Minus two key runners — Elise Stearns and Karrie Baloga — the top-ranked NAU women’s cross country team was toppled on Saturday at the Pre-Nationals in Madison, Wisc., which will be the site of the NCAA Championships next months.
The Lumberjack women finished third behind a talented BYU team, running at full strength, and Washington. BYU, ranked second, won easily with 105 points, with third-ranked Washington second with 157 and NAU third with 166.
Though Stearns was included on the start list, NAU coach Mike Smith indicated earlier that she might not compete at the Pre-Nats and instead might make her debut at the Big Sky Conference Championships in Idaho in two weeks. Stearns, NAU’s top runner, missed all of outdoor track season with injury and has yet to run this year.
It is not known why Baloga, an Olympic Trials qualifier in the steeplechase last year, did not run Saturday.
Assuming Steans and Baloga run in the NCAA regionals and nationals, the NAU women still looking to be the favorites to win.
The Lumberjacks received a strong, consistent race from low stick Ali Upshaw, who finished 19th in 19:53 over the 6K course. Upshaw held her own throughout, clocking in at 17th through 2K and 22nd through 4K and was able to close strong. Maggi Congdon, NAU’s second finisher Saturday, started strong but faded. Congdon was 11th through 2K, 18th at 4K and finished 33rd.
What doomed NAU on Saturday were some fading finishing. It wasn’t just Congdon. Alyson Churchill was NAU’s fourth runner at the 4K mark, but lost 23 places in the final 2K. Keira Moore surprised by going out strong in the early going and held her own to finish 31st, two places ahead of Congdon, who slipped 10 spots. Nikita Moore, Keira’s sister, slipped 14 spots in the final 2K to finish 56th as the sixth runner.
On the bright side, senior transfer Alex Carlson, from Rutgers, was NAU’s second finisher in 26th place with a time of 19:59, picking off 16 runners in the last mile and edging BYU’s fourth runner, Riley Chamberlain.
The NAU men were not expected to win the meet, and their fifth-place finish may have been a little low, considering most analysts had picked them to finish ahead of Stanford (third on Saturday) and New Mexico (fourth). Arkansas, as expected, won the men’s race with 89 points.
NAU’s senior transfer David Mullarkey went out with the lead pack in the 8K race. Mullarkey, who ran for Florida State last year, was third after 2K and was still in contention in 12th through 6K. But he retreated late and placed 21st in 23:11. NAU’s second and third runners, Colin Sahlman (23rd in 23:13) and Santiago Prosser (23:15) ran consistently and held their own.
The fourth runner, senior Corey Gorgas, moved up 13 spots in the final 2K to place 36th, and the final Lumberjack scorer, freshman Manny Perez, ran a fantastic race through 4K, holding onto to 39th place, but fell to 73rd at the finish.
The good news for NAU’s women was that freshman Emma Stutzman won the open race individual title in 20:31. In the men’s open race, redshirt freshman Zack Munson placed fifth in 24:00 over 8K.
NAU now will regroup and travel to Pocatello, Idaho, on Nov. 1.
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