Feb. 10, 2012
Complete Results - Kirby Invite
TEMPE – The Arizona State University track and field team’s record book will need some editing after Friday as the No. 24 men and No. 21 women posted an impressive day of competition at both the Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. and the Husky Invitational in Seattle, Wash.
The majority of the team was in New Mexico on Friday in one of the most competitive meets of the indoor season at the Don Kirby Elite Indoor Invitational at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Competing against some of the top teams in the country, including No. 2 Florida, No. 4 Texas and No. 7 Stanford on the men’s side and No. 1 Oregon, No. 6 Texas and No. 8 Texas Tech on the women’s end.
The Sun Devils rose to the occasion though, going toe-to-toe with the best of the nation and several putting their names in the record book. For a complete recap of both the men’s and women’s events, see below:
MEN’S RECAP
The most anticipated event of the day may have been the men’s 60-meter dash that would see sophomore Ryan Milus take on the two-time defending NCAA Champion in the event, Jeff Demps of Florida. Milus won his heat in the preliminary round in 6.60 seconds to advance to the finals and a showdown with Demps, who clocked the fastest prelim time in 6.56.
In the final, Milus clocked a new career-best time of 6.58 but it was not quite enough to top Demps’ nationally-leading victory time of 6.55. Milus’ time did, however, automatically qualify him for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March – making him the first Sun Devil to automatically qualify this season. It also increased Milus’ hold on the second-best time in ASU history.
While most eyes were on Milus and Demps, senior Daniel Auberry made sure that everyone will remember his name as well, matching his career best time in 6.66 to finish fourth overall in a photo finish with Florida’s Hugh Graham. That time is just shy of the NCAA auto qualifier, but it does maintain Auberry’s spot at No. 5 on ASU’s all-time list.
Chris Burrows also set a career mark in the event, clocking in at 6.76 seconds to finish ninth overall and move up to ninth on ASU's all-time list. Fellow junior Rashad Ross clocked a personal best of 6.80 in the preliminary round and that mark is just outside the ASU top-10 in the event.
The men’s sprints weren't done yet, though, as Burrows and Ross would put in work in the 200-meter dash as well. Burrows was fourth overall and second among collegians in a new career best of 21.16 – good for fourth on ASU’s all-time list and a tentative top-10 time in the nation. Ross, in just his third Division I race was right on Burrows’ heels in 21.22. That time was also a career best and ranks sixth on ASU’s career list.
Milus also came up big in the event, clocking a new career-best of 21.39 to finish eighth overall and take over the ninth spot in ASU history.
Freshman Cameron Taylor continued to impress in the 60-meter hurdles, as he clocked back-to-back career bests between the preliminaries and the finals, finishing eighth overall in 7.93 and improved his second-best time in ASU history – becoming just the second Sun Devil to go under 8 seconds in the event ever.
In the 800-meter run, John Kline made it his third consecutive race with a personal record as he took the Sun Devils lone win in the running events with a time of 1:49.85 to become just the fourth Sun Devil to go under 1:50 in the indoor version of the event, taking over at fourth place on ASU’s all-time list.
In the field events, those who were unfamiliar with Bryan McBride before today might want to look him up. The sophomore also scored his third consecutive personal record in the high jump in winning the event with a huge leap of 2.26m (7-5.00). The leap moved McBride into third in the nation this season and made him the team’s second automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championships behind Milus.
The jump also tied Kyle Arney’s school indoor record in the event – a mark that had stood untouched since 1979.
McBride also set a new triple jump personal best with a leap of 15.36m (50-4.75) to move into eighth on ASU’s all-time list and finish fifth in an event that saw his teammate Chris Benard take his third consecutive victory in with a leap of 15.92m (52-2.75)
Over in Seattle, junior Nick Happe was the lone Sun Devil in action on Friday as he competed in the 5,000-meter run. Happe clocked a new career best time of 13:54.51 in the invite section of the event to move to second all-time on ASU’s descending order list indoors and a top-15 time nationwide this season in the process.
WOMEN’S RECAP
Despite having far fewer entries, the ASU women had a solid evening of competition as well.
Christabel Nettey continued to perform strongly in the long jump, taking second overall with a leap of 6.13m (20-1.50) for the women’s team. The mark was a new season’s best for Nettey, who finished just ahead of fourth-place teammate Constance Ezugha, who also scored a season’s best leap of 6.05m (19-10.25).
In the sprints, Alycia Herring clocked the fastest time of the season for the Sun Devils in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.25 to finish eighth overall. In doing so, Herring also moved into the top-10 in ASU history in the event for the first time and settled in at the nine-spot.
Herring also was the team’s top finisher in the 60-meter dash, finishing 13th overall in 7.63.
In Seattle, senior Lindsay Prescott nearly matched her career best time in the indoor 5,000-meter run as she took home a 29th place finish in 16:51.16.
The Sun Devil track & field teams will resume competition tomorrow on the second day of the Husky Invitational while several ASU throwers will compete at the Boise Team Challenge in Boise, Idaho. Check back at TheSunDevils.com at the conclusion of the day’s events for a complete recap.