The Northern Arizona University cross country teams successfully defended their titles as Big Sky conference champions today as they swept the men's and women's team and individual titles.
"This win couldn't have come at a better time," said head coach Mike Smith. "Both the men's and women's teams executed really well today. We're proud to bring home these championships. Nico and Elise executed their individual race plans very well, they helped the team scores a lot. Nico running that fast, alone on the course, is big for him. Elise closing so hard was huge, that was a big race for her as well."
The men kicked things off, running their best team race of the season and scoring 19 points to win the conference title. This is the lowest conference championship score since the Lumberjacks won in 2016 with a score of 15 points, and ties the second lowest score in conference championships history.
Nico Young led the pack for the entire race, finishing first with a time of 22:31.5. Young's time was 26 seconds faster than the second-place runner, teammate Drew Bosley. Bosley finished with a time of 22:57.1 after a race spent battling Montana State's Duncan Hamilton. Brodey Hasty and George Kusche placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Hasty ran a 23:14.7 while Kusche ran a time of 23:23.2. Rounding out the scoring for the Jacks was Colin Sahlman who took seventh place with a time of 23:35.9. Sahlman was named Big Sky Freshman of the Year for his efforts. All five NAU scorers were named to the 2022 Big Sky Men's All-Conference Team.
Not contributing to the team score, but also making the All-Conference Team were Ryan Raff and Theo Quax. Raff placed ninth with a time of 23:43.3, while Quax took 10th place with a time of 23:46.6. Also running for NAU was Kang Nyoak who placed not far behind his teammates, finishing 16th with a time of 24:20.7.
Not to be outdone the women's team won the conference title with a score of 22 points, scoring 47 points less than the next closest team. This was the lowest conference championship score since the NAU women won in 2002 with a score of 18 points. Elise Stearns won the individual title after making her move in the last mile to take the lead, finishing with a time of 16:25.3. Annika Reiss was not far behind, placing second with a time of 16:36.1. Last year's Big Sky Champion Taryn O'Neill took fourth place with a time of 16:39.6. Bryn Morley and Jesselyn Bries finished the scoring for NAU, placing seventh and eighth respectively while each running a time of 16:43.0. All five NAU scorers were named to the 2022 Big Sky Women's All-Conference Team.
Also making the All-Conference Team while not contributing to the overall score was Maggi Congdon. Congdon ran a 16:43.1 to take ninth place in the 5K race. Also running for the Lumberjacks were Alexis Kebbe and Nikita Moore, who placed 11th and 12th, respectively. They were not far behind their teammates, with Kebbe running a time of 17:00.3 while Moore ran a 17:01.4.
NAU cross country has one week off before they resume postseason competition when they travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Mountain Regionals. The meet will take place on Friday, Nov. 11 and will be hosted by New Mexico.
Original source can be found here.
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