Sun Devils continue qualifying success outdoors

 by Sarah McLellan
 published on Monday, March 31, 2008

Jeffrey Lowman / THE STATE PRESS

HEAVE-HO: Sophomore Kyle Hitchcock throws the javelin during Saturday's Arizona State Invitational at Sun Angel Stadium.

It'd be easy for the ASU track and field team to get complacent at a time like this.

With the Pac-10 Championships about seven weeks away and the team's national indoor success still a fresh memory, showing up and working hard might seem like an option.

But that type of attitude doesn't exist for ASU.

The Sun Devils continued to turn in efforts and performances characteristic of champions this past weekend, winning eight events and earning 17 regional qualifying berths at the ASU Invitational held at Sun Angel Stadium.

"We had a lot of people with a lot of quality marks," ASU coach Greg Kraft said.

The meet started Friday with the hammer events, and senior Jessica Pressley headlined the night with her performance. Pressley won the women's event with a toss of 64.92 meters, which not only secured a regional berth but also improved her No. 2 ranking in the event in school history.

ASU added three more qualifying tosses with the performances of seniors Tai Battle and Tomas Navarro and sophomore Jason Lewis.

Battle finished third in the women's event with a throw of 61.33 meters. On the men's side, Navarro hit a mark of 61.01 meters to place fourth, and Lewis threw 60.34 meters to take fifth spot.

"We had outstanding throws," Kraft said. "That was a tremendous start for our team."

Senior Jacquelyn Johnson won the 100-meter hurdles in 13.19 seconds, the third-fastest time in ASU history. She also broke the school record in the javelin with a toss of 46.22 meters, concluding her weekend with two regional berths.

Junior Lissa Regets finished fifth in the event, one spot behind Johnson, with a throw of 44.19 meters to also hit a qualifying mark.

Pressley took second in the discus with a toss of 54.24 meters to secure another regional berth, while Battle hit a qualifying mark of 53.97 to finish third in the event.

Navarro earned his second regional berth of the weekend in the shot put with a throw of 17.57 meters, and senior Matt Turner rounded out the field victories with a clearance of 2.2 meters in the high jump.

ASU's relay teams continued its success with wins from both the men and women. Freshman Dominiqué Maloy and juniors Charonda Williams, Stephanie Garnett and Shauntel Elcock teamed up to take the 4x100-meter relay in 45.18.

The quartet of juniors Darryl Elston and Joel Phillip and seniors Jimmie Gordon and Marquis Profit took first place in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:08.56.

Members of the relay teams carried over their team success to individual events.

Maloy ran the 400-meter dash in 53.98 to place first and earn a regional berth, while Williams won the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.94 to also secure a qualifying mark.

Phillip, Profit and Elston all posted qualifying runs in the 400-meter hurdles as they finished second, third and fourth, respectively.

Kraft said making the transition from team relays to individual events is part of the conditioning plan for those athletes right now.

"In the championship meet, you have to be able to do that," he said, calling transition a "mental exercise."

The distance team was well represented by sophomore Kari Hardt, who earned a regional berth with her third-place run in the 1,500-meters.

Freshman Nectaly Barbosa took second place in the men's 1,500-meter event with a time of 3:45.49, barely beating senior Kyle Alcorn (3:45.62).

The final win on the track came courtesy of Gordon, who ran the 400-meter dash in 47.24.

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