TEMPE – The Sun Devils head back to the Golden State this weekend for the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, California, that will provide the ASU squads with an early and important look at the Pac-12 Championship course.
"Not one person in our group has raced there, so giving them the opportunity to race up there and get a lay of the land will be beneficial when we head back up there for the conference meet next month," women's coach Jeremy Rasmussen said.
The women will be back at full-strength after several members sat out for the trip to Tucson where, despite having four Sun Devils finish in the top-15, ASU didn't record a team score with only four finishers.
The surging Alexis Nichols will be one to watch as the Devils will tackle their first 6K of 2018. Nichols' last outing saw her best her 2017 time at the Dave Murray Invitational by more than 30 seconds, and she was the No. 2 finisher in the first meet of the season behind Daan Haven.
"I think Alexis has found a new love for cross country," Rasmussen said. "In the past, she's been traditionally a track athlete, but she's really embraced the sport as something that can help her achieve her goals on the track."
The men are one week closer to fielding their full lineup as John Reniewicki makes the trip to Palo Alto after sitting out and yielding the top-spot to sophomore Jackson Lewis at the Dave Murray Invitational.
Reniewicki's 8K at the season-opener was a minute faster than his first 8K of 2017. Lewis, in the start to his sophomore season has dropped his 8K best and 6K best by 12 and 40 seconds respectively heading into the heart of the cross country season.
"We're starting to get everyone healthy and in race shape, so getting John back this week, we'll be able to kind of cut him loose," men's coach Cory Leslie said. "Then in two weeks, we'll be back to 100 percent with Garrett and Fearghal jumping in. I think that'll be the first time we really know what we're made of and what this team can do."
The Stanford Invitational begins at 9 a.m., Saturday, but the collegiate events will not start until the women's 6K at 9:50 a.m. The men's 8K follows at 10:30 a.m.
Results will be available on recordtiming.com and a full recap of Arizona State's day in Palo Alto will be available on thesundevils.com following the completion of the event.
Rankings Update
There wasn't much movement in the latest version of the USTFCCCA national rankings as the men of Northern Arizona and the women of New Mexico held onto their top spots for the third-straight week.
As for the Pac-12, Stanford (4), Colorado (7), Oregon (11), Washington (12), Washington State (15), and UCLA (23) all come in inside the top-25 to help the conference lead the way in ranked programs on the men's side.
Three Pac-12 women's programs occupy the top-five in No. 2 Colorado, third-ranked Stanford and the fourth-ranked Ducks of Oregon.
Beyond the top-five, the women of Washington (16), California (21) and Utah (24) make it six programs from the conference of champions in the top-25.
A Look Back: Week Three 2017 (Roy Griak Invitational)
Samantha Ortega led the way for the Arizona State women, finishing 25th and helping the Sun Devils take eighth with 242 points in their return to the Roy Griak Invitational, last year in Minneapolis.
Chelsey Albertson was the second-best finisher for ASU in the women's race, taking 51st, and Courtney Lewis finished 60th in her season debut.
Alexis Nichols (62) and Anna Pruter (68) were the other two scorers for the Sun Devils.
The Sun Devil men started the day for ASU and finished 12th with 324 points, four points off 11th-place South Dakota.
John Reniewicki was the squad's top-finisher, this time taking 41st in the loaded field and true freshman Jackson Lewis finished 73rd overall, doing so after surging through the field through the last 3K and passing nearly 30 runners on the way.
The Sun Devil's third-best finisher was Ryan Normand in 86th, and true freshman Erik Gonzalez took 96th, while Michael Renner completed the scoring when he crossed the line in 102nd.
#SunDevil4Life Linden to be inducted into Hall of Fame
2018 Boston Marathon champion and former Sun Devil All-American cross country runner, Desiree Linden will be inducted into the Sun Devil Sports Hall of Fame later this month along with another track and field legend in Jacquelyn Johnson.
Linden was the third woman to compete at four-straight NCAA Cross Country Championships and also earned an All-America honors on the track when she competed in the 5,000 outdoors in 2003.
Linden's notoriety skyrocketed after she made history in Boston this past April by becoming the first American woman in 33 years to win the historic Boston Marathon.
The induction ceremony will be on Sept. 28.
American Distance Renaissance Led by Devils
While names like Desiree Linden and Shelby Houlihan are popping up in national headlines across the country, their exploits are nothing new to those from Tempe as those two and a handful of former Sun Devils have been leading a renaissance for American distance running in the past two years.
Linden's notoriety surged after she became the first American woman in more than 30 years to win the Boston Marathon, a feat she accomplished this past April.
As for Houlihan, along with competing with some of the best women in the world in the 1,500-and 5,000-meter runs, she's owned the American circuit by claiming seven U.S. titles since 2017 alone.
Elsewhere in the world of distance running, Amy Cragg-Hastings won the bronze medal at the IAAF World Championships in 2017. The medal was the USA's first since the 1980s in the event.
Back the Pac
There have been some astronomical changes made across the NCAA this past summer in an attempt to shift the landscape of cross country.
Coaches have moved, transfers have bolstered already strong lineups and recruiting classes have raised some eyebrows.
The Pac-12, however, remains unbothered on its perch as the deepest and most-competitive conference in the NCAA.
Over the past three seasons, no Power Five conference has put more teams into the NCAA Championships than the Pac-12 with 19 men's programs toeing the line for gold, and 16 women's teams.
On the men's side, the closest conference to the Conference of Champions is the ACC with 13, and even though Syracuse has the lone Power Five NCAA title since 2015 (NAU has won back-to-back), the Pac-12 has nine top-10 finishes to the opposite coast's three.
The women have competition from the Big Ten's 14 entries, but again the Pac-12 has them doubled in top-10 finishes with eight to its four.
