LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A familiar duo led the way for the Arizona State women at the Pre-Nationals Invitational Saturday to help the Sun Devils finish 22nd with 606 points and out-perform some of the best teams in the country in a stacked race in Louisville.
Samantha Ortega and Chelsey Albertson were ASU's top-finishers in the Derby City, with the pair taking 77th and 79th, respectively.
The tough section pitted ASU's women against 14 teams in the USTFCCCA top-30 or receiving votes, but the Sun Devils were up to the challenge as they topped a No. 24 Missouri team with the defending NCAA champion leading the Tigers' charge, and two programs receiving votes in the most recent ranking.
"It's nice to beat some of those teams, but at the end of the day we weren't satisfied with how it went for us," head coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "We've got to put it together as a whole. If we can do that, we've got a shot to have some success for sure this year, so that's what we're going to be working on the next few weeks to put us in position to be a lot better."
The wins may prove crucial for the Sun Devils in their quest for a berth at the NCAA Championships that will be held at Louisville's "Tom" Sawyer course in just over a month.
While only the top-two finishing teams at the Regional Championships are guaranteed places at the national meet, at-large bids are determined by resumes and head-to-head matchups.
Ortega and Albertson ran together for the entire race and only finished within two places of each other.
The 20:59.8 from Ortega was nearly two minutes better than her 6K time at the Roy Griak Invitational two weeks ago, and Albertson's 21:02.0 was a season's best as well.
Courtney Lewis (102) was ASU's No. 3 finisher, Anna Pruter took 153rd and Daan Haven finished 195th to wrap up the Sun Devil scoring. Alexis Nichols and Billie Jo Dytrt finished 213th and 215th, respectively, and in the second section of the women's 6K, true freshman Angela Saitta finished 172nd.
"I thought today was a good day for Courtney," Rasmussen said. "She really stuck to the plan we developed and raced the people we thought she should be racing."
John Reniewicki highlighted a tough outing for the Sun Devil men.
"John and Courtney put themselves in good positions and raced the way we wanted them to," Rasmussen said. "John got a little overzealous after the first lap. I think he may have gone a bit too hard to move up in that group, and he ended up paying for it at the end. We thought he'd be around 80-90th if he had a good day, and I think he had a good day."
He finished 88th in the 8K race in 24:25.4, just over 10 seconds off of his personal best.
The Sun Devil men took 41st overall with 1,096 points.
The women's 8K "Red" race was won by the No. 2 team in the nation, Oregon. They topped No. 1 Colorado this time, but the two teams and Arizona State will meet again in two weeks at the Pac-12 Championships in Bend, Oregon.
On the men's side, No. 2 BYU earned a statement win over No. 1 Colorado.
ASU has a quick turnaround coming up, but the Devils won't have to go too far from home for next weekend's ASU Cross Country Invitational, held at the Karsten golf course on Oct. 20. The meet is ASU's only home meet of the season, and is both squads' final regular season meet.
"We're at home at Karsten on Friday morning," Rasmussen said. "A majority of the guys who ran this weekend will run there and a few of the ladies will too. It's a smaller meet that's really an opportunity to finalize your conference rosters and give teams another race late in the season. We're just excited to have cross country at ASU."
Pre-Nationals Invitational | Louisville, Kentucky | Oct. 14, 2017
Women's Results – 6K "Red"
77. Samantha Ortega – 20:59.8
79. Chelsey Albertson – 21:02.0
104. Courtney Lewis – 21:13.9
156. Anna Pruter – 21:44.8
195. Daan Haven – 22:08.7
213. Alexis Nichols – 22:19.8
215. Billie Jo Dytrt – 22:20.1
Women's Results – 6K "Black"
172. Angela Saitta – 23:27.7
Men's Results – 8K "Red"
88. John Reniewicki – 24:25.4
239. Nick Dale – 25:50.2
249. Jackson Lewis – 25:58.9
256. Erik Gonzalez – 26:10.4
264. Alexander Stevens – 26:27.1
267. Michael Renner – 26:38.9
Women's "Red" Team Results
1. Oregon – 63
2. Colorado – 91
3. Arkansas – 148
4. Utah State – 214
5. Michigan – 235
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22. Arizona State – 606
Men's "Red" Team Results
1. BYU – 41
2. Colorado – 118
3. Oregon – 129
4. Virginia Tech – 148
5. Mississippi – 198
--
41. Arizona State – 1,096
Samantha Ortega and Chelsey Albertson were ASU's top-finishers in the Derby City, with the pair taking 77th and 79th, respectively.
