March 17, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. - Competing in its first home outdoor meet of the season, the Arizona State University track and field team looked impressive as the Sun Devils recorded 11 victories and 15 NCAA regional qualifying berths on the second day of the Baldy Castillo Invitational Saturday at Sun Angel Stadium. ASU, which rested its performers from one week ago at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, got outstanding performances from several individuals, including a sweep of the short sprints by Kelvin Love Jr., three regional qualifiers from Tai Battle and another school record from April Kubishta.
Love Jr., who qualified for the regional meet in both events, captured the 100m and 200m dashes on the day, running 10.48 and 20.73, respectively. His performances led the sprinters as ASU also won the 400m dash with Jack Mann captured the 800m run (1:52.30) while Aaron Aguayo won the 1,500m run in 3:46.53 (regional mark). In the field, Andrew Smith won the javelin with a regional qualifying toss of 66.59m to also move himself up to No. 5 on the ASU all-time Top 10 list. Also winning and regionally qualifying was Matt Turner, who cleared 2.10m in the high jump.
On the women's side, Jasmine Chaney won the 100m hurdles (14.01) in her home debut while the quartet of Bridgette Williams, Shauntel Elcock, Jordan Durham and Latosha Wallace combined to take the 4x400m relay in 3:42.35. Kubishta, who entered the meet tied for the school record at 4.10m, cleared 4.20m to take the top spot on her own and also break the meet record she set last year.
Joining her on the all-time Top 10 lists for the women was Lisa Navarro, who ranks 10th in the pole vault with a mark of 3.20m; and Tai Battle is No. 10 in the discus (49.40m), moving into the spot one day after claiming fifth on the hammer list. On the men's side, Smith moved up on two lists, adding his javelin mark to his ninth-best hammer throw from one day earlier. Brad Roth, who finished third in the meet, moved into the sixth position with his toss of 66.23m while Jason Lewis rounded out the newcomers with his hammer mark from one day earlier.
Several other Sun Devils earned regional qualifiers, including: Elcock (54.46) in the 400m dash, Domenik Peterson in the 200m dash (20.95), Becky Holley in the javelin (44.62m) and Battle in the shot put (14.33m). Overall, the Sun Devils combined to add eight marks to the ASU Top 10 lists on the weekend while adding 15 marks to the regional lists. All told, the Sun Devils placed 32 athletes/relays in the Top 3 of events at the Invitational, including nine runner-up honors for the women.
A pair of events await the Sun Devils next weekend as members of team will head to Tucson for the Jim Click Multis (Thursday and Friday) while the remainder of the roster will play host to the ASU Clif Bar Invitational Friday and Saturday. Numerous college powers will be on hand for what is shaping up to be one of the deeper fields so far this outdoor season.