Southern Utah’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams open postseason competition at the Big Sky Championship in Flagstaff, Arizona, on Oct. 30. Coach Isaac Wood says the Thunderbirds enter their first Big Sky championship since returning to the conference confident after several strong weeks of training.

By the Numbers
  • Men’s 8K: 10 a.m.
  • Women’s 5K: 11 a.m.
  • At the UC Riverside Invitational, SUU’s men won both races, and the women placed fourth out of 30 teams.
Yes, But

SUU has produced strong results during the season, including wins at UC Riverside, but its men finished 33rd at the Pre-Nationals Invitational. The championship field also includes teams with notable results, including NAU’s third-place women’s finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational and Montana State’s 12th-place men’s finish at Pre-Nationals.

State of Play
  • The championship is at Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, hosted by Northern Arizona University.
  • SUU’s men placed third at the Utah Valley Invite and second at the Color Country Invitational; the women opened the season with three straight fourth-place finishes.
  • NAU, Montana, Eastern Washington and Montana State are also competing.
What's Next

After the conference championship, SUU will await selection for the NCAA Mountain Regional in Albuquerque on Nov. 13. If selected, the women race at 11 a.m., followed by the men at noon.

Bottom Line

SUU arrives at the postseason with momentum and a proven ability to win, but the Big Sky title race will test both teams against a competitive conference field.