Flagstaff, Arizona - The Thunderbird track and field teams kicked off their 2016 Indoor season on Saturday at the Lumberjack Team Challenge hosted by Northern Arizona, and had several impressive performances.

Thrower Jayson Kovar had a huge day for the T-Birds, as he qualified for the Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships in two events. Kovar's 16.18 meter throw in the shot put and his 17.64 meter weight throw both put him over the mark. His weight throw was also a personal best, and placed him second overall in the event.

Sprinters Justin Lewis and Ian Mack both ran a 6.98 in the 60-meter dash, which would have been Big Sky qualifying times if it weren't for the altitude adjustment. Lewis continued his success in the 400-meter dash where he finished in fourth place with a 49.40.  

The distance squad had a lot of success on Saturday as well, starting with SUU's George Espino taking first place in the men's 800-meter run with a 1:55.66. After the altitude adjustment, Espino's time was good enough to book him a spot in the Championships. Liam Kennell also had an impressive outing in the 800-meter, finishing in sixth with a 1:57.54.

In the women's one mile run senior Ashley Hawks led the way for the T-Birds, finishing in third place with a 5:13.88. Josie Riggs was not far behind either, finishing in sixth place.

Hayden Hawks is coming off an incredibly impressive cross country season where he led the T-Birds to a Big Sky Conference title before becoming an All-American at the NCAA National Championships, and is right back at it again for the Indoor season.

Hawks led the way in the men's one mile run finishing in eighth place with a 4:27.96. Ibrahim Ahmed was close behind him with a 4:29.49, as was Shinano Miyazawa with a 4:49.86.

The women's distance team continued their success in the 3,000-meters with Brighton Glassman finishing fourth with a 11:15.58. Sarah Sargent was right behind her in the final results finishing fifth with an 11:24.59, and Kaylee Abel was close behind with an 11:31.23.

The men's team also found a lot of success in the 3,000-meters with Hawks taking third with a 8:53.52 and Ahmed taking fifth with a 8:57.06.