Larkin wins women’s 6-kilometer title in 19:19.7, with Lumberjacks capturing first regional crown in program history by 39-59 margin against BYU; New Mexico’s Samuel earns men’s 10-kilometer victory, but NAU has six athletes in top 15 in 36-89 triumph against Cougars to secure back-to-back Mountain titles

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

LUBBOCK, Texas – When Marie Antoinette was credited with the memorable quote, “Let them eat cake,” during the French Revolution, the former queen could have never imagined how that phrase would be interpreted more than 200 years later by the members of the Northern Arizona cross country program.

But queens and kings of the NCAA Division 1 Mountain Regional celebrated their impressive victories Friday at Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course at Lubbock Christian with the motto, “Let them eat cake pops.”

Thanks to Sherri Hasty, mother of Northern Arizona graduate student-athlete and four-time Division 1 finalist Brodey Hasty, all the Lumberjacks enjoyed homemade cake pops as part of their post-race meal.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

Northern Arizona, the top-ranked men’s and women’s programs in the country, hope they can continue to enjoy the sweet taste of victory Nov. 18 at the NCAA Division 1 championship meet at Panorama Farms in Virginia, looking to become the first program since Colorado in 2004 to sweep both national titles in the same season.

The Lumberjacks became the first school since Colorado in 2015 to sweep both regional championships.

Gracelyn Larkin won the women’s 6-kilometer race in 19 minutes, 19.7 seconds, with five Northern Arizona scorers in the top 15, as the Lumberjacks prevailed against Brigham Young by a 39-59 margin for its first Mountain title in program history.

Although New Mexico took three of the top four spots in the men’s 10-kilometer competition with Habtom Samuel winning in 28:57.6 and Lukas Kiprop (29:00.0) and Evans Kiplagat (29:03.9) taking third and fourth, respectively, Northern Arizona had Nico Young finish second in 28:59.6, as well as six athletes in the top 15 to produce a 36-89 victory against BYU.

Northern Arizona earned its eighth consecutive appearance at the Division 1 men’s final, BYU extended its streak to 25 straight championship meets and New Mexico took third with 97 points, expected to earn an at-large berth to advance to the NCAA finals for the first time since 2014.

Air Force Academy was fourth with 112 points and Montana State achieved fifth with 135 points.

Young was supported by Kang Nyoak placing fifth in 29:10.0, Drew Bosley (29:12.2) and Aaron Las Heras (29:12.5) taking seventh and eighth, with Hasty (29:22.0) and Santiago Prosser (29:24.3) capturing 14th and 15th, followed by Colin Sahlman securing 22nd in 29:41.8.

BYU was led by James Corrigan grabbing 12th in 29:19.8, with five scorers in the top 30 and a spread of less than 30 seconds.

Luke Combs secured sixth in 29:10.3 for Air Force, which had five athletes in the top 35.

Ben Perrin was 10th in 29:18.1 for Montana State, which placed six competitors in the top 45.

Victor Kibiego of UTEP achieved ninth in 29:15.4 and teammate Titus Cheruiyot earned 13th in 29:20.8, with Texas Tech’s Gideon Kiplimo placing 11th in 29:18.2, all earning at-large individual berths.

The remaining individual spot could go to Colorado’s Austin Vancil, who was 20th in 29:29.8, or if the Buffaloes’ sixth-place finish with 169 points earns one of 13 at-large team berths, then Weber State’s Peter Visser would advance after finishing 24th in 29:43.1.

Colorado has a streak of 31 consecutive trips to the NCAA men’s final and the Buffaloes rank fourth all-time in Division 1 with 52 overall berths.

Northern Arizona secured its fifth straight women’s appearance and 20th in program history, with Larkin producing an impressive late surge to elevate from fifth place in the final kilometer to surpass New Mexico’s Nicola Jansen (19:25.1) and become the second female athlete for the Lumberjacks to win the regional crown in the past three years, along with Taryn O’Neill in 2021 in Provo, Utah.

Ali Upshaw (19:44.3) and Ruby Smee (19:45.1) were sixth and seventh, respectively, Maggi Congdon took 10th in 19:47.4 and Maisie Grice grabbed 15th in 19:55.2 for the Lumberjacks, who also had Nikita Moore take 27th in 20:20.0 and Anna Fenske capture 39th in 20:38.9.

BYU had five scorers in the top 25, led by Carmen Alder (19:30.5) and Aubrey Frentheway (19:30.6) finishing fourth and fifth, with Lexy Halladay-Lowry achieving ninth in 19:47.1, as the Cougars extended their streak to nine straight NCAA championship appearances. BYU is also tied for second all-time with Arkansas and Stanford at 36 Division 1 finals berths overall, trailing only North Carolina State at 37.

Utah relied on Annastasia Peters (19:53.0) taking 14th, McKaylie Caesar (20:04.6) earning 18th and Morgan Jensen (20:04.8) capturing 19th to take third with 120 points, securing an at-large berth for a third consecutive trip to the NCAA final and sixth in program history.

Ella Baran finished 11th for Colorado in 19:47.5, as the Buffaloes placed fourth at 131 points, which is expected to extend its Division 1 championship meet streak to 15 in a row.

Utah Valley had Morgan Nokes (19:49.0) secure 12th and Ari Trimble (19:58.2) achieve 17th for the fifth-place Wolverines (136 points), who are looking to earn back-to-back NCAA finals appearances following the program’s debut last year.

Colorado State had Sarah Carter earn eighth in 19:45.9, but the Rams could be one of the final groups left out of the 31-team field after securing sixth with 159 points.

Despite Jansen placing second, New Mexico was seventh at 178 points and is likely to miss competing at the NCAA final following 15 consecutive appearances.

Texas Tech has the potential to produce two individual qualifiers in Virginia, with third-place Juliet Cherubet (19:26.5) and 13th-place Anastacia Chepkorir (19:49.6).

All qualifying teams and individual competitors are scheduled to be announced at 5 p.m. EST Saturday by the NCAA.