TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State cross country team finished their 2015 campaign at the NCAA West Regionals on Saturday, Nov. 14.
While neither made the NCAA Championships, there were many highlights throughout the 2015 season. Let's take a look back at the fall season:
George Kyte Classic
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- The Arizona State cross country team opened their season up north in cooler weather, as junior Chelsey Totten won the George Kyte Classic women’s 2.6-mile race. Her time of 15:05.4 at Buffalo Park helped the Sun Devil women score 46 points, finishing behind host Northern Arizona (32 points) and ahead of Arizona (57 points) and Grand Canyon (79 points). With Totten’s win, the Sun Devil women have won at least one race in each season since 2012. Seniors Cristina Juan Torres and Shaina Corbin also recorded top-10 finishes, placing sixth in 15:35.0 and 10th in 15:44.4, respectively. Redshirt senior Jen Owen finished in 12th at 15:48.7, redshirt freshman Lea Patek placed 21st in 16:33.5, and redshirt senior Madison Davis placed 25th at 16:39.8.
Redshirt freshman Nick Dale led the Sun Devil men in the 4.5-mile race, finishing in 14th at 23:49.4. Host Northern Arizona placed five finishers in the top-five positions to win with 15 points, followed by Arizona with 57 points, and the Sun Devils in third with 78 points.
Dave Murray Invitational
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Sun Devil cross-country team made a statement in the Dave Murray Invitational at Tucson’s Dell Urich Golf Course early on in the season. It ended up being the only event the men and women each won as a team. For the women, freshman Samantha Ortega debuted her outstanding rookie season in style, winning the race with a time of 16:50.00. The time ended up breaking the Arizona State women’s all-time course record held by Anna Sperry by 13 seconds. The Santa Clarita, Calif. native broke away during the final stretch of the 3-mile race, catching the leader from the University of Arizona and pulling away for a five-second victory. Her teammates followed her pace, as Adriana Olivas and Cristina Juan Torres finished fourth and fifth respectively. Chelsey Totten, Owen, Maack and Corbin rounded out the top-10 in that order, helping the Sun Devil women secure the top spot as a team with 25 points.
For the No. 23 men, finishing with the top six spots – two running unattached – certainly helped them make a statement to start the season. Redshirt senior Ryan Herson paced the group with a time of 21:27.00, and placed him third on the men’s all-time course record list for the event. It was also Herson’s first collegiate victory. The men took the top spot thanks to top-eight finishes by redshirt junior CJ Albertson, redshirt senior Ryan Norton, and redshirt freshmen Ryan Normand and Nick Dale for a total of 17 points. Junior Bernie Montoya finished third overall in his first race back since November with a time of 21:44.00. Freshman Simon Paige -- who would end up redshirting -- also finished unattached in sixth with a time of 22:06.00.
A video posted by Sun Devil Track & Field/XC (@sundeviltfxc) on Sep 18, 2015 at 5:07pm PDT
Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The men and women wouldn't return from the Notre Dame Invite with the results they wanted, as several members of the team were either coming down with or from cold symptoms during the week. The women -- led by Samantha Ortega -- finished seventh out of 21 teams, earning 213 points. Ortega crossed the line 22nd after moving up from 35th at the one-mile mark. There were 174 women in the three-mile race.
The #SunDevils are in the Windy City! #SunDevilSelfie #ForksUp #NDInvite
A photo posted by Sun Devil Track & Field/XC (@sundeviltfxc) on Sep 30, 2015 at 1:08pm PDT
While head coach Louie Quintana was pleased with the women's performance, the men were a different story. He wanted to see more out of the No. 18 Sun Devils -- who were also the second-highest ranked team in the meet. Ryan Herson and C.J. Albertson both jumped out with the front of the 169-man pack, both remaining in the top-20 through the one-mile mark. However, they would quickly lose their stamina and finish 105th and 96th respectively. Ryan Norton was very impressive, making moves from the 169th spot halfway through the race to a 68th-place finish.
The women started right in the center in the #13 box. #LetsGoDevils
A video posted by Sun Devil Track & Field/XC (@sundeviltfxc) on Oct 2, 2015 at 11:03am PDT
UA Twilight Open
TUCSON, Ariz. - At about the midway point of the season, the UA Twilight was used more of a tune up meet and for some athletes to record some times. Six athletes competed at Quincie Douglas Park in Tucson, and both men and women's teams did not have enough runners participate to score as a team. Cody Brazeal and Nick Dale both finished in the top-10. Brazeal crossed the line in fourth with a time of 21:13.00 while Dale turned in a time of 21:27.00 for seventh. Fellow teammate J.P. Nelson came in eleventh with a time of 21:54.00, while redshirt sophomore Jack Balder rounded out the Sun Devil men with a 20th-place finish at 24:09.00.
On the women's side, just junior Mia Townsend and redshirt freshman Lea Patek made the trek to Tucson. They would finish 13th and 10th respectively. Townsend completed the three-mile course in 20:19.00 while Patek finished in 19:28.00.
