Three Lumberjacks are Headed to Hayward

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (June 2, 2021) - Three Lumberjacks will advance to the national meet held in Eugene, Ore. on June 9-12 at Hayward Field.

Freshman Abdihamid Nur will compete in the men's 10000-meter run on Wednesday at 7:38 p.m. MST, while junior Jessa Hanson will run in the women's 10000-meter race on Thursday at 6:08 p.m. MST, and senior Luis Grijalva will line up for the men's 5000-meter run on Friday at 6:55 p.m. MST.

Hayward Field will have a capacity of 4,400 fans per day; live stream and television coverage will also be available, with streaming coverage on WatchESPN, along with ESPU and ESPN2 providing the television broadcast.

After the cancellation of the 2020 indoor national championship and the 2020 outdoor season, these athletes took full advantage of the opportunity to participate this season, as they have been waiting to compete on the national stage for over a year.

All three of these student-athletes had a strong showing at cross country national championships in the fall and entered the outdoor track season with similar momentum.

In late April, Nur ran his first collegiate 10000-meter race at the Fresno State West Coast Relays, running a time of 27:47.27, which at the time was the not only the best in the Big Sky, the west region, and the NCAA this season, but ranked sixth-best in conference history, sixth-fastest all-time in the nation, and qualified him for the United States Olympic Trials.

Nur's personal best time now ranks second in the nation, but his most recent time of 29:14.43, run at the West Regional meet two weeks ago, places him in 23rd on the meet entry list. 

Also competing in the men's 10K, are 15 of the top-24 nationally ranked athletes in the event this season.

BYU junior Conner Mantz (27:41.16) holds the top time this season, and is directly followed by Nur's season best time; but with several athletes who did not declare in the men's 10K, many improve in the national rankings.

Adjusting the rankings to reflect the national meet entries, sophomore Wesley Kiptoo (27:58.10) and senior Edwin Kurgat (27:58.33) of Iowa State become third, and fourth respectively, with Oklahoma State's sophomore Isai Rodriguez (28:08.70) in fifth, Colorado State senior Eric Hamer (28:08.95) in sixth, senior Aaron Bienenfeld (28:10.95) of Cincinnati in seventh, senior Robert Brandt (28:23.55) of Georgetown in eighth, Alabama senior Vincent Kiprop (28:23.60) in ninth, with senior Adriaan Wildschutt of Florida State wrapping up the top-ten.

The entry list continues with Stanford freshman Charles Hicks' (28:25.29) season best time ranked 11th, followed by junior Alex Masai (28:27.35) of Hofstra in 12th, sophomore James Mwaura (28:27.49) of Gonzaga in 13th, senior Patrick Dever (28:28.13) of Tulsa 14th, Butler sophomore Barry Keane (28:34.88) in 15th, and junior Jack O'Leary of Iona (28:37.03).

Nine additional athletes not previously ranked in the NCAA top-24, who performed well at their respective regional meet will also be competing in the event.

Villanova freshman Haftu Strintzos (28:52.71), Charlotte freshman Nickolas Scudder (28:54.64), junior Marcello Rocha (28:58.92) from Providence, Syracuse senior JP Trojan (28:59.47), senior Christopher Alfond of UMass Lowell (29.09.47), Arkansas senior Gilbert Boit (29:10.36), senior John Dressel (29:12.07) of Colorado, and sophomore Victor Shitsama (29:15.38) of Oklahoma State will join the pack as well.

Eight of these men will face each other again in the men's 5K on Friday, as they qualified for both national events.

Meanwhile, Hanson is set to compete in the women's 10000-meter race the following day.

The last time that Northern Arizona sent a woman to nationals in this event was in 2013, when Rochelle Kanuho ran a time of 34:46.04 to place 15th overall. 

Like Nur, Hanson performed her first collegiate 10K run this season, finishing her first race in 34:09.38 at the Virginia Challenge in April. However, at the regional meet two weeks ago, Hanson dug deep to deliver a lifetime best finish of 33:56.97, grabbing the women's final qualifying slot; Hanson's time ranks her 20th entering the national meet. 

