Women Finish Fourth, Men Fifth, at NCAA National Championships

Results

MADISON, Wisc. (Nov. 23, 2024) – The Northern Arizona cross country teams concluded its season with top five finishes at the 2024 NCAA Division I National Championships on Saturday morning in Madison, Wisc., at the Zimmer Championship Course.
 
The women brought home a fourth-place finish with 206 points, while the men finished fifth overall with 237 points. It is the third-highest finish in program history for the women, finishing second in 2023 and third in 1991, notching just the third top five finish ever. The men finish in the top five for the 11^th-straight year.
 
BYU claimed the championships on both the men's and the women's side.
 
The Northern Arizona women finished behind champions BYU (147 points), West Virginia (164 points) and Providence (183 points). NAU finished ahead of Oregon (210 points) to round out the top five.
 
Ali Upshaw and Elise Stearns earned All-American honors after finishing 22^nd and 36^th, respectively. Upshaw crossed the line in 19:53.8 while Stearns earned her third career All-American honor with a time of 20:01.8.
 
The women led the field for the entirety of the way up until the 5k mark when BYU and West Virginia each made its moves. Keira Moore crossed the line in 20:18.4 to finish 60^th, while Maggi Congdon (71^st, 20:23.8) and Alex Carlson (84^th, 20:27.7) rounded out the scoring.
 
Nikita Moore (95^th, 20:30.7) and Karrie Baloga (97^th, 20:31.1) also competed for NAU today.
 
The men continued to battle throughout the entire race. Sitting at 14^th place through 1k, NAU had worked their way up to ninth at the halfway point before dropping to 10^th at the 7k and 8k mark. Between the 8k and 10k, Corey Gorgas kicked into gear and rose 26 spots to 60^th, helping the 'Jacks improve to fifth at the 10k mark.
 
Both David Mullarkey and Santiago Prosser earned All-American status for Northern Arizona. Mullarkey led the way with an 18^th place finish in 29:11.9 while Prosser clocked a time of 29:24.7 to finish 38^th. Gorgas, Colin Sahlman and Justin Keyes all scored for the Lumberjacks. Gorgas crossed the line in 29:36.5 to finish 60^th, followed by Sahlman who was 67^th in 29:40.3 and Keyes in 86^th with a time of 29:49.9.
 
Ford Washburn (129^th, 30:05.3) and Cael Grotenhuis (158^th, 30:19.8) rounded things out for the Lumberjacks.
 
After BYU, Iowa State finished second with 137 points, followed by Arkansas (202 points) and Wisconsin (212 points). NAU edged North Carolina who finished sixth with 246 points.
 
Northern Arizona will now turn its attention to the 2024-25 indoor track and field season, which features four home meets in addition to the Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships that the Lumberjacks will host in February.