TEMPE – For the third and final time this season, Sun Angel Stadium will play host to some of the NCAA's elite, this time for the 39th Sun Angel Classic Friday and Saturday in Tempe.
While the collegiate events get going Friday afternoon, the stadium will be open for high school competition Thursday.
"The Sun Angel Classic has become a fixture of our community," coach Greg Kraft said. "The headliners in our minds are the high school sections because it's an opportunity for us to give back to the community and all of the great high school coaches and athletes in our state."
The high school meet will run Thursday and Saturday, and the collegiate athletes will join the party Friday and Saturday with the final day being senior day for 13 Sun Devils.
"It's one of those things that always brings mixed feelings," Kraft said. "Obviously, you celebrate a Maggie Ewen and the success at the national level she's had, but there's also a Darreyl Woodson who was a walk-on but has a chance to end her career on a wonderful note at the Pac-12 Championships."
Saturday will mark the last home meet for some athletes who have been the faces of the Sun Devil squads over the past four years and have put themselves into the Sun Devil record books including Ewen, Woodson, Nathan Hiett, Kristiana Warth, Alethia Marrero, Shaunie Morrison and Haleigh Fritts among others.
"You can't always measure a person's contributions to the program based on points scored alone," Kraft said. "For guys like Mason Ford or Ronny Hall, they're just wonderful teammates who have really committed themselves to everything ASU."
The seniors and the rest of the Devils will have their work cut out for them as Sun Angel Stadium will play host to nine ranked programs including a top-five women's programs (No. 4 USC), and two of the top-six men's programs ( 5 USC, 6 Texas Tech).
The high school meet gets going Thursday morning and the collegiate athletes start the weekend Friday at noon. The full schedule and tickets are available online at thesundevils.com, live results will be provided by Finished Results and updates about the meet will be provided on the @SunDevilTFXC Twitter account.
Rankings Update
Not much changed for the Sun Devils in the rankings after taking a week off from competition as the women's squad remained at No. 14 in the week one USTFCCCA ranking.
ASU is the fourth-highest ranked Pac-12 team behind No. 2 Oregon, No. 4 Southern California, and the 12th-ranked Cardinal. Colorado sits behind ASU at No. 17.
Regionally, the Devils are faring well with two women at the top of the West in their respective events.
Alethia Marrero leads the region in the 800-meter run, and Maggie Ewen is first in the hammer throw. Ewen is also fourth in the discus and has yet to enter a shot put competition this season. She won all three of her events at the Pac-12 Championships a season ago, and Marrero was an 800-meter All-American for Indiana State in 2017.
Samantha Noennig is the other Sun Devil woman in the top-10 in the region, but plenty of Sun Devils are in position to make the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.
Marrero Making Her Mark
After just two weekends of competition, it's evident that graduate transfer Alethia Marrero is the biggest addition to the team this outdoor season.
Having run open twice and on four relays since the season-opener, Marrero has helped ASU record some of the fastest times in the conference and the West Region this year.
She leads the region and is fifth in the nation in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:05.33, the joint-fifth-best time in Sun Devil history.
While her half-mile time has turned heads, her time in the quarter-mile shows the range she had brought to the Sun Devil squad as she sits in 25th in the region and scoring position in the Pac-12.
That speed has earned her a place on ASU's 4x400-meter and 4x100-meter relays . The 4x4 is the Sun Devils' fastest quartet in nearly four years and has ASU at 17th in the region and fifth in a stacked Pac-12 conference.
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, five 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-15 in their respective events, three freshmen have stood out this season in Samantha Noennig, Michael Chadwick and Kevin Wilkinson.
Noennig is seventh in the region in the shot put and nearly advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the same event just under a month ago.
Wilkinson's 1:51.26 has him at 31st in the region and Michael Chadwick is sitting at 26th in the pole vault with a month to go in the regular season.
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
This weekend's Sun Angel Classic will be the final time this season for the Sun Devils to compete in front of their home crowd, making Saturday senior day for several key Devils.
Mason Ford, Nathan Hiett, Khalil Parris and Grant Sisserson will compete for the last time at Sun Angel Stadium in maroon and gold.
The women send Brooke Coltelli, Maggie Ewen, Haleigh Fritts, Alethia Marrero, Kristiana Warth and Darreyl Woodson into the field one last time at home.
While the seniors will own the weekend some younger Sun Devils will also be looking to make some waves in front of the home crowd.
Cole Riddle led the pole vaulters indoors and will make his outdoor debut this weekend, while Kevin Wilkinson and Samantha Noennig will look to build on their solid outing from the last meet.
Watch the Throne
The Sun Devils enter the outdoor season with two defending Pac-12 champions in Maggie Ewen and Matthew Eckles on their team.
While it is every champion's expectation to repeat, both Sun Devils will have some work to do to ensure the men's pole vault title and women's shot put, hammer throw and discus titles stay in Tempe.
For Ewen, her biggest hurdle may be herself. She made history last year when she swept the shot, hammer and discus titles for the time in conference history, and the pressure is on to make history again.
But Ewen has overcome pressure already once this year when she swept the throwing events at the MPSF Championships and won the NCAA Indoor shot put title as the No. 1 seed in all three events, and even finished fourth in the weight throw at the NCAA Championships despite entering the meet as the six seed.
Eckles' competition may come from ASU as well as the Devils field five of the best pole vaulters in the conference.
Along with the defending Pac-12 champ, Michael Chadwick and Cole Riddle tied for third at the MPSF Championships indoors, and senior Nathan Hiett took fifth in Seattle while Eckles finished sixth to give ASU 19 of its 22 points at the championships.
