The Sun Devil Athletic Department has registered its best Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standing since 2012-13 with its 19th-place finish (821 points), as it continued its jump from No. 31 last year following 43rd-place finish in 2016-17. The finish is ASU's third top-25 finish in the past decade, as it finished 18th in 2012-13 and 22nd in 2009-10.
Led by a national championship from wrestler Zahid Valencia -- who returns to Tempe in 2019-20 -- Zeke Jones' wrestling squad posted 64.5 points with its 12th-place finish, followed closely by long-time women's basketball coach Charlie Turner Thorne's Sweet Sixteen season notching 64 points. The golf programs -- under 2019 Pac-12 Coach of the Year Matt Thurmond and 2017 NCAA champion Missy Farr-Kaye then both posted finishes strong points, with the women notching 60 and the men 58.5. Sports added recently accounted for 75 points, as men's tennis posted 50 points under Matt Hill and hockey's first NCAA Tournament appearance notched 25 points.
Wrestling 64.5 (12th)
Women's Basketball 64 (9th)
Women's Golf 60 (14th)
Men's Golf 58.5 (16th)
Women's Swimming/Diving 54 (20th)
Men's Swimming/Diving 53 (21st)
Women's Outdoor Track and Field 51.5 (22nd)
Women's Indoor Track and Field 50.5 (21st)
Softball 50 (17th)
Men's Tennis 50 (17th)
Women's Tennis 50 (17th)
Gymnastics 47.5
Baseball 37.5 points (33rd)
Men's Indoor Track and Field 28.5 (45th)
Men's Outdoor Track and Field 26.5 (46th)
Men's Basketball 25 (33rd)
Football 25 (50th)
Hockey 25 (9th)
WRESTLING 12th/64.5 POINTS
Head coach Zeke Jones led the Sun Devils to another successful season, culminating in Zahid Valencia's second consecutive individual NCAA Championship at the 174 lb. weight class. The Sun Devils sent four to the national championships after finishing second at the 2019 Pac-12 Wrestling Championships with five individual conference champions. Christian Pagdilao, Josh Shields and Valencia advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals and earned All-America honors. Ranked as high as No. 5, the ASU squad finished with a 6-10 overall mark (3-1 in the Pac-12), battling nine ranked opponents and four in the top-10 over the course of the regular season.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 9th/64 POINTS
The Sun Devil women's basketball team (22-11, 10-7 Pac-12) finished 15th in the nation in 2018-19, setting school records for consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (six) and 20-win seasons (six). ASU won a pair of games in the 2019 NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time since 2005. The NCAA Tournament bid represented ASU's 17th in program history and the 14th under the direction of head coach Charli Turner Thorne. ASU made a program record 198 three-pointers and led the Pac-12 in scoring defense for the second straight season (third time in five seasons). Senior Kianna Ibis earned All-Pac-12 honors from both the coaches and media, as her 14.1 points per game were the most by a Sun Devil since Danielle Orsillo averaged 14.1 ppg in 2009-10. During the regular season, Ibis averaged 17.0 ppg/7.2 rpg and shot percent in ASU's nine games vs. ranked teams. ASU's 58 wins in pre-conference play over the last six seasons are more than any school in the Pac-12 during that stretch.
