ASU Track & Field Heads to Pac-10 Championships

MEET INFORMATION
Arizona State will send 56 student-athletes to Eugene to compete in the championships with 28 men taking part in the 76th annual event and 28 women competing in the 20th installment of the Pac-10 Championships. Live results can be found on goducks.com.

HIGHLY RANKED
In the latest national rankings released May 8, the Sun Devil women remained in the Top 10 as both Trackwire and the coaches' association have ASU ranked sixth.

MAKING POINTS
The heptathlon and decathlon events were completed last weekend with the Top 8 finishers earning points for their respective teams. On the women's side, Jacquelyn Johnson earned 10 points with her championship title to give Arizona State and early lead while both Washington State and Oregon sit second with nine points. Arizona (five), Stanford (four) and California (two) round out the women's scoring. Oregon leads the men's race with 11 points and is followed by Arizona (10), Arizona State (eight), Stanford (five), California (four) and Washington (one). ASU earned all eight points from Joshua Kinnaman's second-place finish in the decathlon.

2005 PAC-10 RECAP
The Arizona State men and women each finished third at the 2005 Pac-10 Championships held at Drake Stadium on the UCLA campus with the men scoring 122 points and the women posting 118. Oregon's men won the team crown with 152 points while Stanford's women ran away with the crown with 173 points. UCLA was the runner-up in both divisions. ASU's women won two events while the men were victorious in five events.

TAKE THREE
Jacquelyn Johnson continued to shine in the multi-events as she captured her fourth major title Sunday by winning her second Pac-10 heptathlon title with a personal best 5,987 points. The conference's champion in both 2004 and 2006, as well as the 2004 NCAA outdoor heptathlon and 2006 indoor pentathlon champion, recorded wins in five of the seven events to post the top mark in the nation this season while moving into No. 2 on the ASU all-time Top 10 and No. 4 on the Pac-10's all-time Top 10 ranks. Johnson, who missed the meet record by two points, won the crown with a 427-point margin over runner-up Julie Pickler of Washington State. Johnson also posted the fastest 100m hurdle time in a heptathlon event in ASU history at 13.49 while also qualifying for the NCAA regional meet in three events: 100m hurdles, high jump and javelin. Her javelin mark of 43.62m stands as the 10th-best in school history.

ON THE LIST
Jacquelyn Johnson became the sixth woman to win two or more heptathlon titles by securing her second over the weekend. She joins Wendy Brown of USC (1987-88), Tonya Sedwick of UCLA (1989, 1991), Kelly Blair of Oregon (1993-94) and Tracye Lawyer of Stanford (1997-99) as the only women to repeat as champions.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Following her second Pac-10 heptathlon title in as many tries, Jacquelyn Johnson was selected as the Pac-10 Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Week, the conference office announced Monday. The honor is the second of her career after earning the award following her first heptathlon crown in 2004.

SECOND AGAIN
While Jacquelyn Johnson won her second heptathlon title in as many tries, Joshua Kinnaman finished as the runner-up in the decathlon for the second time in as many tries. After taking runner-up honors in 2004 and redshirting last year, Kinnaman again placed second, scoring 7,207 points. He lead after the first day and through seven events, but could not maintain his advantage.

BACK FOR MORE GOLD
Arizona State is back to try and defend three men's titles and two women's crowns won last year in Los Angeles. For the men, Aaron Aguayo will look to win his third steeplechase title in a row while the sprinters will attempt to keep its streak of success going as they try to defend titles won in both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays with sprinters Steven Koehnemann (4x100m), Kelvin Love Jr. (4x100m) and Domenik Peterson (4x100m and 4x400m) set to tale the track once again in the relays. On the women's side, Anna Masinelli will look to retain her steeplechase title while the 4x400m relay will look for two in a row. Jacquelyn Johnson also is a returning champion of sorts after winning the high jump in 2004 before redshirting last year.

