2024 Northern Arizona Cross Country Schedule
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Aug. 23, 2024) – With just over a week to go before the quest to defend a pair of Big Sky Conference titles and then some, Director of Cross Country and Track & Field,
Michael Smith, has announced the 2024 Northern Arizona cross country schedule.
Coming off the best combined cross country seasons in program history that culminated with both squads finishing runner-up at the National Championship, the men return two athletes from last year's championship squad while the women return four.
Northern Arizona competes in four regular season meets leading up to the championship portion of the schedule. The season begins with the annual George Kyte Classic on Aug. 31 at Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, Ariz. There, NAU will look to claim the team championship on both the men's and women's side for the seventh-straight year.
Nearly a month later on Sept. 28, the Lumberjacks head to Tucson, Ariz., for the Dave Murray Invitational where the 'Jacks swept both the team and individual titles a year ago. NAU then meets a midseason test on Oct. 4 in South Bend, Ind., for the Joe Piane – Notre Dame Invitational.
To conclude October, NAU will preview the NCAA Championship course for its final regular season meet of the season when it heads to Madison, Wisc., for Wisconsin Pre Nationals. The meet takes place on Oct. 19 at the Zimmer Championship Course.
On November 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. 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 will toe the line for her third in November.
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. The 2024 Big Sky Championships will be hosted by Idaho State in Pocatello, Idaho at the Riverside Golf Course.
The season intensifies with NCAA Mountain Regionals on Nov. 15 in Reno, Nev. The men's team has finished first at regionals in six out of the last seven seasons it was held, including consecutively in 2022 and 2023. Last year, the Jacks placed four of its top five runners in the top ten.
The women's team finished first last year for the first time since 1992. Three of NAU's competitors from a season ago, in addition to Stearns, return to defend their regional title in 2024.
The 2024 NCAA Division I National Championships are set for Nov. 23 in Madison, Wisc., at the Zimmer Championship Course.
The men's squad has won six national titles in the last eight years, finishing second a year ago. The Lumberjack men have finished in the top two at the national meet for eight-straight seasons and 11 times in all. The women turned in their best finish since 1992, placing three runners inside the top-20 for the most All-Americans since 1991.
To stay up to date with the Lumberjack cross country programs, follow the team on X, Instagram and Facebook. To view the schedule online, click
HERE.
