May 28, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - The first of two days of competition for the Arizona State track and field team came to a conclusion Friday night with the sprint corps shining brightly in events held at the Cal State Northridge Track and Field Complex in Northridge, Calif. Two Sun Devils punched their tickets to the national meet to help the women to an eighth-place standing (12 points) after five scored events while the men sit 11th with 4 points earned. The Top 5 individual finishers in each event, and Top 3 relays, advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in two weeks while several other athletes will earn at-large berths to be determined later.
Julia Pedersen recorded a 53.53m (175-07) in the discus to finish fourth overall and earn the automatic berth into the national meet. Sandra Orsund, who also competed in the discus, finished 16th overall (46.89m/153-10). Desiree Davila, a 2003 All-American in the 5,000m run, placed fifth in the event with a mark of 16:35.27 to advance to nationals once again.
A pair of long jumpers came close to earning automatic berths into the national meet as Trevell Quinley and Porchea Carroll each captured sixth place in their respective competitions. Quinley, who also placed ninth in the high jump, recorded a 7.26m (23-10.00) while Carroll finished at 6.01m (19-08.75). Both athletes earned three team points. Travis Jones finished eighth in the hammer with a mark of 57.01m (187-00) to earn the team one point to round out the team scoring for ASU.
In preliminary competition, three men's and two women's races were led by Sun Devil athletes, including both contested relays. For the men, the quartet of Steven Koehnemann, Domenik Peterson, Seth Amoo and Lewis Banda clocked a 39.46 to record the fastest 4x100m relay time on the day. Peterson is the leader in the 200m dash at 20.88 while Jason Barton is on his way to defending the 400m crown he won a year ago with his top time of 45.77. Barton is joined in the finals by Banda (third at 46.48) and Steve Fitch (seventh at 46.60) while Amoo will run along side of Peterson in the 200m event (third at 20.91).
On the women's side, the relay team of Carroll, Cassandra Reed, Marcia Smith and Kandace Tucker clocked a 44.31 to lead the way while also moving into the No. 3 spot on the all-time lists at ASU. Reed moved into the No. 2 all-time slot in program history as she is the leader in the 400m dash with a 51.67. Those four athletes are joined in the finals by Jacquelyn Johnson in the 100m hurdles (ninth at 13.67), Christina Hardeman in the 400m dash (seventh at 53.86) and Tucker in the 200m dash (third at 23.79). Johnson also competed in the long jump on the day, placing 16th in the event.
Also competing on the day were the following: Roger Cahill, 13th in the 1,500m run (3:48.15); Dan Maher, 23rd in the 1,500m run (3:58.81); Jay DeGroot, 11th in the 800m run (1:51.74); Casey Burchill, 14th in the 5,000m run (14:51.41); and Angela Tavlarides, 14th in the pole vault (3.76m/12-04.00).
In addition to the advancing athletes, several others will jump into the competition Saturday in other events. In the field events, Johnson (high jump), Jana Pintz (javelin), Brandon Glenn (pole vault), Stephen Dolk (pole vault), Pedersen (shot put) and Jones (discus) are all set to compete while newcomers to the track include Aaron Aguayo, Ryan Warrenburg, Amy Hastings and Liz Lindgren in the 3,000m steeplechases. The only other event that has not been contested thus far is the 4x400m relays.
The regional meet wraps up Saturday. Those athletes that advance will compete in the NCAA Outdoor Championships, June 9-12, in Austin, Texas.