June 9, 2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - On a picture perfect day in Sacramento, Calif., the Arizona State University women's track and field team captured its first outdoor national title and its second national team crown of the year as the Sun Devils accumulated 60 points to beat out runner-up LSU (53) at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Alex G. Spanos Athletic Complex on the Sacramento State campus. On the day, six different women and one man earned All-America accolades with Jessica Pressley capturing the shot put competition to put the team over the top in the points race.
The victory for the Sun Devils makes them just the third women's program in NCAA history and also marks just the 13th time in NCAA women's history that a team has won both the indoor and outdoor team titles in the same year. The first team to do so since 2003, ASU joins LSU and Texas as the programs to hold the distinction as the other programs have done so nine and three times, respectively.
Heading into the day with a slight lead over LSU, the Sun Devils opened with Latosha Wallace clocking a personal-best and second-best in school history time of 56.35 to finish fourth and give the team five points. From there, all eyes turned to the shot put ring with both Pressley and Sarah Stevens in the competition. With both advancing to the finals, Pressley hit a mark of 18.00m (59-00.75) to move into first place after five throws while Stevens moved up to third with her toss of 17.40m (57-01.00). Both women earned All-America honors while their combined 16 team points all but sealed the victory for the team.
At the same time, Ryan Whiting, the lone male competitor on the day for ASU, competed in the men's shot put and placed fourth overall with a mark of 19.38m (63-07.00) to garner All-America honors and bring ASU's point total to 13. Florida State won the men's title with 54 points and was followed by LSU (48). The Sun Devils tied for 22nd.
In the final event of the day and the team title secured, the 4x400m relay of Bridgette Williams, Shauntel Elcock, Jordan Durham and Wallace took to the track and ran 3:35.96 to finish in eighth place and earn All-America honors. The accolade was the second of the day for Wallace and the first for the other three women in the event.
All told, the Sun Devil women had three NCAA champions in the meet with Pressley taking the shot put on Saturday after both Jacquelyn Johnson (heptathlon) and April Kubishta (pole vault) won their events Friday. For the women, 10 different student-athletes attained All-America honors, including Johnson, Stevens, Pressley, Kubishta, Stevens (twice), Wallace (twice), Durham, Elcock, Williams and Amy Hastings (10,000m run). On the men's side, Aaron Aguayo and Kyle Alcorn earned the accolade in the 3,000m steeplechase while Whiting earned the honor in the shot put.
The women's title comes to Tempe 30 years after the men won the crown under the guidence of Senon "Baldy" Castillo at the meet held in Champaign, Ill. The crown for the women also gives them a clean sweep of all championships they contested this year, which includes (in order) the 2007 MPSF Indoor Championship, the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championship, the 2007 Pac-10 Championship, the 2007 NCAA West Region Championship and the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championship. All told during that span, five individual national titles were won this year with Johnson (pentathlon) and Stevens (shot put) claiming titles indoors.
2007 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Day Four Results for Arizona State
Women's Events
400m Hurdles - Final
4. Latosha Wallace - 56.35 - All-American
Shot Put - Final
1. Jessica Pressley - 18.00m (59-00.75) - NCAA Champion and All-American
3. Sarah Stevens - 17.40m (57-01.00) - All-American
4x400m Relay - Final
B. Williams, S. Elcock, J. Durham, L. Wallace
8. Arizona State - 3:35.96 - All-Americans
Men's Events
Shot Put - Final
4. Ryan Whiting - 19.38m (63-07.00) - All-American
Final Women's Team Scores
1. Arizona State - 60
2. LSU - 53
3. Michigan - 36
4. Texas A&M - 34
5. UCLA - 30
Final Men's Team Scoring
1. Florida State - 54
2. LSU - 48
3. Auburn - 34
4. Tennessee - 30.5
5. USC - 27
T22. Arizona State - 13