FRESNO, Calif. (April 30, 2021)- Northern Arizona's distance crew took full advantage of the opportunity to compete at West Coast Relays on Friday.
The day was headlined by freshman
Abdihamid Nur and senior
Blaise Ferro, as they finished first and second respectively overall in the men's 10000-meter race.
Pacing was held steady throughout the race, with some assistance from freshman
Nico Young for the first 18 laps around the track, but Nur and Ferro took care of business the rest of the way.
Nur averaged between 1:05.00 and 1:07.00 splits all race before turning on the jets to finish the final lap in 1:02.73.
Both men qualified the for United States Olympic Trials after their performances today, as Nur ran a time of 27:47.27, and Ferro completed the race in 27:56.30.
Nur's time grabs the top-time in the NCAA this season, with Ferro directly after in second place; Nur now also owns the all-time sixth fastest U.S. collegiate men's 10K and the sixth-best time in Big Sky history. Nur and Ferro additionally achieve top-two times in the West Region.
Additionally, junior
Ryan Raff competed in the men's 10K, finishing fourth with a time of 29:13.54.
These three men currently rank first (Nur), second (Ferro), and seventh (Raff) in the conference.
Senior
Jeralyn Poe and sophomore
Jessa Hanson ran the women's 10000-meter race this morning as well.
After not racing in this event since 2019, Poe placed second with a time of 33:14.95, ranking 12
th in the NCAA and second in the Big Sky. Hanson recorded her first collegiate 10K time, finishing fourth in the event with 34:09.38 which currently ranks 38
th in the nation and third in the Big Sky.
As nighttime fell in Fresno, the men's and women's 1500-meter races began.
Senior
Cade Burks championed the men's 1500-meter run with a time of 3:42.70, setting a new Veterans Memorial Stadium record in the process; Burks' time ranks third in the conference.
Competing alongside Burks was junior
Theo Quax (3:43.55) and sophomore
Caleb Easton (3:44.03), who placed fifth and seventh respectively; their times earn fifth and sixth in the league sequentially.
Freshmen
Kang Nyoak (3:45.08) and Young (3:45.52) also ran for the Lumberjack men finishing 11
th and 12
threspectively in the 1500-meter run.
As for the women, senior
Hannah Behunin (4:24.54) crossed the line first for NAU, placing 11
th overall, with junior
Bryn Morley (4:26.54) not too far behind in 14
th. Their times tonight fall sixth and eighth in the Big Sky.
Senior
Pipi Eitel (4:35.64) and sophomore
Jesselyn Bries (4:38.38) competed for the NAU women as well, placing 22
ndand 24
th in the race.
Later, the gun fired for the men's and women's 5000-meter race.
The NAU men led off, with senior
Aldo Marquez finishing first overall with a time of 14:07.99; Marquez's time ranks 11
th in the Big Sky, heading into the conference meet.
Meanwhile, seniors John Shea (14:36.86) and
Beau Prince (14:54.97) placed 17
th and 22
nd respectively in the men's 5K.
Following the men's race, the women's clock started.
Senior
Delaney Rasmussen set a meet record and earned a gold-medal finish in the women's 5K, finishing with a time of 16:11.24, also reaching sixth on the Big Sky leaderboard.
Sophomore
Annika Reiss (16:42.89) and junior
Cassi Land (17:04.48) competed in the race as well, placing 15
th and 22
ndrespectively.
The last event of the night for the Lumberjack men and women was the 5000-meter invitational run.
All-American senior
Luis Grijalva placed first overall with a time of 13:29.02, achieving 14
th in NCAA rankings, and third in the Big Sky; Grijalva also ranks 12th in the region.
Sophomore
Brodey Hasty placed 10
th in his season debut with a time of 13:49.68, snagging sixth place on the conference leaderboard; freshman
Santiago Gomez-Prosser (14:01.77) finished 19
th overall.
The Lumberjack men currently occupy 6 of the top-eight Big Sky slots in the 5K, heading into championships.
On the women's side junior
Taryn O'Neill stepped up to perform fourth overall with a time of 15:36.14, earning the fifth-best time in the nation this season, and becoming number one in the conference; O'Neill currently ranks third in the West Region as well.
Senior
Mikayla Malaspina (16:08.18) ran with O'Neill tonight and finished 23
rd overall.
The NAU men and women's distance team is in a powerful place heading into Big Sky Conference Championships in two weeks.
