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Overview

Northern Arizona University (NAU) Cross Country program has been developed into an ultimate powerhouse of a program and to see where and how the program developed into this powerhouse is what will be covered on this website. From the opening of the university in 1899 to the present day (2020) there has been much throughout the years that have helped this program to develop into a program that has been trusted by the athletic department and by the individual athletes who attend the university. Ron Mann was hired to be the head of The Cross Country and Track and Field program in 1982 and his hiring helped the program bring students in that would contribute in a larger way than they would expect. Two years later (1984), the program claimed their first conference title this meant more than what it originally meant because now this gave the team the ability to look for the bigger prize, this being the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship. In 1988 the NAU team would reach the national championship and claim their biggest prize yet, this being 2nd place finish. A standout individual, Bo Reed, helped this program become more than anything else when he was invited to the 1989 IAAF World Cross Country Championships which was held in Stavanger, Norway. What this brought to the team was someone who had the talent on a bigger stage helping to gain the attention of high school athletes who wanted their collegiate running experience to mean more than what it could originally be. Eric Heins became the new head coach for the program in 2007 and with this coaching change, more athletes would come into the picture that would have a long-lasting impact on the NAU program. Individuals such as Matthew Baxter, Futsum Zienasellassie, Tyler Day, and Andy Trouard have trained under Heins and would go on to have professional careers. This allowed for more to be done in the recruiting process in bringing in other vital contributors to NAU’s success. Eric Heins brought this program to their first national cross country title (2016), and this would propel the program into the top tier category of “Great Cross Country Programs.” The reason why I say Heins brought this program their first national title was mainly because most of the athletes that stayed at this program were his athletes that he had coached before leaving the program in 2014. Michael Smith would take the reins of the program with the hard objective of defending their national title. The next year the program would go to win the title in stellar fashion behind their two dominant front runners, Matthew Baxter (2nd), & Tyler Day (3rd), the team would finish with the final score of 74 beatings out Portland who would finish with 127. Continuing into next season, NAU would remain the front runners to win the national championship once again and people were questioning if anyone would be there to contend with them. NAU would finish the 2018 NCAA National Championship scoring 83 points with second place being Brigham Young University (BYU) with a score of 116 points. Leading contributors who helped to bring NAU their third title were, Tyler Day (6th), and Matthew Baxter (15th), and a huge step up for sophomore Luis Grijalva (23) helping this team to secure their 3rd title. This team was in the talks of being one of the “greats” in the program for their ability to win three straight. This brings up to 2019, where the young NAU program, who had lost Matthew Baxter and Tyler Day had a new look to them with newcomers such as; Theo Quax, Brodie Hasty, and Drew Bosley. This team would have the ultimate task of defending their title for the fourth time and their new cast. They went to dominate their conference and the regional meet and the national championship was a different story, with the horrible conditions and weather the team fell flat finishing second place. The 2020 season with the pandemic around limiting the ability for there to be a fall national championship program has been a limbo state with not many races.

Ron Mann Coaching Era

The importance of hiring Mann as the head coach for both the men and women’s teams is because without Mann establishing a competitive team, the recruiting classes of each year would have not bought into the winning mentality. Hiring a coach that would be inducted into the USATF Hall of Fame (Class of 2018) means much more than what can easily be seen. This is because for a coach to get into the hall of fame. They must have a big winning record with man accolades among the athletes he had coached. In 1984, the Lumberjacks won their first cross country conference title. This began their dominance in the sport. Both the men and women programs became something more than just a team but a team that would contend for a nationals trip and possibly to the podium. This didn’t just start on the grass but also continued onto the track as they had also won the indoor and outdoor titles. NAU would claim its first national championship appearance in 1988 and would go on to finish 2nd place overall. The upcoming spring season would be a big one for standout Bo Reed. He was invited to the 1989 IAAF World Cross Country Championships which was held in Stavanger, Norway, which took place in the spring. Mann had coached an athlete that could compete on a global stage against other big countries. Although Bo Reed may have not done a great job at the world championship, the invitation shows that the Coaching done by Mann is working and can create some top-level athletes. Bo Reed said this about competing in Norway, “It is a huge honor to be invited out to this event where they ran the 12,000-meter run. Although “the course got the best of me” the ability to go to something like this and compete with Olympic athletes shows that the program being built was going in the right direction.” -The Lumberjack: March 30, 1989

Ron Mann retired from coaching in 2004 to focus on coaching the U.S. men's track & field team at the 2005 IAAF World Championships but found his way back into the collegiate ranks that same year as the Director of Cross Country and Track & Field at Louisville. Mann was inducted into the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame as a part of the class of 2018.

