Former Devils set to compete at IAAF World Championships

Video Links: Chaney & Coach McDaniel | Stevens-Walker & Coach Dumble

The IAAF World Championships in Athletics will take place August 27 through September 4 in Daegu, Korea, where six former Arizona State University track and field standouts will compete for world titles as members of Team USA. The biannual event, which features some of the best athletes in the world, will be the largest international athletics competition ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.

Team USA will have six former Sun Devils on its squad, including three men and three women. The men’s entries will come from Dwight Phillips (long jump), who is the defending world champion, Trevell Quinley (long jump) and Ryan Whiting (shot put) while the women’s entries including Jasmine Chaney (400m hurdles), Amy Hastings (5,000m run) and Sarah Stevens-Walker (shot put). The four field-event athletes will open their competitions with qualification rounds with the Top 12 advancing to the finals that will be held two days later. On the track, Chaney would need to advance from the heats and semifinals to reach the final while Hastings, similar to the field events, will need to run in the heats in order to advance to the finals.

Chaney and Whiting will both be making their Team USA debuts at the World Championships this week while the remaining four have competed at this level before. Phillips will compete in the long jump for the sixth time in his career after winning gold in 2003, 2005 and 2009 (bronze in 2007) with all six competitions coming in the outdoor meet. Quinley will join him in the same event as he will jump in his fourth World meet, including his second outdoor meet. The last time he competed in the outdoor meet came in 2007 when he finished 10th.

Stevens-Walker is set to make her second appearance at the outdoor meet and second overall after she competed in the 2007 event. That year, she placed 22nd in the shot put. Hastings, while no stranger to Team USA events on the world stage, will be making her outdoor track and field debut for the American side. Previously, Hastings competed in the 2010 World Cross Country Championships, the 2009 World Half-Marathon Championships and the 2008 World Cross Country Championships.

Although the meet spans nine days, the Sun Devils entered into the competition all will compete in a six-day block, starting on Sunday, August 28, with Stevens-Walker in the qualification round of the women’s shot put. On Monday, August 29, Stevens-Walker will compete in the final of the shot put if she qualifies from the previous day while Chaney will step onto the track for the heats of the 400m hurdles. Tuesday, August 30, could see two women on the track with Hastings running in the heats of the 5,000m run and Chaney possibly running in the 400m hurdles semifinal.

Thursday, September 1, could be the start of two busy days for the former Sun Devils as both Phillips and Quinley open the long jump competition in the qualification rounds, Whiting does the same in the shot put and Chaney, if she continues to advance, would run in the final of the 400m hurdles. Friday, September 2, will mark the final day a Sun Devil is slated to compete and is based upon advancement from the earlier rounds. If all advance, four Sun Devils would battle for medals in three events, including Hastings in the final of the 5,000m run, Phillips and Quinley in the long jump final and Whiting in the shot put final.

Several of the Sun Devils are currently ranked among the Top 20 in the world heading into the meet, including Whiting, Chaney and Quinley. Whiting’s mark of 21.76m stands as the No. 6 mark in the shot put while Chaney’s time of 55.22 (a school record) is the No. 15 mark in the world. Quinley enters the meet ranked No. 18 in the long jump with his 8.21m leap this year.

Along with Chaney, Stevens-Walker (Sun Angel) and Phillips (Sun Devil Open), 22 other athletes that are entered into the World Championships for their nations competed in meets hosted by ASU at Sun Angel Stadium this past outdoor season. The countries represented include athletes from Barbados, Canada, Great Britain, Jamaica, Malawi, Mexico and the U.S. Included in that group are three women and one man that currently rank among the Top 20 in the world. Kenia Sinclair, who will run in the 800m event for Jamaica in Daegu, set ASU’s stadium record in the 1,500m run (4:12.57) at the Sun Angel Classic, the same meet in which a pair of U.S. athletes also competed that rank in the Top 20. Those women include Suzy Powell-Roos in the discus (No. 16 at 63.28m) and Jessica Cosby in the hammer (No. 10 at 72.65m). Jarrin Soloman, who ran the 400m dash at the ASU Invite, is part of Trinidad & Tobago’s No. 4-ranked 4x400m relay squad that ran 3:01.65 recently (he was the second leg).

For more information on the Championships, visit the official IAAF site (http://daegu2011.iaaf.org/Home.aspx).

Confirmed List of Sun Devils to Compete in IAAF World Championships (Daegu, South Korea)
Team USA - Men
Dwight Phillips (Nike) - Long Jump - 6th appearance at Worlds (6th outdoors)
Trevell Quinley (Nike) - Long Jump - 4th appearance at Worlds (2nd outdoors)
Ryan Whiting (Nike) - Shot Put - 1st appearance at Worlds (1st outdoors)

Team USA - Women
Jasmine Chaney (ASU) - 400m Hurdles - 1st appearance at Worlds (1st outdoors)
Amy Hastings (Brooks) - 5,000m Run - 4th appearance at Worlds (1st in outdoor T&F)
Sarah Stevens-Walker (Shore AC) - Shot Put - 2nd appearance at Worlds (2nd outdoors)

Schedule of Events for the Sun Devils in Daegu
Sunday, August 28
Sarah Stevens-Walker • women’s shot put (qualification)

Monday, August 29
Jasmine Chaney • women’s 400m hurdles (heats)
Sarah Stevens-Walker • women’s shot put (final)

Tuesday, August 30
Jasmine Chaney • women’s 400m hurdles (semifinal)
Amy Hastings • women’s 5,000m run (heats)

Thursday, September 1
Jasmine Chaney • women’s 400m hurdles (final)
Dwight Phillips • men’s long jump (qualification)
Trevell Quinley • men’s long jump (qualification)
Ryan Whiting • men’s shot put (qualification)

Friday, September 2
Amy Hastings • women’s 5,000m run (final)
Dwight Phillips • men’s long jump (final)
Trevell Quinley • men’s long jump (final)
Ryan Whiting • men’s shot put (final)