Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Cross Country
UniversityNorthern Arizona University
Head coachMichael Smith (6th season)
ConferenceBig Sky
LocationFlagstaff, AZ
NicknameLumberjacks
ColorsBlue 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
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

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 Michael Smith.[2]

The men's team have won 6 national championships and were runner up 5 times, and the women's team were 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 Michael 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 national runner's up at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship in 2023 by 1 point behind North Carolina State.[8]

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

Women's individual national championships (2)

Year Athlete Time
1986Angela Chalmers16:55.49
2005Johanna Nilsson19:33.9

Mens Championship Results

Year Coach Place Points
2023 Michael 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 Michael 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 Michael 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 the 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 mens cross country dynasty as well as the teams 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. 1 2 "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.
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