Academic Notes: Majoring in microbiology
2015 Cross Country: NAU’s top athlete on the women side during her redshirt-junior year … Competed in five events, including a top-five finish at the Cowboy Jamboree (4th – 21:22.8) and at Big Sky Championships (5th – 18:12.4) … Big Sky All-Conference athlete … Placed 14th at NCAA Mountain Regionals, earning all-region honors and a second-consecutive trip to NCAA National Championships … At nationals, she improved her time from the previous season’s performance by 12 seconds to complete her XC year
2014 Cross Country: Opened the 2014 season with a second-place finish at the George Kyte Invitational ... Made her debut on the national stage with a second-place finish at the Huskie Invitational ... Led the ‘Jacks to a 11th-place finish at NCAA Pre-Nationals with her 16th-place finish ... Her fourth-place finish led the NAU women to their first Big Sky Championship since 2009 ... Earned All-Mountain Region honors and a trip to the NCAA Championships with her eighth-place finish at regionals ... Finished 56th at her first NCAA National Championships
2013 Cross Country: NAU’s No. 1 runner but competed just twice due to injury ... Finished third at the George Kyte Classic with a time of 17:12.4 ... Finished third at the Cowboy Jamboree with a time of 17:47.74
2012 Cross Country: Competed in four meets ... Finished 19th at the Pac-12 Preview Elite Invite with a time of 18:23 ... Finished 196th at the Adidas Invitational with a time of 21:21 ... Finished 27th at the Big Sky Championships with a time of 18:33.7 ... Finished 56th at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships with a time of 22:02.6
High School: Competed in cross country and track & field at Haileybury College, from which she graduated in 2011 ... Helped her team to a silver medal at the World School Cross Country Championship in 2010 ... She took fifth in the Zatopek Classic’s Under-20 Women’s 3K race in 2010 ... Was the gold medalist in the U18 1500m run at the 2010 All-Victoria Schools Championships in Australia
Personal: Born February 22, 1993 in Mornington, Victoria, Australia to Nick and Kim Townsend ... Has one older sister, Jessica ... Enjoys going to the gym, doing pilates, and going to the beach in her spare time ... Chose NAU for the great training location, the altitude, and the great coaching ... She misses her dog while she is away from home ... Favorite animal is a frog
