May 10, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Sun Devils will return to Tucson, Ariz., for the second consecutive week when the team attends the Wildcat Qualifier. Events will begin at 4 p.m. on Sat., May 13 at Roy P. Drachman Stadium. Arizona is ranked 14th in the latest men's rankings, while the women are 15th. The Pac-10 Championships also get underway this weekend with the heptathlon and decathlon.
Pac-10 Championships
This year's Pac-10 Championships are being hosted by the University of Oregon at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Heptathlon and decathlon competition will take place this weekend, May 13-14, while all other events will occur the following weekend, May 20-21. The Sun Devils will send a freshman trio of Elizabeth Arollo, Jodi Smith and Brian Kraemer to multi-event competition this weekend. Arollo and Kraemer have only competed in multi-events once earlier this season, at the Baldy Castillo Invitational March 24. Arollo placed 10th in the heptathlon, scoring 4,365 points and winning the javelin portion of the competition. Kraemer posted 6,391 points in the decathlon at that same meet, placing ninth while tying for first in the high jump and 1,500m events. Smith is a wildcard entry into the Pac-10s and has not competed in a heptathlon this season.
National Rankings
The Sun Devils' men's squad dropped seven more spots in the sixth edition of TrackWire.com's rankings and is currently 24th. ASU peaked at No. 12 three weeks ago while the women have not been ranked this season. In the men's rankings, seven Pac-10 teams are in the top 25, leading with second-ranked Stanford and fifth-ranked USC, and followed by Arizona at 14th, California tied for 16th, UCLA tied at 18th and No. 20 Washington State. Additionally, all three Arizona universities are represented as Nothern Arizona is tied at 18th. On the women's side, league member UCLA is ranked third, followed by USC in fourth, Arizona in the 15th spot, Stanford tied for 17th and Cal tied for 24th.
ASU/UA/NAU Double Dual Recap
Both teams defeated Northern Arizona's squads, but were unable to defeat the University of Arizona for state bragging rights at the annual Double Dual between ASU, NAU and UofA at Roy P. Drachman Stadium.
UA's women's team completed the season sweep, as the Wildcats defeated ASU and NAU in the indoor Double Dual as well. Arizona beat ASU 103-80 and NAU 115-60 while the Sun Devils topped the Lumberjacks 105-67.
Arizona State's men's squad was looking for a repeat of its in-state victories from the indoor season, but fell four points shy as Arizona earned a four-point victory over the Sun Devils, 108-104. Arizona State turned around to defeat the Lumberjacks 111-90. The Wildcats also topped NAU 117-86. The meet was scored in double-dual fashion, with each team scoring against each other.
Four Lady Devils recorded season bests to earn victories in five events while the men earned six wins. Four NCAA qualifying marks were also made or bettered between both teams. Tiffany Greer bettered her long jump qualification by 1/4 inch while Adrienne Judie increased her mark by over 18 inches. Marcus Brunson and Michael Campbell posted provisional marks in the 100m and 400m respectively.
Jen Bridgeman (800-2:09.73), Kelly MacDonald (1500-4:29.64), Tiffany Greer (LJ-21-2.75) and Adrienne Judie (SP-52-1.75 and HT-179-11) won for Arizona State.
On the men's side, Marcus Brunson (100-10.31), Pete Lopez (200-21.14), Ron Buchanan (3000-8:39.17), Jeremy Rasmussen (3000StCh- 9:01.20), Dwight Phillips (LJ-25-6.25) and Kyle Frerichs (TJ-43-11.75), as well as the 4x400 relay squad, earned victories Saturday night. Brunson's, Buchanan's and Frerichs' marks were season bests.
Pac-10 Athlete of the Week
Senior Dwight Phillips earned this season's first Pac-10 athlete of the week honors on April 11 as he placed third in the 100m at the Texas Relays with a wind-aided 10.12. In the previous day's qualifier, he clocked a wind-aided 10.11 to win his heat. As the wind was above the NCAA-allowable 4.0 mps in both events, he cannot use those times to qualify for the NCAA Championships. His time was the second fastest in ASU history. The senior from Tucker, Ga. is a six-time All American, holds four school records and is a two-time NCAA runner-up in the indoor long jump.
