NAU Lumberjacks
Logo
UniversityNorthern Arizona University
ConferenceBig Sky Conference (primary)
Western Athletic Conference (women's swimming and diving)
NCAADivision I (FCS)
Athletic directorMike Marlow
LocationFlagstaff, Arizona
Varsity teams15
Football stadiumWalkup Skydome
Basketball arenaWalkup Skydome
Soccer stadiumLumberjack Stadium
Other venuesJ.C. Rolle Activity Center
Douglas J. Wall Aquatic Center
MascotLouie
NicknameLumberjacks
Websitewww.nauathletics.com
Big Sky Conference logo in Northern Arizona's colors

The NAU Lumberjacks are the varsity athletic teams representing Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona in intercollegiate athletics. The school's mascot was adopted in 1946. The Lumberjacks compete in NCAA Division I and are full members of the Big Sky Conference[1] with the exception of the women's swimming and diving team which is an affiliate member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).[2]

Sports sponsored

Individual teams

Men's Women's
Basketball Basketball
Cross country Cross country
Football Golf
Tennis Soccer
Track & Field (indoor) Swimming & Diving
Track & Field (outdoor) Tennis
Track & Field (indoor)
Track & Field (outdoor)
Volleyball

Men's Basketball

The school's team has competed in the Big Sky Conference since 1970. The team's most recent appearance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was in 2000. The Lumberjacks are currently led by interim head coach Shane Burcar who replaced Jack Murphy.

Women's Basketball

The team has been coached by Loree Payne since 2017 and last won the Big Sky championship in 2006.

Cross Country

The team is head coached by Michael Smith. Since 2016, the Northern Arizona men's team is widely considered as the nation's leading program in the NCAA Division I. The team has been constantly ranked in the top 2 nationally of the USTFCCCA coach's poll since the start of the 2017 season.[3] The team has dominated the Big Sky championship, winning 20 of the last 25 Big Sky team championships and 17 of the last 25 Big Sky individual titles as of 2017.[4] The Lumberjacks won the NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020.[5] The 2017 repeat title closed out a perfect season with a 53-point victory, placing five athletes in the top 40. The victory was the lowest score (74) at the NCAA Championships since 2014, and the Lumberjacks became the first repeat champions since 2013–14.[6] Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Michael Smith earned the Bill Dellinger Award as National Men's Coach of the Year and also picked up both the Big Sky's Men's and Women's Coach of the Year awards. In track and field, Smith was named the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Mountain Region Women's Indoor Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018.

Football

Walkup Skydome

The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The school's first football team was fielded in 1915. The team plays its home games at the 17,500 seat Walkup Skydome. They are head coached by Chris Ball.

Swimming and Diving

Northern Arizona competes as an affiliate member of the Western Athletic Conference.

  • 8× WAC Champions: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021

National championships

NCAA team championships

Northern Arizona has won six NCAA D1 team national championships.

Other national team championships

Below are 2 national team titles won by club sports teams at the highest collegiate levels in other non-NCAA competition:

  • Men's (2)
    • Archery (recurve) (1): 2015
    • Archery (compound) (1): 2016

Individual national champions

Men

AthleteEventYear
Geordie BeamishMile2019
Lopez Lomong3,000m, 1,500m2007, 2007
David McNeill5,000m (i), 5,000m (o)2010, 2010
Andy Trouard3,000m2019
Abdihamid Nur3,000m, 5,000m2022, 2022

Women

AthleteEventYear
Angela ChalmersCross Country1986
Ida NilssonSteeplechase, 5,000m (i)2004, 2005
Johanna NilssonMile, 3,000m, Cross Country2003 & 2006, 2006, 2005
Anna SöderbergDiscus1996

(i)=indoor track and field event
(o)=outdoor track and field event

Club sports

Ice Hockey

The club hockey team competes in the American Collegiate Hockey Association at the Division II and III levels. The team was formerly in the NCAA Division I from 1981 to 1986.[7][8]

  • 1× Conference Champion: 2013

Team Tennis

The club tennis team competes in the USTA Tennis on Campus league and won the 2017 Spring Invitational national tournament.[9]

Quidditch

The university also fields a club quidditch team, known as the NAU Narwhals, who compete in US Quidditch.[10] The Narwhals advanced to the Elite 8 at IQA World Cup VI in 2013.[11]

Olympians

AthleteEventYearTeam
Brooke AndersenHammer2020 United States
Maya BenzoraLong Jump1984 Israel
Víctor CastilloLong Jump2004 Venezuela
Angela Chalmers3,000m1988, 1992, 1996 Canada
Jordan ChipangamaMarathon2016 Zambia
Diego Estrada10,000m2012 Mexico
Samantha George4 × 400 m2000 Canada
Luis Grijalva5,000m2020 Guatemala
Lopez Lomong1,500m, 5,000m2008, 2012 United States
Andrew MavisBasketball2000 Canada
David McNeill5,000m2012, 2016, 2020 Australia
Amin NikfarShot Put2008, 2012 Iran
Kristian PetterssonThrows2000 Sweden
Anna SöderbergDiscus2000, 2004, 2008 Sweden
Georgina TothHammer2008 Cameroon
Anthony Wilson200m, 4 × 400 m1992 Canada

References

  1. ↑ "Big Sky Conference – Member Institutions". Bigskyconf.com. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-03-05. Retrieved 2013-03-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ "Rankings History List Progression". www.ustfccca.org. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  4. ↑ "How Northern Arizona became a distance running powerhouse | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  5. ↑ "DI Men's XC: Northern Arizona takes home school's first national title". NCAA.com. November 19, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Men's Cross Country Repeats as NCAA National Champions in Dominating Fashion". Northern Arizona University.
  7. ↑ "Northern Arizona University hockey team statistics and history at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  8. ↑ "Team History". HomeTeamsONLINE. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  9. ↑ "Northern Arizona crafting its own club tennis legacy". www.tennisoncampus.com. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  10. ↑ "Teams". US Quidditch. USQ, Inc. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  11. ↑ W., Mary (March 30, 2015). "EXCLUSIVE: Meet the underdogs of the Quidditch World Cup — the NAU Narwhals". The Daily Prophet. MuggleNet.com. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
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