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 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 Brody 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…
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