EUGENE, Ore. – Four Sun Devil women are set to compete at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this weekend, including two-time NCAA champion Maggie Ewen, All-American Alethia Marrero and two first-time contenders in Kaylee Antill and Samantha Noennig.
"The four we have left are the ones that have demonstrated the most consistent excellence throughout the year," coach Greg Kraft said. "Our goals for our women haven't changed because I still think we have the potential to get a top-10 finish. The point totals are such that traditionally, if you can get to the low-to-mid-20s, you can be a top-10 team. With this group I think we can do that."
Leading the way for the Devils is the senior Ewen, who is no stranger to the NCAA Championships as this is her fourth-consecutive trip to Eugene. Last season she won her first NCAA crown and this past indoor season she took the shot put title. She's seeking a shot put sweep this weekend as she heads into the event with the collegiate record and a near-two-meter lead on the field, and she's also throwing discus as one of the event's top-qualifiers.
Ewen is one of three Sun Devil women competing in the throwing events in Eugene as Noennig (shot put) and Antill (hammer throw) make their NCAA Championship debuts.
Marrero is ASU's lone representative on the track, but the half-miler is one of the top-seeds in the event having clocked the seventh-best time in the 800 this season, and owning an All-America honor already.
"When you're at the National Championship, you have to be at your best and I think one of the things you can see in Kaylee and Alethia is that over the last month they've really been trending up, so there's cause for optimism there," Kraft said. "Sam has demonstrated that she has that ability and she had a fantastic Pac-12 Championship. If she's able to have the type of performance she had at the Pac-12 Championship, we'll see her in the NCAA final."
The women's championship begins Thursday as all four of the Sun Devils will be in action at Hayward Field in the afternoon, beginning with Antill at 1:30 p.m.
The complete schedule can be found online along with live results. The NCAA Championships will be available to watch on the ESPN family of networks.
Rankings Update
With four representatives heading to Eugene for the NCAA Championships in five events, the Sun Devils only took a slight dip in the poll, but remained in the top-20 in the latest release.
While the Devils are at 17 in the nation, there's a strong feeling that ASU could finish higher than its current ranking at the Championships much like 2017.
Last season, ASU went to Eugene ranked 18th, but came away with a top-10 finish thanks to 21 points from Maggie Ewen. This season, Ewen returns in two events, but is also joined by Pac-12 runners-up Samantha Noennig (shot put) and Alethia Marrero (800), as well as Kaylee Antill in the hammer throw who enters as the six-seed in the event after an outstanding regional performance.
In the conference, the Pac-12 is still led by Southern California at No. 2, but the women of Oregon are right on their tails at No. 3. Stanford kept its top-10 place, moving to No. 8, and Colorado sits behind ASU at No. 21.
Ewen Chasing History
When Maggie Ewen steps into the ring at the NCAA Championships, it will mark her fourth-consecutive appearance in Eugene, a feat rarely achieved in collegiate track and field.
While she's only throwing in two events instead of her usual three, Ewen is still chasing history at the Championships as she looks to complete a season sweep of shot put titles and move up on ASU's all-time scoring list.
She is already one of the most decorated Sun Devils in history with a record seven Pac-12 titles, four school records, two collegiate records and nine All-America honors including two NCAA titles.
Ewen could add two more titles and All-America honors to that list to complete her Sun Devil career and cement her status as one of the great athletes regardless of gender in collegiate history.
Noennig and Antill's First Rodeo
As the Maggie Ewen era comes to a close in Tempe, the Sun Devils don't seem to be slowing down as two up-and-coming throwers under coach Brian Blutreich will continue their breakout seasons at their first NCAA Championship.
Redshirt freshman Samantha Noennig and sophomore Kaylee Antill may be suiting up for the Sun Devils for the first time in Eugene, but both women have the ability to make sure this isn't their last.
Noennig heads into the meet as the only freshman in the top-10 in the nation in the shot put and as the Pac-12 runner-up in the event. With Ewen graduated, Noennig will be the highest finishing returner at next season's Pac-12 Championships.
Antill's steady improvement over the season came to a head when she finished fourth in the region and grabbed a six-seed heading into the hammer throw final.
She scored in both the hammer and discus (along with Noennig) at the Pac-12 Championships and both women picked up points for the Sun Devils at the MPSF Championships indoors back in February.
So while the Devils will lose the historic three-way talent of Ewen, the two young Devils behind her are making a name for themselves in the country and look to continue the throwing legacy that ASU has built in its history.
Marrero Returns to Eugene
This weekend will be Alethia Marrero's first and only appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as a Sun Devil, but the graduate transfer is no stranger to the bright lights of Hayward Field.
Marrero advanced to Eugene three times before coming to ASU, two times as an individual in the 800 and once as a member of the Indiana State 4x100-meter relay team.
She's finished as high as fifth at the Championships back in 2015, and this season, Marrero heads into the meet with one of the fastest times in the nation in the 800.
Her short time in Tempe has been successful with a second-place finish in the 800 at the Pac-12 Championships, and the second-fastest time in school history.
West Promoted to Associate Head Coach
Arizona State University Director of track and field Greg Kraft announced that sprints coach Devin West will be named associate head coach and will be recognized as head coach in waiting with a plan to succeed Kraft following his retirement in 2020.
The announcement comes 25 months out from the expected change, a significant piece of the process for Kraft as he expressed the importance of having a seamless transition and retaining the continuity his staff has developed over this past season.
The Sun Devils have thrived under Kraft as he has led them to four NCAA team titles and five conference titles in his 22-year tenure as ASU's head coach. His athletes have earned 134 All-America honors indoors, 172 outdoor honors and 34 NCAA titles in the process.
Kraft's successor, West, has been on the Sun Devil staff for just under a year now, but the lead sprints coach has already made his mark on the program with his coaching and recruiting prowess.
West has worked under a number of the nation's most successful head coaches, including his most recent position at ASU. West came to Tempe from Georgia where he worked under NCAA champion coach Petros Kyprianou, and prior to his time in Athens, West spent time under legendary Texas Tech head coach Wes Kittley and track and field icon Amy Deem at Miami (Fla.).
While West will take charge of the program in 2020, the first year Sun Devil is surrounded by a unique and talented coaching staff that includes just as much youth as it does experience.
The staff includes assistant sprints coach Javonie Small, assistant distance coach Cory Leslie, throws coach Brian Blutreich, head cross country coach Jeremy Rasmussen and volunteer coaches Ron Barela and Priscilla Schultz.