April 25, 2009
TEMPE - The Arizona State University track and field team captured nine different event titles and recorded five regional qualifying marks as the Sun Devil Invitational came to a close on Saturday night in Tempe. Along with the marks attained at home, four throwers added one victory and four regional berths in competition held in La Jolla, Calif., at the UCSD Triton Invitational.
Facing athletes from Arizona, Northern Arizona, Mesa Community College and a handful of unattached individuals, the Sun Devils won six women's and three men's events on a windy day in Tempe. The women won four sprint events, including Dominique' Maloy in the 100m (11.90), Jasmine Chaney in the 200m (24.32), Kayla Sanchez in the 400m hurdles (1:03.09) and the 4x400m relay (4:02.41). Also victorious for the women were Stephanie Garnett in the long jump (5.99m) and Erika Simington in the javelin (43.29m). Simington's winning toss ranks as the sixth-best in ASU history.
Marcus Duncan led the way for the men as he won the 200m dash in 21.21 while anchoring the 4x100m relay to a winning time of 40.75. The 4x400m relay also was victorious in 3:14.95. Duncan's win in the 200m also led a sweep of the Top 3 positions as all three qualified for regionals, including Allante Battle (21.28) and Darryl Elston (21.33).
In the pole vault, Corey Phallen cleared 5.05m to meet the regional standard for the men while Cara Carpenter qualified for the women with her clearance of 3.85m. In that same women's event, Stacy Orosz cleared 3.55m to move into a tie for the seventh-best clearance in ASU history.
In La Jolla, Jason Lewis recorded the fifth-best discus mark in program history as he improved his all-time best by six feet with a throw of 58.62m (192-04) for a sixth-place finish. Lewis also placed fifth in the hammer with a mark of 62.19m (204-00) while Jeff Helwig was seventh in 59.15m (194-1) as both met the regional standard. On the women's side, Sarah Stevens won the shot put with a toss of 16.90m (55-05.50) while Cj Navarro was 22nd overall with a mark of 12.05m (39-06.50).
The Sun Devils will return to their home track for the final time in 2009 next weekend as they are set to play host to the annual Double Dual with rivals Arizona and Northern Arizona. All the events will be contested on Saturday, May 2, at Sun Angel Stadium in Tempe.