FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Arizona University track and field will be represented at the Iowa State NCAA Qualifier on Saturday by three athletes making a final effort to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships March 9-10 in Nampa, Idaho. Deante Kemper, the nation's top freshman high jumper, along with throwers Pascal Tang and Nicole Elliott, will make the trip east to represent the Lumberjacks.

"We looked at the athletes we had ranked in the national top-25 and wanted to give them one more shot at making the national meet," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Eric Heins. "We already know that just being in the top-20 won't get them in, so hopefully they can improve this weekend and get a high enough seed to get the call for nationals."

Kemper is the closest of the three to reaching his NCAA auto-bid, and incidentally holds the highest national ranking among the trio as well. His highest jump of 7-2.25, good enough for 21st overall and first among freshman, is less than two inches from the NCAA standard of 7-4.

After clearing his career mark in NAU's second meet of the season, Kemper experienced a bit of a lull during the next three weeks before clearing seven feet once again at last weekend's Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships, where he finished first.

Tang and Elliott dominated the Big Sky Conference all season long in the weight throw, having collectively improved their personal bests by over nine feet since the beginning of the season. Throughout the season, Tang collected four meet titles and the Big Sky crown, while Elliott notched career bests in four consecutive weeks and won three meet titles, including gold at the conference meet.

Tang's career best mark of 66-7 puts him 24th in the nation and less than two feet outside of the top-15. Elliott, whose best throw of 65-4.25 leaves her 1.75 inches from breaking three-time Olympian Anna Soderberg's school record, sits 26th overall and a little less than three feet from a top-15 mark.

If any of the three earn a berth into the NCAA National Championships, they will join lone Lumberjack qualifier Diego Estrada on the trip to Idaho. Estrada already has three national auto-bids under his belt (Mile, 3,000m, 5,000m) and is ranked among the nation's best runners for all three events.

The Iowa State NCAA Qualifier is set to run all day Saturday, March 3 from the Lied Recreational Center in Ames, Iowa. Live stats will be updated throughout the day and can be found here.