Lumberjacks Win Head To Head Tiebreaker 3-2 Over Cowboys; Charles Hicks Wins Stanford's First Individual Title

By David Woods for DyeStat

Photo by Keenan Gray

STILLWATER, Okla. – After thousands of miles of training and three months of racing, the national collegiate championship in Division 1 men’s cross-country came down to this: a photo finish.

That might be customary in the 100-meter dash. It is unprecedented in this sport.

“We had to at least take a look,” Oklahoma State coach Dave Smith said.

For the first time in the 85-year history of the NCAA Championships, the team champion was decided on a tiebreaker. And for the sixth time in seven years, that champion is Northern Arizona.

NAU and the host Cowboys scored 83 points each. In the head-to-head  – No. 1 runner vs. No. 1, 2 vs. 2, etc. – NAU won 3-2.

It was deflating for the home crowd, which cheered as the Cowboys capped a climb to first place at the 9K mark of the 10,000-meter race and was on top of the video board as live results were displayed.

One lousy point. One place. Less than one second.

“I thought we won. Thought we lost. Thought we won again. Thought we lost,” Smith said.

It was so close that the Oklahoma State coach filed a protest so officials could review the finish of Victor Shitsama in 31st. Turns out he was 0.2 seconds behind 30th.

Same went for Alex Maier in fifth. He was 0.2 behind fourth.

“If I had just gotten one more guy, gotten one more step or a few seconds, the result would be different,” Maier said.

The only other tie in NCAA history was in 1942, between Indiana and Penn State, each with 57 points. No tiebreaker was employed.

The individual race was similarly riveting, if not quite as close. Charles Hicks became Stanford’s first individual champion, outlasting the NAU duo of Nico Young and Drew Bosley.

Hicks ran the Greiner Family Course in 28:43.6, followed by Young in 28:44.5. Young was fourth on this course as a freshman in March 2021.

Bosley was third in 28:55.9. Tennessee’s Dylan Jacobs, an NCAA 10,000 meters champion on the track for Notre Dame, was fourth in 28:58.0 – and 0.2 ahead of Maier.

In team standings, BYU (132) was third and No. 1-ranked Stanford (195) fourth. Wake Forest (204) was fifth and Wisconsin (212) sixth.

NAU’s victory was secured by No. 4 runner Brodey Hasty, who moved up 10 places in the final kilometer for 25th. NAU scorers were 2-3-18-24-36, and Oklahoma State’s were 5-8-11-29-30.

For the first 5K, it appeared to be a dual meet between NAU (91) and Stanford (92), followed closely by BYU (105). The Cowboys’ pack kept closing and, if not for Hasty, would have overtaken NAU.

NAU coach Mike Smith said he knew the Cowboys would close the gap. They know this course, he said.

“Exactly what we asked the guys to do, they did,” Smith said. “Even exceeded our expectations.”

NAU secured its championship before the race, and then “held it down” over the closing kilometer, he said.

Smith said he urged his runners to trust the training even as early results did not reflect those of a national champion.

“We knew what we were going to do when we came out to the course today,” Young said. “We executed exactly that.”

NAU became the second school, after Arkansas, to three-peat twice: 2016-17-18 and 2021 (March)-2021 (November)-22. Arkansas’ two streaks were 1990-93 and 1998-2000.

NAU is also the only school besides UTEP to win six of seven. UTEP did so in 1975-76-78-79-80-81.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma State finished in the top two for the first time since winning in 2012.

Stanford’s title drought extended another year, having not won NCAAs since 2003. Stanford has been in the top six every year since 2014.

Stanford’s Cole Sprout, a 27:42 10K runner withheld from the West Regional, ran despite a hamstring injury. He dropped from 21st at 3K to 36th at 6K and 88th by the finish.

Hicks became the first British winner since Iowa State’s John Nuttall in 1989. Hicks said becoming NCAA champion is not something he ever dreamed of because coming out of his Florida high school, it did not seem possible.

He has been an European under-23 champion in cross-country, and he said this race was easier. He simply ran along with Young and Bosley as the trio pulled far ahead of the chase pack.

“I knew what I had to do,” Hicks said. “I wasn’t really looking around. The only two guys I was around were right in front of me.”

When he finally seized the lead, he said, “I had to commit to it at that point.”

As so often happens in endurance sports, this victory was won over many months and not one moment. Hicks ended track season early and commenced 105-mile training weeks. Once those diminished, he said, he became sharper.

Still, he was surprised by such fast 10Ks on such a challenging course.

“I don’t know how we ran that fast. It’s really unbelievable,” he said.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.