NEW ORLEANS, La. (March 19, 2021) – Northern Arizona University's Director of Cross Country and Track & Field
Michael Smith has been awarded the USTFCCCA Men's Mountain Region Cross Country Coach of the Year and the National Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the 2020 season.
Smith has now earned four consecutive Chick Hislop Awards, awarded to the USTFCCCA Men's Mountain Region Coach of the Year. It is the ninth time in modern history that an NAU coach has earned this award and the fifth consecutive year in a row.
Smith also earned his third career Bill Dellinger as the National Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year. He previously earned the award in 2017 and 2018 after leading the Lumberjacks to national titles.
The Lumberjack men were ranked No. 1 in the USTFCCCA Division I National Coaches' Poll to start the season.
In the Fall, the men traveled to Stillwater, Okla. to compete in the Oklahoma State Invitational, where the team ultimately won first place with 36 points.
But the first meet of the spring saw the 'Jacks fall to No. 2, after a loss to rival and defending national champions, BYU. However, the NAU men bounced back and dominated the competition at the Battle Born Collegiate Challenge, scoring only 20 points, to win the team title.
At the Big Sky Championships, Smith and his staff led the Lumberjack men to an individual conference championship award by All-American sophomore
Abdihamid Nur, and placed four runners within the top-ten, but it was not enough to secure a team conference title. The NAU men placed second with a score of 38 points.
Leading into the national meet, the Lumberjack men were sitting at No. 2 in the coaches poll. But an incredible effort by the NAU men earned them the national team title as the Lumberjack men clinched their fourth national championship by placing four runners within the top-nine. A national champion team had not placed four men within the top-10 since 2003.
All-American freshman
Nico Young was the first Lumberjack to cross the finish line, placing fourth overall with a sub-30 10K time of 29:58.3 in his NCAA National Championship debut.
All-Americans senior
Blaise Ferro (30:02.0) and Nur (30:05.3) were the second and third NAU men to finish the race, placing sixth and seventh respectively, while All-American
Luis Grijalva (30:10.2) rounded out the top-nine.
Sophomore
Brodey Hasty (30:50.9) fought to the finish and placed 44th overall to ensure NAU's national championship dreams would prevail.
This nationals victory was not only their fourth in the last five years, but also the lowest team champion score since 2005, with a total of only 60 points.
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