FloTrack | USATF.tv
TEMPE – Three meets in three days are on tap for the Sun Devil track and field team as they head to greater Los Angeles for the Mt. SAC Relays, Beach and Bryan Clay Invitationals.
The weekend will be the team's first true road trip and provides a rare opportunity for the Sun Devils making the trek to the Pacific Coast.
"As we're within striking distance of the Pac-12 Championships, this weekend is an opportunity to simulate a championship environment," coach Greg Kraft said. "By that I mean it allows our athletes to compete in consecutive days against other good athletes."
Alethia Marrero will move back up to the 800 and Magdalyn Ewen will focus on the hammer this weekend. The two seniors lead the conference in their respective events, and Ewen has the NCAA-lead in three events while Marrero is fourth in the region.
Samantha Ortega is scheduled to make her season debut in the 10,000-meter run Thursday in Torrance, California. It will be the sophomore's first race at the distance as a Sun Devil.
Most of the squad will get two chances at their events this weekend including the men's pole vaulters who make up half of the top-10 in the Pac-12 with true freshman Cole Riddle at the top of the conference.
In the region, the Devils are holding strong with more than 20 combined marks in the top-50, and this weekend holds the possibility to move up the descending order list for those on the bubble for the preliminary rounds.
"Obviously, you always talk about winning, and if you're winning, fast times are going to happen," Kraft said. "These events are typically very competitive, so it does provide an opportunity for some of our student-athletes to get those regional marks."
Ortega and Ewen kick off the weekend for the Devils Thursday at the Mt. SAC Relays, then the rest of the Devils join the action at the Bryan Clay and Beach Invitationals Friday.
Live results links for each can be found for each meet at the host school's website.
The Mt. SAC Relays will be live streamed on USATF.tv, and the other two will be available on FloTrack.
Rankings Update
A slow weekend in the track and field world kept the Sun Devil women's team at 13th in the USTFCCCA week three rankings.
ASU has jumped three places since the beginning of the season thanks in part to outstanding marks put up by Maggie Ewen, Alethia Marrero and Samantha Noennig.
Ewen has NCAA-leading tosses in the hammer, shot put and discus, Marrero is fourth in the region in the 800 and in the top-25 in the 400 and Noennig, a freshman, is seventh in the West in the shot put.
Among the conference, the Devils are the fourth-highest ranked program in a top-heavy Pac-12 that has three teams in the top-10 in fourth-ranked Oregon, No. 6 Southern California and No. 10 Stanford. Behind ASU is Colorado at No. 16.
U.S. Distance Renaissance Led by Sun Devils
Former Sun Devil Desiree Linden made history this past weekend by becoming the first American woman in 33 years to win the Boston Marathon.
Linden was a Sun Devil from 2001-2005, and her groundbreaking victory is just the latest achievement by former distance Devils who have been leading the way for Team USA.
Just last August, Amy Hastings medaled in the marathon at the IAAF World Championships, making her the first American woman to medal in that event in more than 30 years as well.
Allie Kieffer finished fourth at the New York Marathon last year and Shelby Houlihan doubled at the U.S. Indoor Championships with gold medal performances in the 1,500-and 3,000-meter runs.
Houlihan went on to finish fourth in the 1,500 and fifth in the 3,000 at the World Championships this past March.
Wild Wild West Region
The ultimate prize is a place in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, but first, athletes must qualify for, and advance out of, the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in Sacramento, California, this year.
So far this season, seven men and 12 women are in position to make the prelims this season, and two of the Sun Devil women's relay squads are in the hunt for a qualifying place as well.
While it's mostly the seniors leading the way with Maggie Ewen, Alethia Marrero, Nathan Hiett and Shaunie Morrison all in the top-25 in their respective events, two freshmen have stood out this season in Samantha Noennig and Cole Riddle.
Noennig is seventh in the region in the shot put and nearly advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the same event just over a month ago.
Like Noennig, Riddle sits in seventh in the West in the men's pole vault and leads the Pac-12 in the event he took third in at the MPSF Championships in February.
Only 48 athletes earn places in the preliminary rounds, and 24 relay teams will advance to Sacramento. Of the 48, just 12 will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, June 8-10.
What to Watch For
A busy weekend for the Devils means there's plenty of action to follow in L.A.
Maggie Ewen leads the nation in all three of her events, and of course her hammer throw series will be one of the top events to follow this weekend.
On the same day as the hammer, Samantha Ortega will run her first 10,000-meter race of her young Sun Devil career.
Shaunie Morrison will get two opportunities to move up on the descending order list in the 100-meter hurdles. She's already recorded a top-20 time and is on the women's 4x100-meter relay team that is also seeking a lane at the West Preliminary Rounds.
The men's 4x400-meter relay team is coming together and will get another chance this weekend to bring their time down and move up in the conference.
Khalil Parris and Jesus Llanez have two of the best 400-meter hurdles times in the highly competitive Pac-12. While they sit in eighth and ninth, respectively, less than two seconds separate the second-best and 12th-best marks in the conference.
A jumper and a thrower, Jessica Barreira is currently in position to make the regional in two completely different events in the triple jump and javelin throw. She will compete in both again this weekend.
One of the biggest races of the season will be the women's 800 at Mt. SAC that typically produces some of the fastest times of the year. Sun Devil senior Alethia Marrero will be entered in the race and she already leads the conference and is fourth in the region with her opener from a few weeks ago.
Ewen's Super Senior Season
Sun Devil senior Maggie Ewen has followed up her phenomenal junior season that put her in the final three for the Bowerman Award with marks that have propelled her into the conversation as one of the greatest throwers in NCAA history.
Ewen opened her outdoor season without recording a mark in the discus but two weeks later had an incredible performance in all three of her events in which she recorded the NCAA record in the hammer throw, the second-best shot put mark in collegiate history and the NCAA-lead in 2018 in the discus.
She has been named as the USTFCCCA Female Athlete of the Week and Pac-12 Women's Field Athlete of the Week twice.
For her outdoor success, coupled with her first indoor title and two All-America honors during the indoor season, Ewen remained on the latest Bowerman Award watch list released by the USTFCCCA Wednesday.