FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Nov. 21, 2024) – Months of hard work and preparation will culminate for the Northern Arizona cross country teams on Saturday, Nov. 23 when the teams toe the line for the 2024 NCAA Division I National Championships in Madison, Wisc.
The meet is hosted by Wisconsin at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course. The women kick things off with a 6k at 8:20 a.m. Mountain Standard time followed by the men's 10k at 9:10 a.m. MST. The race will be broadcast on ESPNU, and ticket information and other details can be found here.
LAST TIME OUT: Both squads punched tickets to the national meet in different ways and will look to become the first program to sweep national titles since Colorado in 2004. Last season, both squads finished runner ups.
At last week's NCAA Mountain Regional meet, the Northern Arizona women's team earned an auto-qualifying spot for the second-straight season after finishing second behind BYU. For the first time since 2015, the men's squad did not earn an auto-bid, as they finished third and awaited the at-large bid the following day.
David Mullarkey and
Corey Gorgas punched individual tickets, with Mullarkey finishing fifth and Gorgas placing 11
th. The men's team finished third with 71 points at the Mountain Regional, just 10 points behind second place New Mexico who earned the final auto-bid. BYU won the team title with 52 points.
Gorgas,
Santiago Prosser and
Colin Sahlman ran as a group and took up spots 11 through 13. Gorgas placed 11
th in 29:35.8 and he was immediately preceded by Prosser (12
th, 29:37.4) and Sahlman (13
th, 29:38.4).
Ford Washburn was the team's last scorer, crossing the finish line in 29:57.8 to place 30
th.
Northern Arizona earned the second of two auto-bids for the women, auto-qualifying for the second-straight season after winning the Mountain Regional last year. BYU earned the other spot, taking the win with 52 points. The Lumberjacks finished ahead of New Mexico (111 points) Utah (122 points) and Utah Valley (161 points) to round out the top five.
Elise Stearns, in just her second race since the 2023-24 indoor track and field season, led NAU with a fourth-place finish after clocking a time of 19:55.4.
Ali Upshaw, the reigning Big Sky Conference individual champion, was right behind her in 19:56.4 to finish sixth.
Alex Carlson and
Keira Moore each notched top-20 finishes, with Carlson finishing 15
th in 20:13.6 and Moore placing 17
th with a time of 20:14.4.
Karrie Baloga was 23
rd in 20:17.4 as NAU placed all five scorers in the top 25.
MEET THE LUMBERJACK WOMEN: Representing NAU on its national championship roster is
Karrie Baloga,
Alex Carlson,
Maggi Congdon,
Ava Mitchell,
Keira Moore,
Nikita Moore,
Elise Stearns and
Ali Upshaw. The squad, who is looking to bring home its first national title, shows depth as five different Lumberjacks have led the team in six races this season.
Northern Arizona enters Saturday ranked third nationally in the USTFCCA Coaches Poll behind No. 1 BYU and No. 2 Oregon. The Lumberjacks haven't faced Oregon yet this year but have raced against the Cougars three times – topping BYU at the Joe Piane Invitational before finishing behind them at Wisconsin Pre-Nationals and NCAA Mountain Regionals. West Virginia and Notre Dame round out the top five.
For the second-straight season, the Lumberjack women set a Big Sky championship record by finishing first with a perfect 15 points to claim their sixth-straight championship. It's the fourth-straight year both programs have won, as the women won their 26
th team title and the eighth in the last nine seasons.
Upshaw is the fifth-straight individual champion for NAU and the third different Lumberjack to claim the title in the past five years, earning Northern Arizona its 21
st individual title. Stearns, the two-time defending Big Sky Champion having won in 2022 and 2023, finished second behind Upshaw in her first race since the 2023-24 indoor season.
At the Joe Piane -Notre Dame Invitational, NAU placed all five scorers in the top 15 on the women's side to place first. As a team, the Lumberjacks won the team title on the women's side in four out of six meets.
MEET THE LUMBERJACK MEN: For the men,
Corey Gorgas,
Cael Grotenhuis,
Justin Keyes,
David Mullarkey,
Manny Perez,
Santiago Prosser,
Colin Sahlman and
Ford Washburn will make up the championship roster.
NAU enters Saturday ranked No. 6 nationally behind BYU, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Iowa State and New Mexico. At the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals meet, the men finished fifth behind Arkansas, Iowa State and New Mexico. They have not yet faced Oklahoma State this season, who they finished runner-up to in 2023.
Mullarkey has led the team in every race he's ran in this season, including winning the 2024 Big Sky individual title. He was the ninth-straight individual champion for the Lumberjacks and the 33
rd overall, as NAU has earned an individual title in 19 out of the past 20 seasons. The men claimed its 33
rd team title and their 16
th in the last 20 seasons.
This season, the Lumberjack men also finished first at both the George Kyte Classic and Dave Murray Invitational, along with a second place finish the Joe Piane-Notre Dame Invitational.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: Both sides are no stranger to the national meet, with the Lumberjack men looking to win their seventh national title and the women looking to bring home their first-ever title. Northern Arizona is led by
Michael Smith, the reigning and 14-time Big Sky Coach of the Year. In August, Smith announced he would retire from collegiate coaching at the end of the 2025 outdoor track and field season – giving the reigns to current associate head coach
Jarred Cornfield.
The Lumberjack men have won six of the past seven NCAA National Championships, with their wins coming in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022. In 2022, the team took home the title following a close race which saw them initially tie with Oklahoma State after both teams scored 83 points. NAU won the tie-break and was awarded their third straight NCAA National Championship title.
Last season, it was Oklahoma State who won the title with the Lumberjack men finishing second with 71 points. It marked the eighth consecutive year that the men had finished in the top two at the national meet, and the 11
th total time they have finished either first or second.
All five scorers earned All-American honors including
Santiago Prosser who finished 21
st. Gorgas also ran at last year's meet and placed 62
nd. Prosser also finished 19
th in 2022, and
Colin Sahlman also brings national meet experience after competing in 2022.
In 2023, the women's team saw their best finish in school history after placing second behind No. 2 NC State with 124 points, with the Wolfpack finishing one point ahead of the 'Jacks. Along with being the best team finish in school and conference history, it was also the first time the women had placed three athletes in the top-20 and the first time the Lumberjack women have seen three athletes finish as All-Americans since 1991.
Stearns brought home All-American honors for the second-straight season after finishing 20
th in 2023 and fourth in 2022.
Ali Upshaw scored points for NAU last season by finishing 54
th.
Maggi Congdon also has championship experience with a 60
th-place finish last year.
Karrie Baloga ran for Colorado last season and finished 82
nd at the national meet.