Eric Heins Coaching Era

From 2007 to 2014 Heins became the head coach for the Cross country and Track and Field program. Heins would help to create a program that would become a powerhouse program with all the individuals he had had during his time there. Individuals such as; Matthew Baxter, Futsum Zienasellassie, Tyler Day, and Andy Trouard. These people would go on to have professional careers spanning the country and the globe. Eric Heins came into the program with the mission of getting this program its first title and with the guy’s team trusting in his process of training they were well on their way to going to the team title. Ultimately, Heins left the program, in a great position, before he could reap the benefits of what he had aimed for.

Michael Smith Coaching Era

This is significant because, with the departure of one head coach and the introduction of a new one, some programs can never get off on the right foot with the student-athletes who are already on the team. All the athletes and the coaching staff have to be on the same page with what goals they want to accomplish and the hiring process that goes in with this. This was a step in the right direction and we see this now with all the national titles they have on. In 2016, NAU would go on claiming their first cross country title. Capturing a National Title is big in any sport you do it in. This was the program’s first title in school history and it was an impressive feat. What came with this was the school getting 4 All-Americans in the process, tying the most in school history. This victory to the students mainly is a credit to Eric Heins because he was able to get this group of men to commit to the program and they bought into it. This is a sight to behold because everything that had been building up to this point can start from back in the 90s (if you want to say) because with each years recruiting groups you bring pieces that then help to recruit the next year’s group and over time this would lead to this point of winning a National Title. This title was from the 2016 season in Terre Haute Indiana.

Sometimes with new coaches, athletes do not want to follow in their philosophy but when Smith took the position in the Spring season the team had also won the Big Sky Championship showing. Smith had gotten the upperclassmen and newcomers to follow and listen to his methods of coaching, which had ultimately made this team into a national powerhouse.

Two years later NAU would go on winning their 3rd straight title with Michael Smith as their coach. This was a momentous point for the program because they became the first team since Arkansas (back in the 90s) to Three-Peat in the National Championships. What is special about this group of men shown above is hearing all the work they had put in leading up towards this, Blaise Ferro, a Sophomore at the time, (3rd person on the left) had been dealing with set-back after set-back leading up to this point and had been doing roughly 30 miles a week and biking a majority of the week and to come and compete and to come out and finish 26th in a field of 100+ athletes is extremely impressive. This would show that the coaching staff, including Mike Smith, and others behind the scenes. Put in the effort into the individual student-athletes into helping them develop and perform at the highest level to capture a national championship.

What the Future Holds

The NAU team from this past Cross Country Championship in 2019. This team came in with a target on their back and finished 2nd place to a team, BYU, who just took off and NAU could never respond to that. What made this championship different from the previous ones is that this team had no upperclassmen at the front, this team was loaded with red-shirt freshmen and lead by a true freshman, Drew Bosley. What this showed is that just because they have won several years in a row, not everyone is safe, this team is very young and to finish in second place shows that this team will be very successful and they have a bright future ahead on and off the cross country course but also on the track.

Looking into the future of this program, NAU was able to have an athlete join their ranks with Nico Young joining them. Unfortunately with the pandemic Nico didn’t have a true outdoor track season but still set up an official 5K time trial and ran a blazing quick time (13:50.55) this was the 4th fastest 5K in High School History. This is a benchmark for the NAU program because even with the placement in the previous XC season and for them to land this 5-star athlete is amazing for the program. This shows that they are still adding in talent with their loaded cast of key contributors.

Legacy

Legacy is defined as what people know a team or program for, when people think about Northern Arizona University, people will remember them for being one of the bigger teams in recent years that achieved something of historical magnitude. The legacy that NAU has been creating is what many programs would ever dream of having. The ability to train in the ‘runners mecca’ of the world and to receive top-level training from coaches (past, present, and future). The ability to enter the ranks of being one of the few teams to go on to three-peat is a feat of its own because, with each passing year, schools lose key players that would help them to do this but with NAU they had found a formula that would allow them to achieve more than what they could ever desire. The program's culture it has created is what lures new athletes, such as Nico Young and others to want to join an elite program. Others try to replicate and study what has made this team so dominant, could it be that they're at 7,000 ft above sea level? Possibly, this could be what has created them into a powerhouse but as you look across the NCAA you see other top runners and programs that do not have this specialty of altitude on their side. The type of athletes they create at NAU are special because they have taught them that it is more than just about yourself and to win a time title you need all seven of the runners to be there to have a chance to win. The mantra that comes to mind is to learn to suffer and become better together, as a whole, because this is what helps to create a dominant culture to win team titles. Looking into the future, NAU has a bright future with the incoming classes always being high-level athletes who are always ready to contribute and their ability to soak in as much knowledge as possible helps to create them into a team that everyone would like to be a part of. Their program is building a new legacy day in and day out and people have much more to see in the coming months and years with this team.