{"id":46597,"date":"2017-03-02T11:11:25","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T18:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=46597"},"modified":"2017-03-02T13:32:19","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T20:32:19","slug":"athletic-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/athletic-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Triple threat: NAU teams bring home three conference championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three Northern Arizona University teams brought home conference championships Saturday, Feb. 25.<\/p>\n

Both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s track and field teams<\/a> became Big Sky Conference champions at the indoor championship meet in Pocatello, Idaho. It\u2019s the ninth time in school history both Lumberjack squads won the indoor title.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the swimming and diving team<\/a> was at the Western Athletic Conference championship meet in Houston, on its way to a fourth consecutive championship after a season that started with the death of a teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis one is super gratifying; each championship has been a little different, but this one is special because of the adversity we faced all year long,\u201d coach Andy Johns<\/strong> said. \u201cThis one was for Hayley Edmond<\/strong>. She was with us all year, especially this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Track and field
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the second time in four seasons both the men and women won this title, making the victory extra sweet for track and field director Mike Smith.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a huge day for NAU track and field and for Northern Arizona as a university,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to pick one favorite moment because the performances up and down each event group were absolutely incredible. I couldn\u2019t be more proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the 20th<\/sup> indoor title in program history for the men and 12th<\/sup> for the women.<\/p>\n

\"Tyler<\/a>
Tyler Day and Shanice McPherson were named Most Valuable Athletes at the Big Sky Conference indoor track and field championship in Pocatello, Idaho, on Feb. 25.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Senior Shanice McPherson<\/strong> was named Most Valuable Female Athlete, and sophomore Tyler Day<\/strong> was named Most Valuable Male Athlete. Day, part of the cross-country team that won a national championship in November, won the 3,000-meter run, with All-American teammates Matt Baxter<\/strong> and Andy Trouard<\/strong> in second and third place.<\/p>\n

McPherson, a two-time Division II long jump champion, won that event at the Big Sky tournament, earned
\nsilver in the 60-meter dash and got on the scoreboard for the 200-meter dash.<\/p>\n

Swimming and diving<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NAU women cried tears both happy and sad after winning the conference championship. They bested the second-place team by more than 20 points, with seven gold medals between swimming and diving, and took home a number of individual honors as well, including Co-Swimming Coach of the Year for Johns for the fourth consecutive year, Diving Coach of the Year for the second year in a row for Nikki Huffman<\/strong> and WAC Diver of the Year for Tanya Kurach<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The team members were competing for more than themselves or NAU, however. The season, with its\u00a0crowning finale, was motivated in large part by Hayley Edmond, a swimmer who transferred to NAU in 2015 and swam for the Lumberjacks for a year before being diagnosed with cancer. She died in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe emotions right now are amazing,\u201d senior swimmer Urte Kazakeviciute<\/strong> said after the meet. \u201cThere are definitely tears and smiles. We couldn\u2019t have done this without every girl on this team.\u201d<\/p>\n