FIELD RESULTS

RUNNING RESULTS

AUSTIN, Texas – Junior Micael Ljunberg advanced to the finals of the men's discus, placing fifth overall, as the leader for the Northern Arizona track & field team on Friday at the Texas Relays. Ljunberg's standout showing was NAU's lone finals appearance to close out the team's second day in Austin.

"I have full confidence in our athletes at the conference meet but I'd like to see them compete regionally and nationally," said Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Eric Heins. "Competing at a meet like Texas Relays is one way to see how we stack up against the best and our athletes need to believe in their abilities in meets like this."

Ljunberg threw his best mark of 51.13m (167-09) on his first throw of the finals, improving on his season-opening mark of 50.39m at the Willie Williams Classic in Tucson last week. He also became the second Lumberjack to place in the top eight at the Texas Relays following sophomore Brooke Andersen's runner-up finish in the hammer throw on Thursday.

"Micael is one of those guys who gets caught up in all the small things and we've been working on a few things," said throws coach Nathan Ott. "He executed pretty well today and he keeps progressing. He was fairly consistent too so that was good to see."

Junior Kylene Knutsen picked up a Big Sky qualifying mark in the women's javelin on her first throw of the day. Making her season debut, Knutsen threw a distance of 45.66m (149-10) and came up just shy of making it to the finals.

In the men's shot put, the Lumberjacks had senior Gus Margiotta and sophomore Shawn Collins competing. The pair finished 13th and 14th respectively in the preliminary round.

"Kylene has been dealing with a back injury and (her qualifying throw) was an easy safety throw," Ott said. "It was a pretty solid mark and it shows what type of talent she has. Seeing where she's at on that first throw, it was a good mark for her. For Gus and Shawn it was a little bit of a struggle but I hope that they learned they can compete at this level without pressing. It was a good learning experience for the both of them and by the time we hit Mt. Sac weekend, they'll be ready to roll."

Friday morning's preliminary session was also filled with sprinting events with sophomore James Fisher pacing the sprints crew. Fisher, a Texas native, won his 100m dash heat with a time of 10.97. Senior Vernon Jamison also posted a strong performance in the 110m hurdles in one of the event's fastest heats. He placed fifth in his heat, but 15th overall in the prelims, with a time of 14.38.

On the women's side, the Lumberjacks had a trio of sprinters in the 100m dash. Senior Darriel Banks posted the fastest time of the three at 12.14 followed by senior Shamelle Pless and sophomore Torey Braly.

"Today was one of those days where nothing went right for us but I have total confidence in this group that we will bounce back," said sprints coach Kenny McDaniel. "They have to remember we're champions and we just need to work on the consistency part. We will regroup and tweak some things, and I'm excited for future meets."

Senior Alexis Clay was the only jumper in NAU's contingent at the Texas Relays and competed in the long jump. She placed 12th in a quality field including jumpers from host Texas, Clemson and Texas Tech among others.

The Lumberjacks conclude their week in the Lonestar State on Saturday. Junior Julia Viberg is the only athlete slated to compete at the Texas Relays on the final day in the women's discus event. Viberg is coming off a discus win at the Willie Williams Classic last week with the sixth-best mark in the nation, 54.82m.

Also competing for the Lumberjacks on Saturday at Texas State's Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos, Texas will be senior Emily Bartz and sophomore Melanie Zibrat. The pair will run the 800m; Zibrat won the even at last week's UC Irvine Spring Break Invitational.

Live results for the Texas Relays can be found here.