The tough section pitted ASU's women against 14 teams in the USTFCCCA top-30 or receiving votes, but the Sun Devils were up to the challenge as they topped a No. 24 Missouri team with the defending NCAA champion leading the Tigers' charge, and two programs receiving votes in the most recent ranking.
"It's nice to beat some of those teams, but at the end of the day we weren't satisfied with how it went for us," head coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "We've got to put it together as a whole. If we can do that, we've got a shot to have some success for sure this year, so that's what we're going to be working on the next few weeks to put us in position to be a lot better."
The wins may prove crucial for the Sun Devils in their quest for a berth at the NCAA Championships that will be held at Louisville's "Tom" Sawyer course in just over a month.
While only the top-two finishing teams at the Regional Championships are guaranteed places at the national meet, at-large bids are determined by resumes and head-to-head matchups.
Ortega and Albertson ran together for the entire race and only finished within two places of each other.
The 20:59.8 from Ortega was nearly two minutes better than her 6K time at the Roy Griak Invitational two weeks ago, and Albertson's 21:02.0 was a season's best as well.
Courtney Lewis (102) was ASU's No. 3 finisher, Anna Pruter took 153rd and Daan Haven finished 195th to wrap up the Sun Devil scoring. Alexis Nichols and Billie Jo Dytrt finished 213th and 215th, respectively, and in the second section of the women's 6K, true freshman Angela Saitta finished 172nd.
"I thought today was a good day for Courtney," Rasmussen said. "She really stuck to the plan we developed and raced the people we thought she should be racing."
John Reniewicki highlighted a tough outing for the Sun Devil men.
"John and Courtney put themselves in good positions and raced the way we wanted them to," Rasmussen said. "John got a little overzealous after the first lap. I think he may have gone a bit too hard to move up in that group, and he ended up paying for it at the end. We thought he'd be around 80-90th if he had a good day, and I think he had a good day."
He finished 88th in the 8K race in 24:25.4, just over 10 seconds off of his personal best.
The Sun Devil men took 41st overall with 1,096 points.
The women's 8K "Red" race was won by the No. 2 team in the nation, Oregon. They topped No. 1 Colorado this time, but the two teams and Arizona State will meet again in two weeks at the Pac-12 Championships in Bend, Oregon.
On the men's side, No. 2 BYU earned a statement win over No. 1 Colorado.
ASU has a quick turnaround coming up, but the Devils won't have to go too far from home for next weekend's ASU Cross Country Invitational, held at the Karsten golf course on Oct. 20. The meet is ASU's only home meet of the season, and is both squads' final regular season meet.
"We're at home at Karsten on Friday morning," Rasmussen said. "A majority of the guys who ran this weekend will run there and a few of the ladies will too. It's a smaller meet that's really an opportunity to finalize your conference rosters and give teams another race late in the season. We're just excited to have cross country at ASU."
Pre-Nationals Invitational | Louisville, Kentucky | Oct. 14, 2017
Women's Results – 6K "Red"
77. Samantha Ortega – 20:59.8
79. Chelsey Albertson – 21:02.0
104. Courtney Lewis – 21:13.9
156. Anna Pruter – 21:44.8
195. Daan Haven – 22:08.7
213. Alexis Nichols – 22:19.8
215. Billie Jo Dytrt – 22:20.1
Women's Results – 6K "Black"
172. Angela Saitta – 23:27.7
Men's Results – 8K "Red"
88. John Reniewicki – 24:25.4
239. Nick Dale – 25:50.2
249. Jackson Lewis – 25:58.9
256. Erik Gonzalez – 26:10.4
264. Alexander Stevens – 26:27.1
267. Michael Renner – 26:38.9
Women's "Red" Team Results
1. Oregon – 63
2. Colorado – 91
3. Arkansas – 148
4. Utah State – 214
5. Michigan – 235
--
22. Arizona State – 606
Men's "Red" Team Results
1. BYU – 41
2. Colorado – 118
3. Oregon – 129
4. Virginia Tech – 148
5. Mississippi – 198
--
41. Arizona State – 1,096