March 28, 2008
TEMPE, Ariz. - The first day of the Arizona State University Invitational came to a close Friday night with five members of the ASU track and field team earning placement on the program's all-time Top 10 list while four of those Sun Devils earned a place in the regional meet later this season. One of the competitors, Jessica Pressley, won the women's event while also tossing a mark that landed her on the all-time Top 10 list in the Pac-10 Conference.
Pressley hit a mark of 64.92m (213-00) to win the meet by seven feet and improve her No. 2 standing in ASU history. Her mark also is the 10th-best in the history of the Pac-10 Conference. Teammate and fellow senior Tai Battle placed third in the hammer as she became the third ASU woman to break 200-feet, hitting a mark of 61.33m (201-02) and moving into third on the all-time Top 10 list at ASU.
In the men's competition, Tomas Navarro led the Sun Devils for the second week in a row as he improved his personal best to 61.01m (200-02) to become the fifth Sun Devil all-time to break 200-feet in the event as he placed fourth overall, the same position he holds on the ASU historical lists. Two other men placed their names on the all-time list as well as Jason Lewis hit a mark of 60.34m (197-11) to move into fifth on the Top 10 list and become the sixth Sun Devil to throw past 60-meters. Both Navarro and Lewis qualified for the regional meet.
Jeff Helwig, who placed 10th in the event with a toss of 56.25m (184-06), put his name on the Top 10 list as well as he moved into 10th on the list. The final Sun Devil to compete was Andy Haas, who placed 16th with a toss of 53.30m (174-10).
The Sun Devils will continue to host the ASU Invitational on Saturday with the field events starting at 10 a.m. with the women's discus while the running events, leading off with the women's 100m hurdles, start ta 5:30 p.m.