McKenna, Whitting named ASU Athletes of the Week
<p>The eighteenth-ranked women's tennis team was led this past weekend by <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/mckenna_kelcy00.html">… McKenna</a> who has been named ASU's Female Athlete of the Week for the week ending March 20th. Her performances for the weekend included a 3-0 record in singles matches and 2-1 in doubles matches. ASU will face BYU and Louisville this week.</p><separator></separator><p>All-American <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/mckenna_kelcy00.html">… McKenna's</a> thrilling match-clincher against No. 22 Danielle Lao gave the Sun Devils a 4-3 upset win over No. 13 USC, which highlighted the junior's successful weekend. With the match tied at 3-3, it was down to the outcome of court three featuring All-American <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/mckenna_kelcy00.html">… McKenna</a> and 22nd ranked Danielle Lao. McKenna emerged from the intense competition victorious to help the Sun Devils improve to 9-2.</p><separator></separator><p>Additionally, McKenna won in straight sets in her other two matches this week. She was nearly flawless against Memphis' Marjorie Ondeck, topping the Tiger 6-1, 6-0. She also picked up a 6-3, 6-3 Pac-10 victory over Oregon's Pavlina Smatova. In doubles, McKenna paired up with freshman <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/james_hannah00.html">H… James</a> to earn an 8-1 victory against Memphis. She switched partners for the weekend, teaming up with fellow junior <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/brown_ashlee00.html">A… Brown</a>. The duo won against Oregon and dropped a tight match to USC's Lao and Alison Ramos.</p><separator></separator><p><!-- LINKS TO RELATED PAGES BEGIN --> <!-- LINKS TO RELATED PAGES END --></p><separator></separator><p>Men's track & field thrower <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/c-track/mtt/whiting_ryan00.html">Ry… Whiting</a> 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.</p><separator></separator><p>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.<!-- STORY AD BEGINS HERE --></p><separator></separator><!-- STORY AD BEGINS HERE --></p>