SACRAMENTO, Calif. (May 17, 2025) – The Northern Arizona men's and women's track and field teams each placed first at the 2025 Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships. The track and field and cross country programs complete the calendar sweep, winning conference titles in men's and women's cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field.
The men win their fourth title in the last five years, earning 227.5 points ahead of Montana State who placed second with 154 points. The women's squad won their fifth-straight title, collecting 222 points ahead of Montana State who earned 158.5 points to placed second.
NAU returns to Flagstaff with 14 Big Sky champions and 32 All-Conference honors in all.
Desmond Lott earned Co-Most Valuable Athlete, placing on the podium in all three throwing events. After he placed third in the discus yesterday with a mark of 54.37-meters, he won the hammer throw today (63.48-meters) and placed third in the shot put (17.30m) to earn 22 points for the men's team.
Shanye Harris was named the Big Sky Freshman of the Year after helping the 4x100-meter relay team finish first, earning a podium finish in the 100-meters with a time of 11.79, and scoring two points in the 200-meters with a seventh-place finish of 24.69.
The day started with a first-place finish in the women's 4x100-meter relay, as Harris,
LiNay Perry,
Kyairra Reigh and
Ariel Haygood teamed up to run 45.07, which ranks seventh all-time in program history. The 4x400-meter relay team, that consisted of
Maggi Congdon, Reed, Perry and Reigh closed the meet with a meet record of 3:34.23 that ranks second all-time at NAU. It is also currently the 28
th-best time in the nation and 11
th in the West region.
Perry also went on to defend her outdoor title in the 400-meter hurdles, clocking 57.68 and now has 15 Big Sky track and field titles to her name after today's competition.
Also winning the 400-meter hurdles on the men side was freshman
Josiah Johnson with a time of 51.68. The men scored 25 points in the event, as
Nicolas Martinez clocked 52.46 to finish second with a personal best of 52.46 that ranks ninth all-time at NAU.
In the women's 1,500-meters, the Lumberjacks dominated, finishing in places one-through-five to earn 33 points in the event.
Elise Stearns won, clocking 4:20.94, with Congdon (2
nd, 4:21.09) and
Agnes McTighe (3
rd, 4:21.39) joining her on the podium. Rounding out the scorers were
Alexandra Carlson (5
th, 4:22.18) and
Emma Stutzman (4:24.78).
For the third time in her career and the second-straight season, Congdon won the 800-meters, finishing in 2:04.57. She now has 12 Big Sky track championships to her name after today's performances. Congdon won the Big Sky's Most Valuable Athlete.
Alexandra Carlson was right behind her in second place (2:06.03).
Stearns also took home first in the 5,000-meters, setting a meet record of 16:03.08. She helped NAU take spots one-through-six in the event, followed by Baloga (2
nd, 16:10.62),
Ava Mitchell (3
rd, 16:19.23),
Emma Stutzman (4
th, 16:19.97),
Keira Moore (5
th, 16:22.52) and
Hayley Burns (6
th, 16:29.25). The top five finishers finished under the meet record.
Baloga won Most Outstanding Performer after setting a meet record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase yesterday, placing first. Mitchell earned another All-Conference honor after winning the 10,000-meters last night, the first time ever competing in that event.
In the men's 5,000-meters,
Justin Keyes placed first with a meet record of 13:55.52 less than 24 hours after placing third in the 10,000-meters.
Corey Gorgas joined him on the podium, crossing the line in 13:57.61, also going under the meet record.
NAU swept the 800-meter titles, with
Colin Sahlman winning for the third-straight year, battling all the way to the finish to cross the line in 1:48.68.
Kyairra Reigh defended her 400-meter title, becoming just the third female in Big Sky history to do so, crossing the line in 52.89. She also earned five points for NAU in the 200-meters, placing fourth with a time of 24.17.
Kyle Smith defended his title in the 200-meters, helping NAU win the event five years in a row with a time 21.15. He also placed third in the 100-meters (10.55) behind
Khamis Hassan who earned a second-place finish in the event with a time of 10.51.
Sariyah Horne-Kemp won the hammer throw with a toss of 57.31-meters.
In his home state,
Sirr Butler put together his best performance since 2022, leaping to a personal best of 15.51-meters that now ranks eighth all-time in program history to win the triple jump. The mark ranks 36
th in the nation and 28
th in the West region.
Sahlman also finished second in the 1,500-meters with a time of 3:40.14, going under the Big Sky Championship meet record. Joining him on the podium for the first time in his career was
Corey Gorgas who placed third with a personal best of 3:42.12. Also scoring points in the event were
Caleb Easton (6
th, 3:44.40),
Drew Bosley (7
th, 3:45.97) and
Ford Washburn (3:45.97).
The men's 4x100-meter relay team of
Ian Lipsey,
Kyle Smith,
Lamar Smith and Hassan earned a podium finish, placing third with a time of 40.63.
Nikolas Strait also scored points in the hammer throw, placing seventh with a mark of 55.60-meters. In the 200-meters,
Jordann Germain picked up four points for the women with a fifth-place finish, clocking 24.21. She also scored four points in the 100-meters, finishing fifth in 11.98.
Sydnie Watkins broke her own school record in the 100-meter hurdles, barely missing the podium with a fourth-place finish of 13.65. The Lumberjacks also finished 4-5-6 in the men's 110-meter hurdles, led by Johnson (4
th, 14.28),
Tyson Givens (5
th, 14.32) and
Shon Martin (6
th, 14.39).
Brenna Rodriguez and Alex Hamilton came up big in the women's triple jump. Rodriguez placed fourth with a leap of 12.10-meters for a new season best, and Hamilton placed sixth with a personal best of 12.04-meters that ranks 10
th all-time at NAU.
Luke Yruretagoyena earned three points for NAU in the 400-meters with a personal best of 47.67.
Also scoring for the women in the 800-meters were
Kiki Vaughn (5
th, 2:08.32) and
Odessa Zentz (6
th, 2:09.00).
Ford Washburn scored three points on the men's side, clocking 1:50.83 to finish sixth.
Rounding out the scoring in the men's 400-meter hurdle finals was
Tyson Givens (4
th, 53.00) and
Cannon Booker (7
th, 54.56).
Also in the throws,
Jamie Jacobs placed fifth in the hammer throw with a toss of 52.99-meters, and
Ronan Gallagher earned a personal best of 52.10-meters to place sixth.
Larissa Francois advanced to the finals of the shot put in her first outdoor championships, placing ninth with a toss of 13.39-meters.
The men's 5,000-meters also picked up points from
David Mullarkey (4
th, 14:02.46),
Aidan Puffer and (5
th, 14:03.54).
