The Northern Arizona University cross country teams are ready to begin postseason competition as they travel to Cheney, Washington for the Big Sky Conference Championships.
The Lumberjacks are coming off strong performances at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, where both teams placed third. Elise Stearns headlined the women's team, placing third behind two of the top women's distance runners in the country. She ran a time of 19:57.5 on the 6K course in her best individual race this season. Nico Young also had an outstanding race, finishing only .1 seconds behind the lead runner. Young placed second in the 8K race with a time of 23:10.0.
NAU is looking to defend their titles from last season in which they swept both the team and individual titles. Last year the men captured their 30th all-time conference title while the women earned their 22nd. The women scored a total of 37 points and the men scored 30 points.
Taryn O'Neill took the women's title for the second straight year, running a 16:31.6. Two more women placed in the top-7, with Elise Stearns taking sixth place and Pipi Eitel finishing seventh. Stearns ran a time of 16:47.6, while now alumni Eitel ran a 16:47.6.
The men were just as strong at last year's conference meet, placing four runners in the top-8. Drew Bosley won his second individual conference title with a time of 23:15.6. Nico Young was right behind, running a 23:16.0 to finish second. Now alumni Abdihamid Nur ran a 23:21.6 to place fourth while George Kusche took eighth place with a time of 23:42.0.
Both O'Neill and Bosley will race on Friday to defend their titles.
The Lumberjacks will be the team to beat in both the men's and women's races. They are not only the reigning champions, and each ranked in the top-4 nationally, but each team has won the conference title five of the six past seasons.
This year's Big Sky Conference Championships is being hosted by Eastern Washington in Cheney, Washington on Friday, Oct. 28. The men will run an 8K race that begins at 10:00 a.m. MST while the women will run a 5K beginning at 11:00 a.m. MST.
Original source can be found here.
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