Oregon won the women's title in 2016, and has been sandwiched by wins from New Mexico.
"Not one person in our group has raced there, so giving them the opportunity to race up there and get a lay of the land will be beneficial when we head back up there for the conference meet next month," women's coach Jeremy Rasmussen said.
The women will be back at full-strength after several members sat out for the trip to Tucson where, despite having four Sun Devils finish in the top-15, ASU didn't record a team score with only four finishers.
The surging Alexis Nichols will be one to watch as the Devils will tackle their first 6K of 2018. Nichols' last outing saw her best her 2017 time at the Dave Murray Invitational by more than 30 seconds, and she was the No. 2 finisher in the first meet of the season behind Daan Haven.
"I think Alexis has found a new love for cross country," Rasmussen said. "In the past, she's been traditionally a track athlete, but she's really embraced the sport as something that can help her achieve her goals on the track."
The men are one week closer to fielding their full lineup as John Reniewicki makes the trip to Palo Alto after sitting out and yielding the top-spot to sophomore Jackson Lewis at the Dave Murray Invitational.
Reniewicki's 8K at the season-opener was a minute faster than his first 8K of 2017. Lewis, in the start to his sophomore season has dropped his 8K best and 6K best by 12 and 40 seconds respectively heading into the heart of the cross country season.
"We're starting to get everyone healthy and in race shape, so getting John back this week, we'll be able to kind of cut him loose," men's coach Cory Leslie said. "Then in two weeks, we'll be back to 100 percent with Garrett and Fearghal jumping in. I think that'll be the first time we really know what we're made of and what this team can do."
The Stanford Invitational begins at 9 a.m., Saturday, but the collegiate events will not start until the women's 6K at 9:50 a.m. The men's 8K follows at 10:30 a.m.
Results will be available on recordtiming.com and a full recap of Arizona State's day in Palo Alto will be available on thesundevils.com following the completion of the event.
Rankings Update
There wasn't much movement in the latest version of the USTFCCCA national rankings as the men of Northern Arizona and the women of New Mexico held onto their top spots for the third-straight week.
As for the Pac-12, Stanford (4), Colorado (7), Oregon (11), Washington (12), Washington State (15), and UCLA (23) all come in inside the top-25 to help the conference lead the way in ranked programs on the men's side.
Three Pac-12 women's programs occupy the top-five in No. 2 Colorado, third-ranked Stanford and the fourth-ranked Ducks of Oregon.
Beyond the top-five, the women of Washington (16), California (21) and Utah (24) make it six programs from the conference of champions in the top-25.
A Look Back: Week Three 2017 (Roy Griak Invitational)
Samantha Ortega led the way for the Arizona State women, finishing 25th and helping the Sun Devils take eighth with 242 points in their return to the Roy Griak Invitational, last year in Minneapolis.
Chelsey Albertson was the second-best finisher for ASU in the women's race, taking 51st, and Courtney Lewis finished 60th in her season debut.
Alexis Nichols (62) and Anna Pruter (68) were the other two scorers for the Sun Devils.
The Sun Devil men started the day for ASU and finished 12th with 324 points, four points off 11th-place South Dakota.
John Reniewicki was the squad's top-finisher, this time taking 41st in the loaded field and true freshman Jackson Lewis finished 73rd overall, doing so after surging through the field through the last 3K and passing nearly 30 runners on the way.
The Sun Devil's third-best finisher was Ryan Normand in 86th, and true freshman Erik Gonzalez took 96th, while Michael Renner completed the scoring when he crossed the line in 102nd.
#SunDevil4Life Linden to be inducted into Hall of Fame
2018 Boston Marathon champion and former Sun Devil All-American cross country runner, Desiree Linden will be inducted into the Sun Devil Sports Hall of Fame later this month along with another track and field legend in Jacquelyn Johnson.
Linden was the third woman to compete at four-straight NCAA Cross Country Championships and also earned an All-America honors on the track when she competed in the 5,000 outdoors in 2003.
Linden's notoriety skyrocketed after she made history in Boston this past April by becoming the first American woman in 33 years to win the historic Boston Marathon.
The induction ceremony will be on Sept. 28.
American Distance Renaissance Led by Devils
While names like Desiree Linden and Shelby Houlihan are popping up in national headlines across the country, their exploits are nothing new to those from Tempe as those two and a handful of former Sun Devils have been leading a renaissance for American distance running in the past two years.
Linden's notoriety surged after she became the first American woman in more than 30 years to win the Boston Marathon, a feat she accomplished this past April.
As for Houlihan, along with competing with some of the best women in the world in the 1,500-and 5,000-meter runs, she's owned the American circuit by claiming seven U.S. titles since 2017 alone.
Elsewhere in the world of distance running, Amy Cragg-Hastings won the bronze medal at the IAAF World Championships in 2017. The medal was the USA's first since the 1980s in the event.
Back the Pac
There have been some astronomical changes made across the NCAA this past summer in an attempt to shift the landscape of cross country.
Coaches have moved, transfers have bolstered already strong lineups and recruiting classes have raised some eyebrows.
The Pac-12, however, remains unbothered on its perch as the deepest and most-competitive conference in the NCAA.
Over the past three seasons, no Power Five conference has put more teams into the NCAA Championships than the Pac-12 with 19 men's programs toeing the line for gold, and 16 women's teams.
On the men's side, the closest conference to the Conference of Champions is the ACC with 13, and even though Syracuse has the lone Power Five NCAA title since 2015 (NAU has won back-to-back), the Pac-12 has nine top-10 finishes to the opposite coast's three.
The women have competition from the Big Ten's 14 entries, but again the Pac-12 has them doubled in top-10 finishes with eight to its four.
Oregon won the women's title in 2016, and has been sandwiched by wins from New Mexico.