WOMEN'S GOLF 14th/60 POINTS
Led by a Sun Devil who has won a NCAA title as a player (1990), assistant coach (2009) and head coach (2017), Missy Farr-Kaye's team finished tied for 14th at the weather-shortened NCAA Championship in Arkansas in late May. For an NCAA-record 35th time, the Sun Devil Women's Golf team qualified for the NCAA Championships. By virtue of their fifth-place finish at the Norman Regional, Arizona State advanced to Fayetteville for a shot at the NCAA title thanks in large part to the play of Olivia Mehaffey. The junior took home co-medalist honors at the Norman Regional, becoming just the eighth Sun Devil to accomplish the feat. At the NCAA Championships, ASU was in contention for a spot in the top eight for most of the tournament, eventually earning 60 points in the Directors' Cup by finishing tied for 14th. In a field of 132 of the top female collegiate golfers, sophomore Raquel Olmos and freshman Alessandra Fanali finished in the Top-50, ending up tied for 43rd. The Sun Devils posted a 952 (+50) for the tournament, finishing ahead of a pair of Golfstat Top-10 teams as well as six Top-25 teams,
MEN'S GOLF 16th/58.5 POINTS
Matt Thurmond's third season -- which resulted in him earning 2019 Pac-12 Coach of the Year -- included four team wins, six individual wins, a PING First-Team All-American (Chun An Yu), six second-place finishes and a pair of fourth-place finishes Cameron Sisk earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year while Yu and Anderson earned first-team honors. The team finished 16th at the NCAA Championships while Chun An Yu finished third. It won three straight tournaments with a different Sun Devil winning each event in March and April. It won the Thunderbird Collegiate at Papago Golf Course on April 12-13 with a 20-under 832 as Yu shot a 12-under 201. ASU shot 50-under on March 18-19 to win the National Invitational in Tucson as junior Alex del Rey shot 17-under 199, while sophomore Mason Andersen won a playoff after shooting a 6-under 210 at the San Diego Lamkin Grips Classic on March 11-12 as ASU shot a 10-under 854 in the win. Team also won the John Burns Intercollegiate on Feb. 21-13 shooting a 24-under 840.
MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING 21st/55 POINTS
As the No. 15 Arizona State men's swimming and diving teams cap their fourth season under head coach Bob Bowman, the upward momentum experienced by both programs is substantial. Before Bowman's arrival, Sun Devil men's swimming had not registered an All-American since CJ Nuess in 2008. Since the Olympic coach came to Tempe beginning in the 2015-16 season, the squad has garnered 50 All-America honors while cementing themselves as one of the elite programs in the country. The men have also turned heads in one of the most competitive conferences in college swimming, bringing home three individual and one relay Pac-12 titles after not having done so since 2008. The internal improvement is also detailed by the men having set school records in eight of the 14 individual events and all five of the relay events under Bowman's tutelage.
WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING 20th/54 POINTS
Continuing their upward momentum under head coach Bob Bowman, Sun Devil women's swimming and diving achieved a top-20 finish at the NCAA National Championships, three places higher than their 2018 finish. ASU also garnered almost twice the amount of points as their 2018 total. Transfer Cierra Runge led the charge for the women, cementing herself in Arizona State history the second she was eligible in January. Runge finished the season with four school records, five of the top-10 times in ASU history in the 500 freestyle and all four of the top times in the 200 freestyle, a feat she achieved in just six meets. Silja Kansakoski reclaimed her crown at the Pac-12 Championships, taking the top mark in the 100 breast for the second time in three years. At NCAAs, the women had 13 All-America honors across seven women, including Runge's two First-Team selections in the 500 and 1650 freestyles.
WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD 21st/50.5 POINTS
With Samantha Noennig's 10 points, the Sun Devil women were able to earn a 21st-place finish at the NCAA Championships. A redshirt-sophomore Noennig won the NCAA shot put title on her final throw of the competition by less than two centimeters to give the Sun Devils back-to-back shot put crowns after Maggie Ewen claimed the title in 2018. Jessica Barreira also advanced to the indoor championships and earned her first All-America honor when she finished ninth in the women's long jump.
WOMEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD 22nd/51.5 POINTS
The combined efforts of Samantha Noennig and Beatrice Llano led the Sun Devils to their eighth top-25 finish in the past decade as ASU put up 12 points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and finished 22nd to pick up 51.5 points in the Directors' Cup table. Noennig completed ASU's second-straight sweep of the women's shot put by setting a big personal best in the process, and Beatrice Llano finished seventh in arguably the deepest women's hammer throw contest in NCAA history. Both women scored first-team All-America honors, and Seri Geisler picked up second-team honors in the women's javelin.
