GREELEY, Colo. (May 12, 2023) – The Northern Arizona University track & field teams had a successful first day at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships, with the men sitting in first place and the women in second following their first day of competition. The men have a total of 68.50 points while the women have 37 points.
The most impressive performance came from the men's hammer throw, with the Lumberjacks sweeping the top four places.
John Murphy took the gold with a throw of 62.86 meters.
Desmond Lott took second with a throw of 60.45 meters, while
Garret Bernt rounded out the podium with a mark of 59.65 meters.
Parker Bays finished fourth in the event with a mark of 58.03 meters, while
Cole White placed sixth with a personal best throw of 53.11 meters. In total, the hammer throw athletes earned 32 points for NAU.
The discus throwers also saw success, finishing 4-5-6.
Desmond Lott was the top NAU finisher in the event, throwing 53.92 meters to score 5 points.
CJ McMullen wasn't far behind in fifth with a throw of 52.01 meters to score 4 points.
Jay Nielsen contributed three more points with his throw of 51.60 meters to finish sixth.
Mitchell Effing finished second in the long jump, scoring 8 points with a jump of 7.77 meters.
Jack Normand tied for third in the high jump after clearing a height of 2.02 meters to add 5.5 more points to the Lumberjack's total.
In the first final's race of the day,
Aiden Barnhill finished eighth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to add a point for NAU. Barnhill ran a time of 9:32.70.
Santiago Gomez-Prosser competed in the other final of the day, placing second in the 10,000-meter. His time of 29:58.90 earned him a silver medal and 8 points.
The men qualified four athletes for the finals of the 1,500-meter.
Nico Young,
Colin Sahlman,
Kang Nyoak, and
Cael Grotenhuis will all compete in the race. Sahlman and Nyoak will also compete in the finals of the 800-meter after running qualifying times today.
David Dunlap and
Kyle Smith both qualified for the finals of the 100-meter and 200-meter races. Dunlap is the defending Big Sky champion in both events.
The women had a similarly successful day.
Jade Kwinn and
Piper Pfister began the day by scoring 11 points in the javelin. Kwinn finished second with a throw of 45.08 meters to earn 8 points, while Pfister finished sixth with a throw of 42.39 meters to score 3 points.
Jenna Figueroa and
Kenashalee Kerr put up an impressive performance in the long jump, finishing second and third in the event. Figueroa earned a new personal best with a jump of 5.84 meters, scoring 8 points. Kerr jumped 5.79 meters to finish third and earn 6 points.
Alaina Diggs added a point of her own to the total, finishing eighth in the shot put with a mark of 13.38 meters.
In the only final's race of the day for the women,
Meagan Van Pelt and
Anna Fenske earned 11 points for the 'Jacks. Van Pelt finished second in the 10,000-meter, running a time of 37:35.37 to score 8 points. Fenske finished sixth with a time of 37:51.43 to add three more to the total.
NAU qualified five women in the 200-meter.
Alyssa Colbert, Madeline, Wilson,
Kyairra Reigh,
LiNay Perry, and LaTrouchka Duke all put up outstanding performances to advance to the finals. Perry and Reigh also qualified for the finals of the 400-meter. Colbert, Wilson, and Duke also qualified for the 100-meter finals, along with
Kenya Coburn.
Annika Reiss ran the 800-meter in a time of 2:10.89, the fastest of the day. Her time was enough to win her heat and advance her to the finals tomorrow.
The Lumberjacks will continue their competition at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships tomorrow. Live results for the meet can be found
here, while a livestream of the meet can be found on ESPN+. Stay up to date with NAU Cross Country and Track & Field by following us on Twitter and Instagram.
