LAS VEGAS, Nev. (March 6, 2021) – Las Vegas must be lucky for the Lumberjacks, as their return to UNLV on Saturday prompts nine first place finishes, a new school record, and 16 new personal records.
The Northern Arizona track and field men's and women's teams faced New Mexico, Southern Utah, Utah Valley, and BYU while Dixie State, UNLV, and Utah only competed on the women's side.
NAU's throws unit showed remarkable strength in each of their events.
Senior Parker Joens earned two gold medal finishes, one in the men's shot put (18.57m) and another in the men's discus (51.11m).
The Lumberjack men dominated the shot put, sweeping the first three spots, along with freshmen Parker Bays (15.33m) and Jake Tucker's (14.91m) personal best marks rounding out fifth and sixth place respectively.
Lumberjack teammate freshman Blake Baloun also made an appearance in the men's shot put, competing unattached; had Baloun competed in an NAU uniform, the NAU men would have conquered all top-six slots.
But nothing could stop the NAU men from grabbing the top-four places in the discus.
Senior Nicholas Coghill placed second, freshman CJ McMullen set a personal record with 49.10m to place third, and freshman Rudy Tapia sealed his collegiate discus debut with a fourth-place finish.
The men's hammer throw came to a close with two Lumberjack men cracking the first three places; junior Jack Murphy and McMullen finished second and third sequentially.
Meanwhile, for the women, freshman Eniko Sara set a new NAU school record in the javelin, throwing 50.73m in her collegiate debut. The previous record was 49.276m held by former Lumberjack Chris Johnson.
Junior Matilde Roe was a key contributor to the NAU women's throws team on Saturday. She championed the women's discus with a personal best throw of 45.45m and placed second overall in the shot put (14.04).
Freshman Carly Watts also had a successful day in the field, placing fourth with a personal best of 13.34m in the shot put, and finishing second (44.75) in the women's discus.
Fellow freshman thrower Kimberly Buchanan placed second overall in the women's hammer throw (53.68m); this is Buchanan's second straight time finishing this event within the top-two this outdoor season.
Although the sprints and hurdles crew did not produce a double event champion on Saturday, they did earn four individual first place finishes, including a sweep of the men's and women's 100-meter dash.
Senior Jada Jackson ran a personal best time of 11.70 for the NAU women while junior David Dunlap raced to the finish in 10.61 for the NAU men to claim their respective crowns.
Similarly, junior Carter Bracken placed first in the men's 110-meter-hurdles, and freshman Kiana Kai claimed first place in the women's 100-meter-hurdles.
Bracken and Kai also both placed second in men's and women's 400-meter-hurdles sequentially.
Senior sprinter Miracle Onyemaobi had a big day as well, setting a personal record in the 200-meter to place fifth for the NAU women, and placing second in the 400-meter.
Lumberjack junior Melanie Loff competed alongside Onyemaobi in the women's 400-meter race, finishing in third place with a new personal best time of 56.33. Loff participated in the 800-meter race as well, placing second overall (time).
However, on the men's side, senior Ryan Lanley scored first-place in the 800-meter.
The NAU jumps squad also saw a first-place finish, in addition to personal progress across the board.
Freshman Mitchell Effing set a personal record of 15.26m to clinch gold in the men's triple jump. Effing also placed second in the men's long jump with a new best mark of 7.25m.
Also setting two new personal bests and finishing directly behind Effing in the long jump (7.04m) and the triple jump (14.69m) was NAU freshman Jack Normand.
The Lumberjack women placed five within the top-eight during the triple jump, with three of those women setting new personal records.
The women's long jump also showcased three new personal bests from the third-place finisher, freshman, Lily Margolis, fourth place's freshman Courtney Wiesenberger, and fifth place's freshman Kenashalee Kerr.
Overall, the UNLV Spring Opener was a success for the NAU track and field team.
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Gallery: (3-6-2021) UNLV Spring Opener