Wisconsin adidas Invitational
MADISON, Wisc. - While the women had positives to take away form the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, the men were not as fortunate in their second national meet. The unranked women finished in 24th place out of 36 teams with 579 points, just ahead of No. 14 Wisconsin and No. 20 West Virginia in the 6K race.
Samantha Ortega continued to pace the women's team, as she crossed the line in 41st with a time of 20:26.6. Adriana Olivas finished four spots higher and with a faster time than she did at the event last year, putting up a time of 20:49.1 for 82nd place. Chelsey Totten earned 132 points with a time of 21:18.1, while Cristina Juan Torres improved on her 208th finish last year with a time of 21:26.2 for 150 points today. Jenna Maack -- who had been dealing with a minor leg injury -- rounded out the scoring for the Sun Devils with 174 points and a time of 21:40.6.
The men sat in the 20's through the 2K mark, but would quickly drop and finish 34th out of 36 teams with 784 points by the end of the 8K journey. C.J. Albertson was the highlight of the day, as he rallied from 124th place at the 2K mark to finish 67th with a time of 24:16.2 in the 8K race. Last year, he earned 137th place with a time of 24:56 at the Wisconsin Invite.
ASU Invitational
TEMPE, Ariz. – The cross country team hosted the 2015 ASU Invitational at Papago Golf Course for the first time and the men and women swept the event. Coach Quintana ran six men and six women, with Cody Brazeal taking second place with a time of 20:49.23 for the men, and Shaina Corbin also taking second place in the women’s race with a time of 17:54.01 as the Sun Devils’ top finishers.
Brazeal started towards the back of the pack of the four-mile men’s event, pacing himself for the final stretch, and he said it worked in his favor. The five scoring Sun Devils finished in the top-11, as Brandon Boys and Nick Dale took seventh and eighth with times of 21:13.45 and 21:14.03 respectively. Senior Riley Wattier rounded out the top-10 with a time of 21:28.06 and J.P. Nelson followed at 21:32.27 in eleventh.
Corbin started at the front of the pack off the start, pacing the event with Arizona’s Kayla Ferron with redshirt junior teammate Kaitlin Kaluzny along side. Freshman Hannah Benoit-Bucher on their heels. As the race progressed, Corbin continued to stay at a consistent pace and even took the lead for a small part of the three-mile trek. She kept Kaluzny right with her as she would follow seconds behind Corbin with a time of 18:00.50 in third place. Like the men, all the Sun Devil women finished in the top-11, as Benoit-Bucher took fourth with a time of 18:21.50, redshirt freshman Lea Patek crossed in eighth at 19:12.20 and redshirt senior Madison Davis rounded out the scoring in eleventh at 19:23.36.
Pac-12 Championships
COLFAX, Wash. - The Arizona State men and women's cross country teams brought home two Territorial Cup points with victories over the Unviersity of Arizona at the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships in Colfax, Wash. on Friday, Oct. 30.
The women's streak for cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field was extended to nine-straight points while the men moved to seven-straight against the Wildcats. While the women finished in 6th place out of 12 teams, the men ended up just above the Wildcats in 8th place.
Out of the gate, the men ran a good race, with Bernie Montoya keeping pace at the front and C.J. Albertson patiently holding his ground not far behind. Ryan Herson had his nose in the mix up at the front for the first half of the 8K as well. Through the first 2K, ASU was in 6th place out of the nine men's teams with help coming from behind. Cody Brazeal rallied down the stretch, finishing in 58th place. Ryan Norton also picked runners off through the final 4K, crossing the line right behind Herson in 56th to finish the scoring for the men.
For the women, Samantha Ortega, Adriana Olivas, Chelsey Totten and Cristina Juan Torres came together at the 2K mark to form a train in the 20-25 range of the 107-women pack. They would pace each other from there all the way through the final 4K of the race. They would almost all finish right there, with Ortega moving up to 18th with a time of 20:27.9, Olivas right behind her in 20th, Totten finishing strong in 28th, and Jenna Maack moving up to cross the line in 48th.
And they're off! #Pac12XC #ForksUp
A video posted by Sun Devil Track & Field/XC (@sundeviltfxc) on Oct 30, 2015 at 10:30am PDT
NCAA West Regional
SEATTLE, Wash. - The Sun Devils wrapped up their season at the NCAA West Regional Championship with the women finishing in 8th and the men in 15th. Unfortunately for both men and women, a trip to the NCAA Championships was not obtained as the Sun Devils needed to finish among the top five to at least have a chance. The conditions weren't ideal for the racers -- yet the typical atmosphere for cross country -- with rain falling all week and creating a muddy, damp mess on the course.
Samantha Ortega continued her stellar rookie campaign with another top-25 finish and time of 21:10.6. She finished in 22nd place. Adriana Olivas wasn't far behind with a time fo 21:20.6 for 31st place. Chelsey Totten was the last Sun Devil to finish in the top-50 with a time of 21:33.8.
On the men's side, Ryan Herson crossed the line first for the men in 60th out of the 205 racers with a time of 32:19.7. C.J. Albertson, who finished with the top spot in the top-25 at the Pac-12 Championships, ended up in 77th with a time of 32:38.0.