OGDEN, Utah – The Northern Arizona University track and field teams had their best showing of the season last week, at least according to Big Sky Conference standards, as three athletes earned conference Athlete of the Week honors after performances at Thursday's NAU Tune-Up in Flagstaff. Senior Diego Estrada garnered his second such honor of the season, while junior Lauren Stuart and sophomore Shamelle Pless earned their first honors of 2013.

"All three of these athletes had a great meet on Thursday, and this is definitely the time of year to perform your best," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Eric Heins. "I think it's a testament to the training and the mental preparation they've put in, with regard to why they're doing their best at the end of the year, and they're all really looking forward to trying to put it together at the conference championships this weekend."

Estrada, running in his final home meet in a Lumberjack uniform, finished the men's 5,000 meters in an altitude-adjusted time of 13:37.01@, the second fastest in the nation this year and the third fastest in NAU history. The 2012 Olympian added the high finish in the 5K to his fourth-place mark in the 3,000 meters from two weeks ago, and appears to be heading to his third-consecutive NCAA Indoor Championships as a result.

Stuart, the Big Sky Conference runner up in the hammer throw outdoors in 2012, launched the second-best mark of her career in the weight throw (61-8.5) on Thursday to place third overall, just a week after setting a new lifetime best at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. She heads into this weekend's Big Sky Indoor Championships ranked second in the conference.

Finally, Pless, who actually was co-Athlete of the Week with Montana State's Heather DeMorest, had the best outing of her young career Thursday by winning the women's 60-meter dash and clocking not one, but two personal-best times.

The faster of the two (7.57@) came in the preliminary round and elevated her to fourth overall in the Big Sky Conference, immediately behind teammates Isatu Fofanah and Darriel Banks. The win was Pless' first-career meet title as well.

All three athletes, along with the rest of the Lumberjacks, now look ahead to the Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships, slated to begin Thursday in Bozeman, Mont. at Montana State's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.