2020-21 Cross Country and Track & Field Year In Review

FARMINGTON, Utah (June 16, 2021) – In a year unlike any the sports had ever seen, the Big Sky Conference saw successes across its cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field campaigns this year, highlighted by the league’s 11^th overall national championship.
 
M/W Cross Country

• The Northern Arizona men’s team claimed their fourth NCAA National Championship in the last seasons, scoring the lowest total since 2005 with just 60 points. NAU was paced by freshman Nico Young, who finished in fourth place.
• Southern Utah’s men’s team finished in ninth place at the NCAA National Championship, marking the highest finish in the history of the program.
• Montana State’s Duncan Hamilton and Weber State’s Taylor Dillon both qualified for the National Championship as individuals, finishing in 110^th and 137^th respectively.
• The Lumberjack women’s team finished in 11^th place at the National Championship.
• The Big Sky had two athletes finish in the top-10, with NAU’s Taryn O’Neill (6^th) and WSU’s Summer Allen (7^th) crossing the line back-to-back.
• SUU’s Alison Pray qualified finished in 50^th at the National Championship with a time of 21:04.4.
• Northern Arizona’s women’s teams claimed the 2021 Big Sky Winter Cross Country team championship, while O’Neill won the individual title. As a team, it was NAU’s 22^nd overall title.  
• Southern Utah’s men’s team claimed the 2021 Big Sky Winter Cross Country team championship. This marked Southern Utah’s second cross country title since joining the league in 2012.  
• Northern Arizona’s Abdihamid Nur claimed the Big Sky individual title with a time of 23:55.6.
• NAU’s Mike Smith was named Big Sky women’s Coach of the Year, while SUU’s Eric Houle was awarded the title on the men’s side.

M/W Indoor Track & Field

• No Big Sky Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship was held this season due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Despite that, six different teams in the Big Sky had student-athletes compete in meets.
• Montana State’s Duncan Hamilton represented the Big Sky at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championships, finishing 16^th in the men’s mile.

M/W Outdoor Track & Field

• Northern Arizona swept the men’s and women’s 2021 Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Conference Championships held in Ogden, marking the fifth time in school history they’ve claimed the trophies in the same season.
• For the Lumberjack women’s team it was their 13^th Big Sky Conference title, while it was the 24^th on the men’s side.
• NAU also had both the men’s and women’s Most Valuable Athletes at the championship, with Luis Grijalva and Matilde Roe claiming the honors.
• Eastern Washington’s Parker Bowden and Montana State’s Emily VonHeeder were named men’s and women’s Most Outstanding Performer, respectively.
• NAU’s Smith was named Outdoor T&F Coach of the Year on both the men’s and women’s sides.
• NAU’s O’Neill and Idaho’s Tayler LyDay shared Women’s Freshman of the Year honors, while Weber State’s Bronson Winter was the league’s male Freshman of the Year.
• Overall, the Big Sky Conference sent 102 student-athletes to NCAA West Preliminary competition.
• Of those 102 competitors, 10 advanced to the NCAA National Championships in Eugene, Ore., where five became first-team All-Americans and four more were named second-team All-Americans.