May 15, 2010
BERKELEY, Calif. – The first day of action at the 2010 Pac-10 Track & Field Championships came to a close on Saturday evening inside Edwards Stadium on the California campus in Berkeley, Calif., with the Arizona State University men’s and women’s teams both standing in fifth place in the team race. Ryan Whiting was the lone champion crowned on the day for the Sun Devils while Jasmine Chaney once again set the pace for the women as she qualified to the finals in all three individual events she entered.
The men have scored 36 points through eight events with the throwing trio of Whiting, Jason Lewis and Jordan Clarke combining to capture 32 of those points in the shot put and the hammer throw while the women have scored 21.5 points through seven events scored. In the overall standings, Oregon leads the men’s race with 71 points and is followed in the Top 5 by California (43 points), Washington (41), USC (40) and ASU while the Arizona leads the women’s race with 71 points and is followed by Oregon (65), Stanford (33), Washington State (27) and ASU.
The event most fans turned their attention to was the men’s shot put where Whiting continued to go deep in the sector and lead a 1-2-3 finish in the event. Whiting defended his title in the event as he threw 21.34m (70-00.25) to win by 10 feet over teammate and freshman Clarke, who was the runner-up with his mark of 18.29m (60-00.25) in his first Pac-10 meet. Lewis followed closely behind Clarke in third place with his mark of 18.25m (59-10.50) as the three men scored 24 points for the team. Earlier in the day, Lewis also took second in the hammer throw with his toss of 66.41m (217-10).
The women also had several scorers on the day with five individuals combining to collect 10.5 points with three scoring in track events and two others in the field. On the track, Cherise McNair and Kauren Tarver placed sixth (10:26.40) and seventh (10:37.70), respectively, to collect five total points in the steeplechase while McNair also added her name to the program’s all-time Top 10 list as she moved up to No. 7. Senior Ali Kielty ran 34:05.72 to place seventh overall in the 10,000m run to add two more points to the total.
Two newcomers added points in the field events for the women, starting with Samantha Henderson in the high jump as she tied for eighth place with a clearance of 1.64m (5-04.50) to earn half of one point. Later in the day, Christabel Nettey recorded a mark of 6.04m (19-11.00) to place sixth in the long jump and earn three points.
In the preliminary rounds, Chaney took care of business as she advanced to the finals in three individual events and helped the 4x100m relay of Dominique’ Maloy, Nettey and Kayla Sanchez reach the final with the fourth-best time of the day (45.15). Chaney also qualified second overall in the 200m dash (23.55), fifth in the 100m dash (11.70) and seventh in the 100m hurdles (13.74). Others that qualified for the finals on Sunday included Kari Hardt in the 1,500m run (4:23.28), Maloy in the 400m dash (53.43) and both Keia Pinnick (59.32) and Sanchez (59.96) in the 400m hurdles. Pinnick’s time ranks as the eighth-best all-time in school history.
The men had a pair of events that saw three individuals compete in the preliminary round with all three advancing to the finals. In the 400m dash, Donald Sanford was second (46.36), Joel Phillip was fifth (47.18) and Justin Kremer was sixth (47.22) while the trio of Zeke Van Patten (second, 3:51.88), Brandon Bethke (10th, 3:47.91) and Dylan Hatcher (11th, 3:49.98) all reaching the final of the 1,500m run. Mason McHenry qualified for the final of the 800m run (1:48.38) while Lawrence Trice (fourth, 10.50) qualified in the 100m dash.
Three Sun Devils added their names to the program’s all-time Top 10 list in the 10,000m run, including Jeff Helmer, who ran 29:42.58 to finish just outside of the scoring by placing ninth and moved into fifth all-time at ASU as just the fifth to run faster than 30 minutes in the event. Alonso Contreras ran 30:19.73 to move into seventh all-time in the men’s event while Lindsay Prescott took over the No. 9 position on the women’s 10,000m list in 34:46.82.
The Championships continue Sunday.