Lumberjack Cross Country Earns Team Victories at Dave Murray Invitational

RESULTS
 
TUCSON, Ariz. (Sept. 28, 2024) – Back in action for the first time since August, the Northern Arizona University cross country teams put together a near-perfect day at the Dave Murray Invitational in Tucson, Ariz., at the Tucson Country Club.
 
The men's squad raced its first 8k of the season, claiming the team title with a perfect 15 points with Justin Keyes earning the win. The women also finished first with 20 points as Ava Mitchell was the top NAU finisher in the 6k, placing second.
 
The men's team bested the second-place squad, El Paso Community College, who earned 72 points. Arizona, the hosts, rounded out the top three with 102 points. NAU also finished ahead of New Mexico State, Western New Mexico, Grand Canyon, UTEP and Cuyamaca.
 
Keyes led the way with a first-place finish, crossing the line in 23:04.6. He was followed closely by Corey Gorgas who clocked a time of 23:11.0.
 
NAU then claimed spots four through seven with Erik Le Roux making it around the course in 23:20.8. Ford Washburn (5^th, 23:24.5), Zack Munson (6^th, 23:24.8) and Aidan Puffer (23:30.8) rounded out the top seven. Also competing for the Lumberjacks today were Caleb Easton who placed 12^th with a time of 23:58.6 and Randy Espinoza who finished 17^th in 24:11.3.
 
On the women's side, Arizona's Lydia Russell won the meet on her own home course with a time of 20:21.4, but it was nothing but Lumberjacks after that as they took up spots two through seven. Mitchell finished second overall with a time of 20:45.3 and was followed by Alex Carlson who crossed the finish line in 20:57.3.
 
The next four Lumberjacks finished within seven seconds of each other. Hayley Burns finished fourth in 21:08.4 with Emma Stutzman right on her heels in 21:09.5. A brief three seconds later, Anna Fenske crossed the line in 21:12.2 and Alexis Kebbe rounded things out with a seventh-place finish in 21:14.8.
 
Northern Arizona topped the next closest team in New Mexico St. who finished second with 55 points. Arizona finished third with 82 points and were followed by Grand Canyon, UTEP, El Paso CC, USC and Haskell Indian.
 
NAU now turns its sights to the Joe Piane – Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind., on Oct. 4.