NAU’s Day and PSU’s Gibson Collect First Career #BigSkyXC Athlete of the Week Honors
OGDEN, Utah - Two first time honorees were tabbed #BigSkyXC Athletes of the Week in Northern Arizona’s Tyler Day and Portland State’s Kaila Gibson.
Tyler Day was the top Lumberjack in the prestigious Nuttycombe Invitational finishing third overall to help Northern Arizona win in commanding fashion. Day, a senior from Gilbert, Ariz., ran the 8k race in 23:21.3 which was less than four seconds off from first place. The Lumberjacks placed four runners in the top-ten scoring just 46 points which was 89 points better than second place finisher Wisconsin.
This is the first Athlete of the Week honor for Day in his career. Northern Arizona heads back to Madison, Wis., on Oct. 13 to run in the Pre-National Invitational before the Big Sky Championships on Oct. 27.
Kaila Gibson notched her third straight top-ten finish on the season finishing in eighth place at the Charles Bowles Invitational. Gibson’s 17:25.6 mark in the 5k race is the best time that a Viking has ever had at the meet. The Vikings placed third in the meet behind Boise State and Lipscomb, both of which are ranked in the top-six of their respective regions in the latest USTFCCCA Regional Polls.
This is the first Athlete of the Week honor for Gibson in her career. Additionally, Gibson becomes the first Viking to win Athlete of the Week honors since Kamila Bocian back in 2006. The Vikings have the week off before the Pre-National Invitational in Madison, Wis.
Other Male Nominees: Skylar Ovnicek, Idaho - Ty Mogan, Montana State - Drew Seidel, Portland State - Christian Ricketts, Southern Utah - Jacob Stone, Weber State
Other Female Nominees: Kara Story, Idaho - Kelsi Lasota, Montana State - Hannah Behunin, Northern Arizona - Angie Nickerson, Southern Utah - MarLee Mitchell, Weber State