Six Sun Devils set to compete in Pac-10 Multis
Sun Devil Meet Notes, Top Marks and Records (pdf) | Pac-10 Championships Page (via UA)
The championship portion of the 2011 outdoor season will get underway this weekend at Roy P. Drachman Stadium in Tucson as six members of the Arizona State University track and field program will travel south to compete in the Pac-10 Conference Multi-Event Championships hosted by Arizona on Friday and Saturday. The women’s seven-event heptathlon and men’s 10-event decathlon will be conducted this weekend with the Top 8 finishers in each event earning points toward the team crown that will be decided next weekend with the remaining events of the Conference event.
WHO’S IN?
The Sun Devils will send three women and three men to Tucson this weekend to compete in the multi-events, including five that competed in the event last year and one newcomer. On the women’s side, Keia Pinnick and Samantha Henderson return to the heptathlon, currently ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the event while Christabel Nettey will join them in her first-ever heptathlon competition, stepping out of her normal events of the 100m hurdles and long jump. On the men’s side, Jamie Sandys (No. 5), Jeremy Marcinko (No. 8) and Austin Prince (No. 12) all return to compete in the decathlon this weekend.
LOOKING BACK: 2010 MULTIS
In Berkeley, Calif., last year, the Sun Devils sent five individuals to compete in the multis with three scoring points for the team, including both women. In the heptathlon, then-rookie Keia Pinnick scored 5,219 points to finish third overall while Samantha Henderson finished fourth overall with 5,126 points. In the decathlon, Jamie Sandys scored a then-career best 6,909 points to place fifth overall while Austin Prince was ninth (6,515 points) and Jeremy Marcinko 10th (6,395 points).
BY THE NUMBERS: FIELD SIZE
The Sun Devil women will be three of 14 competitors in the heptathlon this weekend while the Arizona State men will comprise three of the 15 entrants in the decathlon. On the women’s side of things, six of the 14 entrants competed in the heptathlon in 2010, including five of the Top 8 finishers. In the men’s decathlon, nearly half of this year’s field competed last year with seven of the 15 entrants placing in the Top 11 in 2010, including four in the Top 8.
THE STAKES
This weekend’s multi-event competition is part of the Pac-10 Track & Field Championships as the heptathlon and decathlon are just two of the events that are scored to determine a team champion. The events are the first individual champions crowned this outdoor season on the conference level with the winner earning 10 points for his/her team with points also being earned by the Top 8 finishers.
WEEKLY HONORS
For the second week in a row, Ryan Milus was honored by the Sun Devil Athletic Department for his outstanding performances on the track last week, this time being selected the Silver Pitchfork recipient. Milus again had the speed as he was in on a trio of wins by sweeping the 100m and 200m dashes for the second week in a row and bringing home the baton in the 4x100m victory to help the No. 25 Sun Devils upset No. 9 Arizona (113-79) and also defeat Northern Arizona (127-60) in the annual Double Dual in Tempe. Individually, Milus clocked in at 10.27 to win the 100m dash, posting the second-best time in Dual history and the seventh-best time in ASU history, before running 21.03 to take the 200m dash. He opened the day with Daniel Auberry, Allante Battle and Justin Freeman to run 40.12 and take the 4x100m relay title.
BREAKING OUT THE BROOMS: DOUBLE DUAL SWEEP
Last weekend, the Sun Devils played host to the annual Double Dual in Tempe and swept their intrastate rivals Arizona and Northern Arizona with Arizona State winning 22 of the 38 contested events, including 12 on the women’s side and 10 on the men’s. The No. 10 Sun Devil women scored a 104.5-94.5 defeat over No. 7 Arizona and a 138-52 victory over the Lumberjacks while the No. 25 ASU men downed the No. 9 Wildcats, 113-79, as well as NAU, 127-60.
LEADING THE WAY: WOMEN
In the sweep for the Sun Devil women, senior Jasmine Chaney again led the charge as she captured two individual events and anchored both relays to victories. Individually, Chaney won the 100m hurdles in 13.33 and then took the 400m hurdles in 57.59. At the start of the meet, Chaney was the anchor leg of the winning 4x100m relay of Asia Gooden, Kayla Sanchez and Alycia Herring, who ran 44.46, the ninth-fastest time in school history. In the final event, the 4x400m relay, the team of Herring, Keia Pinnick, Sanchez and Chaney combined to run 3:35.55 to give Chaney four wins as she held off UA over the last 100m after getting the baton in second place overall in the race.
LEADING THE WAY: MEN
Along with Ryan Milus (see Weekly Honors), two other men won a pair of events in the sprints to help the men to team victories as well. Allante Battle was a member of the victorious relays as he was the second leg on both the winning 4x100m relay in 40.12 and the 4x400m relay in 3:09.85. The other Sun Devil to win a pair of events was Kelsey Caesar, who was a member of the winning mile relay as well as taking the open quarter with a season-best time of 46.29. In that race, he held off William Henry, who ran 46.62 to take second before running the anchor of the 4x400m.