While the collegiate events get going Friday afternoon, the stadium will be open for high school competition Thursday.
"The Sun Angel Classic has become a fixture of our community," coach Greg Kraft said. "The headliners in our minds are the high school sections because it's an opportunity for us to give back to the community and all of the great high school coaches and athletes in our state."
The high school meet will run Thursday and Saturday, and the collegiate athletes will join the party Friday and Saturday with the final day being senior day for 13 Sun Devils.
"It's one of those things that always brings mixed feelings," Kraft said. "Obviously, you celebrate a Maggie Ewen and the success at the national level she's had, but there's also a Darreyl Woodson who was a walk-on but has a chance to end her career on a wonderful note at the Pac-12 Championships."
Saturday will mark the last home meet for some athletes who have been the faces of the Sun Devil squads over the past four years and have put themselves into the Sun Devil record books including Ewen, Woodson, Nathan Hiett, Kristiana Warth, Alethia Marrero, Shaunie Morrison and Haleigh Fritts among others.
"You can't always measure a person's contributions to the program based on points scored alone," Kraft said. "For guys like Mason Ford or Ronny Hall, they're just wonderful teammates who have really committed themselves to everything ASU."
The seniors and the rest of the Devils will have their work cut out for them as Sun Angel Stadium will play host to nine ranked programs including a top-five women's programs (No. 4 USC), and two of the top-six men's programs ( 5 USC, 6 Texas Tech).
The high school meet gets going Thursday morning and the collegiate athletes start the weekend Friday at noon. The full schedule and tickets are available online at thesundevils.com, live results will be provided by Finished Results and updates about the meet will be provided on the @SunDevilTFXC Twitter account.
Rankings Update
Not much changed for the Sun Devils in the rankings after taking a week off from competition as the women's squad remained at No. 14 in the week one USTFCCCA ranking.
ASU is the fourth-highest ranked Pac-12 team behind No. 2 Oregon, No. 4 Southern California, and the 12th-ranked Cardinal. Colorado sits behind ASU at No. 17.
Regionally, the Devils are faring well with two women at the top of the West in their respective events.
Alethia Marrero leads the region in the 800-meter run, and Maggie Ewen is first in the hammer throw. Ewen is also fourth in the discus and has yet to enter a shot put competition this season. She won all three of her events at the Pac-12 Championships a season ago, and Marrero was an 800-meter All-American for Indiana State in 2017.
Samantha Noennig is the other Sun Devil woman in the top-10 in the region, but plenty of Sun Devils are in position to make the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.
Marrero Making Her Mark
After just two weekends of competition, it's evident that graduate transfer Alethia Marrero is the biggest addition to the team this outdoor season.
Having run open twice and on four relays since the season-opener, Marrero has helped ASU record some of the fastest times in the conference and the West Region this year.
She leads the region and is fifth in the nation in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:05.33, the joint-fifth-best time in Sun Devil history.
While her half-mile time has turned heads, her time in the quarter-mile shows the range she had brought to the Sun Devil squad as she sits in 25th in the region and scoring position in the Pac-12.
That speed has earned her a place on ASU's 4x400-meter and 4x100-meter relays . The 4x4 is the Sun Devils' fastest quartet in nearly four years and has ASU at 17th in the region and fifth in a stacked Pac-12 conference.
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, five 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-15 in their respective events, three freshmen have stood out this season in Samantha Noennig, Michael Chadwick and Kevin Wilkinson.
Noennig is seventh in the region in the shot put and nearly advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the same event just under a month ago.
Wilkinson's 1:51.26 has him at 31st in the region and Michael Chadwick is sitting at 26th in the pole vault with a month to go in the regular season.
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
This weekend's Sun Angel Classic will be the final time this season for the Sun Devils to compete in front of their home crowd, making Saturday senior day for several key Devils.
Mason Ford, Nathan Hiett, Khalil Parris and Grant Sisserson will compete for the last time at Sun Angel Stadium in maroon and gold.
The women send Brooke Coltelli, Maggie Ewen, Haleigh Fritts, Alethia Marrero, Kristiana Warth and Darreyl Woodson into the field one last time at home.
While the seniors will own the weekend some younger Sun Devils will also be looking to make some waves in front of the home crowd.
Cole Riddle led the pole vaulters indoors and will make his outdoor debut this weekend, while Kevin Wilkinson and Samantha Noennig will look to build on their solid outing from the last meet.
Watch the Throne
The Sun Devils enter the outdoor season with two defending Pac-12 champions in Maggie Ewen and Matthew Eckles on their team.
While it is every champion's expectation to repeat, both Sun Devils will have some work to do to ensure the men's pole vault title and women's shot put, hammer throw and discus titles stay in Tempe.
For Ewen, her biggest hurdle may be herself. She made history last year when she swept the shot, hammer and discus titles for the time in conference history, and the pressure is on to make history again.
But Ewen has overcome pressure already once this year when she swept the throwing events at the MPSF Championships and won the NCAA Indoor shot put title as the No. 1 seed in all three events, and even finished fourth in the weight throw at the NCAA Championships despite entering the meet as the six seed.
Eckles' competition may come from ASU as well as the Devils field five of the best pole vaulters in the conference.
Along with the defending Pac-12 champ, Michael Chadwick and Cole Riddle tied for third at the MPSF Championships indoors, and senior Nathan Hiett took fifth in Seattle while Eckles finished sixth to give ASU 19 of its 22 points at the championships.