April 7, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
TEMPE, Ariz. - For the 25th year in a row, the Arizona State track and field team will play host to the Sun Angel Track Classic presented by Coca-Cola this Saturday inside Sun Angel Stadium in Tempe. Some of the nation's elite collegiate programs, along with several talented individuals and local high school entrants, will be on hand to compete in the event.
GUEST LIST
The Silver Anniversary of the Sun Angel meet will feature some very talented teams again this year, including Arizona State, Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Boise State, BYU, Florida, Northern Arizona, Texas and USC. In the high school division, 10 events will be contested (five each among the girls and boys divisions) as the Top 9 placers in the 100m dash, 1,600m run, 4x100m, 4x400m and 4x800m at the Tempe Relays (Thursday) will advance to compete at the Sun Angel Meet.
Individually, numerous quality competitors have thrown their names into the ring, including a pair of Olympic Gold Medalists. They include former Sun Devil All-American and 2000 Olympic Pole Vault Champion Nick Hysong and 1996 Olympic Decathlon Champion Dan O'Brien.
THREE MEETS IN THREE DAYS
With the Sun Angel Classic presented by Coca-Cola concluding the competition this weekend, a pair of meets also will be contested in the area. On Thursday night, the 15th Annual Wynn/Zucco Tempe Relays will be run at Tempe High School while Mesa Community College puts on the Mesa Classic Friday evening in Mesa.
HONOREES
Perry Edinger, the former head athletic trainer for Sun Devil athletics, has been named as the honoree for the 2004 meet. Edinger was hired to the Arizona State training staff in January of 1989 and was a member of the staff until last year when he left intercollegiate athletics to begin work with a local physical therapy clinic.
The Arizona State coaching staff also will bestow special recognition upon retiring Northern Arizona coach Ron Mann, who will step down from the helm of the Lumberjack program following 24 years of service. In his tenure, Mann has guided 105 All-Americans, five Olympians and three NCAA champions. In the Big Sky Conference, he was been named coach of the year 56 times (track and cross country) while accumulating 57 team titles and 278 individual conference champions.
MORE RECORDS THAN A DJ
The men's 4x400m relay team was back at it again over the weekend at the Texas Relays, breaking the school record in the event that was set before any of the four was born: 1977. The quartet of Steve Fitch, Domenik Peterson, Jason Barton and Lewis Banda returned to Tempe after finishing third in the event at 3:01.51. The Sun Devils broke the previous school mark of 3:01.74 that was set by Cliff McKenzie, Gerald Burl, Tony Darden and Herman Frazier, a mark that has stood for 27 years.
OLD RECORDS
Although the previous 4x400m relay mark was set numerous years ago, there are still four more marks on the men's lists that have been around longer. Jerry Bright holds the 200m mark at 20.29 while Ron Freeman II clocked a 44.41 in the 400m. Both marks were set in 1968. Two years later, Chuck LaBenz set the standard in the 1,500m and mile runs, both during the 1970 season.
NATIONAL LEADERS
Heading into the Sun Angel meet this weekend, one Sun Devil holds the top position in the national order lists while several others are ranked highly as well. Lewis Banda has the fastest time in the nation at 200m this season after clocking a 20.72 at the Baldy Castillo Invitiational two weeks ago. Eight other men's marks rank in the Top 10, including the 4x400m (second) and the 4x100m (third) relays.
BEST IN THE WEST
Three men's marks also rank among the best in the west according to the most recent release of the national performance lists. Lewis Banda's 200m dash time of 20.72 is tops in the region while the 4x100m and 4x400m relays also hold top billing in the west.
BIG JUMPS
At the Arizona State Invitational two weeks ago, Trevell Quinley had a big day in the jumps. He opened the day with a regional and conference qualifier in the long jump as he leaped to 7.50m (24-07.25) to finish second. Quinley then competed in the high jump which he won with a clearance of 2.15m (7-00.50).
FRESHMAN LEADING THE WAY
Along with the success of the rookie multi-event athletes (Jacquelyn Johnson and Joshua Kinnaman), there have been several other Sun Devils that have fared well in their freshman campaigns this year. For the men, Steven Koehneman is among the top athletes in the nation at 100m and 200m while Domenik Peterson is near the top of the 400m event. Brandon Glenn and Stephen Dolk bother are faring well in the pole vault with Aaron Aguayo, though he is a redshirt freshman this year, has qualified in both the 1,500m and 5,000m events at the regional and conference level.
