Just over two years following his former high school teammate and future Northern Arizona teammate Nico Young’s prestigious honor, incoming Lumberjacks runner Colin Sahlman followed suit as he was named the 2021-22 Gatorade National Boys Cross Country Player of the Year.
Sahlman received the award in front of his family, coaches and teammates at Newbury Park High School in California on Wednesday.
The award recognizes outstanding athletic excellence and high standards of academic achievement, and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, from nearly 300,000 other student-athletes who compete in boys cross country nationwide. A back-to-back recipient of California’s Gatorade state honor, Sahlman topped all 50 state winners for the national award, a list that included 34 who joined two or more charitable organizations, 10 returning state Gatorade Players of the Year and 30 with a GPA of 4.0 or above.
Sahlman is the second runner in the last three years, joining Young, to enter Northern Arizona’s program after earning Gatorade’s honor. He is the third recipient of all time to join the Lumberjacks, including with Futsum Zeinasellassie, who earned the 2011-12 national honor and went on to be the lead finisher on Northern Arizona’s first NCAA championship cross country Team in 2016.
Sahlman, who will join the Lumberjack cross country and track and field program in the fall, hopes to follow Young’s path at Northern Arizona. In his first two seasons with the Lumberjacks, Young has helped the distance program to two Division I nation championship meets in the spring and fall of 2021, while earning a pair of cross country All-American honors.
Sahlman, like Young, starred at Newbury Park High School and was the top runner on the top team in the country in the fall. With Sahlman leading the way with an individual national title winning time of 14:03.3 — the fastest 5K time in United States high school history — Newbury Park High School claimed the national championship at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships in December.
Sahlman also won the California D-I state championship with a time of 14:26.5, and he crossed the line first at the Clovis Invitational, Marmonte League finals and the Southern Section Championships. He won his last four races with each of his last three performances all clocking a sub-14:30 5K time.
Following the conclusion of the cross country season, Sahlman already has put a stamp on his final high school track campaign. Earlier this month at the Dr. Sander Invitational at the Armory in New York City, Sahlman posted his first sub-4 mile with a time of 3:58.81 — the third-fastest indoor mile ever by a high school athlete. Last week, Sahlman produced the fastest 3,200-meter time in high school history of 8:33.32 in the second installment of the Sundown Track Series at Azusa Pacific University.
Women’s tennis
Just four matches into their season, the Lumberjacks meet an important challenge as they travel to Ogden, Utah, to face the Weber State Wildcats.
A finalist at last season’s conference tournament, Weber State finished second to Northern Arizona (1-3) in the Big Sky’s preseason poll and returns its same primary six players from last year. During the trip north, the Lumberjacks will also face the Utah Utes (9-1) for the first time in program history.
The Weber State match begins at 1 p.m. on Friday and will be just the second conference match of the season in the Big Sky. The Utah match is set for Sunday at 9 a.m. in Salt Lake City.
Weber State
The Lumberjacks have won 19 consecutive matches against the Wildcats dating back to April 2006, including five matches in the Big Sky tournament. After a 6-1 victory over Weber State in Flagstaff on April 17, 2021, Northern Arizona battled with the Wildcats for a second consecutive Big Sky title.
Down 1-0 following doubles play, the Lumberjacks evened the score at 2-2 before clinching the title thanks to victories by Gina Dittmann and Madi Moore.
This season, Weber State enters conference play at 4-4 with victories over Dixie State, UTEP, Nevada and Colorado Mesa. Last week, the Wildcats handed the Wolf Pack a 5-2 loss and beat Division II Colorado Mesa 7-0 in Ogden.
While Weber State’s lineup has shifted, the primary six players remain the same. Sophomore Megan Davies holds a 2-0 while sophomore Ana Morett is 1-3.
Utah
Sitting at 9-1 this season, the Utes had their nine-match win streak snapped last week with a 4-3 loss to the Denver Pioneers at home. Among their nine wins this season, the Utes defeated Montana 7-0 on Jan. 22 and Idaho State 5-2 on Feb. 4, both in Salt Lake City.
The Utes finished 7-14 last season, including an 0-10 record in the Pac-12 Conference. With Rice transfer Linda Huang atop the lineup this season, and holding a 7-3 record at No. 1, Utah shifted its returners around the order.
Following the trip to Utah, Northern Arizona will travel to Wyoming for a match against the Cowgirls on March 3 in Laramie, Wyoming.
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