Outdoor NCAA Championships
This year's National Championships will be held at Duke University in Durham, N.C., May 31 through June 3. The Sun Devil men are looking to improve on last year's 18th place finish while the women are looking to place for the first time since 1996. Tiffany Greer (women's long jump), Kelly MacDonald (women's 5,000m), Dwight Phillips (LJ) and the men's 4x100m relay are already automatically qualified. The Sun Devils also have nine men and nine women provisional entries.
Track & Field News
Track & Field News' John Auka and Jack Pheifer are posting updated predictions on the magazine's website for the Outdoor NCAA Championships. Although neither ASU men's or women's teams crack the top 10, a handful of individuals are listed as predictions for top-10 finishes. As of May 4, they include Dwight Phillips (LJ - 3rd, TJ - 7th), Tony Berrian (400m - 8th) and both relays (4x400 - 4th, 4x100 - 5th) for the men and Lisa Aguilera (1,500m - 7th), Kelly MacDonald (5,000m - 6th) and Tiffany Greer (LJ - 8th) for the women.
Into the Outdoor Recordbooks
Senior Erika Johnson broke a school record this past weekend at the May 6 Double Dual in Tucson, Ariz. Her second-place finish in the triple jump broke a 16-year-old school record. Johnson recorded a leap of 12.57 meters, or 41 feet, three inches, to top Anna Van's 1984 mark of 12.37 (40-7.25). But Johnson is not the only Devil to reach the top of school annals this season as two other records were broken on April 14 at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. Redshirt freshman Fasil Bizuneh broke a 31-year-old school record in the men's 10,000m run, posting a 29:13.61 to place 18th. His time was five seconds better than the mark Jerry Jobski posted for Arizona State in 1969. Bizuneh's mark also provisionally qualifies him for the NCAA Championships and his time was just seven seconds away from qualifying for the Olympic Trials. Junior Kelly MacDonald qualified for the NCAA Championships and the Olympic Trials with her 15:55.90 performance in the women's 5,000m. That time placed her 10th in the meet and broke Lynn Nelson's 1984 school standard by three seconds. MacDonald's record-setting performance was her third this season, as she also holds ASU record in the indoor 3,000 and 5,000 meter events.
Adrienne Judie (HT) Olivia Mazzaglia (PV), Marcus Brunson (100m) and Dwight Phillips (LJ) are current Sun Devils that also hold school records.
Head Coach Greg Kraft
Greg Kraft, ASU's eighth director of track & field and cross country, has tirelessly rebuilt the Sun Devils' program from probation to prosperity as he's in his fourth year as a Sun Devil. After spending his first two years at ASU rebuilding the program one event at a time, 1999 saw Kraft get some results. During the indoor season, ASU's men finished 11th and the women tied for 32nd at the NCAA Championships. Marcus Brunson (60 meters) and Dwight Phillips (Long Jump) were NCAA runners-up. Six indoor school records were broken. The outdoor season saw three school records fall while the men finished fifth in the Pac-10, just 0.5 points out of fourth place, and 18th at the NCAA Championships. Three conference crowns were won at the Pac-10 Championships. Kraft, 44, was introduced as ASU's head coach July 28, 1996, after spending seven years heading the track & field and cross country programs at the University of South Carolina where he was the 1996 SEC Coach of the Year. During Kraft's tenure at South Carolina, he rebuilt the men's program into a league power and built the women's program from scratch. Kraft also headed the men's program transition from the Metro Conference to the SEC. Kraft, a Cal Poly SLO graduate, is now entering his 20th year of Division I coaching and 11th as a head coach, has long been associated with successful track & field and cross country programs. As an assistant, Kraft tutored 34 All-Americans and individual conference champions while helping guide his schools to four conference championships and three NCAA Top 10 finishes.