Johnson has qualified in three individual events so far this year with marks recorded in the 100m hurdles, the high jump and the long jump.
VAULTING SUCCESS
For the second home meet in a row, Angela Tavlarides finished the women's pole vault competition with a record. In both meets (Baldy Castillo and ASU Invite), she cleared 3.55m (11-07.75) to establish the school record in the event. The previous standard of 3.51m (11-06.00) was set by Olivia Mazzaglia in 2000.
Brandon Glenn won the men's portion of the meet with his clearance of 5.10m (16-08.75). His mark qualified him for both the NCAA West Region and Pac-10 Championship meets and ranks him 17th in the nation so far this year.
MULTI EVENT SUCCESS
On March 23-24, Joshua Kinnaman competed in his first collegiate decathlon and returned from Tucson with a fifth-place finish overall and was the third collegiate athlete in the standings. On the first day of competition, Kinnaman clocked a 10.78 in the 100m dash to break the mark of 10.88 Dannie Jackson recorded in 1981. From there, Kinnaman put on other strong performances, including a throw of over 200 feet in the javelin to win the event. In the end, Kinnaman accumulated 7,147 points to rank eighth all-time in Sun Devil history and provisionally qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.
Also at the meet, Jacquelyn Johnson competed in the heptathlon before withdrawing early from the meet. She had accumulated over 4,000 points with two events to go and earned regional and Pac-10 standards in three events; the 100m hurdles, the long jump and the high jump.
ALL-AMERICANS
Two weekends ago, members of the track and field program traveled to Fayetteville, Ark., for the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships. Of the 10 athletes that competed in the national event, six returned home as All-Americans. Those Sun Devils included Lewis Banda (4x400m), Jason Barton (4x400m and 400m), Domenik Peterson (4x400m and 200m), Seth Amoo (4x400m), Amy Hastings (5,000m) and Jacquelyn Johnson (pentathlon).
As a team, the men finished tied for 12th with 17 points earned while the women took a tie for 27th with eight.
MORE FRESHMAN SUCCESS
Johnson was not the only Sun Devil freshman that had an impressive debut at the NCAA Championships. Domenik Peterson competed in three races to earn All-America honors twice while setting one school record. Individually, Peterson finished fourth in the 200m dash with an ASU record time of 20.54. He then anchored the men's 4x400m relay team to a third place finish in the final event of the meet.
BARTON SHINES ON NATIONAL STAGE
Jason Barton joined Peterson as the only Sun Devils to earn multiple All-America honors at the indoor meet. Barton finished third in the 400m dash with a school record of 45.56 before running the leadoff leg of the relay team that finished third.
ACADEMIC HONORS
The men's and women's cross country have been honored by their respective national coaches associations for their success in the classroom. The men were honored by the United States Cross Country Coaches Association while the women earned their sixth honor in as many years from the Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Association.
LAST TIME OUT: TEXAS RELAYS
The 77th Texas Relays came to a close Saturday afternoon in Austin, Texas, with the Arizona State track and field teams turning in impressive performances, including a school record in the men's 4x400m relay.
The men's 4x400m relay team of Steve Fitch, Domenik Peterson, Jason Barton and Lewis Banda clocked a 3:01.51 to place third overall and claim the school record that was set in the 1977 season by Cliff McKenzie, Gerald Burl, Tony Darden and Herman Frazier. Baylor (3:01.06) and Florida (3:01.49) finished ahead of ASU.
The record setting relay also established the collegiate indoor record earlier this season at the Iowa State Last Chance Meet on March 6. There, Peterson, Barton, Banda and Seth Amoo clocked a 3:30.43 to win the race and break the previous mark set by Oklahoma in 1997 at 3:04.25.
In the men's 4x100m relay, Steven Koehnemann, Peterson, Amoo and Banda combined to finish third overall with a regional mark of 39.31.
Individually, Koehnemann finished 8th in the 100m dash with a time of 10.53 while Brandon Glenn tied for 10th in the pole vault after clearing 5.15m (16-10.75). Glenn's mark is the seventh-best in school history.
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils take to the road and head to Walnut, Calif., for the Mt. SAC Relays, April 16-18.