{"id":23745,"date":"2013-07-14T16:06:58","date_gmt":"2013-07-14T23:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/?p=23745"},"modified":"2013-12-03T11:20:54","modified_gmt":"2013-12-03T18:20:54","slug":"nau-earns-big-sky-conference-presidents-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/nau-earns-big-sky-conference-presidents-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"NAU earns Big Sky Conference Presidents’ Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"NAU<\/a>
NAU track and field athletes captured the 2013 Big Sky Championship in March, a victory that helped the Lumberjacks earn the conference’s Presidents’ Cup for the second time in university history. Pictured from left are distance runners Cody Reed, Nathan Weitz, Bahlbi Gebreyohanns and Futsum Zienasellassie. Click on the photo to view more NAU Athletics photos on Facebook.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Northern Arizona University\u2019s student athletes have scored big, earning the Lumberjacks’ second Big Sky Conference Presidents\u2019 Cup.<\/p>\n

The conference award, now in its 11th year, recognizes overall athletic program success by combining team grade point averages, Academic Progress Rates, and All-Conference performers with grade point averages of at least 3.0.<\/p>\n

\u201cNAU is deeply honored to be recognized for the academic and on-field performance of its student-athletes,\u2019\u2019 said NAU President John Haeger<\/strong>. \u201cWe have committed ourselves to building an athletics program with integrity that produces results. Our student-athletes, coaches and administrators have lived up to that commitment. The Presidents\u2019 Cup is testimony to what outstanding individuals can accomplish when working as a team and guided by the right priorities.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

NAU finished first in overall athletic points, with the Lumberjack men earning 56 points and women\u2019s teams achieving 59.5 points. NAU\u2019s men won the cross-country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field Big Sky Championships. The Lumberjack football team finished fourth in the regular-season standings with a 6-2 record.<\/p>\n

The NAU women\u2019s golf team captured the 2013 Big Sky Conference Championship, and women\u2019s volleyball, tennis, and outdoor track and field squads all finished the season in third.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so proud of our student-athletes who continue to excel in the classroom and in competition,\u2019\u2019 said Lisa Campos<\/strong>, NAU vice president for Intercollegiate Athletics. \u201cCapturing the Big Sky Conference Presidents\u2019 Cup supports our mission to have NAU athletics be a vital part of the university and the greater community. I want to congratulate not only our student-athletes whose academic and athletic achievements enabled NAU to receive this award, but also our outstanding faculty, academic advisers, athletics staff and coaches who support, inspire and challenge our student-athletes to be their best in every endeavor.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

NAU was second in APR and had 29 All-Conference student-athletes finish with a GPA of 3.0 or better and tied for second in overall academic performance. The university had an overall student athlete GPA of 3.09, with 11 of its teams that compete in the Big Sky Conference reaching a GPA of at least 3.02. The women\u2019s soccer team recorded the top GPA at 3.49, followed by women\u2019s tennis and volleyball at 3.43.<\/p>\n

“Winning this honor is the result of countless hours in the classroom, on the practice field, and on the competitive stage,” \u00a0said Big Sky Conference Commissioner Doug Fullerton. “The student-athletes\u2019 performances ultimately determine the outcome, but there are so many people, including coaches and administrators, who work tirelessly to help our student-athletes. They should all be extremely proud.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

NAU last won the Presidents\u2019 Cup in 2005-06. Montana State University, the 2011-12 winner, finished second and Idaho State University placed third. NAU joins Weber State University, the University of Montana and Montana State University as multiple Presidents\u2019 Cup winners.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Northern Arizona University\u2019s student athletes have scored big, earning the Lumberjacks’ second Big Sky Conference Presidents\u2019 Cup. The conference award, now in its 11th year, recognizes overall athletic program success by combining team grade point averages, Academic Progress Rates, and All-Conference performers with grade point averages of at least 3.0. \u201cNAU is deeply honored…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":24319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-editors"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}