STEEPLE U.
In recent years, the 3,000m steeplechase has been a very successful event for the Sun Devils as the men's crown has stayed with Aaron Aguayo over the past two seasons while the women have combined to win all five races since the conference added it to the event list in 2001. Aguayo is just the sixth two-time champion in the event and if he successfully defends his crown, he will join Julius Korir of Washington State as the only man to win three titles in a row after securing the crown in 1983, 1984 and 1985.

GOING FOR SIX - PART ONE
The Sun Devil women will look to maintain their perfect record in the 3,000m steeplechase this weekend as the event has been won by an Arizona State runner in each of the five races the Pac-10 has offered. Anna Masinelli is back to try and make it six in a row for the Sun Devils after Kelly MacDonald (2001), Lisa Aguilera (2002, 2003), Amy Hastings (2004) and Masinelli (2005) won the first five races.

GOING FOR SIX - PART TWO
The women's steeplechase is not the only event the Sun Devils will look to capture their sixth title in a row as the men's 4x400m relay will try to remain as the dominant quartet on the track. Arizona State has won the past five races with their 2004 victory giving the Sun Devils the record for consecutive titles in the 4x400m relay at four. Last year, the quartet of Jason Barton, Seth Amoo, Domenik Peterson and Lewis Banda carried the baton to victory in 3:02.75 for the program's fifth win in a row. Including results of when the mile relay was contested (1960-75), UCLA holds the record streak at this distance as it won seven in a row, starting in 1968 and lasting through the 1974 meet.

JOHNSON JUMPING FOR REPEAT
Following her second conference heptathlon crown, Jacquelyn Johnson will look to repeat her success from the 2004 meet as she enters the high jump (among other events) this weekend. As a freshman, Johnson won the heptathlon and then came back one week later to capture the high jump crown. Johnson, only the second Sun Devil to win the event on the women's side, will now try to become just the fifth multiple champion in the high jump, joining Tanya Harris of Arizona (1991-93), Amy Acuff of UCLA (1994-97), ASU's Fiona Daly (1998-99) and Whitney Evans of Washington State (2001-03).

BREAK THROUGH?
Of the 21 events contested at the Pac-10 Championships, a Sun Devil student-athlete has yet to take first place in five men's events and six women's events. Those men's events include the 400m hurdles, 5,000m run, 10,000m run, the discus and the javelin while the women are in search of their first title in the 100m dash, pole vault, triple jump, shot put, hammer and javelin. The Sun Devils are in position to break through with Aaron Aguayo (first) and Ryan Warrenburg (second) holding the Top 2 times in the 5,000m run while Sarah Stevens (second) and Jessica Pressley (third) are among the favorites in the shot put. Stevens also ranks fifth in the hammer.

PAC-10 HISTORY - PART ONE
While individuals will be looking to win the school's first crown several events, the women will go in search of their first team championship while the men will fight for their second. The men, in just their third year as members of the Pac-10 Conference, scored 133 points at the 1981 meet in Palo Alto, Calif., to secure the program's lone Pac-10 team title with Oregon finishing second with 114 points. The men have been in the hunt in recent years, placing third in both 2004 and 2005, while the women have placed in the Top 4 each of the last four seasons, including third place last year.

PAC-10 HISTORY - PART TWO
ASU women have turned in impressive marks this season, both indoors and out. On the all-time Pac-10 lists, several of those marks have earned positions among the Top 10. In the field, Sarah Stevens recorded a toss of 17.91m (58-9.00) at the NCAA Indoor meet to record the third-best mark all-time before Jessica Pressley moved into the No. 10 spot with her toss of 17.19m (56-4.75). Stevens also is just off the Top 10 list in the hammer throw as her mark of 63.17m (207-3) ranks 11th overall. On the track, Amy Hastings has climbed into the Top 10 in two events as she now stands seventh on the 5,000m list (15:45.45) and is sixth in the 10,000m run (33:17.89). Victoria Jackson also has made the all-time list in the 10,000m run, ranking eighth all-time with a time of 33:20.58. Jacquelyn Johnson scored 5,987 points to win the heptathlon with her point total ranking fourth on the all-time list.

