Saturday marked the third time in his collegiate career that Lumberjack Andy Trouard won a national championship.
Trouard, a junior from Tucson, won the men’s 3000-meter race at the 2018 NCAA Indoor National Championships at Texas A&M’s Gilliam Indoor Stadium on Saturday evening. It’s his first individual national championship, and the first individual championship for NAU since 2010. Trouard also was on the men’s cross country team, which won national championships in 2016 and 2017.
“This is a career defining moment for Andy,” director of track and field Michael Smith said. “I’m so proud of him. No one but Andy deserves the credit on that one. Our coaches can prepare him but that execution was completely his own. He did a fantastic job of controlling the race and winning the straights. On a 200-meter banked track the tactics of passing are unique. His win tonight was a master class in those tactics.”
“This was a special moment in NAU track and field history. Earning that individual national champion is what every athlete dreams of,” Smith added.
He also came in fifth in the 5000-meter race.
Other athletes to represent NAU at the indoor championships are Ashley Taylor, who placed fourth in the nation in the women’s 800-meter dash with a new personal best and NAU school record of 2:03.66; Brooke Andersen, who finished 10th in the women’s weight throw with a best toss of 21.10 meters, earning second team All-American honors; and Matt Baxter, who placed 11th in the country in the men’s 3000-meter race with a mark of 8:10.28. He too earned a second team All-American award.
As a unit the NAU men finished 15th in the country at nationals with 14 team points. The women’s program finished 37th in the nation with five points.
In addition to the student success, Smith also earned some accolades. He was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Mountain Region Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year and the Big Sky Conference Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year honors earlier this month.