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One team point. In the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 track and field scoring system (10 points for first place in an event, eight for second place, sixth for third, etc.), one team point may not sound like an overly impressive result for the Northern Arizona University women at the national championship meet earlier this month.

But look a little deeper for the full story. I’d never before provided dispatches from a national meet, but given that opportunity at storied Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, I couldn’t help but notice plenty of Lumberjacks-related storylines: The difference between points and no points is a razor’s edge, given the quality of athletes from all over the country. The Northern Arizona women who just missed the podium can attest to that.



The men scored 13 in exhilarating fashion, thanks to Young and Sahlman. The women were one of 61 teams that scored at least one point. But that one point, courtesy of Karrie Baloga’s eighth-place finish in the women’s 3000m steeplechase final, spoke volumes about where the Northern Arizona program stands.

Baloga’s roller coaster freshman year as a collegiate athlete closed in fantastic fashion. Heavily recruited out of high school, she has been respectful but honest about her disappointing University of Colorado experience that led her to Flagstaff for the spring semester. On the biggest stage of the season, she ran sub-9:50 twice in three days (in both the semifinal and final).

She’d never before broken 10 minutes. Asked.

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