RECORD RUNNING
Several records have been broken this outdoor season with four coming on the women's side of action and two from the men. Victoria Jackson set the standard in the 5,000m run with her time of 15:49.03 while fellow distance runner Amy Hastings reset the bar in the 10,000m run at 33:17.89. In the field, Jessica Pressley broke her own mark with a toss of 17.19m (56-4.75) while April Kubishta tied Angela Tavlarides for the top mark in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.10m (13-5.25). The men's records come in the same event as Ryan Warrenburg ran 13:43.29 in the 5,000m event to break Aaron Aguayo's record. Aguayo reset the standard two weeks later by running 13:40.16.

TEMPE 5,000
The 5,000m run has become quite a successful event for the Sun Devil men and women this season with nine total athletes having earned regional qualifying marks in the event while setting a pair of school records. On the men's side, Velibor Radejovic (14:03.38), Joey Heller (14:06.07) and Casey Burchill (14:06.96) have all qualified for the regional meet with Aguayo running the ninth-fastest time in the nation this year. For the women, Victoria Jackson (15:49.03), Amy Hastings (15:52.06), Jenna Kingma (15:59.15) and Corey Randall (16:34.01) have made the regional with the first three ranking fifth, sixth and ninth, respectively, in the nation.

DANDY DOZEN
The Sun Devils have eight women and five men's marks appearing on the latest (May 8) Dandy Dozen with two women holding the top ranking in their respective events. Amy Hastings and Jacquelyn Johnson are ranked No. 1 in the 5,000m run and heptathlon, respectively, and have been since the start of the outdoor season. The Sun Devil's 4x400m relay is the highest ranked on the men's side, holding the No. 6 position this week.

NATIONALLY KNOWN
One men's and six women's marks currently rank in the Top 8 of the national order lists (as of May 8). For the men, the 4x400m relay of Jerry Jones, Chris Adams, Rich Allen and Domenik Peterson are ranked seventh. On the women's side, Jacquelyn Johnson ranks first in the heptathlon while Victoria Jackson (5,000m) and Jessica Pressley (shot put) each rank fifth. Other women ranked in the Top 8 include Amy Hastings, who is sixth in both the 5,000m and 10,000m events, and Pressley, who stands eighth in the discus.

INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN
Arizona State also has one current athlete on the World Top 20 list this week as Jacquelyn Johnson stands seventh overall in the heptathlon with a score of 5,987. Her total is the best among the three Americans making the list (updated May 8).

IN THE REGION
Arizona State has posted 35 women's marks and 29 men's marks that have qualified for either the regional or national meets with 11 of the women's and seven of the men's marks ranking among the Top 3 in the West. For the women, Amy Hastings (10,000m) and Jacquelyn Johnson (heptathlon) each hold the top marks in their respective events, both of which are not held at the regional level, to lead the way while the men have three leaders in Aaron Aguayo (5,000m run), Ryan Zimmerman (triple jump) and the 4x400m relay team of Jerry Jones, Chris Adams, Rich Allen and Domenik Peterson.

PAC LISTS
According to the latest Pac-10 Conference lists, the women hold 25 marks ranked in the Top 8 while the men hold 16 marks in the Top 8. Arizona State has three of the top marks in both the men's and women's meets with the men being led by Aaron Aguayo in the 5,000m run, Ryan Zimmerman in the triple jump and the 4x400m relay of Jerry Jones, Chris Adams, Rich Allen and Domenik Peterson. For the women, Amy Hastings in the conference leader in the 10,000m run while Brooke Bennett leads the way in the steeplechase. Jacquelyn Johnson holds the top mark in two events, having already won the heptathlon and standing tied for first in the high jump.

BUSY
Seven women and four men have qualified individually for the regional meet in three or more events so far this season. On the men's side, Domenik Peterson leads the way with qualifying marks in the 100m dash, 200m dash and 400m dash and also assisted the 4x100m and 4x400m relays in qualifying for the meet while Kelvin Love Jr., has made the meet in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m and 4x400m relays. For the women, Victoria Jackson has earned berths in the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m runs while Jacquelyn Johnson has posted marks in the 100m hurdles, the high jump, the 4x400m relay, the javelin and the heptathlon. In the field, both Sarah Stevens and Jessica Pressley each have earned berths in the hammer, shot put and discus events.

