FARMINGTON, Utah (Nov. 7, 2025) – After navigating Northern Arizona to its fifth-consecutive sweep of the Big Sky Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships, Lumberjack Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jarred Cornfield has been named the league’s Coach of the Year for both disciplines.
Assuming the role in June of 2025, this marks Cornfield’s first Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year titles from the Big Sky Conference. Cornfield previously served as Associate Head Coach since February 2024. His journey at NAU began in 2015, and over nearly a decade, he has risen through the coaching ranks to become the program’s director.
The Women’s Championship 5K was the first race of the day this past weekend, where NAU’s Hayley Burns claimed the individual title with a time of 16:05.70. Burns did that in a homecoming of sorts, as she is from Bozeman.
“Hayley really had a tremendous track season that provided a lot of momentum this summer heading into cross country season,” Cornfield said. “She hasn’t performed at this high of a level before in cross country, so I was thrilled to see how she used that track season to build the confidence and prove she belonged at this level.”
Northern Arizona claimed the top four spots in the race, with Ava Mitchell, Keira Moore and Kiki Vaughn all finishing behind Burns. Vaughn was named Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year following the meet.
Ultimately, the Lumberjacks scored just 16 points en route to their seventh-consecutive Big Sky Conference Women’s Cross Country title.
On the men’s side, the Lumberjacks were paced by Colin Sahlman, who finished the 8K course in a time of 23:41.30.
“He’s been just a tremendous leader,” Cornfield said. “He cares about his team, and he cares so deeply about cross country. He made the U.S. final in the 800-meter in the beginning of August and was still immediately engaged in getting ready for this cross country season. He’s one of the most phenomenal athletes in our sport, period, and that comes from having a big heart for his team.”
Northern Arizona placed four runners in the top five and cruised to a team victory with 20 points.
The victory marked the fifth-consecutive for the Lumberjack men, and a fifth-straight sweep of both men’s and women’s titles as a result.
The Lumberjacks will be back in action on Friday, November 14 in Salt Lake City, where they’ll participate in NCAA Mountain Regional competition.
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