FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (June 17, 2021) – The Northern Arizona men's outdoor track & field team returned with an action packed season after waiting over a year to compete. The long offseason provided by COVID-19 allowed the men to become even stronger, and ultimately rise to reclaim the Big Sky Conference outdoor championship title, making a grand total of 23 all-time.
Five event champions were crowned in Ogden, with freshman
Abdihamid Nur (5000-meters), junior
David Dunlap (200-meters), senior
Parker Joens (discus), senior
Luis Grijalva (1500-meters), and senior
Ryan Raff (10000-meters) each contributing 10 points to the overwhelming Lumberjacks' total of 168 points.
This season's NAU men scored the highest point total by a team at the outdoor meet since 2016, when a previous Lumberjack team tallied 187 points at the conference championship.
The men scored well in all event groups, with the distance squad doing a large portion of the heavy lifting, scoring 76 points for the 'Jacks, including Grijalva, who earned the Big Sky Men's Most Valuable Athlete award, after individually accumulating 22 points.
Following the conference meet, 15 men qualified for west regionals hosted by Texas A&M just two weeks later. Two men emerged victorious, and headed to Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. for the NCAA Championships.
Nur and Grijalva earned bronze and silver respectively in the men's 10000-meter race and the 5000-meter run, garnering First-Team All-American honors, and breaking Big Sky conference records as well as NAU school records in the process.
However, Nur's season is not quite complete. He is set to compete again in the men's 10K at the U.S. Olympic Trials on June 18, along with Lumberjack freshman
Nico Young, who will run the 5K.
NAU men's outdoor track & field is the seventh feature in NAU Athletics' Champions Week celebrating the department's national and conference champions. Be sure to follow Champions Week on
www.nauathletics.com and on social media on
Facebook,
Twitter and
Instagram.
FROM THE COACH
"The 2021 Men's Outdoor season put our program amongst the very best in the NAA with some performances that were not just historical in our program, but in the history of the NCAA. With selfless performances at the Big Sky Championships, and consistent performances at the NCAA Championships, this group stood out. They dominated by competing for each other. With a year that provided abnormal competition and an unknown flow, this team used that as a way to grow and challenge themselves to be better." – Director of Cross Country and Track & Field
Michael Smith
| 46 |
NAU defeated the second place conference team, Montana State, by 46 points. |
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The Lumberjacks earned gold medals in five championship events. |
| 23 |
This year's outdoor Big Sky Championship allowed NAU to return to the top of the conference and bring home their 23rd all-time title. |
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Due to outstanding performances this season, two men, Abdihamid Nur and Luis Grijalva were awarded First-Team All-American status, and two men, Nur and Nico Young, will carry on to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials. |
| 15 |
Northern Arizona qualified 15 men for the west regional meet in College Station, Texas. |
| 128 |
On the final day of the Big Sky outdoor championships, the Lumberjack men scored 128 points, which was enough to best their nearest respective challengers' point totals from the entire meet. |
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Since 2010, the 'Jacks have clinched seven outdoor conference titles. |
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NAU proved to be a well-rounded team with young talent, bringing nine freshmen to Weber State to compete at the conference championship. |
