2016 Etrain Team Power Rankings: #8 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks

By: Garrett Zatlin

25. Illinois Fighting Illini

24. Villanova Wildcats
23. Eastern Michigan Eagles
22. Iowa State Cyclones
21. Oklahoma State Cowboys
20. Tulsa Golden Hurricanes
19. Michigan State Spartans
18. Boise State Broncos
17. Washington State Cougars
16. Indiana Hoosiers
15. Washington Huskies
14. Eastern Kentucky Colonials
13. BYU Cougars
12. Wisconsin Badgers
11. Furman Paladins
10. Virginia Cavaliers
9. Colorado State Rams
8. Norther Arizona Lumberjacks
7. Arkansas Razorbacks
6. Colorado Buffaloes
5. Iona Gaels

8. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
Flotrack’s #8: Wisconsin Badgers
Flotrack's Ranking of Northern Arizona: 9th
Coach: Eric Heins
Notable Departures: N/A
Notable Additions: Blaise Ferro 
Projected Scoring Five: Futsum Zienasellassie (SR) [ET#3], Nathan Weitz (SR), Cory Glines (JR), Tyler Day (SO), Harvey Nelson (JR)
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During the 2015 season, coach Eric Heins made what might have been the smartest move of the year (as well as his career). With a large group of rising freshmen and sophomores, coach Heins redshirted Futsum and Weitz which allowed the rest of the young NAU squad to gain outstanding experience that so many guys their age never get to have.

The 2015 was something of a test run for Northern Arizona. Their first true challenge would be at the Cowboy Jamboree where an experienced Oklahoma State team would defeat the Lumberjacks. Despite Glines' 4th place finish, NAU would also lose to Kentucky on a tie-breaker.

But it was all about experience for the young squad as they attended Wisconsin to run at one of the most elite meets in the nation. Unfortunately, Glines would be the only one to have a decent day (placed 38th) as the rest of the squad struggled. NAU would finish 30th out of 36 teams.

After taking 2nd to Southern Utah at Big Sky conferences, NAU went into one of the toughest regions in the nation (Mountain). There, they would hold their own as the experience from earlier meets was starting to show. They placed 9th overall in the team standings even though Glines had to drop out of the race with an injury.

NAU obviously didn't make nationals, but they gained and showed some significant improvement. With the return of Futsum and Weitz, NAU looks scary good when compared to some of the biggest competition in the nation.

Futsum is obviously one of the most talented guys in the nation. He is someone that could get wins at nearly every meet they go to. Weitz, on the other hand, should match up well with Glines and create a nasty punch at the two and three spots. It's hard to really portray just how strong this top three is. They know what it's like for NAU to be one of the top teams in the nation and have been on one of those teams before.

The four and five spots don't get too much weaker. Tyler Day really embraced his role on the team last fall. He slowly but steadily improved throughout the 2015 season and eventually ended up finishing 14th in the loaded Mountain region defeating guys like Ammar Moussa, Aaron Fletcher, John Dressel, and many others. His level of fitness can't be denied especially after he ran 29:06 for 10k this past spring.

The final projected scorer, Harvey Nelson, also had a slow start to his 2015 season, but came through in the post season where he finished 8th at conferences and 27th in the Mountain region. He will now enter his junior year knowing what it's like to be on the big stage.

The depth is a little shaky and still very young, but NAU has some serious weapons. For the rising sophomores and juniors to get the experience they did will be a tremendous help for NAU as they attempt to get back on to the team podium stand at nationals. They aren't invincible, but having Futsum and Weitz back will be a huge weight off the shoulders of Glines and Day.

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