portland State 12

(First place votes in parenthesis)

NAU will start the 2019 outdoor season when it heads to Tempe for the Baldy Castillo Invitational on March 15th and 16th.