TEMPE, Ariz. -- As the Arizona State track and field program begins its 2016 campaign, Greg Kraft enters his second decade as the head coach for the Sun Devils.
When asked if it has felt like 20 years, Kraft was honest.
"Yeah it does," Kraft laughed. "When I came here, my youngest boy was in first grade and my oldest was in fourth grade. The youngest boy has already competed for us for four years and they've both already graduated from ASU. I think sometimes people have a hard time understanding coaches have a life outside of coaching, but with my children being so involved with Arizona State, that is probably easier to measure time than going from Dwight Phillips to Trevell Quinley to Chris Benard.
"For your athletes you're worried about the task at hand, but when you look at your children, there's a little more reflection. So seeing them come through the ranks here puts it into that type of perspective. It's gone quickly, but by the same token, it does seem like 20 years."
Kraft is currently the second-longest active head coach at Arizona State, and is behind only Baldy Castillo all-time in Sun Devil track and field history.
He will lead the men and women north for a soft opener at Northern Arizona for the Lumberjack Team Challenge on Saturday, Jan. 16.
"It's just an opportunity to go through the routine of competing, getting together as a team, being on the road and what our protocol is the night before a meet," Kraft said. "Just seeing how they warm up in a different setting and how they handle competition.
"Particularly for our young women's team -- there's a lot of teaching going on there. For our men, we have a lot of people that have returned to the fold from injury or physical issue, or just new people like (graduate) Reggie Lewis and (transfer) Tim White."
Fellow Pac-12 teams UCLA and Arizona will join the field along with Grand Canyon University, UTEP, Southern Utah, UC-Irvine and San Diego State.
"For us it's a good opener because when we go to College Station next week, it's going to be a very similar situation as our football team -- you'll find out a lot about yourself at a place like College Station," Kraft said of the competition level.
INDOOR HIGHLIGHTS
The Sun Devils encounter nearly the same schedule as they did in 2015, traveling to Flagstaff, College Station, Seattle, Albuquerque and South Bend. However, Kraft and the squad will make new trips to Lincoln, Nebraska for the Husker Invite in early February. The short month of February also features a total of six different invitationals that will include at least a few Sun Devils, with the last weekend of the month being the MPSF Indoor Championships in Seattle, Wash.
See the rest of the 2016 indoor track and field schedule here.
FIELD EVENTS (All Times PT)
Women’s Pole Vault (9 a.m.)
Vanessa Davis, Jenna Fitzgerald, Haleigh Fritts,
Athena Masolini, Kristiana Warth
Women’s Long Jump (9 a.m.)
No competitors
Men’s Shot Put (9 a.m.)
Thomas Anderson, Ahmed Hassan, Kyle Long
Men’s Long Jump (9:30 a.m.)
Men’s Pole Vault (10 a.m.)
Women’s High Jump (10 a.m.)
No competitors
Women’s Triple Jump (appxox 10 a.m.)
Jessica Barreira, Keyasia Tibbs, Darreyl Woodson
Women’s Shot Put (approx 10 a.m. - following Men’s Shot Put)
Men’s Triple Jump (appox. 10:30 a.m.)
Men’s High Jump (approx. 10:30 a.m.)
Men’s Weight Throw (approx 11 a.m. - following Women’s Shot Put)
Women’s Weight Throw (approx noon - following Men’s Weight Throw)
Magdalyn Ewen, Ginger Jarchow, Ashley Weber
TRACK EVENTS
Women’s Mile (10:35 a.m.)
No competitors
Men’s Mile (10:45 a.m.)
No competitors
Women’s 60m Dash (10:55 a.m.)
LaTroya Franklin, Jasmine Gibbs
Men’s 60m Dash (11:05 a.m.)
Brandon Hasson, Reggie Lewis, Ben Trotter, Isaiah Underwood
Women’s 800m (11:15 a.m.)
No competitors
Men’s 800m (11:25 a.m.)
Blake Elliott, Kyle Elliott, Trevor Landry
Women’s 400m Dash (11:35 a.m.)
Kiera Bulluck, Melese Crozier, Sierra Irvin, Courtnee Oglesby
Men’s 400m Dash (11:45 a.m.)
Women’s 60m Hurdles (11:55 a.m.)
Sydney Mosley, Alexandra Williams
Men’s 60m Hurdles (12:05 p.m.)
No competitors
Women’s Medley Relay (12:20 p.m.)
Shaina Corbin, Madison Davis, Jennifer Owen, Chelsey Totten
Men’s Medley Relay (12:40 p.m.)
C.J. Albertson, Brandon Boys, Cody Brazeal, Kyle Elliott
Women’s 200m Dash (12:55 p.m.)
No competitors
Men’s 200m Dash (1:05 p.m.)
No competitors
Women’s 3000m (1:15 p.m.)
No competitors
Men’s 3000m (1:30 p.m.)
No competitors
Women’s 4x400 Relay (1:45 p.m.)
Melese Crozier, LaTroya Franklin, Sydney Mosley, Sierra Irvin
Men’s 4x400 Relay (1:55 p.m.)
Brandon Hasson, Herbert Polk, Isaiah Underwood, Jeremy Wright