Feb. 28, 2009
Live Result Updates from Washington
TEMPE – Sarah Stevens continued her domination of the throws in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Ryan Whiting completed the throwing sweep and true freshman Mason McHenry broke a 24 year-old school record on Saturday as the Arizona State University track and field team completed competition in the 2009 MPSF Championships inside the Dempsey Indoor in Seattle.
After all the events were completed, the Sun Devils women finished third overall in the team race while the men took fifth. Stanford won the women’s title with 115 points with Oregon (91.5), ASU (78), UCLA (75.5) and host Washington (72.5) rounding out the Top 5. On the men’s side, UCLA captured a close team race with 83.5 points and was followed by co-runners-up California and Washington State (78.5), fourth-place Oregon (78) and ASU (76.5).
With many story lines emerging from the meet for the Sun Devils, Stevens proved to be one of the best as she captured the shot put for the fourth year in a row, this time winning with an NCAA automatic toss of 17.13m (56-02.50). With her win in the weight throw one day earlier, Stevens’ shot put title completed her sweep of the two throws for the third year in a row and gave her seven titles in eight tries at the MPSF meet.
The men’s shot put also was contested Saturday with Ryan Whiting taking the title for the third year in a row as he won with an NCAA automatic heave of 20.01m (65-07.75). Coupled with Jason Lewis’ win in the weight throw one day earlier, the Sun Devils swept all four throwing events on the weekend. Lewis also placed fifth in the shot put, recording an NCAA provisional mark of 18.09m (59-04.25).
McHenry, a Washington native, ran just his second collegiate 800m race and, after running the second-fastest time in school history two weeks earlier at 1:49.71, he took down a 24 year-old school record by winning the event in 1:49.00. The previous record of 1:49.51 was set back in 1985 at the NCAA Championships where Treg Scott placed fifth in the race. McHenry’s time earned a place on the NCAA provisional list.
The sprints produced two more solid times on the weekend, first with Charonda Williams capturing the 60m dash with a time of 7.31 (NCAA provisional mark), giving her a sweep of the two short sprints after she captured the 200m dash on Friday in a school-record 23.44. The men’s long sprinters also captured a title as the team of Joel Phillip, Darryl Elston, Justin Kremer and Donald Sanford combined to run 3:08.74 to also provisionally qualify for the NCAA meet next month.
In the men’s heptathlon, Alexander Wentz finished strong on day two as he ran a heptathlon school-record time of 2:46.20 in the 1,000m run, bettering the previous mark of 2:48.78 run by Josh Kinnaman in 2006. Wentz went on to place 11th overall in the event, but his total of 4,417 points moved him to No. 3 on the ASU all-time list.
Next up for the Sun Devils could be a return trip to Seattle next Saturday and/or a visit to Ames, Iowa, for the Washington and Iowa State Last Chance meets, respectively. Both meets will be the final opportunity for athletes to post qualifying marks for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships that will be held March 13-14 on the Texas A&M campus in College Station, Texas.
Meet Highlights - MPSF Championships - Day 2
Saturday, February 28 - Seattle, Wash.
NCAA Automatic Qualifiers
Sarah Stevens - W Shot Put final - 17.13m (56-02.50)
Ryan Whiting - M Shot Put final - 20.01m (65-07.75)
NCAA Provisional Qualifiers
Charonda Williams - W 60m final - 7.31
Mason McHenry - M 800m final - 1:49.00 - school record
Joel Phillip, Darryl Elston, Justin Kremer, Donald Sanford - M 4x400m Relay - 3:08.74
Jason Lewis - M Shot Put final - 18.09m (59-04.25)
MPSF Champions
Charonda Williams - W 60m final - 7.31
Sarah Stevens - W Shot Put final - 17.13m (56-02.50)
Mason McHenry - M 800m final - 1:49.00 - school record
Joel Phillip, Darryl Elston, Justin Kremer, Donald Sanford - M 4x400m Relay - 3:08.74
Ryan Whiting - M Shot Put final - 20.01m (65-07.75)
On the ASU All-Time Top 5 Lists
Mason McHenry - M 800m final - 1:49.00 - school record
Alexander Wentz - Heptathlon - 4,417 points - #3 all-time at ASU
Alexander Wentz - Heptathlon 1,000m run - 2:48.78 - school heptathlon record