EUGENE, Ore. -- On Day 1 of the NCAA Championships at Historic Hayward Field, the Arizona State men's 4x100-meter relay team qualified for the eight-team final on Friday, June 10 and earned themselves automatic First-Team All-American honors.
MPSF 60-meter dash champion and NCAA Indoor Second-Team All-American Jamol James returned to run the lead leg after not running since suffering a minor injury in the 200-meter dash prelim at the Pac-12 Championships on May 14. With him off the top for the Sun Devils, the squad -- along with Isaiah Underwood, Brandon Hasson and Reggie Lewis -- earned the second automatic qualifying time of the third heat with a time of 39.26, edging Texas by .003 seconds for the final spot.
"We knew that when we had all four of them healthy, and when everything clicked, they had the chance to truly show they belong with the best," said sprint coach Ronnie Williams. "That being said, I still think they have more in the tank and things we can improve on before the final on Friday. I'm very proud of them and we're looking forward to the final."
When Lewis took the baton for the anchor leg, the Devils were in fourth place and the graduate transfer boogied down the stretch to lead the team to the final qualifying spot.
However, in the men's 200-meter dash semifinal, Lewis couldn't replicate the same magic as he finished 20th out of 24 competitors with a time of 21.06.
Elsewhere on day one, three other ASU athletes were making their first NCAA Championship appearance.
While freshman Hudson Keffer did not qualify for the javelin final on Friday, he did earn a Second-Team All-American honor with a 14th place finish of 24 throwers with a mark of 70.23m (230-05).
Redshirt junior CJ Albertson finished 21st with a time of 8:53.16 in his first competition at Hayward Field in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Last but not least, senior Ahmed Hassan competed with his younger brother Mostafa Hassan from Colorado State in the men's shot put. With their high school brother in from Egypt watching, Ahmed finished in 18th after being one of the final to qualify at the West Regional.
Day two on Thursday starts the women's NCAA Championships, which features Maggie Ewen in the hammer throw and shot put. Keyasia Tibbs is also representing the Sun Devil women this week, but will not compete in the triple jump until Saturday.
The hammer throw begins at 2 p.m. (PT) while the shot put starts at 6:30 p.m. (PT). You can watch the hammer on ESPN3 for free here, and watch the shot put on ESPN3 here.
NCAA Track & Field Championships Historic Hayward Field Eugene, Ore. June 8-11, 2016Track Events
Men's 4x100 Relay Semifinal
8. Arizona State (James, Underwood, Hasson, Lewis) - 39.26 Q
Men's 3,000m Steeplechase
21. CJ Albertson - 8:53.16
Men's 200m Dash
20. Reggie Lewis - 21.06
Field Events
Men's Javelin Throw
14. Hudson Keffer - 70.23m (230-05)
Men's Shot Put
18. Ahmed Hassan - 18.64m (61-02.00)