Jan. 28, 2012
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Arizona State University men and No. 21 women’s track and field teams got their first taste of action against some of the premiere programs in the country on Saturday, wrapping up competition at the Texas A&M Mondo Challenge in College Station, Texas.
The event pitted Arizona State with Oregon as the Pac-12 representatives squaring off in a conference dual with Texas A&M and Texas Tech of the Big 12 and Florida and Tennessee of the SEC in a battling for conference bragging rights. Five of those six teams (Texas Tech excluded) have combined to win 14 of the past 16 indoor and outdoor national titles dating back to 2008.
The Big 12 came out victorious on the men’s side while ASU and Oregon helped the Pac-12 to a second place finish while the SEC claimed the women’s victory with the Pac-12 finishing third.
Recaps of both the ASU men’s and women’s portions of the competition are below.
ASU Men’s Recap:
Nick Happe clocked one of the top-10 fastest times of the early season in the 3,000-meter run, holding off Texas A&M’s Henry Lelei to win the event in a new career best time of 8:00.66 and set a new stadium record in the process.
In the 800-meter run, senior Mason McHenry continued his strong start to the 2012 season as he nearly matched his career best with a time of 1:47.86 to take third in the event. Even so, the time will keep the senior ranked in top-five in the nation early this season after McHenry entered the weekend with the second-best time in the country.
Chris Burrows matched Dwight Phillips for sixth all-time on ASU’s 200-meter indoor list with a time of 21.31 to finish fourth overall on Saturday. In doing so, it was the fastest 200-meter time clocked by a Sun Devil since 2005 for the junior transfer competing in just his second race at ASU.
The Sun Devils advanced three men to the finals of the 60-meter dash in a race that saw Ryan Milus take runner-up honors in 7.76 while senior Daniel Auberry clocked in at 6.83 for a fourth-place effort. Chris Burrows took seventh in the event in a time of 6.88m
Senior Chris Benard won his second consecutive triple jump competition with a leap of 15.97m (52-4.75) while also taking third in the long jump with a new indoor career best jump of 7.41m (24-3.75).
Bryan McBride set a new career indoor best in the high jump with a leap of 2.16m (7-1.00) to take second in the event and increase his fifth-best jump in ASU indoor history in the event.
It was a career day for all three Sun Devils competing in the men’s heptathlon as Austin Prince, Jamie Sandys and Jeremy Marcinko all set personal records in the event.
Prince took home third place overall with a score of 5,148 to move to second all-time on ASU’s career list while Sandys was right behind the junior with a score of 5,146 for the third best points total in ASU history. Marcinko came on strong at the end to break 5,000 points for the first time in his career with 5,009 points and sixth-place finish.
The Sun Devils finished up the day with a fourth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay in a time of 3:10.16. The Sun Devils finished just behind Oregon, Texas Tech and Texas A&M with all four separated by less than a second at the line.
ASU Women’s Recap
Shelby Houlihan showed she has what it takes to compete with the best in the women’s 800-meters, going toe-to-toe with All-Americans Chanelle Price (Tennessee) and Anna Kesselring (Oregon) en route to a third place finish in the event in 2:07.58, good for the third-fastest time in ASU indoor history in the event and the fastest since Lorieann Adams clocked a time of 2:07.77 in 1995.
Sophomore Asiah Gooden advanced to the finals of the 60-meter dash in a very talented field and took home a seventh-place finish overall with a time 7.73 in the final.
In the women’s long jump, Christabel Nettey took home top honors with a leap of 5.87m (19-3.25) to hold off Tennesee’s Kia Jackson. Teammate Constance Ezugha was third in the event with a jump of 5.81m (19-0.75).
Sophomore Anna Jelmini was fourth in the shot put competition with a mark of 15.28m (50-1.75) while senior Ashley Lampley also logged a fourth-place finish in the weight throw with a throw of 17.50m (57-5.00).
The women’s 4x400-meter relay team clocked its fastest time of the season so far in 3:37.65 to finish third in an exciting race that saw the top four teams separated by less than a second. The time should rank among the top-20 nationally barring results from other meets across the nation this weekend.
Notable Performances
Men
Mason McHenry – 800m – 1:47.86 – Third Place – Top-five time in the nation
Nick Happe – 3000m – 8:00.66 – First Place – Indoor Career Record
Chris Burrows – 200m – 21.31 – Fourth Place – Sixth all-time at ASU indoors
Darisu Terry - Mile - 4:08.21 - Third Place - Indoor Career Record
Bryan McBride – High Jump – 7-1.00 (2.16m) – Second Place – Indoor Career Record
Chris Benard – Long Jump – 24-3.75 (7.41m) – Third Place – Indoor Career Record
Ryan Milus – 200m – 21.73 – Ninth Place – First career indoor 200m race
Rashad Ross – 200m – 21.74 – Tenth Place – First career indoor 200m race
Austin Prince – Heptathlon – 5,148 - Third Place – Second all-time in ASU history
Jamie Sandys – Heptathlon – 5,146 – Fourth Place – Third all-time in ASU history
Jeremy Marcinko – Heptathlon – 5,000 – Sixth Place – Fourth all-time in ASU history
Women
Shelby Houlihan – 800m – 2:07.58 – Third Place – Third all-time at ASU indoors
Christabel Nettey – Long Jump – 5.87m (19-3.25) – Only ASU woman to win Saturday
Women’s 4x4 (Pinnick, Herring, Geren, Sanchez) – 3:37.65 – Third Place – Top-20 national time