MEET PROGRAM & SCHEDULE

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Walkup Skydome will be bustling with the sounds of a track meet for the second-straight weekend, as Northern Arizona University hosts its annual NAU Invitational beginning Saturday morning.

The meet is sure to be a showcase all across the board, but focus for NAU will primarily be on the women's sprints and the men's throws, with notable Lumberjacks either debuting or looking to improve on stellar performances from last Saturday's season opener.

"A person can run some fast times in the Dome, as it's shown over the last few years, so it's exciting for programs making the trip this weekend like UNLV and those from southern California who historically have great sprinters," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Eric Heins. "Races with those types of athletes will especially help our young female sprint squad to gain experience against better competition and should prepare them very well for the Big Sky Championships at the end of the season."

NAU will field a current and a former school record holder in the women's 60-meter dash, presumably, for the first time in history. Isatu Fofanah, who broke the record last week with a time of 7.48@, and Darriel Banks, who held the previous record until last weekend after setting it at last year's Big Sky Indoor Championships, will hit the track in the first head-to-head matchup of what will undoubtedly become a great friendly rivalry for the freshman and sophomore.

Two other notable events to watch will be the men's weight throw and shot put, as the Lumberjacks' rebuilding effort following the losses of All-American Pascal Tang and Big Sky Champion Karl Gehrke in 2012 is about to hit full speed.

Last weekend, true freshman Shawn Collins and redshirt sophomore Gus Margiotta both hit the Big Sky qualifying mark in the shot put with tosses of 52 feet, 1.25 inches and 51 feet, 11 inches, respectively to lead the team. In the weight throw, redshirt freshman Brian Thompson almost uncorked a Big Sky qualifier of his own, coming up just short with a mark of 55-6.5, the fifth best in the conference so far.

"All of our athletes had a really great start last week," said Associate Head Coach Oscar Duncan, NAU's throws coach. "We (compare) what they've done in years past at the first meet of the season, and everyone was pretty much at or ahead of where they were last year opening up, so that's always a promising thing."

Duncan will insert two more newcomers into the mix this weekend in freshmen Micael Ljungberg and Travis Colby, both of whom will open up in the weight throw and shot put.

"Micael is redshirting this year and is primarily a discus guy, but we look to see some really good things from him, and Travis, who's really a javelin thrower by trade, shows a lot of promise in the shot put as well," said Duncan. "We're just young, and all the promise I thought we'd see in the young guys is coming to fruition. What I saw on paper talent-wise is showing up in the results so far this season."

Though the sprints and throws look to be the focus this weekend, history has typically shown that anything can happen, and any athlete can come out of the woodwork and into the record books, so fans should look forward to an exciting meet all around.

Visiting teams coming to the Skydome this weekend include UNLV (women only), CSU-Los Angeles, CSU-Bakersfield, Cal-State Fullerton, Grand Canyon, Southern Utah, and Cal-State Dominguez Hills (women only).

Tickets can be purchased from the link at the top of this article, or at the Dome's east entrance. Prices are $5 for adults and $3 for NAU faculty & staff, youth (12 and under), and seniors, and fans who bring a track ticket to Saturday night's women's basketball contest vs. Idaho State gain free admission.

Field events begin at 9 a.m., with running events following at 10 a.m.