Track & Field Ready for Big Sky Outdoor Championships

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MEET SCHEDULE (PDF)
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LIVE RESULTS
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NAU MEN'S OUTDOOR SEASON PERFORMANCE LIST
NAU WOMEN'S OUTDOOR SEASON PERFORMANCE LIST
BIG SKY CONFERENCE PERFORMANCE LIST

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (May 8, 2019) - Northern Arizona University's track & field program will be heading to Missoula, Mont., for the 2019 Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, with the Lumberjacks competing on Friday, May 10th and Saturday, May 11th. The conference championship will be held at Dornblaser Field on host University of Montana's campus with Friday and Saturday slated for 8 A.M. (MST) starts. Tickets to the meet are $5 per day on Friday and Saturday.

Friday will feature 14 preliminary running events and 12 finals in the field. A total of 28 individual champions will be crowned on Saturday, as well as the men's and women's team champions.

The last time the conference championships were held at the University of Montana was 2009. 

The 'Jacks are looking to defend their 2018 sweep of the outdoor conference titles. The women have won the past three championships with a program total of 11. On the men's side NAU has claimed victory in six of the last seven years and have been crowned conference champions 22 times since first winning it in 1971, which also happened in Missoula. 

NAU heads to Montana with not only a tradition of excellence on both sides at the outdoor conference championships, but also with a few athletes with significant national, regional and conference marks. 

Tyler Day is the current NCAA Division I leader in the Men's 5000m Run after his 13:25.06 performance at the Payton Jordan Invitational. At the time of publication he also has the seventh best time in the country at 28:24.94 in the Men's 10,000m Run, which was earned at the Stanford Invite in late March.

Blaise Ferro has the sixth best time in Division I in the 10,000m Run. His time of 28:22.76 just barely edged out Day's mark. 

Geordie Beamish has the fourth best national time in the 5000m Run at 13:31.58, with teammate Luis Grijalva sitting at 15th with a time of 13:37.11. Beamish, Grijalva and true freshman Theo Quax each hold a Division I top-13 mark in the 1500m Run. Beamish has the eighth best time at 3:39.15, Grijalva's 3:39.52 puts him in 10th with Quax coming in at 13th at 3:39.84.

Beamish, Grijalva, Quax, Day and Ferro each have a top-10 time in the Big Sky in the Men's 1500m Run. That group also holds top-10 times in the 5000m Run, minus Ferro with the addition of Brodey Hasty and Ryan Raff. Harvey Nelson joins Ferro, Day and Raff with top-10 conference marks in the 10,000m Run.

The Men's 3000m Steeplechase is an event where NAU could earn some major points with Kyle Havriliak leading the charge for the Blue & Gold. Havriliak has the second best time in the conference heading into the meet at 9:02.68. 

For the women's distance squad Maggie Carruth owns the second best time in the Big Sky in the 800m. Melanie Loff is not far behind Carruth, as she rounds out the top-10 in regular season performances in that event.

Pipi Eitel, Hannah Behunin, Delaney Rasmussen and Carruth all secured a top-10 time in the conference in the 1500m during the regular season. Along with being the 'Jacks leader in the conference in the 1500m, Eitel also leads NAU in the Women's 5000m Run with the fourth best time at 16:34.25. Miranda Myers recorded the eighth best mark in the Big Sky for that event at the Bryan Clay Invite on April 17th with a time of 16:38.12. Myers ranks seventh in the Big Sky in the Women's 10,000m Run as well.

Jada Jackson has the fifth best time in the Women's 100m Dash and seventh best in the 200m.

Jasmine Malone holds the Big Sky's second best performances in the 200m and 400m Dashes. Malone collected four gold medals at last year's Big Sky Outdoor Championships, two individually in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes and two more in the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter races. Her time of 52.79 in the 400-meter dash set a new NAU, Big Sky and championship meet record.

Tyren Wolfe is expected to make some noise in the Men's 100m and 200m Dashes, as he holds the fourth best time i the 200m and fifth in the 100m Dash in the Big Sky.  A strong performance this weekend from Wolfe in the 400m could be expected as well with the junior owning the seventh best mark in the conference.

The Men's 110m Hurdles will see junior Khalil Dorsey looking to get a little bit of revenge after just falling short of first-place at last year's outdoor championships. Dorsey will not be the only hurdler looking to grab some big points for NAU as Carter Bracken has been setting new PR's in the 400m Hurdles almost every time he hits the track. 

Cameron Rayford currently has the 23rd best Men's Long Jump mark in the NCAA Division I West section at 7.56m. Helena McLeod is the conference leader in the Long Jump prior to this weekend. Her mark of 6.16m earned at the Bryan Clay Invite also has her as the 30th best mark in the West. 

Matilde Roe's throw of 48.86m in the Javelin at this year's Sun Angel Classic positioned her as the 24th best mark in that event in the West. Roe is also the Big Sky leader in that event as well as in the Discus. 

The men's throws crew were huge contributors to the indoor conference title the NAU men earned earlier this year. Jacob Kaufman, Kevin Cooney, Brady Williams and John Murphy have all thrown for marks that have put them in the top-10 for the Big Sky in the Hammer Throw. 

Parker Joens and Williams will look to lead the 'Jacks in the Discus with Joens holding the fourth best mark in the Big Sky, with Williams at ninth. 

Joens and Jake Arnold have been producing great results in the Men's Shot Put all season and it is looking like Missoula will see more of the same this weekend. Joens has the third best throw in the Big Sky at 17.78m, while freshman Jake Arnold is right behind him at fourth with a 17.48m mark. 

You can follow along throughout the Big Sky Outdoor Championships by following @NAUTrackFieldXC on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for all the latest up-to-date information regarding the Lumberjack outdoor track and field program.