DUAL RECAP
The Sun Devil women defeated their intrastate rivals Arizona and Northern Arizona at the annual Double Dual over the weekend in Tucson while the men split, defeating the Lumberjacks but falling to the Wildcats. Against NAU, the women won, 118-72, while the men were victorious, 132-40. The women downed the Wildcats, 113-80, while the men fell, 116-86, their first loss to UA in the last six tries.

ALL-AMERICAN LIST
In the history of the women's track & field/cross country program, Amy Hastings has earned the eighth-most All-America honors with six after capturing three in indoor track and field and three in cross country (the only Sun Devil to do so). Jacquelyn Johnson is tied for 17th with a handful of others after earning her third career accolade (two indoor, one outdoor).

BROKEN RECORDS
During the indoor season, five school records were broken with four coming from the women's side of competition. April Kubishta opened the year by breaking the record in the pole vault and has reset the mark on three occasions this season while fellow field event competitors Sarah Stevens (shot put) and Jessica Pressley (weight throw) have taken over the top spot in their respective events. Stevens' mark broke a 23 year-old record while Pressley's topped the mark set in 2001. The other two records came from Amy Hastings in the 5,000m run and Ryan Warrenburg in the 3,000m run. Outdoors, Hastings reset her own 10,000m run mark at the Stanford Invitational (March 31).

OLD MARK BROKEN
Leslie Deniz set the school record in the women's indoor shot put with a heave of 17.03m back in 1983. Three years later, current Sun Devil thrower Sarah Stevens was born. Twenty years after her birth, Stevens bumped Deniz' mark to the No. 2 position after winning the Air Force Invitational with a toss of 17.52m and breaking the 23 year-old record. Deniz' mark also fell during the last outdoor season as Jessica Pressley recorded a toss of 17.05m to break the 22 year-old mark of 17.03m.

BRONZE
The women's track and field/cross country program has been hot this academic year as the cross country team finished fourth at the NCAA Championships to claim the first trophy for the women's program. Last weekend, the women made history again by finishing third overall at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. That finish was better than the 1991 team's tie for fourth place.

GOLD
Although the team finished with the bronze medal in the team standings, two individual Sun Devil women won gold in the respective events to claim the program's first national titles since the 1992 indoor season. Amy Hastings won the individual title in the 5,000m run on the first day of the meet before Jacquelyn Johnson took home the title in the pentathlon.

MORE ON THE GOLD
The titles won by Amy Hastings and Jacquelyn Johnson marked the first time in program history that a national title in an indoor distance event and an indoor multi-event had been captured. Hastings' crown is the second distance title ever and the first since 1959 when Alex Henderson won the school's first NCAA title by taking the men's two mile run. The multi-event crown had been won three other times in school history with Dana Collins winning the outdoor pentathlon in 1977 (the first women's national title) before Gea Johnson in 1990 and Jacquelyn Johnson in 2004 won the outdoor heptathlon. All told, the women have now won seven individual and one relay national title indoors while adding 10 individual and three relay crowns outdoor. The men, despite not having won an indoor title, have collected 13 individual and one relay national championship, as well as the 1977 team title.

ALL-AMERICANS
Eight Sun Devils earned All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships, including six women and both men's entrants. For the women, Jacquelyn Johnson (pentathlon), Amy Hastings (5,000m), Victoria Jackson (5,000m), Jenna Kingma (3,000m), Sarah Stevens (shot put) and Stephanie Garnett (weight throw) all attained the honor while Joshua Kinnaman (heptathlon) and Ryan Zimmerman (triple jump).

NEXT TIME OUT
The Sun Devils will have one weekend off from championship competition as several members of the team will likely head south to Tucson for the Tucson Elite Classic next Saturday. Then, on May 26-27, the team heads to Provo, Utah, and BYU for the 2006 NCAA West Region Championships.