MEN'S TENNIS 17th/50 POINTS
Matt Hill took his Sun Devil men's tennis squad to their best finish by the Sun Devils in 15 years, showing off substantial improvement in the squad's second season. ASU as a team had not advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament since 2004 but managed postseason berths in each of the last three seasons. The Sun Devils also excelled in doubles play all season-long, securing the first point 18 times in their 28 matches. Representing Arizona State's highest-ranked doubles pair since 1994 when peaking at No. 8 earlier in the season, Nathan Ponwith/Dominik Kellovsky have been one of the Sun Devils' best performing doubles pairs all season long. The pair kicked off 2019 with three-straight wins, including over a pair from then No. 1 and 2019 National Championship finalist Wake Forest. The tandem's momentum never slowed, gliding past the No.1-ranked team and No. 1 seed heading into the doubles championships of Jimmy Benedeck/Sven Lah from Baylor. Ponwith/Kellovsky handed the Bear tandem a relatively easy 6-3 loss for their team-leading third win over a ranked opponent. The Sun Devils secured their first win over a top-25 opponent in March after defeating No. 13 Michigan 4-2.
WOMEN'S TENNIS 17th/50 POINTS
For the 32nd-straight season, coach Sheila McInerney's Sun Devil women's tennis team played its way into the NCAA Team Championships. Although the Sun Devils entered the tournament as underdogs from the beginning, ASU managed to handle their opening round opponent Illinois 4-0 to advance to the Round of 32 for the first time in three seasons. Despite falling to No. 5 and eventual national semifinalists Duke in the second round, the Sun Devils still earned a couple of All-America honors courtesy of Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattigh. One of the top-ranked doubles tandems all season, John-Baptiste/Hattingh didn't play in the tournament because of injury, but their resume was good enough to place them inside the top-eight at the end of the season, thus giving them back-to-back honors in doubles.
GYMNASTICS 25th/47.5 POINTS
Jay and Jessica Santos led the Gym Devils to their first winning record since 2014 (11-10 in the regular season) en route to a second-straight year at NCAA regionals. The team was ranked in the top-25 on Road to Nationals all year and earned four wins over top-25 teams. They scored a 196.000 or better six times and had a team RQS (Regional Qualifying Score) of 196.320 at the end of the year. In the postseason, the Sun Devils took fifth at the Pac-12 Championships, its best team finish since 2006. At NCAA Regionals, the team finished in seventh as Leonard-Baker won the regional uneven bars title with a 9.925, automatically qualifying her for nationals as an individual. At the NCAA Championships, she scored a 9.900, earning Second Team All-America honors in that event.
MEN'S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD 45th/28.5 POINTS
William Paulson was the sole Sun Devil representing the men in Birmingham and he made the most of his first indoor championship by claiming a first-team All-America honor and finishing fifth in the men's mile to score four points. Paulson already set the school record and won the MPSF title before picking up his first indoor All-America honor and became the first Sun Devil in program history to earn a first-team honor in the mile.
MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD 46th/26.5 POINTS
The William Paulson show continued during the outdoor season, too, as the indoor All-American followed up his historic season under a roof with an even more outstanding campaign under the sun. He earned his first, first-team All-America honor when he took fifth in the 1,500-meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to give the Devils four points and a 46th-place finish, and before becoming ASU's first 1,500-meter scorer in school history, the senior set the school record in the event and won the Pac-12 crown to cement his legacy after just one season.
SOFTBALL 17th/ 50 POINTS
ASU (38-13, 16-8) made its 31st NCAA postseason appearance and 42nd overall appearance, including appearances before the NCAA era. After finishing the season with a 33-18 overall record, including a 13-11 record in Pac-12 play and a fourth-place conference finish in hand, the Sun Devils earned an at-large bid to the Tuscaloosa Regional, fighting their way to a 2-2 record before eventually falling to No. 8 Alabama in the Regional Final. The 2019 season was one of the most productive offensive seasons for the ASU lineup in program history. The team finished with the eighth-highest batting average in program history (.314) while setting a new record with a .607 slugging percentage. The squad also combined to hit 91 home runs, the second most for a Sun Devil team, with eight of those long balls being grand slams (matching the program record set in 2012).
