NAU Dominance

If only Oklahoma had a 6th

It will last as long as Mike Smith is there

And what would that have changed? That isn't how ties are broken in the NCAA

Next year might be their last chance just based off their current roster's ability.

Kusche and Raff will be gone so they'll need 2 people to step up. Their non top 7 right now won't cut it without Mike Smith Magic.

They'll probably keep everyone else, but BYU and Stanford (lmao) still have the far greater teams on paper right now based off this years times for whoever will still be there for them.

I don't doubt Mike Smith will make another Prosser or Hasty out of an above average recruit, but it remains to be seen just like this year.

I don't think they got many top recruits this year. Aaron Sahlman seems even more like a speedster than Colin Sahlman and he flamed out this year's race. So next year's recruit class won't be a factor for awhile.

NAU has just built a great program. Maybe when other universities invest in running rather than in the bigger sports they will build something as special as NAU has. If you want to develop as a runner you just go to NAU. They deserve it, nothing but praise to that program

How does NAU spread their track and field scholarship money? Does anyone besides a distance guy get a cent? Point is that other programs compete as a team in track and field as well. Also, Flaggstaff is a Mecca for pro distance training. Location location location

Honestly it is way easier to build a dominant track program at the bigger schools starting with distance guys. For starters, you can have perfectly capable sprinters with just football players who are already on a full ride. Distance guys if you have the right ones can run a respectable 1600-10k giving you a wide range in events. Maybe throw a little money at jumps and throws but it makes way more sense to start financially with distance guys. NAU doesn’t have the luxury of a great football team unfortunately but if they had SEC speed on campus I think we would be looking at the program as even more dominant than it is.

It should be noted that their women’s team was sixth today as well. A few years back at the Villanova Day of Distance clinic, Mike Smith and I chatted very briefly. He said something to the effect of “everyone is talking about our guys team now, but our girls team is getting better. In a few years, everyone will be talking about them.” Nice to see them have a big day today.

How many top sprinters actually played football as well? It seems like there are very few people that fit into all the categories of 1. Good at football 2. Willing to run track 3. Fast enough to make an impact 4. Football coach willing to let them out of off-season workouts to participate

I counted them pretty much out, even knowing that Mike Smith always has them ready on race day. And look what happened. Despite Charles Hicks having a tremendous race and beating a 13:11 guy, Ky Robinson was back a bit, not enough to matter too much, and Cole Sprout, who was up there for quite a while, ends up way, way back, while Stanford had multiple guys with bad races compared to Regionals and Pac-12. Now, Brody Hasty was a 4:01/8:03 guy in high school, or something like that, so Mike Smith didn't exactly get a mediocre recruit. But Prosser only ran 8:59 up in Alaska and he was never a top seven guy until this year, and he had an incredible season and race. Maybe Kang Nyoak will be the next guy to move into the top seven. Colin Sahlman is likely to move way, way up next year. 27th at Regionals indicates that he's a possible top 20, certainly 30, guy at nationals next year. They bring in Aaron Sahlman, who as a junior was within 10-15 seconds of Colin in xc, and he may contribute. Aidan Barnhill is another guy who could move up, and there are others. Maybe they'll get another top recruit this year. Never count them out even if Stanford has five potential top ten guys in the next couple years.

Interviews have been pretty funny. Giving a bit of stick for writing them off

Remember when the only runner you ever heard from NAU was Lopez Lomong?

This dynasty was built on the back of Looez Lamong. That’s when recruits first started to hear about this school up in the mountains

Lomong deserved to go to a better school, tho

I think he turned out just fine going to NAU lol. Why you triggered by NAU success? Did you get rejected by Mike Smith in the recruiting process? Or just tired of losing to NAU?

They were good before Mike Smith(winning a title) they will be good long after he is gone.

They don't have the money or resources of other bigger colleges. They've done everything by the book and ckearly deserve every bit of this dominance. Congratulations NAU and long may it continue.

I mentioned in another thread, but Hasty often has these underwhelming races (relative to his talent coming into NAU) during the regular season, but he always comes around on time, particularly late in the NCAA meet.
Nice to see Barnhill get some love. He’s a local kid that has tons of talent and work ethic, and I’m excited to see him keep developing.

Not sure Oklahoma qualified, buddy.