February 10, 2010

Track and Field Prepares for Big Weekend

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona Track and Field team is gearing up for a big weekend as they will be competing in three separate meets while hosting the NAU Invitational Saturday at the Walkup Skydome. The open meet gets underway at 8:15 a.m. MST, and admission is $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for children.

A total of nine teams will be competing in the NAU Invitational, including in-state rivals Arizona and Arizona State.

The Lumberjacks have 16 women and 21 men Big Sky qualifiers for the indoor championships that will be held on Bozeman, Mont., at the end of the month and Interim Director of Track and Field & Cross Country Eric Heins is looking to potentially fill out his postseason rosters after this weekend’s meets.

“Our guys are still looking for that final qualifier, and the women have six open spots,” Heins said. “I think we have some young ladies who are competing for the first time this season who should hopefully finalize our roster and get close to that 22.”

Heading up to compete in the Husky Classic on the campus of the University of Washington will be 10 distance runners, including senior Nell Rojas (3,000m), juniors David McNeill (3k), Jordan Chipangama (mile), Ben Ashkettle (5,000m) and Astrid Leutert, sophomores Haley Lawrence (mile), Kortnee Burton (5k), Ahmed Osman (5k) and Darius Terry (mile) and freshman Tim Freriks (5k).

The women’s 5k consists of three heats beginning at 6:15 p.m. PST on Friday evening, and the first heat of the men’s 5k is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Beginning at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning is the men’s and women’s 3k with the mile run scheduled to follow.

“The whole point of going up there is to get a competition in before Big Sky Championships for those individuals who we think can be big scorers for us,” Heins said. “It’s also a good meet for those who are at the top level to run NCAA marks to put them at least on the descending order list to qualify for Nationals.”

NAU will be sending its two top men’s throwers, seniors Javier Villarreal (shot put) and Curtis Durocher (weight throw), to compete at the Iowa State Classic this weekend in Ames. Durocher will compete Friday and Villarreal will take to the circle Saturday.

“Those guys are going to the Midwest because the flights that they will be throwing in will have some of the top guys in the country,” Heins said. “For Javier and Curtis to go out there and see that type of competition this time of year is great for them. Hopefully they can move their names up on the list further after this weekend.”

According to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s regional index, the Lumberjacks have seven men, and eight women ranked in the top 10 in their individual events in the Mountain Region. The women’s squad is ranked sixth overall this week, with the men at No. 10.