April 30, 2006
TUCSON, Ariz. - The annual battle for state bragging rites was held Saturday in Tucson with the Arizona State University track and field team winning 18 of 38 events to sweep their rivals to the north in Northern Arizona while splitting with their southern rivals, Arizona. The women defeated NAU, 118-72, while the men defeated the Lumberjacks, 132-40. Against the Wildcats, the Sun Devil women prevailed, 113-80, while the men dropped a 116-86 decision.
The Sun Devil women captured victory in 11 of the 16 events contested, including a sweep of the three hurdle events. Jacquelyn Johnson won the 100m hurdles in 13.31, the fourth-fastest time in school history, while Latosha Wallace took gold in the 400m hurdles in 59.59. Anna Masinelli, the defending Pac-10 champion in the event, won the 3,000m steeplechase in 10:40.51. Also on the track, Christina Hardeman won the 400m dash in 53.73 and anchored the 4x400m relay of Bridgette Williams, Wallace and Johnson to a winning time of 3:36.19. Brooke Bennett won the 3,000m run in 9:53.37 to round out the track wins.
In the field, Sarah Stevens was a double winner as she secured victories in the shot put (16.82m) and the hammer (58.92m) while Jessica Pressley won the discus (54.44m) and Becky Holley won the javelin (42.73m). The final women's win came on the strength of a school record-tying performance in the pole vault as April Kubishta cleared 4.10m to tie Angela Tavlarides for the top spot.
For the men, Domenik Peterson put on an impressive performance as he had a hand in three wins. After winning the 100m dash (10.47) and the 200m dash (20.75), Peterson anchored the winning 4x400m relay of Jerry Jones, Chris Adams and Rich Allen to a time of 3:08.90. Jones also won the 400m dash (47.11) to give the Sun Devil men a sweep of the three short sprints (non-hurdle events). The final track victory came in the steeplechase as Ryan Warrenburg won with a time of 8:51.60. ASU managed just two wins in the field as Tomas Navarro won the hammer with a toss of 55.88m while Ryan Zimmerman captured the triple jump (15.66m).
In all, the Sun Devils combined to record 23 regional berths with 12 coming from the women and 11 from the men. The Sun Devils also swept four events on the day, including winning the 400m dashes, the 3,000m steeplechases, the 4x400m relays and the hammer throw.
The Sun Devils will open the championship portion of their season next weekend as the heptathlon and decathlon will be contested in Eugene, Ore., as part of the 2006 Pac-10 Track & Field Championships. After the multi-event meet is held May 6-7, the remaining events will be contested May 13-14.
2006 Double Dual Team Scores
Men:
Arizona State def. Northern Arizona, 132-40
Arizona def. Arizona State, 116-86
Women:
Arizona State def. Northern Arizona, 118-72
Arizona State def. Arizona, 113-80