Ezugha, Bethke named ASU Athletes of the Week

Women's track and field jumper Constance Ezugha has been named ASU's Female Athlete of the Week for the week ending February 20th. Her solid performance in the long-jump has placed her 8th overall (a jump of 6.26m) on ASU's all-time list. She passed last week's athlete of the week winner, Christabel Nettey, who now sits with the ninth best jump. The Sun Devils will send several athletes to Flagstaff once again next week as they will compete in the NAU Tune-up on Friday, February 19. One day later, the Sun Devil program will play host to the Diablo Relays at Sun Angel Stadium, which is an all-comers meet.

Ezugha won the long jump at the NAU Invitational in Flagstaff on Saturday with a mark of 6.26m (20-06.50), which placed her eighth on the school's all-time list and 13th in the NCAA so far this year. Her mark, which provisionally qualified her for the NCAA Indoor Championships next month, is the best in the nation among freshmen and makes her one of only two rookies to record a national qualifying mark (the other is her Sun Devil teammate, Christabel Nettey).

Men's track & field runner Brandon Bethke has been named ASU's Male Athlete of the Week for the week ending February 20th. In his track & field season debut, Bethke set a new-school record in the 3,000m run, with a time of 7:54.27. This is Brandon's third athlete of the week award on the season, having one two already in cross country. The Sun Devils will send several athletes to Flagstaff once again next week as they will compete in the NAU Tune-up on Friday, February 19. One day later, the Sun Devil program will play host to the Diablo Relays at Sun Angel Stadium, which is an all-comers meet.

Bethke ran his first individual indoor race for the Sun Devils on Saturday at the Husky Classic in Seattle and walked away with a time of 7:54.27, which automatically qualified him for the NCAA Indoor Championships next month in Arkansas. His time, which ranks as the sixth-best in the nation currently, is a school record, bettering the time of 7:54.31 that Todd Lewis recorded 19 years ago (1991).