The Northern Arizona University track and field teams will head in to Saturday's NAU Open on a high from their performances at the Mountain T's Invitational last weekend.
The meet featured a slew of top performances across the board for the Lumberjacks, highlighted by Diego Estrada's school-record breaking mile time of 3 minutes, 55.48 seconds. A number of NAU athletes also earned personal bests, many of which are leading the Big Sky Conference and are ranked nationally.
"The athletes (who) excelled last weekend have created a buzz around the team right now," director of track and field and cross country Eric Heins said. "The way to move forward from that is to have a few more people step up and add more big performances."
Other highlights from last weekend included thrower Nicole Elliott, who earned a personal best in the weight throw (61 feet, 10.5 inches), and freshman high jumper Deante Kemper, who cleared 7-2.25, a PR of over four inches. Elliott holds the 33rd-best throw in the nation, while Kemper is ranked 12th overall and first among freshmen.
The Lumberjacks have already qualified over half of their 22-athlete quota on both the men's and women's side for the Big Sky Conference Championships, to be held in Flagstaff on Feb. 24 and 25, but Heins is still looking for improved production against some tough competition this weekend.
Arizona and Arizona State return for the first time since NAU's first home meet, and will provide valuable matchups in a number of events for the Lumberjacks. Kemper in particular will have two ASU high jumpers to compete against, both of whom are capable of clearing 7 feet.
The NAU Open gets under way Saturday with the field events at 9 a.m., followed by the running events at 11 a.m. Admission is free for all spectators.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
NAU's women's tennis team will resume its spring season after a week off from competition with three matches this weekend. The weekend kicks off with a match against UTEP in El Paso, Texas today, followed by matches against Air Force and New Mexico State in Las Cruces, N.M., on Saturday and Sunday.
The Lumberjacks haven't competed since Jan. 20, a 7-0 loss to UC Davis, but have used the last two weeks to shore up some of their flaws that were exposed in their season opening loss to the Aggies.
"We've worked on our ability to construct points smarter, hanging in points and showing toughness," director of tennis Kim Bruno said. "That's where we failed against UC Davis. These three matches coming up are really good matches for us. It's going to be a real tell-tale of where we are as a team. After two weeks off, the girls are ready and they've been looking forward to the next competition to see where we're at."
This weekend, NAU should have the services of junior Ghizelene Doballah, who missed the first match of the season, to bolster a lineup that claimed just one set in singles play, won by junior Alice Pacaut, in the UC Davis match. The freshmen duo of Hannah Stone and Johanna Vang will also look to build off their solid debuts in which they won their doubles match at No. 2 in an 8-1 fashion.
All three of this weekend's opponents are familiar to the Lumberjacks. Although NAU is just 2-2 against Air Force -- the Falcons shut out the Lumberjacks 7-0 in their last meeting in 2006 -- the women have faced both UTEP and New Mexico State five times over the last five seasons. NAU is 2-3 in those meetings with the Miners and 9-11 all-time. On the other hand, the Lumberjacks are 4-1 against the Aggies since 2007, but are still down 9-14 all-time to NMSU. NAU defeated UTEP, 4-3, and New Mexico State, 7-0 last season. Their 7-0 win over the Aggies last year was the only match not to be decided by a 4-3 margin in the teams' last five meetings.
Today's match against UTEP to begin the three-match slate is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start at the El Paso Tennis Club.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Eastern Washington senior Brianne Ryan, the Big Sky's leading scorer, poured in 29 points and the Eagles forced 25 NAU turnovers in an 84-58 win on Thursday night in Cheney, Wash. The Eagles won their fourth-consecutive game, improving to 8-2 in the Big Sky and 14-9 overall while the Lumberjacks moved to 7-15 overall and 2-8 in conference play.
"We did not have a good effort and we didn't control the ball in transition, which gave them a ton of easy scores," NAU head coach Laurie Kelly said. "Against good teams if you make mistakes they're going to exploit you, and that's what Eastern did. They played really good team basketball and executed, and that was our plan going in and we did not do that."
NAU jumped to an early 4-0 lead -- but that would be its only lead of the game. The Eagles responded with an immediate 11-0 run to build a seven point cushion.
NAU had two players finish in double-figures, with junior Aubrey Davis totaling 11 points and five rebounds and junior Amy Patton scoring 10 points with seven boards. Ryan had 20 points in the first half and scored her 29 points on 12 of 23 shooting to go with six rebounds and four assists.
The Eagles went 14 of 19 from the free-throw line while the Lumberjacks were just 12 of 22.
NAU continues its Pacific Northwest road trip at 3 p.m. Saturday at Portland State. The Vikings, the preseason media and coaches' pick to win the Big Sky, improved to 4-5 in the Big Sky and 12-9 overall with a 76-63 home win over Weber State on Thursday.
MEN'S BASKETBALL HOLDS YOUTH CLINIC
The NAU men's basketball program will be holding a free basketball clinic prior to their home game against Portland State on Saturday. Youth ages 12 and younger will have the opportunity to meet NAU players and coaches as well as sharpen their basketball skills.
The clinic will be held at the Rolle Activity Center starting at 3:15 p.m. Fans are asked to pre-regsiter their child by calling 523-8876 by 3 p.m. today.
The clinic will be held in conjunction with NAU Men's Basketball Youth Day, where all youth 12 and under receive free admission to the game later that evening when accompanied by a paying adult. The Lumberjacks take on Portland State at 6:35 p.m..
Editor's Note: The NAU Sports Information Department contributed to this roundup.
