The NAU Lumberjacks are the varsity athletic teams representing

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory. It is one of the three universities gove ...

Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ), known locally as Flag, is the county seat of Coconino County, Arizona, in the southwestern United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 76,831. Flagstaff is the principal city of the Coconino Cou ...

in intercollegiate athletics. The school's mascot was adopted in 1946. The Lumberjacks compete in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

and are full members of the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

with the exception of the women's swimming and diving team which is an affiliate member of the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

(WAC).

Sports sponsored

Individual teams

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 The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

was in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. 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

. The team has been constantly ranked in the top 2 nationally of the

USTFCCCA The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is a New Orleans–based non-profit professional association representing men's and women's cross country and track & field coaches in the United States. The organization incl ...

coach's poll since the start of the 2017 season. 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. The Lumberjacks won the

NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship The NCAA Division I men's cross country championships (formerly the NCAA University Division cross country championships) are contested at an annual meet hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the individual and team ...

in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020. 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. 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

The team competes in the

NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate ...

(FCS). The school's first football team was fielded in 1915. The team plays its home games at the 17,500 seat

Walkup Skydome The J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome is an indoor multipurpose stadium in the southwestern United States, located on the campus of Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff, Arizona. It is primarily used as the home of the NAU Lumberjacks f ...

. They are head coached by Chris Ball.

Swimming and Diving

Northern Arizona competes as an affiliate member of the

. * 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. * Men's (6) ** Cross country (6): 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 * See also **

List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships Listed below are the colleges or universities with the most NCAA Division I (NCAA), Division I-sanctioned team championships, individual championships, and combined team and individual championships, as documented by information published on offi ...

** List of Big Sky Conference National Titles

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

Women

(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 The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes quality in collegi ...

at the Division II and III levels. The team was formerly in the

from 1981 to 1986. * 1× Conference Champion: 2013

Team Tennis

The club tennis team competes in the

USTA Tennis on Campus Tennis on Campus (TOC) is the national College club sports in the United States, collegiate club tennis league operated by the United States Tennis Association (USTA). The league is played on Hardcourt, hard courts in World TeamTennis format. 370 ...

league and won the 2017 Spring Invitational national tournament.

Quidditch

The university also fields a club

quidditch Quidditch () is a fictional sport invented by author J. K. Rowling for her fantasy book series ''Harry Potter''. It first appeared in the novel ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997). In the series, Quidditch is portrayed as a dang ...

team, known as the NAU Narwhals, who compete in

US Quidditch US Quadball, formerly known as US Quidditch, is a non-profit organization that governs the sport of quadball in the United States. Quadball is a sport that combines elements of basketball, dodgeball, and rugby. The sport is played at more than 1 ...