April 18, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - A weekend of two separate meets came to a close Sunday with several members of the Arizona State track and field team turning in solid performances at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., while others excelled at the Long Beach State Invitational in Long Beach, Calif., Saturday night. In all, 10 athletes competed and brought home three regional qualfiying marks, five Pac-10 qualifying marks and two marks in the Top 10 of the all-time lists in ASU history.
At the Relays, Travis Jones led the charge as he won the men's open division of the shot put with a throw of 17.06m (55-11.75) to qualify for both championship meets at the end of the season. Also on the men's side, Trevell Quinley placed 11th in the long jump invitational with a jump of 7.06m (23-2.00).
The women also saw solid results and were led by the shot put throws of Julia Pedersen and Jennifer Kowacz. In the invitational portion of the shot, Kowacz finished 10th overall with a throw of 15.64m (51-3.75) and moved into fifth overall on the all-time Sun Devil lists. Pedersen, who one day earlier won the discus, placed third in the shot put open division with a throw of 15.39m (50-6.00). Her mark is the seventh-best in school history.
In the jumps, Tinishia Johnson placed 13th in the long jump invitational with a mark of 5.90m (19-4.25) while Porchea Carroll took 18th in the same event with a leap of 5.78m (18-11.75). Carroll also competed on the track and finished second in her heat and seventh overall in the 100m dash in a time of 11.80.
On Saturday night, four men traveled to the Long Beach meet and swept the Top 4 finishes in the 800m run. Dan Maher led the charge with a first-place finish at 1:51.69 while teammates Jeff Dodge (1:52.19), Greg Halver (1:52.25) and Jay DeGroot (1:52.88) finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the event that featured 40 runners.
The team will divide its ranks among three meets next week, starting with the prestigious Drake Relays, Thursday through Sunday, in Des Moines, Iowa. On Saturday and Sunday, Sun Devil student-athletes will compete at both the Oregon Invitational in Eugene, Ore., and at the UC San Diego Open in LaJolla, Calif.