BASEBALL 33rd/37.5 POINTS
Hunter Bishop and Spencer Torkelson both earned unanimous All-America honors, the first pair of Sun Devils since Mike Leake and Jason Kipnis in 2009, as the squad returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2019. Eight players earned All-Pac-12 honors while three earned a spot on the league's All-Defensive Team as the team made its 40th NCAA postseason appearance, fifth-most in NCAA History. The Sun Devils finished 38-19 and were one of five teams selected into the NCAA Tournament field from the Pac-12. ASU led the nation in home runs during the regular season with 92, the most since the 1993 Sun Devils recorded 97 homers. Bishop and Torkelson were semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy, given annually to the top players in college baseball.
Bobby Hurley's squad (23-11) earned 25 points with its First Four win in Dayton over St. John's. ASU notched its first NCAA Tournament win since 2009 and posted 23 wins for just the eighth time in school history. The Sun Devils had not made March Madness in back-to-back years since 1980-81, yet now ASU is the only Pac-12 school to make the NCAAs the last two seasons. In 2017-18 ASU averaged a school-record 10,603 fans, as the 4,103 extra bodies from 2016-17 to 2017-18 was the second-best increase in all of college hoops. In 2018-19 168,602 entered Wells Fargo Arena -- an average of 10,538, second-best in school history. ASU had two-game sweeps of Arizona (first since 2008-09), Oregon State (first since 2009-10) and Cal (second straight). ASU beat No. 15 Mississippi State on Nov. 19 and Utah State on Nov. 21 to win the 2018 MGM Resorts Main Event at T-Mobile Arena, its second straight exempt tourney title after not winning one since November of 1994. It also defeated the No. 1 team in the nation (Kansas) for just the second time in school history and for the first time at home.
FOOTBALL 50th/25 POINTS Herm Edwards in his first season put the Sun Devils in contention to win the Pac-12 South in November, as the team finished 7-6 overall after its loss to Fresno State in the Las Vegas Bowl and was 5-1 at home (including wins over ranked foes Michigan State and Utah) and 4-1 in games decided by three points or less, tied for most wins in the nation. The Sun Devils capped the season with a dramatic victory in the Territorial Cup, as they scored 20 unanswered fourth-quarter points en route to erasing a 19-point deficit in a 41-40 victory in Tucson. Eno Benjamin put together a historic sophomore campaign in which his name ended up all over the Sun Devil record book. The Doak Walker Award semifinalist set the school record by rushing for 1,642 yards in 2018, breaking Woody Green's school record set in 1972. The conference's leading rusher finished fifth in the nation in rushing yards and rushing yards per game and broke the single-game school rushing record with his 312 yards against Oregon State. Linebacker Merlin Robertson was named the 2018 Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and became the first true freshman to lead the Sun Devils in tackles (77) since 2001.
HOCKEY 9th/25 POINTS
In Sun Devil Hockey's fourth season, head coach Greg Powers led the Sun Devils to their first NCAA Tournament behind a 21-12-1 regular season record, improving from 8-21-5 for the best regular season improvement year-to-year in the country. The historic season led to coach Powers being named a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award which is awarded to the NCAA Division I Coach of the Year. The season featured several program firsts, including first 20-win season, first tournament appearance, first win over a top-10 opponent (No. 6 Penn State), first ranking in the national poll, first All-American, first Mike Richter finalist, first 20-goal scorer, first 20-win goaltender, and first NCAA single-season goal-scoring leader. Between the pipes, junior Joey Daccord was responsible for many of those firsts, including first 20-win season, first Mike Richter finalist and first CCM/AHCA All-American honor. He also became the first Sun Devil to lead the country in shutouts during the regular season with seven. He was also a key piece in the program's first home sweep with back-to-back shutouts to start the season. At the end of the season, Daccord became the first Sun Devil in program history to sign an NHL entry-level contract as he agreed to sign with the team that drafted him in 2015, the Ottawa Senators, on Monday, April 1. Three days later, on April 4, Daccord became the first Sun Devil to play an NHL game as he started for the Senators against the Buffalo Sabres in New York. Up front, sophomore forward Johnny Walker led the country in goals scored for a majority of the season before finishing tied atop the leaderboards with 23. His 0.72 goals per game average, however, led the country and earned him the scoring champion. The team was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the Allentown Regional, losing a nail-biter to regional two-seed Quinnipiac by a goal. Junior defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk earned All-Region honors for his goal that made it a one-goal game late in the third period. The Sun Devils enter the offseason ranked No. 10 in the Pairwise and No. 15 in the final USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.
Led by a national championship from wrestler Zahid Valencia -- who returns to Tempe in 2019-20 -- Zeke Jones' wrestling squad posted 64.5 points with its 12th-place finish, followed closely by long-time women's basketball coach Charlie Turner Thorne's Sweet Sixteen season notching 64 points. The golf programs -- under 2019 Pac-12 Coach of the Year Matt Thurmond and 2017 NCAA champion Missy Farr-Kaye then both posted finishes strong points, with the women notching 60 and the men 58.5. Sports added recently accounted for 75 points, as men's tennis posted 50 points under Matt Hill and hockey's first NCAA Tournament appearance notched 25 points.
FINAL SUN DEVIL LEARFIELD IMG COLLEGE DIRECTORS CUP POINTS BY SPORT?? A PROGRAM ON THE RISE ??
— Arizona State Sun Devils (@TheSunDevils) July 8, 2019
We've moved up 12 spots each of the last two seasons in the @LDirectorsCup standings:
?? 2018-19: 19
?? 2017-18: 31
?? 2016-17: 43 pic.twitter.com/P0Og3pThlZ
Wrestling 64.5 (12th)
Women's Basketball 64 (9th)
Women's Golf 60 (14th)
Men's Golf 58.5 (16th)
Women's Swimming/Diving 54 (20th)
Men's Swimming/Diving 53 (21st)
Women's Outdoor Track and Field 51.5 (22nd)
Women's Indoor Track and Field 50.5 (21st)
Softball 50 (17th)
Men's Tennis 50 (17th)
Women's Tennis 50 (17th)
Gymnastics 47.5
Baseball 37.5 points (33rd)
Men's Indoor Track and Field 28.5 (45th)
Men's Outdoor Track and Field 26.5 (46th)
Men's Basketball 25 (33rd)
Football 25 (50th)
Hockey 25 (9th)
Ray Anderson is 5 1/2 years into his tenure as ASU Vice President for Athletics, coming off his best school year and just getting started. https://t.co/BDDlkVNJxg
— azcentral sports (@azcsports) July 4, 2019
Arizona State is 19th in the final Directors' Cup standings, its first top-20 finish in six school years. https://t.co/uEWDyMyPem
— azcentral sports (@azcsports) June 28, 2019
UPSET CITY ??
— Arizona State Sun Devils (@TheSunDevils) June 18, 2019
The Sun Devils beat a Top 10 team 12 times this season!
