OGDEN, Utah (May 15, 2021) – The Northern Arizona track & field program had to wait an extra year, but the Lumberjacks are back on top the Big Sky Conference. For the fifth time in school history, the NAU men's and women's track & field teams swept the Big Sky Outdoor Championships with an absolutely dominating performance at Chick Hislop Track and Stewart Stadium.
"These were some of the most talented teams we've brought to these championships, but we're also filled with gratitude that we were able to compete," said Director of Cross Country and Track & Field
Michael Smith. "It's been a long run up for all of the teams in the Big Sky and this meet was a huge accomplishment for all of the programs. We're fortunate to come out on top."
After placing second and sixth respectively at the 2019 championships, and then subsequently seeing the 2020 meet canceled due to COVID-19, the Lumberjack men's and women's teams were forced to wait an extra year to reclaim their titles. After four days of competition, the Lumberjacks left no doubt led by senior
Luis Grijalva and junior
Matilde Roe, who were named the meet's Most Valuable Athletes.
On the men's side, NAU took the lead early on Saturday and never looked back, running away with its 23rd all-time conference outdoor championship with 168 points ahead of Montana State's 122. The 168 points were the most by a team at the outdoor meet since NAU's 2016 championship total of 187.
Meanwhile, the NAU women posted a historic performance on their way to their 12th outdoor title in program history. NAU became only the third women's team in Big Sky history to score at least 200 points at the outdoor track & field championship. The Lumberjacks finished the meet with 201 points with the host, Weber State, in a distant second with 142 points.
"I know some of the best teams we've had at NAU and in the history of this conference, and it's remarkable," Smith said of the women's team's feat. "It speaks to the balance of our program; that it's not just one event area. We're a full track and field team and this performance this weekend puts us against the best teams ever and it certainly looked that way for me."
To put NAU's Saturday dominance into perspective, the Lumberjack men and women's final day points alone (128 on the men's side and 154 on the women's side) were enough to best their respective nearest challengers' point totals from the entire meet.
Roe was named the Big Sky Women's Most Valuable Athlete for the second consecutive outdoor championship, accumulating 25 points for the Lumberjacks – one point more than her award-winning efforts in 2019. After winning the gold in the discus on Friday, Roe posted her second event win on Saturday in the shot put with a throw of 15.12m.
Roe's gold was followed by a silver-medal performance by freshman
Alaina Diggs, who recorded a mark of 14.98m. Fellow freshman
Carly Watts (14.09m) logged a fourth-place finish in the shot put – the first women's event of the day – putting in a motion a masterful team performance.
After junior
Jenna Figueroa paced three 'Jacks in the top eight of the triple jump – along with freshmen
Courtney Weisenberger (11.99m) and
Lily Margolis (11.81m) – with a PR of 12.23m that placed her fifth, the Lumberjacks opened the running events with a bang by winning the 4x100-meter relay.
Seniors
Jada Jackson and
Miracle Onyemaobi teamed with freshmen
Kenashalee Kerr and
Kenya Coburn to win the 4x100 with a time of 45.96 – the second of four event victories by the women on Saturday.
If the women's championship was ever in question, the Lumberjacks put the title essentially out of reach in the 1500-meter with six of the eight scoring spots belonging to the Blue & Gold. Junior
Taryn O'Neill led the pack, breaking the stadium record by seven seconds with a gold medal time of 4:21.27.
O'Neill was joined on the podium by senior
Jeralyn Poe in third with a time of 4:24.59. Junior
Bryn Morley (4:25.09) followed in fourth with senior
Hannah Behunin (4:30.13), sophomore
Annika Reiss (4:31.17) and senior
Pipi Eitel (4:31.63) in sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
The Lumberjacks continued to amass points in the 100-meter hurdles with freshmen
Kiana Kai (14.25) and
Madeline Wilson (14.56) placing fifth and seventh respectively. For Kai, it was her first of two scoring performances as she later would secure her first career medal with a second-place finish (1:00.97) in the 400-meter hurdles.
In the 400-meter, Onyemaobi (54.81) and junior
Melanie Loff (54.98) both improved on their preliminary times to place second and fourth respectively, while Jackson (12.18) and Coburn (12.40) both scored points in the 100-meter preceding the NAU women's final gold medal performance.
Freshman
Maggi Congdon crossed the finish line with a time of 2:09.77 to win the 800-meter with Loff right behind her with a time of 2:10.21 in second. Like Loff, Morley (2:16.14) and Behunin (2:17.43) also posted their second scoring efforts of the day in seventh and eighth.
The Lumberjack women's final points on the track came via Onyemaobi (24.58) and Jackson (25.28), who placed sixth and eighth in the 200-meter and a slew of 'Jacks in the 5000-meter. O'Neill was one of four NAU runners to score in the 5K, earning silver with a time of 16:38.10, while Poe earned her second bronze medal with a time of 16:38.71. Junior
Jessa Hanson placed fifth (16:48.31) and senior
Delaney Rasmussen snagged a point in eighth (17:21.44).