There will be 11 other women from the NCAA top-24 list running in the event, including Alabama sophomore Mercy Chelangat (32:13.13), freshman Grace Forbes (32:24.38) of Rice, and senior Carmela Cardama Baez (32:38.73) of Oregon who respectively hold the three best times this season.

As several athletes did not declare in the women's 10K, many improved in the shifted national rankings; junior Amanda Vestri (32:43.15) of Syracuse now ranks fourth, Boise State senior Clare O'Brien (32:43.70) is fifth, senior Lexie Thompson (32:49.62) of Weber State becomes sixth, senior Abby Nichols (32:49.87) of Colorado ranks seventh, Washington senior Haley Herberg (32:51.96) is eighth, Utah senior Poppy Tank (32:52.65) becomes ninth, junior Cailie Logue (33:09.99) of Iowa State ranks tenth, and junior Katie Izzo (33:17.52) of Arkansas sits in 11th place. 

Additionally, 13 athletes, not previously ranked in the NCAA top-24, who performed well at their respective regional meet will also be competing at nationals.

Senior Abbey Wheeler (33:18.34) of Providence, junior Clio Ozanne-Jaques (33:39.80) of Ole Miss, Syracuse senior Annie Heffernan (33:39.84), senior Maria Mettler (33:43.43) of Air Force, Notre Dame sophomore Katie Rose Blachowicz (33:45.51), senior India Johnson (33:48.22) of Michigan State, Northern Illinois sophomore Ashley Tutt (33:52.20), freshman Kelsey Chmiel (33:52.21) of North Carolina State, Charlotte sophomore Chandler Horton (34:00.44), sophomore Jessi Larson (34:02.87) of Michigan, senior Stephanie Sherman (34:08.86) of Toledo, and senior Lynsie Gram (34:09.78) of Michigan State are also on the entry list.

On Friday evening, Grijalva, the Big Sky Men's Most Valuable Athlete, will compete in the men's 5000-meter run; Grijalva's season best time of 13:29.02, run in late April, ranks 14th in the nation, while his most recent time of 13:57.00 from the west regional meet seats him 20th approaching the national competition.

Grijalva will face ten of the top-24 nationally ranked athletes in this event including the true top-two place holders freshman Cole Hocker (3:19.98) and junior Cooper Teare (13:20.24) of Oregon. 

With several athletes whom did not declare in the men's 5K, many men improve in the national rankings including sophomore Wesley Kiptoo (13:21.02) of Iowa State now third, freshman Casey Klinger (13:24.90) of BYU in fourth, senior Patrick Dever (13:28.08) of Tulsa fifth, and junior Kioko Athanas (13:28.41) of Campbell ranked sixth, making Grijalva's season best time seventh in the nation amongst this regrouping. 

Also on the list is senior Euan Makepeace (13:30.55) of Butler now in eighth, sophomore Zach Facioni (13:30.84) of Wake Forest ninth, freshman Charles Hicks (13:34.63) of Stanford in 10th, and Amon Kemboi (13:35.22) of Arkansas sitting at 11th. 

In addition, 13 athletes, not previously ranked in the NCAA top-24, who performed well at their respective regional meet will be joining the pack.

For instance, junior Morgan Beadlescomb (13:40.43) from Michigan State currently owns the best men's 5K time recorded at a regional meet this season, followed by Robert Brandt (13:40.66) of Georgetown and Thomas Ratcliffe (13:40.76) of North Carolina. 

North Carolina senior Conor Lundy (13:41.32), junior Alex Masai (13:42.09) of Hofstra, sophomore Dylan Jacobs (13:48.55) from Notre Dame, North Carolina State sophomore Ian Shanklin (13:48.77), junior Ben Veatch (13:48.87) of Indiana, Alabama senior Vincent Kiprop (13:49.17), senior Olin Hacker (13:51.87) of Wisconsin, senior Isaac Green (13:52.40) of Washington, Colorado State senior Eric Hamer (13:55.97), and sophomore James Mwaura (14:00.07) of Gonzaga are sprinkled into the mix as well.

Returning to the meet after a 15th place finish in 2019, and a canceled outdoor season in 2020, Grijalva is fully prepared to leave it all out on the track. 

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