Lumberjacks Conclude Season-Opening Meet
TEMPE, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona track and field team opened up the outdoor season with 10 student-athletes collecting Big Sky qualifying marks at the Baldy Castillo Invitation Saturday on the campus of Arizona State.
"It was good to see the hard work put in by our athletes over spring break produce some early results for us," Interim Director of Track and Field & Cross Country Eric Heins said. "As the season progresses I think you will see a lot of the early-season training begin to pay dividends."
Six qualifiers for the Lumberjacks were from the throws squad, including seniors Curtis Durocher (hammer throw, discus) and Arshiya Hoseyni (shot put), juniors Ian Nunya (hammer throw) and Shelby McCray (discus) and freshmen Lauren Stuart (hammer throw) and Matt Post (hammer throw).
Along with collecting Big Sky-qualifying marks at the meet, both Stuart and Post recorded new personal-bests. Post set a new personal-best in the hammer throw by over six meters in his collegiate debut, and Stuart set a career-best by over four meters on her way to winning the event.
Redshirt freshman Dominic Gionvannoni also set personal-best marks in his first meet of the season. Competing in three events Saturday, the Napa, Calif., native collected new career-bests in the 110-meter hurdles (15.44) and javelin (44.42m/145-09). His previous best in the javelin was just over 39 meters.
Many sprinters, jumpers and hurdlers were able to train in the warm weather of Tempe beginning Wednesday with assistant coaches Wiley King and Adawale Awosanya and saw the fruits of their labor begin to show Saturday.
Senior Annie Skordas (57.07) and sophomore Rashida McKinnon (57.70) both qualified in the 400-meter dash, while junior Skekila Wilkinson (25.04) recorded a qualifying mark in the 200-meter dash. Fellow junior Amber Anderson punched her ticket to Ogden, Utah for the Big Sky Outdoor Championships in the long jump (5.64m/18-06).
Running multiple events on the day, Skordas, Wilkinson, McKinnon and freshman Morgan Pope were able to put together the top time of 46.79 in the women's 4x100-meter relay, besting four other squads.
The Lumberjacks return to Tempe next weekend to take part in the ASU Invitational, beginning Friday afternoon with the hammer throw.
