The nation’s top distance recruit in the 2020 class has made his college choice. 2019 NXN champion Nico Young of Newbury Park (CA) will attend Northern Arizona University next fall, the high school senior announced in a video on Tempo Sports.

“In the fall, I will be attending Northern Arizona University. As a freshman runner, I’m really excited to be a part of the phenomenal team they have there and the culture,” Young said in the video.

Young joins an NAU squad in Flagstaff, Arizona, that should once again contend for the NCAA title in 2020. The Lumberjacks won three consecutive NCAA XC crowns from 2016 to 2018 before finishing second in 2019. Mike Smith’s group returns six of their top seven next fall, with Young’s addition adding another talented piece to go along with a young core that includes underclassmen Drew Bosley, Abdihamid Nur, Brodey Hasty and Theo Quax.

All-Americans Luis Grijalva and Blaise Ferro will also return for NAU in 2020.

The 17-year-old Young dominated in his final high school cross country season, going undefeated across eight races. His signature victories came at NXN on Dec. 7, where he ran 14:52 to break the course record, and at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic on Sep. 21, where Young broke the national three-mile record with his 13:39.