MEET SCHEDULE | LIVE RESULTS
TEMPE, Ariz. – This weekend, as the Sun Devils travel to the Pacific Northwest for the MPSF Championships, ASU will be competing for more than just titles – There are Territorial Cup® points up for grabs in Seattle.
The two valuable T-Cup points have been vital to ASU's success in its competition with U of A for the past five seasons as the Sun Devil track and field team hasn't dropped an indoor point to the Wildcats since 2012. But even in that season, the ASU men came back to Tempe with a team title.
Coach Greg Kraft's squads have had success at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in the past decade, having recorded 15 top-four finishes in the 15/18-team conference, and winning the team title twice on the men's and women's side.
Neither squad has ever finished outside of the top-half of the MPSF under Kraft and the Devils have the athletes to keep the trend alive in 2018.
While Magdalyn Ewen has been stealing headlines by making NCAA history, her teammates have also been making noise in the conference and even across the country.
Samantha Noennig and Kaylee Antill both have top-eight marks in the shot put and weight throw, respectively, and Jessica Barreira and Darreyl Woodson both sit in the top-eight of the triple jump, while Barreira also holds the No. 7 long jump mark.
Shaunie Morrison leads the sprinters into Seattle with her sixth-best 60-meter hurdles mark, and Sha'Maya Flanagan has seen her times in the 200 and 400 drop in every outing this season. She currently sits in 15th in the 400, but her time of 55.15 is not too far out of scoring position.
In terms of historic feats, while Ewen is running away with her success in the shot put and weight throw, the men's pole vaulters are not too far behind as coach Ron Barela's squad is rewriting the Sun Devil history book one meet at a time.
Freshman Cole Riddle is leading the way with his No. 2 mark in the conference and No. 4 mark in school history. The rest of the Devils aren't too far behind the Arizona high school record holder, though, as senior Nathan Hiett has the third-best mark among MPSF men, and reigning Pac-12 champion Matthew Eckles and true freshman Michael Chadwick have the fifth and sixth best marks.
All four men have achieved marks this season that have put them into the top-10 in ASU history. Riddle and Hiett are just under 20 centimeters away from a clearance that would send them to the NCAA Indoor Championships in two weeks, and this weekend is the last chance for athletes to qualify.
The 2018 MPSF Indoor Championships get started Friday at 1 p.m. MST. The meet will be live streamed on FloTrack, available for viewing with the proper subscription. Live results will also be available on gohuskies.com or FloTrack.
What to Watch For
The Sun Devils will line up against 14 and 17 other programs this weekend in Seattle, each one of them battling for a conference team title.
While the team competition is the main focus of the Championships, the individual battles on the track and in the field carry their own storylines, and some of the athletes will be seeking more than just a conference title, they'll be using the meet as their last chance to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The closest Devil to a coveted top-16 place is redshirt freshman Samantha Noennig, whose 16.71m/54-10 is just two inches shy of the last qualifying mark. She sits in 20th in the nation and sixth in the talented conference.
Another freshman, pole vaulter Cole Riddle, sits just on the outside looking in.
Riddle needs to clear at least 5.48m/17-11.75 to have a shot to qualify for the meet in College Station, Texas. It would be a four-inch personal best and move the young Devil to third in school history. Riddle won't be the only Sun Devil jumping for a place in the national meet this weekend, though.
Nathan Hiett is only a few places behind him in the descending order list and four of the five vaulters have cleared at least 17 feet in 2018, while Grant Sisserson's personal best would put him in qualifying position as well.
Shaunie Morrison enters the Championships running perhaps her best as a Sun Devil and sitting in sixth in the conference where she placed last season. Her time of 8.28 (8.30 adjusted) is just over a tenth of a second away from the top-16 in the NCAA.
ENTRIES – MPSF Championships
Men – Quinten Bankston, Ryan Bright, Michael Chadwick, Matthew Eckles, Gregory Fernandez, Mason Ford, Nathan Hiett, Marcus Howard, Elijah Hughes, Jackson Lewis, Jesus Llanez, Khalil Parris, Herb Polk, Michael Renner, Cole Riddle, Grant Sisserson, Kevin Wilkinson
Women – Kaylee Antill, Jessica Barreira, Magdalyn Ewen, Sha'Maya Flanagan, Haleigh Fritts, Emily Gallegos-Francksen, Daan Haven,
Tommi Hintnaus, Courtney Lewis, Kalei Matthews, Shaunie Morrison, Alexis Nichols, Samantha Noennig, Courtnee Oglesby, Samantha Ortega, Anna Pruter, Megan Reniewicki, Bianca Tinoco, Kristiana Warth, Alexandra Williams, Darreyl Woodson
Ewen vs. The Field
Maggie Ewen's dominance has been the heart of the Sun Devil women's team this season and that doesn't look to be changing any time soon.
The two-time defending MPSF weight throw champion is entering the championships with one of the largest leads in the weight and shot put in recent history.
Ewen leads the conference by five feet in the shot put and three feet in the weight throw. For reference, the last two seasons the leaders in those events only entered the championships with a one-foot advantage in the shot and a max of two feet in the weight.
In her three MPSF Championships appearances, Ewen has scored a remarkable 48 points and won two conference titles. She could end her indoor campaign with a maximum of 68 with two more titles this weekend.
The four conference wins would tie her for the second-most by a Sun Devil at the MPSFs in school history with Canadian long jump record-holder Christabel Nettey.
Barela's 'Fab Five'
Rarely does a group of athletes come together that has been as consistent and successful as the Sun Devil men's pole vaulters have been in 2018.
While it is still just February and the main event of the outdoor season has yet to begin, coach Ron Barela's high-flyers have put up some of the best results in school history all in the first two months of this year.
True freshman Cole Riddle has cleared the highest bar of the group, topping 5.32m/17-5.5 feet, the No. 4 mark in ASU history. Just behind Riddle at fifth in history is the senior Nathan Hiett, and the seventh and eighth-best marks ever have also been recorded in 2018 by Matthew Eckles and true freshman Michael Chadwick.
The Sun Devil men and Husky men of Washington have a stranglehold on the MPSF standings, and the two dominant squads have eight of the 10 best marks in the conference this season.
Anything can happen at the conference championships, but the Sun Devils and Huskies are likely to be the ones fighting for the title and pushing each other into NCAA contention.
Coach's Corner – Kraft on the Championships
On what he is looking for out of the team this weekend
"I think one of the things we always talk about in the department is the Territorial Cup®, so obviously that's something that is at the forefront from a team standpoint. On paper it looks like we would have the upper-hand on the women's side and the U of A men would have it on the men's side. Having said that, I thought that was the case last year and our guys were able to surprise and beat them."
"The one thing that's been our focus has been to get better every day. When I look at both teams, we are making progress. The women, when you look at the Territorial Cup ®, we just have better balance and that shows at a conference competition. The men are a little thin on the track, so we're going to have to do a lot of damage in the vertical jumps in order to have a significant score and that puts us behind the 8-ball."
On the potential for NCAA qualification
"Individually, we're obviously looking to get more people to the national championships. When you look at the pole vault, Cole Riddle has been knocking on the door, but we have other athletes who are capable as well. Nate Hiett had a wonderful day up at NAU. Matt Eckles is a Pac-12 champion and Michael Chadwick has been a pleasant surprise. On the women's side, you have the USA Junior champion in the shot in Sam Noennig and she looks like someone who could break through. I've been pleasantly surprised in the progress Jessica Barreira has made in the triple jump, and she could be a surprising person at the conference championships who has the opportunity to punch a ticket."
On the rest of the team's individual goals
"For other people, we're just looking for them to keep developing. Shaunie Morrison has had a great indoor season, she's beginning to mature as an athlete. Sha'Maya Flanagan is gaining confidence and it's been nice to see Sam Ortega back. She had an outstanding freshman year, but had since been battling injuries. In order for us to have the opportunity to challenge for a top-three finish at the Pac-12 Championships, we're going to have to have those people on the track to continue to develop, just as the people in the field have."
On Maggie Ewen
"We'd be remiss if we didn't speak of Maggie. She's been so dominant this indoor season and you hate to take it for granted, but I think people really don't understand what a special athlete she is. For her to have done what she's done in the shot, in the weight and what she's going to do in the hammer and discus, it's just truly remarkable."
On qualifying for the indoor championships versus the outdoor championships
"They are two completely different animals. The indoor season was originally set up for kind of a regional meet, and for qualifying, it definitely slants toward the east coast and Midwest because they compete in December. When you look at some of the qualifiers, particularly in distance events, a lot of those opportunities to get to the meet were punched in December. When you're looking at taking only 16 individuals to the national championships and you have a variety of penalties for running on oversized tracks and altitude, you're really comparing apples and oranges."
"The outdoor championship is a fairer way to determine who goes to the national championships because you have the regional format where you're competing head to head. So, it's not like you can punch a ticket in January or December. Everybody knows when it comes to late May, we're going to meet in Sacramento, California, and you're going to have to be prepared to prove your fitness at that point in time if you want to get to the national championships two weeks later. There have been rumblings with the qualifying procedure for the indoor season because of those factors, but our sport is a little hesitant for change. But it's something that has been considered and I'd be in favor for it. Someone like Sam, who is a great competitor and the USA Junior champion, I feel comfortable in a regional format that she would progress through it. One because she is a great competitor, and two because coach Blu has them ready to throw when it's time to throw."
Success in Seattle
The Sun Devils have made plenty of memories at the Dempsey Indoor Facility as the indoor track in Seattle has hosted each of the last 11 MPSF Championships and seen the Devils win four team titles since 2007.
ASU's last conference indoor title came in when the men's team won their second in two seasons back in 2013, and the last women's indoor title came during a dominant 2008 season that saw the Devils also win the indoor national title.
Individually, the Sun Devil women have won 38 titles in Seattle and the men have scored 28.
TEMPE, Ariz. – This weekend, as the Sun Devils travel to the Pacific Northwest for the MPSF Championships, ASU will be competing for more than just titles – There are Territorial Cup® points up for grabs in Seattle.
The two valuable T-Cup points have been vital to ASU's success in its competition with U of A for the past five seasons as the Sun Devil track and field team hasn't dropped an indoor point to the Wildcats since 2012. But even in that season, the ASU men came back to Tempe with a team title.
Coach Greg Kraft's squads have had success at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in the past decade, having recorded 15 top-four finishes in the 15/18-team conference, and winning the team title twice on the men's and women's side.
Neither squad has ever finished outside of the top-half of the MPSF under Kraft and the Devils have the athletes to keep the trend alive in 2018.
While Magdalyn Ewen has been stealing headlines by making NCAA history, her teammates have also been making noise in the conference and even across the country.
Samantha Noennig and Kaylee Antill both have top-eight marks in the shot put and weight throw, respectively, and Jessica Barreira and Darreyl Woodson both sit in the top-eight of the triple jump, while Barreira also holds the No. 7 long jump mark.
Shaunie Morrison leads the sprinters into Seattle with her sixth-best 60-meter hurdles mark, and Sha'Maya Flanagan has seen her times in the 200 and 400 drop in every outing this season. She currently sits in 15th in the 400, but her time of 55.15 is not too far out of scoring position.
In terms of historic feats, while Ewen is running away with her success in the shot put and weight throw, the men's pole vaulters are not too far behind as coach Ron Barela's squad is rewriting the Sun Devil history book one meet at a time.
Freshman Cole Riddle is leading the way with his No. 2 mark in the conference and No. 4 mark in school history. The rest of the Devils aren't too far behind the Arizona high school record holder, though, as senior Nathan Hiett has the third-best mark among MPSF men, and reigning Pac-12 champion Matthew Eckles and true freshman Michael Chadwick have the fifth and sixth best marks.
All four men have achieved marks this season that have put them into the top-10 in ASU history. Riddle and Hiett are just under 20 centimeters away from a clearance that would send them to the NCAA Indoor Championships in two weeks, and this weekend is the last chance for athletes to qualify.
The 2018 MPSF Indoor Championships get started Friday at 1 p.m. MST. The meet will be live streamed on FloTrack, available for viewing with the proper subscription. Live results will also be available on gohuskies.com or FloTrack.
What to Watch For
The Sun Devils will line up against 14 and 17 other programs this weekend in Seattle, each one of them battling for a conference team title.
While the team competition is the main focus of the Championships, the individual battles on the track and in the field carry their own storylines, and some of the athletes will be seeking more than just a conference title, they'll be using the meet as their last chance to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The closest Devil to a coveted top-16 place is redshirt freshman Samantha Noennig, whose 16.71m/54-10 is just two inches shy of the last qualifying mark. She sits in 20th in the nation and sixth in the talented conference.
Another freshman, pole vaulter Cole Riddle, sits just on the outside looking in.
Riddle needs to clear at least 5.48m/17-11.75 to have a shot to qualify for the meet in College Station, Texas. It would be a four-inch personal best and move the young Devil to third in school history. Riddle won't be the only Sun Devil jumping for a place in the national meet this weekend, though.
Nathan Hiett is only a few places behind him in the descending order list and four of the five vaulters have cleared at least 17 feet in 2018, while Grant Sisserson's personal best would put him in qualifying position as well.
Shaunie Morrison enters the Championships running perhaps her best as a Sun Devil and sitting in sixth in the conference where she placed last season. Her time of 8.28 (8.30 adjusted) is just over a tenth of a second away from the top-16 in the NCAA.
ENTRIES – MPSF Championships
Men – Quinten Bankston, Ryan Bright, Michael Chadwick, Matthew Eckles, Gregory Fernandez, Mason Ford, Nathan Hiett, Marcus Howard, Elijah Hughes, Jackson Lewis, Jesus Llanez, Khalil Parris, Herb Polk, Michael Renner, Cole Riddle, Grant Sisserson, Kevin Wilkinson
Women – Kaylee Antill, Jessica Barreira, Magdalyn Ewen, Sha'Maya Flanagan, Haleigh Fritts, Emily Gallegos-Francksen, Daan Haven,
Tommi Hintnaus, Courtney Lewis, Kalei Matthews, Shaunie Morrison, Alexis Nichols, Samantha Noennig, Courtnee Oglesby, Samantha Ortega, Anna Pruter, Megan Reniewicki, Bianca Tinoco, Kristiana Warth, Alexandra Williams, Darreyl Woodson
Ewen vs. The Field
Maggie Ewen's dominance has been the heart of the Sun Devil women's team this season and that doesn't look to be changing any time soon.
The two-time defending MPSF weight throw champion is entering the championships with one of the largest leads in the weight and shot put in recent history.
Ewen leads the conference by five feet in the shot put and three feet in the weight throw. For reference, the last two seasons the leaders in those events only entered the championships with a one-foot advantage in the shot and a max of two feet in the weight.
In her three MPSF Championships appearances, Ewen has scored a remarkable 48 points and won two conference titles. She could end her indoor campaign with a maximum of 68 with two more titles this weekend.
The four conference wins would tie her for the second-most by a Sun Devil at the MPSFs in school history with Canadian long jump record-holder Christabel Nettey.
Barela's 'Fab Five'
Rarely does a group of athletes come together that has been as consistent and successful as the Sun Devil men's pole vaulters have been in 2018.
While it is still just February and the main event of the outdoor season has yet to begin, coach Ron Barela's high-flyers have put up some of the best results in school history all in the first two months of this year.
True freshman Cole Riddle has cleared the highest bar of the group, topping 5.32m/17-5.5 feet, the No. 4 mark in ASU history. Just behind Riddle at fifth in history is the senior Nathan Hiett, and the seventh and eighth-best marks ever have also been recorded in 2018 by Matthew Eckles and true freshman Michael Chadwick.
The Sun Devil men and Husky men of Washington have a stranglehold on the MPSF standings, and the two dominant squads have eight of the 10 best marks in the conference this season.
Anything can happen at the conference championships, but the Sun Devils and Huskies are likely to be the ones fighting for the title and pushing each other into NCAA contention.
Coach's Corner – Kraft on the Championships
On what he is looking for out of the team this weekend
"I think one of the things we always talk about in the department is the Territorial Cup®, so obviously that's something that is at the forefront from a team standpoint. On paper it looks like we would have the upper-hand on the women's side and the U of A men would have it on the men's side. Having said that, I thought that was the case last year and our guys were able to surprise and beat them."
"The one thing that's been our focus has been to get better every day. When I look at both teams, we are making progress. The women, when you look at the Territorial Cup ®, we just have better balance and that shows at a conference competition. The men are a little thin on the track, so we're going to have to do a lot of damage in the vertical jumps in order to have a significant score and that puts us behind the 8-ball."
On the potential for NCAA qualification
"Individually, we're obviously looking to get more people to the national championships. When you look at the pole vault, Cole Riddle has been knocking on the door, but we have other athletes who are capable as well. Nate Hiett had a wonderful day up at NAU. Matt Eckles is a Pac-12 champion and Michael Chadwick has been a pleasant surprise. On the women's side, you have the USA Junior champion in the shot in Sam Noennig and she looks like someone who could break through. I've been pleasantly surprised in the progress Jessica Barreira has made in the triple jump, and she could be a surprising person at the conference championships who has the opportunity to punch a ticket."
On the rest of the team's individual goals
"For other people, we're just looking for them to keep developing. Shaunie Morrison has had a great indoor season, she's beginning to mature as an athlete. Sha'Maya Flanagan is gaining confidence and it's been nice to see Sam Ortega back. She had an outstanding freshman year, but had since been battling injuries. In order for us to have the opportunity to challenge for a top-three finish at the Pac-12 Championships, we're going to have to have those people on the track to continue to develop, just as the people in the field have."
On Maggie Ewen
"We'd be remiss if we didn't speak of Maggie. She's been so dominant this indoor season and you hate to take it for granted, but I think people really don't understand what a special athlete she is. For her to have done what she's done in the shot, in the weight and what she's going to do in the hammer and discus, it's just truly remarkable."
On qualifying for the indoor championships versus the outdoor championships
"They are two completely different animals. The indoor season was originally set up for kind of a regional meet, and for qualifying, it definitely slants toward the east coast and Midwest because they compete in December. When you look at some of the qualifiers, particularly in distance events, a lot of those opportunities to get to the meet were punched in December. When you're looking at taking only 16 individuals to the national championships and you have a variety of penalties for running on oversized tracks and altitude, you're really comparing apples and oranges."
"The outdoor championship is a fairer way to determine who goes to the national championships because you have the regional format where you're competing head to head. So, it's not like you can punch a ticket in January or December. Everybody knows when it comes to late May, we're going to meet in Sacramento, California, and you're going to have to be prepared to prove your fitness at that point in time if you want to get to the national championships two weeks later. There have been rumblings with the qualifying procedure for the indoor season because of those factors, but our sport is a little hesitant for change. But it's something that has been considered and I'd be in favor for it. Someone like Sam, who is a great competitor and the USA Junior champion, I feel comfortable in a regional format that she would progress through it. One because she is a great competitor, and two because coach Blu has them ready to throw when it's time to throw."
Success in Seattle
The Sun Devils have made plenty of memories at the Dempsey Indoor Facility as the indoor track in Seattle has hosted each of the last 11 MPSF Championships and seen the Devils win four team titles since 2007.
ASU's last conference indoor title came in when the men's team won their second in two seasons back in 2013, and the last women's indoor title came during a dominant 2008 season that saw the Devils also win the indoor national title.
Individually, the Sun Devil women have won 38 titles in Seattle and the men have scored 28.