Sun Devils alter lineup, add distance runners to mix

 by Sarah McLellan
 published on Friday, March 28, 2008

Eric Binns / THE STATE PRESS

SHINING SUN DEVIL: Sophomore Kyle Hitchcock jumps during the men’s 110-meter hurdles during the Baldy Castillo Invitational.

The ASU track and field team's goal of duplicating its indoor success outdoors isn't as easy as sliding the blueprint from the first season to the second.

More events appear on the heat sheets, new athletes are added to the mix and, ultimately, a fresh plan of attack has to be concocted.

The Sun Devils will attempt to make that plan a little clearer this weekend when they host the ASU Invitational Friday and Saturday. The hammer throw will lead off the meet on Friday night, while the remaining track and field events will occur Saturday.

"As the season starts to unfold, we start introducing more people back into competition," ASU coach Greg Kraft said. "We're just starting to unveil our team. "

A greater number of distance runners will race in the invitational. The taste of competition is valuable after a short indoor season.

"Most of them had a limited competitive schedule indoors, and that was by design, coming off cross country," Kraft said. "But they're coming out and starting to get their efforts in."

As more athletes join the meets, several different event lineups will be experimented with in an effort to solidify the roster spots.

"We'll play with a combination in the women's [4x100-meter relay] as we try to put that personnel together," Kraft said.

The tinkering with the women's roster is just an example of the growing pains common to a transition into the outdoor campaign. In assessing the team, both the men and women's sides present different strengths and challenges.

"Our women's team is really developing nicely," Kraft said. "Last year, we didn't have a presence in the short sprints — the [100 meters] and [200 meters], and [junior] Charonda Williams and [freshman] Dominiqué Maloy have really filled that void nicely."

The performances in the 400 meters by juniors Jeavon Benjamin and Shauntel Elcock and senior Jordan Durham have also benefited the progress of the team.

"We're developing better balance than we've had really compared to the last two championship teams that we've had," Kraft said.

The men share that balance in the field, and while they have depth on the track, Kraft said the team loses it in the jumping events.

"A lot of it lives and dies with [senior] Matt Turner," he said.

But the main ingredient for a strong men's campaign is in the sprinting performance of one junior, Kraft said.

"Really the key guy for us, for our championship run on the men's side, particularly at the Pac-10 level, is going to be the development of [junior] Marcus Duncan," he added.

Reach the reporter at: sarah.mclellan@asu.edu.