Sept. 28, 2002
Griak Results Canyon West Results
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State cross country program competed in two events Saturday with stellar results. In Minneapolis, Minn., the No. 19 women finished second and the No. 14 men took ninth while running at the Roy Griak Invitational, one of the largest cross country races held annually at the University of Minnesota. The student-athletes not making the trip to the Land of 10,000 Lakes participated at the Canyon West Classic, held at Kiwanis Park in Tempe. The women's 'B' team captured the team title with the men, though not enough to count for a team, placing its three runners in the Top 20 individually.
"We wanted a Top 10 finish in both the men's and women's races at the Griak today and were able to reach that goal," Walt Drenth, ASU head coach, said. "We also wanted to earn points toward attaining an at-large bid into the NCAA meet and I think we did so by beating some very competitive teams. We placed higher than several teams that will be at the national meet and that was with both of our teams not at full strength yet. I am very pleased with all of our performances today."
In Minnesota, the women ran a tough race to finish second behind No. 9 Michigan State, 72-107. After winning the team event a year ago, the women still managed to defeat nationally ranked teams such as No. 13 Providence (third, 112) and No. 14 Marquette (fourth, 149). Jessica Scalzo (Fr., Snoqualmie, Wash./Mt. Si) was the top finisher for the Sun Devils with a fourth-place time of 21:12.2. Amy Hastings (Fr., Leavenworth, Kan./Leavenworth), Liz Lindgren (Fr./Klamath Falls, Ore./Klamath Union), Desiree Davila (So., Chula Vista, Calif./Hilltop), and Jessie McLaughlin (Fr., Olympia, Wash./Olympia) rounded out the scoring for ASU.
In the men's race, No. 9 Oregon won the team title with 96 points while the Sun Devils captured ninth (280). Individually, two-time All-American Fasil Bizuneh (Sr., Indianapolis/Ben Davis) led the way with a 12th-place finish (24:45.3). Sophomore JJ Duke (Clovis, Calif./Clovis) and freshmen Aaron Aguayo (Phoenix/Mountain Point), Derek Pisel (Glendale, Ariz./Mountain Ridge) and Ryan Warrenburg (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) rounded out the Sun Devil Top 5.
Locally, Jenna Wrieden (Fr., Glendale, Ariz./Mountain Ridge) led the women to the Canyon West team title with her fourth-place time of 18:52 in the 5k circuit. Penny Jacobson (So., Scottsdale, Ariz./Villanova), eighth, Lisa Pohlit (Jr., Tempe/Williamette Univ.), 11th, Megan Laib (Jr., Phoenix/Paradise Valley CC), 12th, and Morgan Stanton (Jr., Willcox, Ariz./Paradise Valley CC), 16th, helped ASU record 51 points to finish ahead of second place Central Arizona College's 101 points. Three men ran the 8K race at Kiwanis with Griffin Lee (Fr., Shawnee, Kan./Mill Valley) leading the charge in eighth place. Mike Peditto (Sr./Wallingford, Pa./Florida), 18th, and Jeremy Cramer (Fr., Boise, Idaho/Capital), 20th, also ran in the event.
The Sun Devils return to action in two weeks at Kiwanis Park for the Arizona State Invitational. The women's race starts at 4:45 p.m. Oct. 11 with the men's race following at 5:15 p.m.