WALNUT, Calif. – It was another successful day for the Northern Arizona track and field team as members of the squad competed at the Mt. SAC Relays and Brian Clay Invitational Friday. Sophomore runner Diego Estrada capped off the day in the men's 5,000-meter invitational against some of the best competition the nation has to offer.

Estrada, competing for the first time since October, finished in a time of 13:49.35 just two seconds shy of his personal record (13:47.37) in the event. It was a tough race for the Salinas, Calif., native, but Estrada was just glad to pull through.

"I am very happy with how I ran," Estrada said. "At the 2K mark, I started side stitching, but thought to myself 'I've been out for six months and I don't want to pull out of the race. So I just gutted through it thinking 'you have to do this for yourself.'"

Interim Director of Track and Field & Cross Country Eric Heins was glad Estrada was able to get back out there and compete at a high level once again.

"Before spring break, we put together a plan with tonight being his opening race and running sub-13:50," Heins said. "He did that and collected some momentum going into training and competing for the ultimate goal of making it back to the national championships. I am just happy that Diego was able to compete at a high level to prove to himself that his injury is behind him."

Before Estrada took to the track, senior Veronica Pohl made her season debut in the women's Olympic Development heat of the 1,500-meter run. The Germany native finished with a sub-4:30.00 time, which ranks in the tier of the Big Sky.

It was the second-consecutive day that the Lumberjacks collected multiple personal-best marks.

Junior Kam Holbrook turned in a Big Sky qualifying mark in the fourth heat of the men's 1,500-run in a time of 3:51.51, nearly four seconds better then his previous best that he recorded at the ASU Invite (3:55.20). Fellow junior Rashida McKinnon saw her season and personal best time fall as she clocked a 56.21 400-meter dash.

It was a good day for shot putters Arishya Hoseyni and Javier Villarreal. In the women's open flight, Hoseyni recorded a second-place finish with a personal-best hurl of 14.75m (48-3.5). The mark gives Hoseyni the top spot in the Big Sky rankings.

Villarreal improved upon his Big Sky-leading mark with a hurl of 17.62 (feet) to win the men's open flight. The Eloy, Ariz., native will return to Hilmer Lodge Stadium Saturday to take part in the men's shot put invite, featuring some of the best throwers in the country.

Aside from the new PRs Friday, four other Lumberjacks recorded Big Sky-qualifying marks, including freshmen Charles White in the triple jump (14.56m/47-09.25) and Morgan Pope in the 200-meter dash (25.24), sophomore Addie Tennant in the discus and senior Reese Byrum in the 800-meter run (1:54.65).

NAU closes out the weekend with the majority of the squad traveling to Cerritos, Calif., to compete in the Beach Invitational.

DID YOU KNOW?...The Lumberjacks' 3.16 cumulative GPA was the highest since department grades have been tracked starting in 1997 and marked the 11th semester in the last 12 overall the NAU student-athletes have recorded a 3.00 cumulative GPA. Since 1998, NAU student athletes have earned a 3.0 cumulative GPA or higher in 21 of the 23 semesters.