LEARFIELD's NAU Lumberjack Sports Properties, Northern Arizona University, NAU Athletics and Arizona Complete Health launched the NAU Swim Buddies program in March.
The NAU Swim Buddies program is a collaborative initiative designed to teach life-saving swim skills to local community members. It is focused on providing swim lessons to parents and children in the Flagstaff community to ensure they have the essential skills to stay safe in the water.
Through this partnership, participants will receive swim lessons from the AquaJacks, a campus swim instruction team. Northern Arizona swim and dive program student-athletes will also be involved, offering support, encouragement and motivation to participants by sending weekly emails and cheering them on at select lessons.
The program aims to address the urgent need for water safety education in the community, offering families the opportunity to bond while learning vital swimming skills.
Upon completing the program, participants will be recognized for their accomplishments with a Certificate of Completion, an NAU swim towel, and much more. These tokens of achievement are a testament to the hard work and dedication of each participant in gaining confidence and proficiency in the water.
"Positive and supportive engagement with the communities we serve, especially in our home community of Flagstaff is a key strategic priority for NAU. We are especially proud of this partnership with its focus on the wellbeing and safety of the parents and children who live here 鈥� teaching them essential life safety water skills," NAU President Jos茅 Luis Cruz Rivera said.
Women鈥檚 tennis
Northern Arizona will take on the Sacramento State Hornets for a Saturday match in Flagstaff in a battle between two undefeated teams in the Big Sky Conference. Northern Arizona sits at No. 1 in the conference and Sacramento State is No. 2.
The Lumberjacks are coming off a 7-0 sweep against Montana.
Five of the six singles matches were won in straight sets, with Patrycja Niewiadomska dominating in a 10-point tiebreak, only dropping one point. The win over the Grizzlies moved the Lumberjacks' winning streak to nine.
Northern Arizona will host the match at the Wall Aquatic and Tennis Complex at 10 a.m. The match is free for the public to attend.
Men鈥檚 tennis
Northern Arizona has been gearing up for matches this weekend against Eastern Washington, Lewis-Clark and Idaho.
The Lumberjacks will start their road trip in Cheney, Washington, and wrap up in Idaho. A neutral-site meeting is slated at Lewis-Clark in the middle of the Big Sky contests.
Northern Arizona is looking to bounce back from a loss at Texas at San Antonio, 4-3. Dani Torres, Takumi Katsuda and Mati Lange were the only Lumberjacks to pick up singles wins that match.
The Lumberjacks are also trying to improve their 4-0 conference mark.
The first matchup of this road trip was Friday.
Track and field
After a week break from competition, the outdoor season continues this weekend for the Northern Arizona men's and women's track and field teams.
The Lumberjacks sent their distance runners to the Stanford Invitational on Friday.
The sprinters, jumpers, and throwers were scheduled to be in action at the UNLV Rebels ELITE on Friday and Saturday.