Luis Grijalva (NAU)
Luis Grijalva is a prodigy similar to Casey Clinger of BYU. He's a true freshman who has made a huge impact on the defending national champions and FloXC No. 1 ranked NAU. Although he didn't have quite the resume Clinger had going to college, as he was 13th at Foot Locker Nationals in 2016, Grijalva has exceeded many of the recruits in his class.
Grijalva has consistently been one of NAU scoring five. At the Greater Louisville Classic Grijalva placed fifth for NAU and 10th overall running 23:42.19 for 8K. Then at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational, he placed fifth for NAU and helped them take the team win with 50 points over some of the nation's other top programs in University of Portland, Syracuse University, and Stanford University.
This past weekend he sat out of the regional meet where the team still took home the win with 49 points led by Tyler Day. They ran a 29-second 1-5 split and had a 30:32 average.
Between Grijalva coming back, well-rested, and a strong NAU junior class, the team is looking ready to repeat as national champions in 2017. They've done well to bridge the gap that graduate Futsum Zienasellassie left.