EUGENE, Ore. – True freshmen Julia Viberg and Nathan Weitz ended their outstanding inaugural seasons with the Northern Arizona track and field team Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., in the women’s discus and men’s 1,500-meter run, respectively. With Viberg finishing 14th overall and Weitz taking 16th in the 24-man field, both athletes earned second-team All-America honors.
“It can be an intimidating experience competing against the best in the country,” coach Eric Heins said. “Neither one of them backed down from that challenge though, and both represented themselves and NAU extremely well today.
Viberg, a native of Sweden, notched her top mark of 173 feet (52.74m) on the first of three attempts in front of a strong crowd at Eugene’s Historic Hayward Field. Her top-15 finish was the highest in the discus by an NAU woman since fellow Swede Anna Soderberg placed third in 1997.
As a result of her finish, Viberg joins an elite class of throwers, most of whom have come from her native Sweden, to compete and finish strongly at the nation’s highest level. She became the fifth NAU female to compete in the discus at the national meet, and her All-America honor is a feat shared by just two other women in program history (Soderberg (1994, 1996, 1997) and Lori Parker (1990).
Weitz, running in the second of two heats in the 1,500 meters, ran like a seasoned veteran through each lap, putting himself in good position rounding the final curve and finishing seventh in a time of 3:44.56.
With a seventh-place finish in his heat, Weitz was two positions shy of earning an automatic bid into Saturday’s final. Still, he ends his season as just the third NAU male in program history to compete at NCAAs in that distance and closes out 2013 as the fastest freshman 1,500-meter runner in the country.
The Lumberjacks have just one athlete slated to compete Friday, the secon-d-to-last day events will be held. Sophomore Deante Kemper, who is making his second straight appearance at the national meet, stands in 23rd place heading into the men’s high jump.
The remaining four NAU competitors -- Lauren Laszczak (high jump), Edgar Panford (triple jump), Futsum Zienasellassie (5,000m), and Diego Estrada (5,000m) -- will compete on Saturday.