WATCH OUT FOR JELMINI
On April 5, the Bowerman Award committee added freshman Anna Jelmini to its watch list, making her one of 10 women the committee is keeping its eye on this season for the award given annually to the top male and top female collegiate track and field competitors. Jelmini, the national leader in the discus and sixth-ranked in the shot put, is the only freshman on the list with also includes two sophomores, one junior and six seniors. Jelmini also is one of three Pac-10 competitors on the list. Last year, Ryan Whiting was one of three men’s finalists for the Bowerman.
TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADERS
Heading into this weekend’s action, Anna Jelmini remains as the NCAA leader in the discus as she threw 60.54m at the UCSD Triton Invitational over the weekend to extend her lead by several inches.
NATIONAL TOP 10
Two men’s marks and six women’s marks (including Jelmini in the discus) currently rank in the Top 10 nationally, according to the latest order lists. For the women, Jelmini not only leads the discus, but ranks No. 7 in the shot put (17.24m) while Jasmine Chaney (56.61) stands fourth in the 400m hurdles and is part of the No. 10 4x400m relay with Keia Pinnick, Alycia Herring and Kayla Sanchez. Pinnick (5,455) and Samantha Henderson (5,424) currently stand eighth and 10th, respectively, in the heptathlon. For the men, Ryan Milus is now No. 5 in the 100m dash (10.07w) while Jordan Clarke is No. 7 in the shot put (18.81m).
THREE UNDER
At the Mt. SAC Relays, the Sun Devil women’s intermediate hurdle crew swept the Top 3 places in the event with Jasmine Chaney winning in 57.71 while Kayla Sanchez was second (57.76) and Keia Pinnick third (57.97). The times for Sanchez and Pinnick rank sixth and seventh, respectively, in ASU history. With those times, ASU is now the only school with three women to run under 58-seconds in the event so far this year, surpassing the two turned in by Texas.
ON THE LIST: WORLD TOP 20
Counting current and former Sun Devils, three men and six women are currently ranked in the Top 20 internationally, including two current women. Jasmine Chaney’s time of 56.61 in the 400m hurdles ranks her ninth in the world while Anna Jelmini stands 13th in the discus at 60.54m. The remaining Sun Devils on the list include Charonda Williams (6th at 22.85) in the 200m dash; Desiree Davila (5th at 2:22:38) in the marathon; Lisa Aguilera (4th at 9:52.24) in the steeplechase; and Sarah Stevens-Walker (10th at 18.09m) in the shot put. The men on the list right now are Kyle Alcorn (3rd at 8:23.27) in the steeplechase; Ryan Whiting (7th at 20.70m) in the shot put and Brandon Bethke (9th at 13:25.82) at 5,000m.
ON THE LIST: WORLD JUNIOR TOP 20
Currently, the Sun Devils have three individuals that are ranked among the Top 20 in the world in the junior division (can’t turn 20 before December 31, 2011) as well, including two women and one man. For the women, Alycia Herring ranks No. 7 in the long jump with her leap of 6.25m while Shaylah Simpson stands seventh in the pole vault with her clearance of 4.02m. On the men’s side, William Henry is currently ranked among the Top 20 in a pair of events, including 13th in the 400m dash (46.76) and tied for 20th in the 200m dash (21.15).
LEADERS OF THE PAC(-10)
Four marks earned by Sun Devils currently are the best among Pac-10 competitors, including two each by the men and women. For the men, Ryan Milus’ wind-aided time of 10.07 in the 100m dash put him in the lead while Jordan Clarke remained the leader in the shot put at 18.81m. For the women, Anna Jelmini continues to lead the discus with her toss of 60.54m while Jasmine Chaney also is tops in the 400m hurdles (56.61).
OFF THE CHANEY
When looking over the Pac-10 Top 10 lists, one name continues to appear on the women’s ledgers and that name is Jasmine Chaney. Currently, Chaney is ranked in the Top 4 in four individual events and is part of both relays as well. Individually, Chaney is second in the 400m hurdles (56.61) while sitting third in the 400m dash (53.37) and fourth in both the 100m hurdles (13.18) and 200m dash (23.16). The Sun Devil 4x400m relay (3:33.22) ranks second while the 4x100m relay (44.53) is third, both with Chaney as the anchor leg.
CLARKE LEADING THE WAY
On the men’s side of things, Clarke is the only Sun Devil ranked in the Top 5 in more than one individual event as he is ranked highly in all three weight events. Clarke leads the Pac-10 in the shot put at 18.81m and is third in the discus at 56.66m. He also is fifth in the hammer at 62.00m.
MILUS STEPPING UP
In his first outdoor season in uniform for the Sun Devils, Ryan Milus is starting to make a name for himself as his performance at the Sun Devil Open pushed him into the Top 3 of two individuals sprints. With his time of 10.07, Milus now leads the Pac-10 in the 100m dash while standing third in the 200m dash in 20.91. Earlier in the season, he helped the 4x100m relay to a time of 40.18, which still ranks second in the Pac-10.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Pac-10 Championships continue next weekend in Tucson with the remaining events taking place on Friday and Saturday on the Arizona campus.