Nov. 2, 2002
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State women's cross country team finished second at the Pac-10 Championships Saturday at Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena, Calif., its highest finish in the conference meet since 2000 while the men claimed third place, its second Top 3 finish in two years. Freshman Jessica Scalzo (Snoqualmie, Wash.) finished the 6,000m women's race in sixth place to pace the women to 59 points, the lowest team total in the history of the program, surpassing the old record of 62 established in 2000. Stanford won the team title with 23 points. On the men's side, senior two-time All-American Fasil Bizuneh (Indianapolis, Ind.) crossed the line in 10th as the men posted 85 points to finish behind Stanford (19) and Oregon (51).
Scalzo's finish marked the fifth-consecutive year a Sun Devil woman has placed in the Top 10 and only the seventh time in the 17 runnings of the women's championship. By placing in the Top 6, Scalzo also claimed first-team all-conference honors. Teammates Amy Hastings (Leavenworth, Kan.), a freshman, and Desiree Davila (Chula Vista, Calif.), a senior, finished the circuit in 10th and 12th place, respectively, to earn second team honors. Junior Cynthia Atencio (Richland, Wash.), 15th place, and freshman Liz Lindgren (Klamath Falls, Ore.), 16th, rounded out the scoring for the Sun Devils. Anna Masinelli (Scottsdale, Ariz.), 21st, Cody Sohn (Carmel, Ind.), 23rd, Mandi Fitz-Gustafson (The Dalles, Ore.), 39th, Jenna Wrieden (Glendale, Ariz), 41st, and Jessie McLaughlin (Olympia, Wash.), 51st, also ran in the race for ASU.
Bizuneh led the team for the third time in his four-year career in Tempe with a 10th-place finish and second-team all-conference honors. Sophomore JJ Duke (Clovis, Calif.), the 2001 Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year, came in 13th with freshman Aaron Aguayo (Phoenix, Ariz.) rounding out ASU's Top 20 finishers in 16th. Freshman Ryan Warrenburg (Franklin, Ind.), 25th, and senior Ronnie Buchanan (Santa Maria, Calif.), 28th, closed out the scoring for the Sun Devil men. Also competing in the men's 8,000m race were Kris Alexander (Franklin, Ind.), 34th, Dan Maher (Tucson, Ariz.), 41st, Jeremy Rasmussen (Glendale, Ariz.), 47th, Roger Cahill (Glendale, Ariz.), 55th, and Derek Pisel (Glendale, Ariz.), 56th.
Prior to the start of the championships, the conference ran an open race with both men and women competing at the same time. The women ran the standard 6,000m course while the men ran the 8,000m circuit. Six Sun Devils competed in the open race with two women, Joanie Baca (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Morgan Stanton (Willcox, Ariz.) finishing 15th and 16th, respectively. For the men, Griffin Lee (Shawnee, Kan.), 47th, Jeremy Cramer (Boise, Idaho), 49th, Anthony Santa Cruz (Tempe, Ariz.), 65th, and Mike Peditto (Wallingford, Pa.), 67th, all completed the race.
The Sun Devils will have a week off before heading to Stanford (Nov. 16) for the NCAA West Region Championships. The Top 2 teams and 15 individuals automatically advance to the NCAA Championships (Nov. 25). Those teams and individuals not meeting the set regional standards will have a chance to advance as the NCAA will make at large selections prior to the national event.