March 23, 2012
TEMPE – The Arizona State University track and field team opened competition at the 2012 ASU Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., on Friday as both the men and women took part in the hammer throw event.
Junior Jordan Clarke opened up his 2012 outdoor season at Sun Angel Stadium to the tune of a victory in the event with a mark of 64.90m (212-11). Clarke hit the throw on his sixth and final attempt of the day and posted four personal records over the course of the competition as he led from wire to wire.
The mark moved Clarke to the No. 3 spot all-time on ASU’s descending order list behind just Mika Laiho (72.26m) and Jason Lewis (68.15m).
Competing unattached, Joe Riccio also poste d anew career best in the event with a sixth-place finish and a throw of 60.40m (198-2). Riccio’s mark does not count towards any records but would have placed him seventh on ASU’s all-time list.
In the women’s hammer throw, there were a slew of Sun Devils at the top of the leaderboard. Chelsea Cassulo, competing unattached, won for the second consecutive weekend with a throw of 63.45m (208-2).
Ashley Lampley, a senior, posted another solid outing in the event with a third-place finish and a mark of 57.83m (189-9). In fifth, sophomore Anna Jelmini had a huge person best with a mark of 56.46m (185-3) while senior Cj Navarro took sixth with a throw of 56.45m (185-2).
The Sun Devils will return to the track tomorrow for the ASU Invitational. Field events are slated to kick off at 11 a.m. PT and continue through the afternoon while the running events will begin shortly after 5 p.m. PT. A live blog of the day’s events will be available at www.thesundevils.com.