FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – All the hard work and resilience on display from the Northern Arizona University track and field team this indoor season will culminate this Friday and Saturday when the qualified athletes travel to Bozeman, Mont., for Big Sky Indoor Conference Championships.

The men's side—winners of the last four indoor titles—will send 15 athletes to Montana State, while the women's squad is looking to build off a third-place finish last year with the 10 athletes they'll be sending this time around.

"Our athletes need to execute and continue what they've been doing all year," said Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Eric Heins. "If they do that, they should get through to finals and score enough points to keep us competitive. They really just have to continue to compete like we've seen them do all season, and if they do that, everything should take care of itself."

Distance

For the distance crew, one does not have to look any further than redshirt-junior Futsum Zienasellassie, who nationally holds the No. 3 time in the mile event (3:56.98@), the No. 8 time in the 5000m race (13:44.89) and also the No. 15 time in the 3000m (7:53.76). If that wasn't enough, the native of Indianapolis ranks No. 1 in the Big Sky in all three of those events, has been named the conference's athlete of the week three times this indoor season and was also a part of the distance medley relay team that set a new school record (9:39.19) last weekend at the Alex Wilson Invitational. Zienasellassie will look to help his team win a fifth-straight title and also defend his 3000m and 5000m indoor crowns.

Nathan Weitz joined his teammate Zienasellassie for that historic DMR performance last Saturday, and the senior from Spokane has also qualified for the mile and the 3000m races, sitting at No. 2 in the conference in both events.

For the women, they will send veterans Kayla Freeman, Rolonda Jumbo, Melanie Townsend and Paige Gilchrist to Bozeman to compete in the women's version of the 5000m race. Freeman, Townsend and Gilchrist all own top-10 conference times this season, while Jumbo sits just on the outside of that list at No. 12.

Andy Trouard, Michael Chin, Cory Glines, Geordie Beamish, Tyler Day and Peter Lomong will also represent the Lumberjack distance/mid-distance unit at conference this weekend.

Sprints

The youngest and most inexperienced group coming into the 2016 indoor season, the sprints squad showcased arguably some of the team's most impressive performances.  Consider the reigning indoor and outdoor 200m champ James Fisher, who recorded a season-best 21.50@ time in that same event at the Lumberjack Team Challenge in January—a mark that sits at No. 2 in the conference. Fisher also qualified for the 60m event with a 6.98@ time at the LTC.

Lumberjack newcomers Isiah Kennedy and Kossi Tchenawou also hit qualifying marks in the 60m earlier this season, putting them in the top-three in the conference for that event. They will be joined by senior DeShon Norris—competing in the 400m event and also a key contributor on the record-setting DMR team—and redshirt-senior JaShawn Combs, who will run in the 60m hurdles.

For the women, Nicole Fotinos and Jasmine Malone are also headed to Bozeman this weekend. Fotinos sat out the first couple of meets this indoor season, but came back stronger than ever at the NAU Invitational running a first-place qualifying time of 56.23@ in the 400m race.

Malone, on the other hand, has competed for the Lumberjacks in four of the five meets this year and has consistently gotten better from week to week. At every meet, Malone has improved her time in both the 200m and 400m events, and finally hit a qualifying mark in the 400m at the NAU Invite (56.58@).

Throws

Last but certainly not least, the NAU throws unit will send six athletes—four women, two men—to indoor conference this season. The women's side owns three of the top-six shot put marks in the conference and are led by defending indoor women's shot put champ Jessica Weise. Recently, Weise logged a season-best at the NAU Tune Up with a 15.27m, 50-01.25 throw for a third-place finish.

Weise is also a qualifier in the women's weight throw, where teammate Brooke Andersen holds the No. 3 ranking in the conference after setting a career-best (19.42m, 63-08.75) at the Mountain T's earlier in the year. In 2016, Andersen has competed in five different events and has three individual victories. Like Weise, she has also been named Big Sky's Athlete of the Week this season.

For the men, it's Shawn Collins and Adam Keenan heading to conference championships looking to make an impact on the field. Collins will compete in the shot put event, where he placed third overall at last year's indoor championships.

For Keenan, primarily a hammer thrower, he notched a career-best 19.07m, 62-06.75 mark in the weight throw event at Mountain T's. What's even more impressive is the fact it was his first collegiate weight throw event and it is the No. 1 mark in the conference as of today. 

Details

Indoor conference championship action is set to get underway from Bozeman at 11 a.m. MT Friday, while Saturday's events begin at 10 a.m. MT … Live streaming will be available through Eversport, and you can find that site by clicking here … Additionally, follow us on Twitter (@nautrackfieldxc) for constant updates and news from the 2016 Big Sky Indoor Conference Championships