NAU sophomore Colin Sahlman continues his record-breaking outdoor track season, and Lumberjack senior Annika Reiss is gearing up for what she and NAU Coach Mike Smith hopes will be a spectacular NCAA outdoor track finale.
Sahlman not only set an NAU and Big Sky record by running 1:45.63 in the 800 meters at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson Saturday night, but in doing so defeated the defending NCAA 800 indoor champ, Rivaldo Marshall of Iowa.
Sahlman beat Marshall (1:46.38) by nearly a second. NAU’s Nico Young, showing incredible range for a distance runner, finished third in 1:47.65, besting his 1:48 at the Bryan Clay Invite.
Meanwhile, Reiss took a big step toward the NCAA regionals Friday night at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford, finishing third in the 5,000 meters 15:33.21. It was the second fastest 5K time ever for an NAU woman, just off Ida Nilsson’s 15:33.18 set in 2004.
Reiss was the top collegiate woman in the 5K at Payton Jordan. Canadian pros Briana Scott and Erin Teschuk, the World Championships runner and Olympian, respectively, finished first and second in 15:30.11 and 15:32.91. Reiss beat former Stanford star Vanessa Fraser, now a pro, who was fourth at 15:33.37. BYU’s Sadie Sargent was fifth in 15:34.18.
Three other NAU runners ran sub-16 minutes in the race: Aliandrea Upshaw (15:55.06; Bryn Morley (15:55.17) and Nikita Noore (15:57.97).
Freshman Karrie Baloga had another impressive steeplechase showing, placing third in the second heat at 10:06.11.
Elsewhere at Saturday’s Desert Heat Classic, Kang Nyoak won two events, the 1,500 meters in 3:46.02 and the 3,00 meters in 8:12.57.
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