Michael Smith made sure his athletes would peak at the right time and Northern Arizona delivered yet again. Smith, in his sixth year as head coach of the Lumberjacks, led them to the team title at the 2022 NCAA DI Cross Country Championships and was named the Men’s Cross Country National Coach of the Year. NAU captured its sixth NCAA title in the past seven years and needed a tiebreaker to win at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Lumberjacks also won team title at the Mountain Region Championships as well as the Big Sky Cross Country Championships. Smith has now received the Bill Dellinger Award three consecutive times, which matches a feat first achieved by legendary Arkansas coach and USTFCCCA Hall of Fame member John McDonnell from 1998 to 2000.