FORT WORTH, Texas – In a tightly contested race at the Battle in the Fort, Sun Devil triathlon's Naomi Ruff crossed the finish line first to secure her second collegiate victory. TCU edged the Sun Devils for the team title, 170-168.
"I am happy with the team's performance today," ASU head coach Cliff English said. "We are a young team with two juniors and the others underclassmen in today's lineup. A lot of these athletes are still developing skill and gaining experience."
Ruff began the 5-kilometer run in 16th place and 65 seconds behind the leader. She proceeded to catch them all with a time of 18:00 –one of three competitors to break 19 minutes in the run – to win the race by six seconds. Ruff finished the race in one hour, eight minutes, 11 seconds.
English added, "We had some really strong individual performances, led by Naomi taking home the individual win."
Making her Sun Devil debut, Sidney Clement placed fourth after finishing in 1:08:48. She also made up time during the 5K, where her 18:39 mark was only behind the pace set by Ruff. Clement got off to a good start by leaving the 750-meter swim in eighth at 10:43.
Five Sun Devils were bunched together and finished 13th through 17th. Faith Dasso used a 10:35 in the water – fourth-best in the field – to propel her to that 13th-place result in 1:10:07. She also posted the team's best time in the 20-kilometer bike ride at 36:52.
Camille Buchanan was 14th after finishing in 1:10:09. Freshmen Britney Brown (1:10:19) and Zoe Mari Adam (1:10:33) placed 15th and 17th, respectively. Evan Welch finished in 1:10:27 to place 16th, and Madison Judas was 30th in 1:14:11.
"We've got some technical things to improve upon, but in all, it was a solid performance," English stated. "There are a lot of strong teams that are now deep as well. It's a positive sign for the growth of our sport."
TCU had four racers finish in the top nine to earn them the two point difference in the final standings. San Francisco was third with 135 points, followed by Denver (131 points) and Arizona (128 points).
"Sometimes it's good to have a loss to help fuel that fire to stay on top. It's about staying hungry. I'm looking forward to our upcoming training blocks and future races," English concluded.
ASU returns to action as a team on October 14 at the NCAA West Qualifier in Springfield, Mo. Before that, Dasso and Heidi Jurankova will compete at the U23 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain.
"I am happy with the team's performance today," ASU head coach Cliff English said. "We are a young team with two juniors and the others underclassmen in today's lineup. A lot of these athletes are still developing skill and gaining experience."
Ruff began the 5-kilometer run in 16th place and 65 seconds behind the leader. She proceeded to catch them all with a time of 18:00 –one of three competitors to break 19 minutes in the run – to win the race by six seconds. Ruff finished the race in one hour, eight minutes, 11 seconds.
English added, "We had some really strong individual performances, led by Naomi taking home the individual win."
Making her Sun Devil debut, Sidney Clement placed fourth after finishing in 1:08:48. She also made up time during the 5K, where her 18:39 mark was only behind the pace set by Ruff. Clement got off to a good start by leaving the 750-meter swim in eighth at 10:43.
Five Sun Devils were bunched together and finished 13th through 17th. Faith Dasso used a 10:35 in the water – fourth-best in the field – to propel her to that 13th-place result in 1:10:07. She also posted the team's best time in the 20-kilometer bike ride at 36:52.
Camille Buchanan was 14th after finishing in 1:10:09. Freshmen Britney Brown (1:10:19) and Zoe Mari Adam (1:10:33) placed 15th and 17th, respectively. Evan Welch finished in 1:10:27 to place 16th, and Madison Judas was 30th in 1:14:11.
"We've got some technical things to improve upon, but in all, it was a solid performance," English stated. "There are a lot of strong teams that are now deep as well. It's a positive sign for the growth of our sport."
TCU had four racers finish in the top nine to earn them the two point difference in the final standings. San Francisco was third with 135 points, followed by Denver (131 points) and Arizona (128 points).
"Sometimes it's good to have a loss to help fuel that fire to stay on top. It's about staying hungry. I'm looking forward to our upcoming training blocks and future races," English concluded.
ASU returns to action as a team on October 14 at the NCAA West Qualifier in Springfield, Mo. Before that, Dasso and Heidi Jurankova will compete at the U23 World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain.