MEET NOTES | MEET SCHEDULE | LIVE RESULTS
TEMPE, Ariz. – Just as the Sun Devils' indoor season began, ASU will travel into the mountains Friday to close out the regular season at the NAU Tune-Up in Flagstaff.
The meet will be the last chance for those competing to move up the MPSF rankings before the conference championships next weekend in Seattle.
For freshmen Cole Riddle and Samantha Noennig, the Tune-Up provides an additional chance for the young Sun Devils to put up a mark that could cement them in the top-16 in their events and send them to the NCAA Indoor Championships in their debut seasons.
"A meet like this serves two purposes," director of track and field Greg Kraft said. "If you have somebody you feel can qualify like Sam or Cole, it gives them another chance to move up the descending order list. But for the bulk of our team, we're a little behind in our training from the reconstruction of our track, so we're taking a larger group than normal because our team just needs a few more reps."
Noennig is the currently the first woman out in the shot put, as she sits in 17th in the NCAA with her throw of 16.66m/54-8 feet from the Friday Night Duals at the beginning of the season.
She is just over two inches away from moving up into a qualifying position for the national championships, and if she can do so, the Sun Devils will have two women in the semifinal as Maggie Ewen has punched her ticket to College Station, Texas with her NCAA and world-leading mark of 19.20m/63-0.00 feet.
Noennig has helped the Sun Devil women's team earn its highest ranking in five years from the USTFCCCA as they slot in at No. 19.
"A lot of the rankings are based on what teams are able to put up across the board, not what you bring to the national meet," Kraft said. "I'm not brushing off being ranked 19, but also, I wasn't concerned when we were unranked. It's really a cause for optimism as we move into the outdoor season and closer to the Pac-12 Championships because we'll be a lot better in May than we will be in the fourth week of February."
Riddle has a steeper hill to climb as he enters the weekend six places out from a qualifying spot in the pole vault. His mark of 5.32m/17-5.5 feet is the fourth-best in school history and second-best by a freshman in the NCAA this season, but Riddle needs to top 5.41m/17-9.00 feet to move into a safe position. If he clears that height this weekend, he'll move to third in Sun Devil history.
The NAU Tune-Up gets going at 3 p.m. in Flagstaff. The one-day meet will kickoff with the field events, then the track gets put to use at 5 and will wrap up close to 9 p.m.
What to Watch For
Although Cole Riddle and Samantha Noennig have the most exciting storylines of the weekend, a handful of Sun Devils will head to Flagstaff with hopes of improving on their season bests and making statements in the MPSF.
Darreyl Woodson already has the No. 2 mark in school history in the triple jump, and Jessica Barreira isn't far behind in fourth. The two women are fifth and seventh, respectively, in the MPSF.
In the high jump, Mason Ford is coming into the meet after setting a personal best at the Texas Tech Shootout last week and jumping into the top-10 of the conference. He'll jump again this weekend with Elijah Hughes and Ryan Bright who sit at 12th and 19th in the conference, respectively.
A plethora of distance specialists will take to the oversized track at the Walkup Skydome, including Adam Meyer, who won his Sun Devil debut race at NAU earlier this season, and ASU Invitational champion Courtney Lewis.
With some of the regular distance Devils resting up for the MPSF Championships, this weekend's races will be an opportunity for younger talent to gain experience at a rare meet close to home.
ENTRIES – NAU Tune-Up
Men – Ryan Bright, Michael Chadwick, Matthew Eckles, Gregory Fernandez, Mason Ford, Erik Gonzalez, Nathan Hiett, Ivan Hinson, Elijah Hughes, C.J. Maree, Adam Meyer, J.P. Nelson, Ryan Normand, Cole Riddle, Kyle Shinn, Grant Sisserson, Michael Titherington, Kevin Wilkinson
Women – Jessica Barreira, Billie Jo Dytrt, Haleigh Fritts, Emily Gallegos-Francksen, Anastasia Hancock, Daan Haven, Tommi Hintnaus, Courtney Lewis, Samantha Noennig, Megan Reniewicki, Angela Saitta, Kristiana Warth, Darreyl Woodson
Vaulters Leading the Way
It's only February, but 2018 has been the year of the Sun Devil pole vaulters as the talented group of men coached by Ron Barela has been historically good.
Besides having the reigning Pac-12 champion in the event on the roster, the squad now boasts four men who have recorded marks that are on the school's top-10 list.
Cole Riddle broke onto the scene early this season, and has continued to impress. He currently holds the fourth-best clearance in ASU history, is second in the MPSF and just a few inches off an NCAA qualifying place as a true freshman.
Defending Pac-12 champion Matt Eckles is fourth in the conference and seventh in Sun Devil history, and Nathan Hiett and Grant Sisserson are tied for ninth in the conference, while Hiett holds the ninth best mark in school history.
The fourth man to make the all-time list is true freshman Michael Chadwick, who landed on the list at No. 7 last weekend in New Mexico. Chadwick gives ASU three Sun Devils in the MPSF's top-five.
Ewen's Historic 2018
Last season saw Maggie Ewen steal the national spotlight at the NCAA Outdoor Championships when she scored a meet-high 21 points, won a national title and set a collegiate record in the hammer throw, and so far her follow-up act has lived up to the hype.
After opening her campaign by breaking the school record in the shot put, Ewen has since broken her own record twice and put herself at third in NCAA history in the event with a mark of 19.20m/63-0.00 feet. Ewen's throw is the best throw in the world this year and is easily the best throw in the NCAA this season by five feet.
Although shot put has been her best event during the indoor slate, she has been nearly as impressive in the weight throw, breaking the school record with a throw of 22.26m/73-0.50 feet. The heave is sixth in the NCAA and first in the MPSF by a meter.
Ewen's performances have been noticed as she has been included on two iterations of the Bowerman Award watch lists.
The next watch list will be released in March, just before the NCAA Indoor Championships and a week after conference championship week.
Sun Devil Women Continue Rankings Climb
After making its 2018 debut in the USTFCCCA rankings a week ago at No. 25, the Arizona State women's track and field team moved up six spots to 19 in the latest poll.
With the No. 19 rank, the Devils are the fifth-highest ranked team in the 18-team MPSF.
ASU is benefiting from a historic season from Maggie Ewen, who leads the NCAA in the shot put, and is sixth in the weight throw; and has gotten points from Samantha Noennig, who is one place out from a qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships.
At 19, the Sun Devils have achieved their highest indoor ranking since they finished the 2013 season at seven.
No. 2 Southern California leads the way for the MPSF and defending conference champion Oregon comes in at fifth. Stanford is No. 9, and distance dynasty Colorado comes in at 17.
On the men's side, USC is the highest ranked squad at No. 4, Oregon fell to 15, and BYU and Stanford are 19 and 20, respectively.
Sun Angel Renovations Complete
After more than a month of demolition and construction, the Arizona State Sun Devils have a new, state-of-the-art track surface at Sun Angel Stadium.
The new Mondo surface replaced more than 100,000 square feet on Joe Selleh track, and provides ASU with a world-class track that has outfitted stadiums from Athens, Georgia, to the London Stadium in England.
The surface is Greenguard certified, meaning it is environmentally friendly and made with 42 percent recycled post-consumer and post-industrial material, and 6 percent renewable resources.
ASU's first meet on the new track will be the Baldy Castillo Invitational in March.
TEMPE, Ariz. – Just as the Sun Devils' indoor season began, ASU will travel into the mountains Friday to close out the regular season at the NAU Tune-Up in Flagstaff.
The meet will be the last chance for those competing to move up the MPSF rankings before the conference championships next weekend in Seattle.
For freshmen Cole Riddle and Samantha Noennig, the Tune-Up provides an additional chance for the young Sun Devils to put up a mark that could cement them in the top-16 in their events and send them to the NCAA Indoor Championships in their debut seasons.
"A meet like this serves two purposes," director of track and field Greg Kraft said. "If you have somebody you feel can qualify like Sam or Cole, it gives them another chance to move up the descending order list. But for the bulk of our team, we're a little behind in our training from the reconstruction of our track, so we're taking a larger group than normal because our team just needs a few more reps."
Noennig is the currently the first woman out in the shot put, as she sits in 17th in the NCAA with her throw of 16.66m/54-8 feet from the Friday Night Duals at the beginning of the season.
She is just over two inches away from moving up into a qualifying position for the national championships, and if she can do so, the Sun Devils will have two women in the semifinal as Maggie Ewen has punched her ticket to College Station, Texas with her NCAA and world-leading mark of 19.20m/63-0.00 feet.
Noennig has helped the Sun Devil women's team earn its highest ranking in five years from the USTFCCCA as they slot in at No. 19.
"A lot of the rankings are based on what teams are able to put up across the board, not what you bring to the national meet," Kraft said. "I'm not brushing off being ranked 19, but also, I wasn't concerned when we were unranked. It's really a cause for optimism as we move into the outdoor season and closer to the Pac-12 Championships because we'll be a lot better in May than we will be in the fourth week of February."
Riddle has a steeper hill to climb as he enters the weekend six places out from a qualifying spot in the pole vault. His mark of 5.32m/17-5.5 feet is the fourth-best in school history and second-best by a freshman in the NCAA this season, but Riddle needs to top 5.41m/17-9.00 feet to move into a safe position. If he clears that height this weekend, he'll move to third in Sun Devil history.
The NAU Tune-Up gets going at 3 p.m. in Flagstaff. The one-day meet will kickoff with the field events, then the track gets put to use at 5 and will wrap up close to 9 p.m.
What to Watch For
Although Cole Riddle and Samantha Noennig have the most exciting storylines of the weekend, a handful of Sun Devils will head to Flagstaff with hopes of improving on their season bests and making statements in the MPSF.
