Feb. 10, 2007
RESULTS: Tyson Invite | Husky Classic | ISU Classic | TCR Race Invite
TEMPE, Ariz. - Members of the Arizona State University track and field program hit the road Saturday and competed in one of four meets throughout the nation, combining to collect two NCAA automatic and six NCAA provisional qualifiers on the day. Highlighting the day was the performance of Amy Hastings, who set the American collegiate record in the indoor 5,000m run at the Husky Classic in Seattle.
Hastings' winning time of 15:30.17 in the 5,000m run not only bettered her school record of 15:45.45 set last year in the same meet, it also broke the 26 year-old mark of 15:34.5 run by Margaret Groos of Virginia in 1981. The NCAA automatic qualifying time, which also was a facility record in Seattle and a 41-second advantage over the runner-up in the race, is the fourth-fastest time in the world this year and just the second time under 16 minutes run by a collegian in 2007.
The program's other automatic berth into the national meet came from the shot put ring in Fayetteville, Ark., as Sarah Stevens recorded a mark of 17.58m (57-08.25) to finish second in the Tyson Invitational. In the same event, Jessica Pressley recorded a provisional mark of 15.98m (52-05.25) to place fifth overall.
The sprinters received one provisional and nearly captured another while competing at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa. Latosha Wallace finished fourth overall in the 400m dash with a time of 54.20 to provisionally qualify for the national meet before helping the 4x400m relay team of Shauntel Elcock, Bridgette Williams and D'Metra Macedon to victory with a time of 3:40.33. Their relay time just missed the NCAA provisional standard by 0.33 seconds.
Back in Seattle, the program's four other provisional marks were recorded with two men and two women earning qualifying marks. For the women, Jenna Kingma and Ali Kielty placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 3,000m race with their respective times of 9:26.55 and 9:28.02 earning provisional status. Kielty's time is the fifth-fastest in school history and comes in her first collegiate race. In the men's 3,000m run, Aaron Aguayo finished fifth overall with a provisional mark of 7:59.39 and moved up to No. 2 on the ASU all-time list. Kyle Alcorn, who placed 15th overall, clocked a 14:03.78 in the 5,000m run to qualify nationally and claim the fourth-best time in school history.
The Sun Devils also sent athletes to the TCR Race Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. The small group did not record NCAA qualifying marks, but had three Top 6 placers with Matt Turner taking third in the high jump with a clearance of 2.01m (6-07.00). In the men's shot put, Tomas Navarro place fifth with a mark of 17.54m (57-06.50) with Jason Lewis right behind him in sixth place at 17.03m (55-10.50).
The Sun Devils will return to the road next weekend when they compete at the Southwest Invitational inside the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz.