Cody Jones
Sep 2, 20204 min
We are aware that certain conferences and universities will not be competing this fall due to ongoing concerns surrounding COVID-19. However, for the sake of content, we have constructed these rankings as if a regular cross country season will happen.
The women of NAU have consistently improved with each passing season. What was once a quiet varsity group has since transformed into a national contender over the past few years. Despite losing a few key names from last year's team, their status as a top distance program wasn't expected to change entering the 2020 cross country season.
At the 2019 NCAA XC Championships, the women from Northern Arizona finished 14th out of the 31 total teams. Their final result was a huge accomplishment considering that the Lumberjacks didn’t even qualify for the national meet in 2018.
With a new year upon us, one has to wonder where the Lumberjack women would be projected to finish if the Coronavirus pandemic never happened...
Let's get some of the bad news out of the way.
The Lumberjacks are losing three of their seven runners who were a part of their 2019 championship lineup in Terre Haute. The departures of Mikayla Malaspina (42nd at NCAA's, 2nd at BIG Sky's), Miranda Myers (108th at NCAA's, 9th at BIG Sky's), and Shannon Molvin (182nd at NCAA's, 20th at BIG Sky's) are admittedly a big hit for a team that heavily leaned on those women (specifically Malaspina and Myers) throughout the 2019 season.
Losing those three women would have caused some scoring difficulties throughout this fall, but luckily for NAU, they have plenty of runners to reload with.
Expected to lead the charge this year were returners Taryn O’Neill (junior), Pipi Eitel (senior), Hannah Behunin (senior) and Bryn Morley (junior).
In 2019, the O'Neill, Eitel and Morley finished four seconds apart from one another at the national meet (123-131-132), but their performances prior to the national meet are more indicative of what they are actually capable of.
Early in the 2019 season, O'Neill was the top low-stick for this team. She was 13th at John McNichols and 20th at Nuttycombe -- offering highly valuable scoring potency which suggested that she was going to be an All-American candidate.
While her postseason performances didn't exactly match her regular season results, it's important to recognize that she has all of the necessary talent to be the low-stick that Malaspina was at the NCAA Championships.
A similar conversation can be had for Hannah Behunin who didn't have her best day at the national meet, but proved to be a very valuable scorer at meets like the Nuttycombe Invitational where she finished (71st) overall.
Teammate Pipi Eitel also had a few respectable showings throughout the 2019 season (placing 27th at John McNichols and 80th at Nuttycombe), offering scoring stability in the latter half of NAU's top five.
Then we have Bryn Morley. If she can replicate (and improve upon) her 2019 national meet performance during the regular season, then this could end up being a very underrated top four led by a legitimate low-stick in O'Neill.
After those four runners is where the rest of this top seven becomes a bit more blurred.
The Lumberjacks have a bountiful roster, but it's also one that lacks experience at the bigger meets. Delaney Rasmussen made appearances in this varsity lineup throughout the 2019 season (placing 181st as the team's #7 runner at the Nuttycombe Invitational), but ended up being out of the championship lineup when the postseason meets came around.
The Lumberjacks could also fill out their top seven with some younger talents such as Emma Sjolund (junior) and Annika Reiss (sophomore), but the problem still remains that the Lumberjacks are lacking experience in the backend of their lineup.
Luckily, the Lumberjacks will be adding two national-caliber high school recruits to their roster this year. Both Tori Gaitan and Skyler Wallace had a significant amount of success as distance runners while competing in California, and will likely be utilized as varsity options whenever competition returns.
Gaitan owns a PR of 17:09 for 5000 meters as well as PR of 4:47 for 1600 meters. She's a two-time NXN qualifier who placed 27th in 2017 and 18th in 2018. She'll be joined by fellow California native Skyler Wallace who has run 17:06 for 5000 meters and was a Foot Locker national qualifier this past fall.
These young recruits don't need to be superstars to have an impact at the collegiate level. If they simply emerge as top five scorers and add some much-needed depth to this team, then the NAU women will have a chance to replicate their 2019 success whenever competition returns.
The Lumberjacks have a strong top four, but there is still a ton of uncertainty and inexperience after that. The addition of talented recruits and the return of a few women could fill out the rest of this lineup, but depth will still be a major question mark moving forward.
Regardless, the NAU women still have something great going for them with this solid pack of four. O'Neill can offer legitimate firepower when she's at her best and the women behind her are great supporting pieces who now have championship experience under their belts.
The men of Northern Arizona may be the ones getting all of the attention, but this women's team has been crafting their own legacy -- and a very good one at that.