NAU rounded out its scoring in the women's javelin with freshman
Eniko Sara reaching the podium in her Big Sky Championship debut following a mark of 48.44m to finish third. Sara was just ahead of Roe, who concluded her championship meet, with a mark of 48.40m, good for fourth.
On the men's side, Grijalva's busy Saturday landed him the Big Sky's Most Valuable Athlete award after totaling 22 points in the 1500-meter, 800-meter and 5000-meter. Grijalva opened his afternoon by setting a new stadium record in the 1500, claiming his first career Big Sky outdoor gold medal in the process.
His final 400m split of 55.50 was the fastest in the final, and his kick on the final stretch pushed him to a winning time of 3:41.61. Grijalva's first-place finish was part of an NAU takeover of the 1500m with five men placing in the top eight. Freshman
Nico Young snagged the bronze (3:44.54), while freshman
Abdihamid Nur (3:48.18), junior
Theo Quax (3:48.63) and senior
Cade Burks (3:49.97) occupied the fifth through seventh spots.
The NAU men, who began the day in third in the standings, grabbed the lead for the first time between their dominance in the 1500 and in the discus. Senior
Parker Joens, who already found himself leading the way, improved his conference-winning mark to 56.14m on his last throw. Joens was one of three 'Jacks to score in the discus with senior
Nicholas Coghill placing fourth (51.37m) and freshman
CJ McMullen in eighth (50.20m).
The trio of throwers built on the momentum set by sophomore
William Beaudry and senior
Jacob Kaufman in the day's opening event – the men's hammer throw. Beaudry moved up from ninth to sixth on his final throw of the day – and picked up crucial points in the process – concluding the event with a mark of 59.22m. Meanwhile, Kaufman's best throw of 58.26m landed him in eighth.
Every point mattered with the Lumberjacks not yet in the lead in the standings, and freshman
Jack Normand earned a point in the high jump clearing 1.96m. That led into the 4x100m relay where seniors
Carter Bracken,
Erick Thompson Jr. and
Alex Alton passed the baton to junior
David Dunlap, whose performance in the last 100m gave NAU a huge push forward.
Dunlap, who was just getting his sensational Saturday started, overtook both Sacramento State and Idaho State on the final leg to cross in 41.19 seconds. The excitement was only beginning as after NAU's exploits in the 1500m, with the Lumberjacks methodically putting up points in a complete team effort.
Bracken scored twice in the 110 and 400 hurdles, placing fourth (14.11) and third (52.60) respectively and Thompson Jr. earning an eighth-place finish in the 400m (49.84). Grijalva showcased his signature kick once again, moving from eighth to second in the last 100 meters of the 800m to finish with a time of 1:51.22, while senior
Ryan Lanley closed with a seventh-place time of 1:53.11.
Meanwhile, freshman
Mitchell Effing, who placed third in the long jump on Friday, set a new personal record in the triple jump on his last attempt. Effing's PR of 15.30m garnered him his second podium finish with the silver medal and Normand added sixth-place points with a leap of 14.67m.
The NAU men put the exclamation on their sixth Big Sky Outdoor Championship in the past decade with gold medals in the final two individual events. Dunlap, who also placed eighth in the 100m, blazed his way to his first career gold in the 200m with a time of 21.02 before Nur and Young went 1-2 in the 5000m.
Nur, last year's 5K champion at Big Sky Indoors, became the seventh Lumberjack to win both conference indoor and outdoor 5000m titles and the 13th NAU 5K champion in the last 14 Big Sky outdoor meets. His time of 14:09.17 shattered the previous stadium record by 15 seconds and was just ahead of Young's 14:09.51 in a fast race that saw the top three finishers break the previous record.
Junior
Ryan Raff, who claimed gold in last night's 10K, placed fourth with a time of 14:28.17 and Grijalva made it four 'Jacks in the top five with a time of 14:30.07.
NAU has now swept the men's and women's outdoor titles four times in the past eight years having done so in 2014, 2016 and 2018. The Lumberjacks first swept both outdoor titles in 1990.
"We have an amazing coaching staff and they take care of their event groups in huge ways," Smith said. "Our athletes know they play a part in the greater puzzle required to win team championships. Young athletes need experience at championships, which they haven't had because of the pandemic, but they certainly got it this weekend."
With the conference championships behind them, the Lumberjacks will now await the list of qualifiers for the NCAA West Regional. The NCAA West Regional will be held in College Station, Texas from May 27-29.
Stay up to date with the Lumberjacks by following NAU Cross Country and Track & Field on
Twitter and
Instagram.
Full Women's Team Scores
1. Northern Arizona – 201
2. Weber State – 142
3. Montana State – 78
4. Idaho State – 74
5. Idaho – 63
6. Southern Utah – 61
7. Montana – 58
8. Sacramento State – 51
9. Northern Colorado – 47
10. Eastern Washington – 42
11. Portland State – 2
Full Men's Team Scores
1. Northern Arizona – 168
2. Montana State – 122
3. Idaho – 106
4. Weber State – 105
5. Eastern Washington – 96
6. Montana – 68
7. Southern Utah – 51
8. Idaho State – 48
9. Sacramento State – 28
10. Northern Colorado – 20
11. Portland State – 2
