Northern Arizona Claims Second-Consecutive NCAA Cross Country Title

NAU Claims Second-Consecutive NCAA XC Title

Nov 18, 2017 by Jennifer Zahn

Northern Arizona Claims Second-Consecutive NCAA Cross Country Title

Capped by a wild dash to the finish that saw Northern Arizona's Matthew Baxter launch a serious challenge against Syracuse's Justyn Knight for the individual title, the Lumberjacks claimed their second-consecutive NCAA cross country championship today by scoring 74 points with three men in the top eight. Portland finished runner-up with 127 points, while Brigham Young took third with 165.

NAU! NAU NAU! National Champs #NCAAXC @NAUTrackFieldXC pic.twitter.com/s2UZnqQnyj
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) November 18, 2017

Strong pack-running from NAU's top three, Baxter, Tyler Day and Peter Lomong, characterized the squad all season. It led them to a dominant win at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, and it helped them again today as that trio of juniors finished second, third and eighth, respectively. All five of NAU's scoring runners cracked the top 40.

Northern Arizona's Top Five

Place	Athlete	Yr.	Team	Score	Time	Gap	Avg. Mile	Avg. KM
2	BAXTER, Matthew	JR	N Arizona	2	29:00.8	0:00.8	4:40.3	2:54.1
3	DAY, Tyler	JR	N Arizona	3	29:04.6	0:04.6	4:40.9	2:54.5
8	LOMONG, Peter	JR	N Arizona	8	29:33.1	0:33.1	4:45.5	2:57.3
35	TROUARD, Andy	SR	N Arizona	28	29:58.1	0:58.1	4:49.5	2:59.8
40	BEAMISH, Geordie	SO	N Arizona	33	30:01.2	1:01.2	4:50.0	3:00.1

After stealing the show at West Regional, Portland rolled with that momentum to surpass BYU as the runner-up team. Sophomore Emmanuel Roudolf-Levisse, who won the individual West title, once again led the Pilots by crossing the line in 11th, but didn't manage to take down Stanford junior Grant Fisher, who was firing on all cylinders this time and grabbed fifth. The Pilots' top five were rounded out by senior Jeff Thies (14th), junior Nick Hauger (26th), and senior Matt Welch (46th).

Portland's Top Five

Place	Athlete	Yr.	Team	Score	Time	Gap	Avg. Mile	Avg. KM
11	ROUDOLFF-LEVISSE, Emmanuel	SO	Portland	9	29:38.9	0:38.9	4:46.5	2:57.9
14	THIES, Jeff	SR	Portland	12	29:40.7	0:40.7	4:46.7	2:58.1
26	HAUGER, Nick	JR	Portland	21	29:46.7	0:46.7	4:47.7	2:58.7
46	WELCH, Matt	SR	Portland	39	30:09.7	1:09.7	4:51.4	3:01.0
54	WEBB, Caleb	SO	Portland	46	30:14.4	1:14.4	4:52.2	3:01.4

In a surprising turn of events for BYU, junior Rory Linkletter, who ran lights-out at the Pre-National Invitational to claim the individual title and hoist the Cougars above the rest of the field, couldn't keep up after a slow start that saw him cross 2K in 5:45.90 for 41st place. He only made up a few spots and managed to take 39st overall. In his stead, freshman Casey Clinger had a day and finished first for BYU in 24th. Junior Connor McMillan held on for 30th.

BYU's Top Five

Place	Athlete	Year	Team	Score	Time	Gap	Avg. Mile	Avg. KM
24	CLINGER, Casey	FR	BYU	20	29:46.4	0:46.4	4:47.7	2:58.6
30	MCMILLAN, Connor	JR	BYU	23	29:52.3	0:52.3	4:48.6	2:59.2
39	LINKLETTER, Rory	JR	BYU	32	29:59.1	0:59.1	4:49.7	2:59.9
42	CARNEY, Daniel	JR	BYU	35	30:03.5	1:03.5	4:50.4	3:00.3
65	MORTON, Kramer	FR	BYU	55	30:21.7	1:21.7	4:53.3	3:02.2

In the individual showdown, Knight showed why he's held his No. 1 rank all season by holding off a furious bid for first down the homestretch from Baxter to earn his, and Syracuse's, first-ever individual NCAA title. Day, not far behind, snuck in behind him to keep first-time NCAA DI competitor, Alabama's JUCO champion transfer Gilbert Kigen, in fourth. Fisher, who repeated his fifth-place finish from 2016, fought his way up to that spot after going through 4K in 21st.

Men's Top 15 Individual Finishers

Place	Athlete	Yr.	Team	Score	Time	Gap	Avg. Mile	Avg. KM
1	KNIGHT, Justyn	SR	Syracuse	1	29:00.1	---	4:40.2	2:54.0
2	BAXTER, Matthew	JR	N Arizona	2	29:00.8	0:00.8	4:40.3	2:54.1
3	DAY, Tyler	JR	N Arizona	3	29:04.6	0:04.6	4:40.9	2:54.5
4	KIGEN, Gilbert	JR	Alabama	4	29:11.9	0:11.9	4:42.1	2:55.2
5	FISHER, Grant	JR	Stanford	5	29:12.1	0:12.1	4:42.1	2:55.2
6	MAGGARD, Dillon	SR	Utah St	6	29:16.2	0:16.2	4:42.8	2:55.6
7	KIPROP, Vincent	JR	Alabama	7	29:27.2	0:27.2	4:44.6	2:56.7
8	LOMONG, Peter	JR	N Arizona	8	29:33.1	0:33.1	4:45.5	2:57.3
9	KIPKOECH, Lawrence	JR	Campbell	--	29:34.5	0:34.5	4:45.7	2:57.4
10	GREEN, Jonathan	JR	Georgetown	--	29:38.6	0:38.6	4:46.4	2:57.9
11	ROUDOLFF-LEVISSE, Emmanuel	SO	Portland	9	29:38.9	0:38.9	4:46.5	2:57.9
12	TOBIN, Sean	SR	Ole Miss	10	29:39.4	0:39.4	4:46.5	2:57.9
13	BRUCE, Jack	SR	Arkansas	11	29:39.5	0:39.5	4:46.6	2:57.9
14	THIES, Jeff	SR	Portland	12	29:40.7	0:40.7	4:46.7	2:58.1
15	JORDAN, Andrew	SO	Iowa St	13	29:40.7	0:40.7	4:46.7	2:58.1