Results
Championship Central

The Northern Arizona men’s and women’s track and field teams completed the first day of action at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Sacramento, Calif., today.
 
The day was highlighted by four Big Sky Champions, eight All-Big Sky honors, a pair of meet records, a school record, and seven new all-time NAU top ten marks.
 
After the conclusion of Friday’s action, the NAU men are in first place with 65.5 points, ahead of Montana State who scored 43. The women are in third with 37 points, behind Idaho State (2^nd, 46.5) and Montana State (1^st, 72.5). Both teams will look to climb the leaderboard during the final day of action, as several athletes advanced to the finals in their respective events.
 
Trevor Hook got the day started on a high note, finishing first in the javelin with a personal best and an NAU school record of 68.98-meters. It’s the second all-conference honor of his career, improving from a second-place finish at the 2022 championships. He broke his own school record of 68.49-meters that he set in 2023. It is currently the 38^th best mark in the nation and the 23^rd best in the West region.
 
Karrie Baloga set a Big Sky Outdoor Conference meet record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, defending her title with a time of 9:47.92 and winning by 16 seconds.
 
Northern Arizona earned a sweep in the men’s 10,000-meters, led by David Mullarkey and Santiago Prosser who each broke a 35-year-old meet record in the event. Mullarkey won the title with a time of 29:23.03, followed by Prosser in 29:23.48. Prosser also placed second in the 10k in 2022 and Mullarkey won the individual cross country title and earned a pair of runner up finishes in the 3,000-meters and 5,000-meters indoors. Justin Keyes earned the third-place finish, clocking 29:39.53 after finishing 12^th in the race last season.
 
In her first-ever 10,000-meter race, Ava Mitchell took home gold with a time of 34:32.78, winning by 16 seconds to pick up 10 crucial points for NAU. It’s her second career Big Sky title, winning the 5,000-meters indoors.
 
Carter Anderson, in his first outdoor conference championships, earned a podium finish in the high jump. He cleared 1.97-meters to tie for third place. Also earning an all-conference honor was Desmond Lott in the discus, finishing third with a toss of 54.37-meters. He placed fourth in 2024. Ian Lipsey placed third in the long jump, bringing an All-Conference honor home to Flagstaff with a mark of 7.13-meters, improving from consecutive 12^th-place finishes the previous two years.
 
All the men’s discus throwers for NAU advanced to the finals and scored points, as Nikolas Strait finished sixth with a personal best of 51.01-meters, and Amar Elmore placed seventh with a toss of 50.20-meters.
 
Other scorers include Jeret Gillingham who finished fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:50.48, Maisie Grice in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (7^th, 10:37.52), Sariyah Horne-Kemp in the discus (6^th, 46.70m), and Aidan Puffer in the 10,000-meters (5^th, 29:43.23).
 
Outside of Mitchell, three other Lumberjacks scored points in the 10,000-meters. Alexis Kebbe placed fourth in 35:29.50, and in their first-ever 10,000-meter races, Hayley Burns placed fifth (35:29.85) and Keira Moore placed sixth (35:30.49).
 
All five Lumberjacks entered in the men’s 1,500-meters are on to tomorrow’s finals. Caleb Easton enters with the top time of 3:52.64, followed by Corey Gorgas (3^rd, 3:53.63), Colin Sahlman (4^th, 3:53.43), Drew Bosley (7^th, 3:53.65), and Ford Washburn (9^th, 3:54.34). Sahlman is the defending Big Sky Champion in the event.
 
Also advancing to tomorrow’s finals in the 100-meter hurdles is school record holder Sydnie Watkins, who finished fourth overall with a time of 13.95.
 
All three Lumberjacks entered in the men’s 110-meter hurdles are on to tomorrow’s finals, led by Tyson Givens who finished fourth with a time of 14.27. Shon Martin ran a personal best of 14.43 to finish fifth, and Josiah Johnson rounded things out with a sixth-place finish (14.45).
 
In the 400-meter hurdles, all four entered Lumberjacks advanced to the finals as well. Johnson auto-qualified and finished second overall with a time of 52.55. Nicolas Martinez ran a personal best of 52.89 to finish fourth, followed by Givens who placed fifth in 53.26. Cannon Booker rounded things out with a seventh-place finish, clocking 53.92.
 
Kyairra Reigh easily won her heat in the 400-meters with a time of 53.23 to auto qualify for tomorrow’s finals where she will have a chance to defend her 2024 title. Joining her in the 400-meter finals on the men’s side is Luke Yruretagoyena who placed sixth overall in the prelims with a personal best of 47.77.
 
The Lumberjacks will be well-represented in the men’s and women’s 100-meter finals. For the women, Shanye Harris and Jordann Germain each advanced. Harris finished second with a time of 11.70 and Germain placed fifth in 11.85. For the men, Kyle Smith won his heat to auto-qualify with a time of 10.53, he finished second in the event last season. Khamis Hassan placed fifth in 10.57 and Lamar Smith clocked 10.62 to place eighth.
 
Kyle Smith will have a chance to defend his 200-meter outdoor title tomorrow, finishing first overall in the prelims with a time of 21.17.
 
Continuing success in the sprints, three Lumberjacks advanced to the 200-meter finals on the women’s side. Reigh, who placed second in the event last year, placed second with a time of 23.85. Germain set a new personal best of 24.10 that ties for ninth all-time in program history to place fifth. Harris also advanced, placing seventh with a time of 24.43.
 
In the 800-meter prelims for the women, the Lumberjacks saw four auto qualifiers and three new all-time top ten marks. Alexandra Carlson placed first with a personal best of 2:06.06 in her debut, now ranking eighth all-time in NAU history. Odessa Zentz clocked 2:06.74 to place second and now ranks ninth all-time, and Kiki Vaughn placed third with a two-second personal best of 2:06.85, ranking 10^th all-time. Maggi Congdon, the defending champion in the event, placed seventh with a time of 2:09.18.
 
On the men’s side in the 800-meters, Sahlman placed second and auto-qualified with a time of 1:49.18 in his season debut. Washburn ran a personal best of 1:50.01 that ranks eighth all-time, placing sixth to also qualify for tomorrow’s finals.
 
Emilia Betlej advanced to the finals of the javelin, finishing ninth with a mark of 35.73-meters.
 
The final day of the Big Sky Outdoor Championships takes place tomorrow, May 17, in Sacramento, Calif. Field events begin at 10 a.m. Mountain Standard time with the track events beginning at 12 p.m. MST. The meet will be broadcast on ESPN+. The women’s team will be going for their fifth-straight Big Sky title, and the men will be looking to win for the fourth time in the last five years.