FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 15, 2021) – Coming off of the team's eighth WAC championship, Northern Arizona swimming and diving announced the 2021-22 schedule. The release comes two days before the 26th annual pentathlon is to be held in the Aquatic and Tennis Complex (ATC) in Flagstaff.
NAU will head into it's 26th annual pentathlon this Friday at 2 p.m. MST, an intrasquad meet, as the first meet on schedule for the team. Following, the Blue and Gold meet, also intrasquad, will take place on Oct. 1st at 2 p.m. MST. Both meets are open to the public and free to attend, as well as the rest of meets to be held at the ATC, located on NAU's north campus.
"It's nice to be back to more of a normal schedule and have some regular competition again," Head Coach Andy Johns said.
The Lumberjacks will host their first competition on Oct. 16th, for a double-dual meet versus Arizona Christian and Ottawa University. Following the dual meet, NAU hosts the University of New Mexico on November 6th.
The first Lumberjack Diving invite will take place on Nov. 18th-20th as swimming heads to Grand Junction Colorado for the first time to compete in the A3 performance invite, hosted by Colorado Mesa University.
NAU will head on the road for the rest of 2021, with a meet at Grand Canyon on December 11th. A season of firsts includes the Lancers Invite hosted by California Baptist University in Riverside, California on Dec. 17-18th.
"Every year it's about the conference meet in February. I think for this year, we're going to two invites before that, we've never been to Grand Junction or to Riverside for competitions, so those two meets are going to be opportunities for some great competition, and a lot of points for us to learn as a team," Johns said.
After the holiday break, the Lumberjacks return to competition on Jan. 7-8th, where they will face their first Pac-12 competition in Tucson at Arizona for a two day meet. The following week, diving heads to UCLA for the UCLA Diving Invite, lasting three days the invite will be held Jan. 14-16th. While diving heads to California, swimming will make a quick trip to Dixie State for a single day meet on Jan. 15th.
Concluding the regular season, NAU hosts New Mexico State for a morning meet on Jan. 22nd, set to start at 11 a.m. MST. Diving will host the Lumberjack Diving Invite #2, Feb. 4-6th.
The WAC Championships will be held in Houston, Texas Feb. 23-26th, where the Lumberjacks hope to bring home a ninth championship season. The NCAA Zone Diving championships will take place in Seattle, Washington March 7th-9th. After competing in zones last season, Victoria Knapp, Maegan Jensen, and Alyssa Jones all return for the NAU this season.
The Lumberjacks eye the NCAA Championships, scheduled for Mar. 16-19th in Atlanta, Georgia to wrap up the 2021-22 season.
