March 17, 2010
Men's track & field thrower Ryan Whiting has been named ASU's Male Athlete of the Week for the week ending March 20th. Whiting continued his dominance, capturing his third national title in a row. His performance helped the Sun Devils place seventh overall at the indoor track and field championships. The Sun Devils now begin the outdoor season as they host the Baldy Castillo Invitational on Friday (hammer throw) and Saturday (all other events) at Sun Angel Stadium.
Whiting won the shot put national title on Friday afternoon with a toss of 21.52m (70-07.25) to win his third indoor shot put crown in a row and the fourth overall in his career (also won the 2009 outdoor title). Whiting took the lead in the shot put on his first toss with a mark of 19.16m before improving on each of his final two throws of the preliminary round, advancing to the finals with a top mark of 20.57m. In the fourth round (his first throw of the finals), Whiting hit a mark of 21.52m, which sealed the victory and equaled his season-best toss that also ranks third in the world currently. With his victory, Whiting became just the third man in NCAA history to win the shot put three years in a row at the indoor championships and is the first to accomplish that feat in 35 years as Hans Hogland (UTEP) won the men's shot put in 1973, 1974 and 1975. Whiting also is just the fourth man to win three or more shot put titles indoors in a career and is the first to join that list since Michael Carter (SMU) won his fourth title in 1984.