MADISON, Wisc. (Oct. 19, 2024) – The Northern Arizona cross country teams wrapped up the regular season at Wisconsin Pre-Nationals today at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisc.
The Lumberjack women, ranked first nationally, claimed a third-place finish with 165 points in the "A" 6k race. The men, ranked sixth, finished fifth overall with 178 points in the "A" 8k race.
Ali Upshaw led the women with a 19
th place finish while
David Mullarkey finished first for the men in 21
st.
Northern Arizona also competed in the open races where
Emma Stutzman won the women's 6k race in a time of 20:31.7.
Zack Munson finished fifth in the men's 8k with a time of 24:01.
Upshaw crossed the finish line in 19:53.6 and
Alex Carlson followed in 26
th place, clocking a time of 19:59.6.
Keira Moore and
Maggi Congdon finished 31
st and 33
rd, respectively, in 20:02.9 and 20:04.7.
Nikita Moore rounded out the scorers with a 56
th place finish in 20:17.7.
Also competing for the Lumberjacks in the "A" race was
Alyson Churchill (62
nd, 20:21.3),
Hayley Burns (73
rd, 20:27.4) and
Ava Mitchell (94
th, 20:34.3).
The Northern Arizona women started off strong, leading the field by the 2k mark with all five scorers in the top 30. As the field passed through 4k, it was the No. 2 BYU women who had taken first, surpassing NAU. The Cougars maintained the lead, winning the women's race with 105 points after placing runners in ninth, 14
th, 20
th, 27
th and 35
th place.
No. 3 Washington placed second with 157 points, followed by the No. 1 Lumberjacks who placed third with 165 points. No. 28 West Virginia (204 points) and No. 4 Notre Dame (213 points) completed the top five on the women's side.
The men were in third place through the first 2k and rose to second at the 4k mark. By the 6k, the men had slipped to fourth and wound wind up finishing fifth behind New Mexico.
Mullarkey clocked a time of 23:12.1 on the 8k course, leading NAU for the third time this season. Behind him was
Colin Sahlman and
Santiago Prosser who finished 23
rd and 25
th, respectively, crossing the line in 23:14.1 and 23:16.5. Rounding out the scorers were
Corey Gorgas (36
th, 23:23.4) and
Manny Perez (73
rd, 23:42.7).
Also competing for the men were
Kang Nyoak (100
th, 23:54.9),
Justin Keyes (24:03.8) and
Ford Washburn (127
th, 24:08.1).
The No. 3 Arkansas men won the men's title with 89 points, followed by No. 4 Iowa State who finished second with 128. Ahead of NAU to round out the top five were No. 9 Stanford (142 points) and No. 8 New Mexico (166 points).
In the open races, NAU did not run enough runners to count for scoring. After Stutzman's first-place finish,
Alexis Kebbe finished sixth in 21:02.7 followed by
Anna Fenske who was seventh in 21:10.5.
Maisie Grice rounded things out with a 36
th place finish in 21:49.5
In the men's 8k,
Aidan Puffer finished behind Munson in 13
th place in a time of 24:22.7 while
Erik Le Roux placed 17
th in 24:25.9.
Caleb Easton rounded things out in 29
th, clocking a time of 24:48.1.
Saturday's meet concluded the regular season portion of the schedule for NAU as the teams turn its sights to the Big Sky Conference Championships in Pocatello, Idaho on Nov 1. The men's squad will look to defend its Big Sky title for the fourth-straight season while the women will go for their sixth. As a program, the 'Jacks will go for their fourth-straight sweep and the 21
st overall sweep in program history.
