Northern Arizona Lumberjacks cross country

Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Cross Country
University	Northern Arizona University
Head coach	Mike Smith (6th season)
Conference	Big Sky
Location	Flagstaff, AZ
Nickname	Lumberjacks
Colors	Blue and gold [1]
Men's national championships
2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022
Men's NCAA appearances
31
Women's NCAA appearances
18
Men's conference champions
1971, 1978, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Women's conference champions
1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

Northern Arizona Lumberjacks cross country are the cross country teams of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. The Lumberjacks compete in the Big Sky Conference at the Division I level in the NCAA and are head coached by Mike Smith. ^[2]

The men's team have won 6 national championships and were runner up 5 times, and the women's team were the national runner up 1 time. Many of the team's runners compete in the Olympic Games, with alumni representing a total of 11 nations since the program's foundation. ^[3]

History

Men's team

The team was runner's up at the NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship in 1988, 1995, 2013, 2019, and 2023. ^[4]

Since 2016, the Northern Arizona men's team has been considered as the nation's leading program in NCAA Division I, winning a three-peat National Championship run from 2016 to 2018 and being undefeated in the regular season. The team has won 20 of the last 25 Big Sky team championships and won 17 of the last 25 Big Sky individual titles as of 2017. ^[5] The team has been consistently ranked in the top 3 of the USTFCCCA national coach's poll since the start of the 2016 season. ^[6] The team was the runner up in the 2019 national championship. ^[4] In the first tie-breaker ever to win the National Championship, the Lumberjacks narrowly won the 2022 iteration of the National Championship over Oklahoma State University to complete another three-peat. ^[7]

The 2017 repeat title closed out a perfect season with a 53-point victory, placing five athletes in the top 40. The victory was the lowest score (74) at the NCAA Championships since 2014, and the Lumberjacks became the first repeat champions since 2013–14. Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Mike Smith earned the Bill Dellinger Award as National Men's Coach of the Year and also picked up both the Big Sky's Men's and Women's Coach of the Year awards. In track and field, Smith was named the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Mountain Region Women's Indoor Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018.

Women's team

The women's team was a national runner's up at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship in 2023 by 1 point behind North Carolina State. ^[8]

Notable Athletes

Women's individual national championships (2)

Year	Athlete	Time
1986	Angela Chalmers	16:55.49
2005	Johanna Nilsson	19:33.9

Olympians

Athlete	Olympics	Event	Place
Angela Chalmers	1988	1500m	17th (h)
		3000m	14th
	1992	1500m	14th (h)
		3000m	3rd
Lopez Lomong	2008	1500m	SF1 12th
	2012	5000m	10th
David McNeill	2016	10,000m	16th
	2020	5000m	H1 8th
Luis Grijalva	2020	5000m	12th
	2024	5000m	H2 16th
George Beamish	2024	Steeplechase	H3 7th
Abdihamid Nur	2024	5000m	H2 19th
Nico Young	2024	10,000m	12th

National championships

Men's team national championships (6)

Association	Division	Sport	Year	Runner-Up	Score
NCAA	Division I	Cross Country	2016	Stanford	125–158
			2017	Portland	74–127
			2018	BYU	83–116
			2020	Notre Dame	60–87
			2021	Iowa State	92–137
			2022	Oklahoma State	83–83* 3-2 tiebreak

Men's Championship Results

Year	Coach	Place	Points
2023	Mike Smith	2nd	71
2022		1st	83
2021		1st	92
2020		1st	60
2019		2nd	163
2018		1st	82
2017		1st	74
2016	Eric Heins	1st	125
2014		4th	188
2013		2nd	169
2012		4th	191
2011		14th	374
2010		9th	217
2009		4th	190
2008		6th	281
2007		4th	190
2004	John Hayes	24th	521
2003	Ron Mann	3rd	190
2002		7th	247
2001		4th	193
2000		7th-Tie	269
1999		12th	370
1998		7th	295
1996		12th	328
1995		2nd	142
1994		4th	181
1991		19th	368
1990		19th	421
1988		2nd	160
1987		8th	264
1986		10th	269
1984		17th	357
1971	Dr. Leo Haberlack	9th	294

Women's Championship Results

Year	Coach	Place	Points
2023	Mike Smith	2nd	124
2022		6th	257
2021		23rd	532
2020		11th	318
2019		14th	406
2008	Eric Heins	23rd	536
2007		7th	357
2005	John Hayes	12th	388
2003	Ron Mann	15th	407
2002		10th	333
2001		12th	367
1999		11th	381
1998		17th	423
1996		10th	261
1992		9th	267
1991		3rd	184
1990		14th	317
1989		13th	293
1988		14th	291
1987		11th	226

Rivals

When Mike Smith became head coach in 2016 NAU turned into a national cross country powerhouse, developing a rivalry with the other nationally ranked leader, the BYU Cougars. NAU defeated BYU in the 2018 Championship while next year BYU defeated NAU in the 2019 Championship. The rivalry has been considered as "the best in a long time" and "the greatest in NCAA cross country history." ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Media

The team was exclusively featured in the FloTrack documentary The Program: Northern Arizona that followed them in their championship 2016 season. ^[12] The team was again featured in the five-part docuseries NAU: Running With The Boys that followed them throughout their 2019 season. ^[13]

In 2023, former NAU runner Matt Baxter published Running Up the Mountain. The book chronicles the start of the Lumberjacks men's cross country dynasty as well as the team's connection to the Flagstaff community. ^[14]

References

1. "Northern Arizona University Visual Identity Guide" . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
2. "Cross Country". Northern Arizona University Athletics. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
3. "US Olympic Track and Field Trials Include Six with Ties to NAU". Northern Arizona University Athletics. Retrieved 2023-03-08.
4. "NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships ::: USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meet History ::: USTFCCCA" . Retrieved 2021-02-22.
5. "How Northern Arizona became a distance running powerhouse | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
6. "Rankings History List Progression". www.ustfccca.org. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
7. "NC State Women Repeat, NAU Men Win on Tiebreaker at the 2022 NCAA DI XC Championships | RunnersWorld.com". www.runnersworld.com. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
8. INFORMATION, NAU SPORTS (2023-11-18). "NAU ROUNDUP: Cross country teams both place second at nationals". Arizona Daily Sun. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
9. "BYU vs. NAU Looking Like One Of The Best NCAA XC Match-Ups In A Long Time". Citius Mag. 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
10. Collaboration, T. S. R. (2019-11-23). "The Group Chat: D1 Nationals Reactions". The Stride Report. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
11. NAU/BYU Rivalry Returns And A Nico Young Debut? , retrieved 2021-02-24
12. "The Program: Northern Arizona (Trailer)". www.flotrack.org. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
13. "NAU: Running With The Boys". www.flotrack.org. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
14. Hartman, Mike (October 18, 2013). "NAZ Elite This Week: Baxter completes marathon of writing 'Running Up the Mountain'". Arizona Daily Sun. Retrieved December 20, 2023.