Big Sky Conference

SUU’s Kovar, NAU’s Hoover give Big Sky six All-Americas

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By BRAD HALL

Big Sky Conference Communications

 EUGENE, Oregon — After a 1-for-3 start in picking up All-America finishes, Big Sky track & field athletes closed strong earning five straight to close the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Northern Arizona’s Caleb Hoover and Southern Utah’s Jayson Kovar each became second-team All-Americans Friday.

The Big Sky totaled a pair of first-team All-America nods and four more second-team nods, with each of the three league representative schools earning honors. The NAU men finished with 10 points in the team standings to tie for 23rd, a program NCAA-best for the Lumberjacks.

Kovar entered the meet ranked 18th in the discus throw, but staked his intentions right off the bat with a toss of 189-6 (57.76m). He led for the majority of the first flight, and got bumped to second late in the flight. Then came the waiting game for Kovar, having to watch on helplessly as 12 more athletes got their three attempts in the ring.

The junior got bumped down to ninth, but hung on for the last spot in finals after the final two throwers fouled on their last attempt. Kovar got three more throws and a chance at displacing someone to garner first team All-America honors. He went 177-0 on his first attempt, but then fouled the next two to finish ninth overall. Missouri’s Kevin Farley edged Kovar by five inches with a toss of 189-11 on his very first attempt.

Kovar capped a breakthrough season with the Thunderbirds. Outdoors, he twice won Big Sky Field Athlete of the Week honors and had the seventh-best throw in league history of 193-6 (58.97m). He won the Big Sky title in the discus and picked up silver medals in the shot put both indoors and outdoors. Kovar was the Big Sky’s first competitor in the discus since 2005 and had the best finish in the event since NAU’s Nick Petrucci claimed back-to-back first team All-America honors in 1999 and 2000.

Hoover completed a decorated career with the Lumberjacks, placing 12th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 8:55.58. He led the race early on, but fell back from the lead pack later on and had another setback tripping over one of the barriers. Hoover had run his personal best of 8:33.77 in the semifinals Wednesday, which improved his fifth-place standing on the Big Sky top-10 list.

The senior earned second-team All-America honors, adding to his seventh-place performance in 2014 and his cross-country All-America finish in 2014. Hoover continued NAU’s strong tradition of stellar distance running, earning 11 combined all-conference finishes and being part of 12 Big Sky team championships in all 12 of his appearances.

On top of his athletic exploits, Hoover was also outstanding in the classroom throughout his career. He had a nearly perfect grade point average in biomedical science while also pursuing a master’s degree in human relations on the way to multiple academic All-America honors. He never missed the cut for a Big Sky All-Academic team and recently received NAU’s Scholar Athlete award for the conference.

Hoover’s finish gave NAU a league-best three All-America finishes, joining first-team teammates Futsum Zienasellassie (2nd, 10,000) and Adam Keenan (7th, Hammer). Idaho picked up the other two second team All-America nods in Arphaxad Carroll (16th, long jump) and the Big Sky’s lone female competitor Kinsey Gomez (10th, 10K).

With the NCAA outdoor season wrapped up, some Big Sky athletes will now look towards national competition, with the USA Track & Field Junior Championships as well as the Olympic trials fast approaching.

 

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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