Full story ??https://t.co/XEIkcIV2zK pic.twitter.com/pL6y5JrkSg
2018-19 LEARFIELD IMG DIRECTORS' CUP POINTSOUR STATE ?? pic.twitter.com/DqwPF1t572
— Arizona State Sun Devils (@TheSunDevils) June 19, 2019
WRESTLING 12th/64.5 POINTS
Head coach Zeke Jones led the Sun Devils to another successful season, culminating in Zahid Valencia's second consecutive individual NCAA Championship at the 174 lb. weight class. The Sun Devils sent four to the national championships after finishing second at the 2019 Pac-12 Wrestling Championships with five individual conference champions. Christian Pagdilao, Josh Shields and Valencia advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals and earned All-America honors. Ranked as high as No. 5, the ASU squad finished with a 6-10 overall mark (3-1 in the Pac-12), battling nine ranked opponents and four in the top-10 over the course of the regular season.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 9th/64 POINTS
The Sun Devil women's basketball team (22-11, 10-7 Pac-12) finished 15th in the nation in 2018-19, setting school records for consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (six) and 20-win seasons (six). ASU won a pair of games in the 2019 NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time since 2005. The NCAA Tournament bid represented ASU's 17th in program history and the 14th under the direction of head coach Charli Turner Thorne. ASU made a program record 198 three-pointers and led the Pac-12 in scoring defense for the second straight season (third time in five seasons). Senior Kianna Ibis earned All-Pac-12 honors from both the coaches and media, as her 14.1 points per game were the most by a Sun Devil since Danielle Orsillo averaged 14.1 ppg in 2009-10. During the regular season, Ibis averaged 17.0 ppg/7.2 rpg and shot percent in ASU's nine games vs. ranked teams. ASU's 58 wins in pre-conference play over the last six seasons are more than any school in the Pac-12 during that stretch.
SWEET 16 BOUND?? pic.twitter.com/SBlekn2NnI
— Sun Devil WBB (@SunDevilWBB) March 25, 2019
WOMEN'S GOLF 14th/60 POINTS
Led by a Sun Devil who has won a NCAA title as a player (1990), assistant coach (2009) and head coach (2017), Missy Farr-Kaye's team finished tied for 14th at the weather-shortened NCAA Championship in Arkansas in late May. For an NCAA-record 35th time, the Sun Devil Women's Golf team qualified for the NCAA Championships. By virtue of their fifth-place finish at the Norman Regional, Arizona State advanced to Fayetteville for a shot at the NCAA title thanks in large part to the play of Olivia Mehaffey. The junior took home co-medalist honors at the Norman Regional, becoming just the eighth Sun Devil to accomplish the feat. At the NCAA Championships, ASU was in contention for a spot in the top eight for most of the tournament, eventually earning 60 points in the Directors' Cup by finishing tied for 14th. In a field of 132 of the top female collegiate golfers, sophomore Raquel Olmos and freshman Alessandra Fanali finished in the Top-50, ending up tied for 43rd. The Sun Devils posted a 952 (+50) for the tournament, finishing ahead of a pair of Golfstat Top-10 teams as well as six Top-25 teams,
What a year it was for @SunDevilWGolf! ??
— Sun Devil W. Golf (@SunDevilWGolf) June 11, 2019
Read about some of the program's top moments from this past year in the 2018-19 Season Recap ??
??: https://t.co/aqrcts8gJR
MEN'S GOLF 16th/58.5 POINTS
Matt Thurmond's third season -- which resulted in him earning 2019 Pac-12 Coach of the Year -- included four team wins, six individual wins, a PING First-Team All-American (Chun An Yu), six second-place finishes and a pair of fourth-place finishes Cameron Sisk earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year while Yu and Anderson earned first-team honors. The team finished 16th at the NCAA Championships while Chun An Yu finished third. It won three straight tournaments with a different Sun Devil winning each event in March and April. It won the Thunderbird Collegiate at Papago Golf Course on April 12-13 with a 20-under 832 as Yu shot a 12-under 201. ASU shot 50-under on March 18-19 to win the National Invitational in Tucson as junior Alex del Rey shot 17-under 199, while sophomore Mason Andersen won a playoff after shooting a 6-under 210 at the San Diego Lamkin Grips Classic on March 11-12 as ASU shot a 10-under 854 in the win. Team also won the John Burns Intercollegiate on Feb. 21-13 shooting a 24-under 840.
