Championship Central
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Oct. 30, 2024) – Months of preparation will culminate on Friday morning when the Northern Arizona cross country teams toe the line at the 2024 Big Sky Conference Cross Country Championships.
The championships are being hosted by Idaho State in Pocatello, Idaho at the Riverside Golf Course on Nov. 1. The men will race an 8k at 10 a.m. Mountain Standard time followed by the women who race a 5k at 11 a.m. MST. The meet will have live results
HERE and is also available to stream
HERE on ESPN+.
Northern Arizona will have a target on its back, as the women's squad is looking to repeat as champions for the sixth-straight year and the men will look to defend for the fourth-straight time. As a program, the Lumberjacks have their eyes on sweeping for the fourth-straight year and the 21
st overall time in program history. Both programs were predicted to defend their titles in the Big Sky Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Last season, the women's team made history by earning the lowest point total in women's conference championship history, sweeping the top seven places.
Elise Stearns has won the individual title two years in a row and is among the 10 declared NAU athletes for Saturday's race. Each squad will have eight competitors race and joining Stearns for the 'Jacks in the declarations are
Hayley Burns,
Alex Carlson,
Anna Fenske,
Alexis Kebbe,
Ava Mitchell,
Keira Moore,
Nikita Moore,
Emma Stutzman and
Ali Upshaw.
In 2023, Upshaw and
Nikita Moore earned All-Conference honors by finishing third and seventh, respectively.
On the men's side, NAU will look to have an individual champion for the ninth-straight season but will have a new champion as two-time defender
Nico Young has graduated and now runs professionally for adidas. For the men,
Corey Gorgas,
Justin Keyes,
David Mullarkey,
Zack Munson,
Kang Nyoak,
Manny Perez,
Santiago Prosser,
Aidan Puffer,
Colin Sahlman and
Ford Washburn make up the championship roster.
Nyoak earned All-Conference honors last year with a fourth-place finish along with Gorgas who finished fifth. Sahlman finished 11
th overall in the field as NAU had eight finishers place in the top 10.
NAU is currently ranked third nationally in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) coaches' poll on the women's side while the men check in at No. 8. Regionally, the women are second in the Mountain Region rankings while the men are third.
Both teams saw success during the regular season, kicking off the year with team titles at both the George Kyte Classic and the Dave Murray Invitational. At the Joe Piane -Notre Dame Invitational, NAU placed all five scorers in the top 15 on the women's side to place first while the men placed second. The squads previewed the NCAA Championship course at Wisconsin Pre-Nationals where the women finished second and the men brought home a fifth-place finish.
Mullarkey twice earned Big Sky Athlete of the Week honors after finishing fourth at Notre Dame and 21
st at Pre-Nationals. Mitchell, Keyes and Baloga also earned weekly honors from the conference.
Following Friday's race, the Lumberjacks have a week off before resuming competition at NCAA Mountain Regionals which are hosted by Nevada in Reno, Nev., on Nov. 15.