Darreyl Woodson already has the No. 2 mark in school history in the triple jump, and Jessica Barreira isn't far behind in fourth. The two women are fifth and seventh, respectively, in the MPSF.
In the high jump, Mason Ford is coming into the meet after setting a personal best at the Texas Tech Shootout last week and jumping into the top-10 of the conference. He'll jump again this weekend with Elijah Hughes and Ryan Bright who sit at 12th and 19th in the conference, respectively.
A plethora of distance specialists will take to the oversized track at the Walkup Skydome, including Adam Meyer, who won his Sun Devil debut race at NAU earlier this season, and ASU Invitational champion Courtney Lewis.
With some of the regular distance Devils resting up for the MPSF Championships, this weekend's races will be an opportunity for younger talent to gain experience at a rare meet close to home.
ENTRIES – NAU Tune-Up
Men – Ryan Bright, Michael Chadwick, Matthew Eckles, Gregory Fernandez, Mason Ford, Erik Gonzalez, Nathan Hiett, Ivan Hinson, Elijah Hughes, C.J. Maree, Adam Meyer, J.P. Nelson, Ryan Normand, Cole Riddle, Kyle Shinn, Grant Sisserson, Michael Titherington, Kevin Wilkinson
Women – Jessica Barreira, Billie Jo Dytrt, Haleigh Fritts, Emily Gallegos-Francksen, Anastasia Hancock, Daan Haven, Tommi Hintnaus, Courtney Lewis, Samantha Noennig, Megan Reniewicki, Angela Saitta, Kristiana Warth, Darreyl Woodson
Vaulters Leading the Way
It's only February, but 2018 has been the year of the Sun Devil pole vaulters as the talented group of men coached by Ron Barela has been historically good.
Besides having the reigning Pac-12 champion in the event on the roster, the squad now boasts four men who have recorded marks that are on the school's top-10 list.
Cole Riddle broke onto the scene early this season, and has continued to impress. He currently holds the fourth-best clearance in ASU history, is second in the MPSF and just a few inches off an NCAA qualifying place as a true freshman.
Defending Pac-12 champion Matt Eckles is fourth in the conference and seventh in Sun Devil history, and Nathan Hiett and Grant Sisserson are tied for ninth in the conference, while Hiett holds the ninth best mark in school history.
The fourth man to make the all-time list is true freshman Michael Chadwick, who landed on the list at No. 7 last weekend in New Mexico. Chadwick gives ASU three Sun Devils in the MPSF's top-five.
Ewen's Historic 2018
Last season saw Maggie Ewen steal the national spotlight at the NCAA Outdoor Championships when she scored a meet-high 21 points, won a national title and set a collegiate record in the hammer throw, and so far her follow-up act has lived up to the hype.
After opening her campaign by breaking the school record in the shot put, Ewen has since broken her own record twice and put herself at third in NCAA history in the event with a mark of 19.20m/63-0.00 feet. Ewen's throw is the best throw in the world this year and is easily the best throw in the NCAA this season by five feet.
Although shot put has been her best event during the indoor slate, she has been nearly as impressive in the weight throw, breaking the school record with a throw of 22.26m/73-0.50 feet. The heave is sixth in the NCAA and first in the MPSF by a meter.
Ewen's performances have been noticed as she has been included on two iterations of the Bowerman Award watch lists.
The next watch list will be released in March, just before the NCAA Indoor Championships and a week after conference championship week.
Sun Devil Women Continue Rankings Climb
After making its 2018 debut in the USTFCCCA rankings a week ago at No. 25, the Arizona State women's track and field team moved up six spots to 19 in the latest poll.
With the No. 19 rank, the Devils are the fifth-highest ranked team in the 18-team MPSF.
ASU is benefiting from a historic season from Maggie Ewen, who leads the NCAA in the shot put, and is sixth in the weight throw; and has gotten points from Samantha Noennig, who is one place out from a qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships.
At 19, the Sun Devils have achieved their highest indoor ranking since they finished the 2013 season at seven.
No. 2 Southern California leads the way for the MPSF and defending conference champion Oregon comes in at fifth. Stanford is No. 9, and distance dynasty Colorado comes in at 17.
On the men's side, USC is the highest ranked squad at No. 4, Oregon fell to 15, and BYU and Stanford are 19 and 20, respectively.
Sun Angel Renovations Complete
After more than a month of demolition and construction, the Arizona State Sun Devils have a new, state-of-the-art track surface at Sun Angel Stadium.
The new Mondo surface replaced more than 100,000 square feet on Joe Selleh track, and provides ASU with a world-class track that has outfitted stadiums from Athens, Georgia, to the London Stadium in England.
The surface is Greenguard certified, meaning it is environmentally friendly and made with 42 percent recycled post-consumer and post-industrial material, and 6 percent renewable resources.
ASU's first meet on the new track will be the Baldy Castillo Invitational in March.