Won't be many (any?) ranked higher than our guy @kevingolfyu to start 2019-20, who capped off a great 2018-19 season in Arkansas
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) May 28, 2019
8 top-5 finishes in 11 events
69.20 stroke average
10 top-10 finishes pic.twitter.com/eRf0TWZa8g
MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING 21st/55 POINTS
As the No. 15 Arizona State men's swimming and diving teams cap their fourth season under head coach Bob Bowman, the upward momentum experienced by both programs is substantial. Before Bowman's arrival, Sun Devil men's swimming had not registered an All-American since CJ Nuess in 2008. Since the Olympic coach came to Tempe beginning in the 2015-16 season, the squad has garnered 50 All-America honors while cementing themselves as one of the elite programs in the country. The men have also turned heads in one of the most competitive conferences in college swimming, bringing home three individual and one relay Pac-12 titles after not having done so since 2008. The internal improvement is also detailed by the men having set school records in eight of the 14 individual events and all five of the relay events under Bowman's tutelage.
WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING 20th/54 POINTS
Continuing their upward momentum under head coach Bob Bowman, Sun Devil women's swimming and diving achieved a top-20 finish at the NCAA National Championships, three places higher than their 2018 finish. ASU also garnered almost twice the amount of points as their 2018 total. Transfer Cierra Runge led the charge for the women, cementing herself in Arizona State history the second she was eligible in January. Runge finished the season with four school records, five of the top-10 times in ASU history in the 500 freestyle and all four of the top times in the 200 freestyle, a feat she achieved in just six meets. Silja Kansakoski reclaimed her crown at the Pac-12 Championships, taking the top mark in the 100 breast for the second time in three years. At NCAAs, the women had 13 All-America honors across seven women, including Runge's two First-Team selections in the 500 and 1650 freestyles.
WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD 21st/50.5 POINTS
With Samantha Noennig's 10 points, the Sun Devil women were able to earn a 21st-place finish at the NCAA Championships. A redshirt-sophomore Noennig won the NCAA shot put title on her final throw of the competition by less than two centimeters to give the Sun Devils back-to-back shot put crowns after Maggie Ewen claimed the title in 2018. Jessica Barreira also advanced to the indoor championships and earned her first All-America honor when she finished ninth in the women's long jump.
WOMEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD 22nd/51.5 POINTS
The combined efforts of Samantha Noennig and Beatrice Llano led the Sun Devils to their eighth top-25 finish in the past decade as ASU put up 12 points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and finished 22nd to pick up 51.5 points in the Directors' Cup table. Noennig completed ASU's second-straight sweep of the women's shot put by setting a big personal best in the process, and Beatrice Llano finished seventh in arguably the deepest women's hammer throw contest in NCAA history. Both women scored first-team All-America honors, and Seri Geisler picked up second-team honors in the women's javelin.
MEN'S TENNIS 17th/50 POINTS
Matt Hill took his Sun Devil men's tennis squad to their best finish by the Sun Devils in 15 years, showing off substantial improvement in the squad's second season. ASU as a team had not advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament since 2004 but managed postseason berths in each of the last three seasons. The Sun Devils also excelled in doubles play all season-long, securing the first point 18 times in their 28 matches. Representing Arizona State's highest-ranked doubles pair since 1994 when peaking at No. 8 earlier in the season, Nathan Ponwith/Dominik Kellovsky have been one of the Sun Devils' best performing doubles pairs all season long. The pair kicked off 2019 with three-straight wins, including over a pair from then No. 1 and 2019 National Championship finalist Wake Forest. The tandem's momentum never slowed, gliding past the No.1-ranked team and No. 1 seed heading into the doubles championships of Jimmy Benedeck/Sven Lah from Baylor. Ponwith/Kellovsky handed the Bear tandem a relatively easy 6-3 loss for their team-leading third win over a ranked opponent. The Sun Devils secured their first win over a top-25 opponent in March after defeating No. 13 Michigan 4-2.
