FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – If there was a theme to describe the first day of the 2016 Mountain T's for the Northern Arizona University track and field team, it would be progression. Four more Lumberjack athletes qualified for indoor conference championships today, while a number of other athletes from all units improved their times and marks Friday afternoon.

"Having three meets in a row can be tough on some people, but all of the coaches on our staff have done a great job getting their athletes ready for each weekend," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Eric Heins. "Whether they're working on a certain aspect of their throwing, jumping or running, or whether it's just qualifying, they've been doing a great job. Hats-off to the staff for getting these athletes ready."

Three of the four Lumberjack conference qualifiers on the day came in the last two events, the women and men's 5,000m race. Redshirt-junior Melanie Townsend, competing in her first track event of the season, maintained a steady pace throughout and finished with a first-place time of 18:15.83, with the qualifying mark at altitude for the Big Sky in the 5,000m event being 18:29.47.

Townsend's teammate Rolonda Jumbo, also racing in her first individual track event in 2016, squeezed in under that adjusted-altitude mark as well, logging an 18:25.99 time.  

True freshman Tyler Day followed up the women's performance with an impressive time of his own, finishing first among the field of seven with a time of 15:08.14. At altitude, the adjusted qualifying time for the men's 5,000m event is 15:16.47.

The men's shot put started things off for the field events Friday, and saw NAU's Micael Ljungberg record a third-place finish with a season-best throw of 15.31m, 50-02.75. The redshirt-junior, in fact, has improved his shot put mark each and every meet this season.

Speaking of improvement, the first Lumberjack to notch a qualifying mark today was junior Isiah Kennedy in the 200m, where the California native finished in second—with a 21.80 time—just behind NAU's defending indoor and outdoor 200m conference champion James Fisher. Since the beginning of the season, Kennedy has competed in three 200m events and has improved his time each week.

The Mountain T's will continue tomorrow at 8 a.m. from the Walkup Skydome with the rest of the Heptathlon events. The field events are scheduled for a 10 a.m. start, while the track events get going around 10:30 a.m.

Tickets for tomorrow's festivities can be purchased here, or outside the east entrance of the Skydome.

For more information regarding the NAU track and field team, find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @nautrackfieldxc.  

NOTES

Redshirt-senior Jessica Weise continues to get stronger as the season wears on, notching a season-best and third-place throw of 14.22m, 46-08.00 … Senior Bria Edwards hit a career-best time in the 200m event today with a 25.45 time and a third-place finish … freshman Jasmine Malone has improved her 200m time every week this season, logging a season-best 25.05 time and a second-place finish … Sophomore Kossi Tchenawou and senior DeShon Norris recorded fourth and fifth-place times in the 200m, where the Lumberjacks finished with four of the top-five in that event