LAS VEGAS, Nev. (February 19, 2021) - The Northern Arizona men's and women's cross country teams placed first and third respectively in their return to Las Vegas at the Battle Born Collegiate Challenge on Friday.
The NAU men, ranked No. 2Â in the most recent USTFCCCA Division I National Coaches' Poll were led by All-American sophomore
Abdihamid Nur's first-place individual finish (22:30.5), and freshman
Nico Young's second-place finish (22:30.7), just two-tenths of a second after Nur on the 8K course.Â
The Lumberjack men placed four of the top five runners with only No. 10 Colorado's top runner stealing third place.
All-American senior
Luis Grijalva was the next scorer for the Northern Arizona men placing fourth with a time of 22:35.4, while redshirt senior
Blaise Ferro (22:42.8) placed fifth, and redshirt sophomore
Brodey Hasty (23:23.1) placed eighth to reflect a team score of 20 points; a total that separated NAU from the next best competitor, No. 5 Stanford, by 28 points.Â
With Nur, Young, Grijalva and Ferro all running alongside one another toward the tail end of the race, the Lumberjack men displayed a great team effort, and proved that they were each worthy of the first place finish.Â
"Something I'm proud of is that we don't have a number one defined position. On our team, things can change and that's a really great thing," Director of Cross Country and Track & Field
Michael Smith said. "Our guys are truly some of the top in the country, so the fact that we can put so many up front like that is definitely one of our strengths."
Following the men's race, the NAU women, ranked No. 16 nationally, took off with junior
Taryn O'Neill leading the pack.Â
After a standout first-place performance at the Silver State Collegiate Challenge, earning her Big Sky Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week earlier this month, and her third-place finish today with a 6K time of 19:55.5, O'Neill is shaping up to be one of NAU's strongest women's runners.
"I'm really excited for her," Smith said. "Today was definitely a grind, and she's competing with some of the best people in the country so I was impressed."
The Lumberjack women posted a team score of 100 points, 15 points behind No. 6 Stanford, and 40 points behind No. 4 New Mexico.Â
With Big Sky Conference Championships rapidly approaching on Feb. 27, Southern Utah was the only fellow conference competitor seen by both NAU squads on the field Friday. Southern Utah's men trailed NAU by 91 points and the women by 158 points.Â
"We're positioned well to compete in these final few weeks of the season. I saw both teams have a tangible step forward today and that's important right now," Smith said. "We just have to use this as affirmation for where we stand and get back to work."
Stay up to date with the latest and greatest from NAU Cross Country and Track & Field by following us on Twitter and Instagram.
