April 11, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - The 25th running of the Sun Angel Classic presented by Coca-Cola came to a close Saturday night after a day that saw an American record fall, as well as some rain, and another strong showing from the Arizona State track and field team Saturday at Sun Angel Stadium. Even with a 43 minute rain delay prior to the running events, the venue showcased 27 regional qualifiers (17 men and 10 women) and 27 Pac-10 qualifiers (13 men and 14 women).
Overall, the Sun Devil men picked up four victories with wins in both relays as well as one field and one track victory on the individual front. The relay of Steven Koehnemann, Domenik Peterson, Seth Amoo and Lewis Banda clocked a 39.40 to win the 4x100m relay while Peterson, Amoo and Lewis joined Jason Barton in the 4x400m relay. Their time of 3:03.97 took the gold in the event. Individually, Trevell Quinely won the high jump for the second home meet in a row as he again cleared 2.15m (7-00.50). Peterson closed out the wins with his top finish in the 200m at 20.62, the eighth-fastest time in school history.
On the women's side, the 4x400m relay clocked a 3:36.91 to win the event while Angela Tavlarides cleared 3.75m (12-03.50) to claim victory in the pole vault. Her clearance improves upon the school record she set twice this season while also eclipsing a milestone: she became the first Sun Devil woman to clear 12 feet.
In the showdown of the evening, the men's 400m race did not disappoint as the Top 3 finishers clocked the fastest times in the collegiate ranks this season to lead the way as 11 athletes earned regional qualifying marks. Jeremy Wariner of Baylor, the 2004 NCAA Indoor Champion at 400m, won the race at 45.21, just edging ASU's Banda who took second at 45.23. Barton took third at 45.67 while Florida's Reggie Witherspoon rounded out the athletes that ran a sub-46.00 time (45.73) to take fourth.
For the meet, the men finished first four times while placing second four times and third twice. The women added two runner-up finishes to their two wins while capturing four third-place finishes.
Erin Gilreath of the New York Athletic Club got the meet off on a strong start as she took her first toss of the hammer to 72.12m (236-7) to establish the American record in the event. After placing fourth at the Sun Angel a year ago, Gilreath's mark bested the 71.33m set last year by Anna Norgen-Mahon. The record also is the standard for Sun Angel Stadium and the annual meet.
The Sun Devils return to action next Saturday in their final home meet of the season as they play host to the 2004 Sun Angel Classic presented by Coca-Cola inside Sun Angel Stadium Saturday, April 10.