WOMEN'S TENNIS 17th/50 POINTS
For the 32nd-straight season, coach Sheila McInerney's Sun Devil women's tennis team played its way into the NCAA Team Championships. Although the Sun Devils entered the tournament as underdogs from the beginning, ASU managed to handle their opening round opponent Illinois 4-0 to advance to the Round of 32 for the first time in three seasons. Despite falling to No. 5 and eventual national semifinalists Duke in the second round, the Sun Devils still earned a couple of All-America honors courtesy of Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattigh. One of the top-ranked doubles tandems all season, John-Baptiste/Hattingh didn't play in the tournament because of injury, but their resume was good enough to place them inside the top-eight at the end of the season, thus giving them back-to-back honors in doubles.
GYMNASTICS 25th/47.5 POINTS
Jay and Jessica Santos led the Gym Devils to their first winning record since 2014 (11-10 in the regular season) en route to a second-straight year at NCAA regionals. The team was ranked in the top-25 on Road to Nationals all year and earned four wins over top-25 teams. They scored a 196.000 or better six times and had a team RQS (Regional Qualifying Score) of 196.320 at the end of the year. In the postseason, the Sun Devils took fifth at the Pac-12 Championships, its best team finish since 2006. At NCAA Regionals, the team finished in seventh as Leonard-Baker won the regional uneven bars title with a 9.925, automatically qualifying her for nationals as an individual. At the NCAA Championships, she scored a 9.900, earning Second Team All-America honors in that event.
Another season for the #GymDevils in the books. ??
— Sun Devil Gymnastics (@SunDevilGym) May 24, 2019
??: https://t.co/aHQyZysUa2 pic.twitter.com/fy3RKrtqG9
MEN'S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD 45th/28.5 POINTS
William Paulson was the sole Sun Devil representing the men in Birmingham and he made the most of his first indoor championship by claiming a first-team All-America honor and finishing fifth in the men's mile to score four points. Paulson already set the school record and won the MPSF title before picking up his first indoor All-America honor and became the first Sun Devil in program history to earn a first-team honor in the mile.
MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD 46th/26.5 POINTS
The William Paulson show continued during the outdoor season, too, as the indoor All-American followed up his historic season under a roof with an even more outstanding campaign under the sun. He earned his first, first-team All-America honor when he took fifth in the 1,500-meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to give the Devils four points and a 46th-place finish, and before becoming ASU's first 1,500-meter scorer in school history, the senior set the school record in the event and won the Pac-12 crown to cement his legacy after just one season.
SOFTBALL 17th/ 50 POINTS
ASU (38-13, 16-8) made its 31st NCAA postseason appearance and 42nd overall appearance, including appearances before the NCAA era. After finishing the season with a 33-18 overall record, including a 13-11 record in Pac-12 play and a fourth-place conference finish in hand, the Sun Devils earned an at-large bid to the Tuscaloosa Regional, fighting their way to a 2-2 record before eventually falling to No. 8 Alabama in the Regional Final. The 2019 season was one of the most productive offensive seasons for the ASU lineup in program history. The team finished with the eighth-highest batting average in program history (.314) while setting a new record with a .607 slugging percentage. The squad also combined to hit 91 home runs, the second most for a Sun Devil team, with eight of those long balls being grand slams (matching the program record set in 2012).
The squad sent it ?? this season! #2020Vision ?????? pic.twitter.com/noHi5TVpJ5
— Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) June 7, 2019
BASEBALL 33rd/37.5 POINTS
Hunter Bishop and Spencer Torkelson both earned unanimous All-America honors, the first pair of Sun Devils since Mike Leake and Jason Kipnis in 2009, as the squad returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2019. Eight players earned All-Pac-12 honors while three earned a spot on the league's All-Defensive Team as the team made its 40th NCAA postseason appearance, fifth-most in NCAA History. The Sun Devils finished 38-19 and were one of five teams selected into the NCAA Tournament field from the Pac-12. ASU led the nation in home runs during the regular season with 92, the most since the 1993 Sun Devils recorded 97 homers. Bishop and Torkelson were semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy, given annually to the top players in college baseball.
MEN'S BASKETBALL 33rd/25 POINTS7-0?? For the first time since 1971-72, we went undefeated against Arizona in football, MBB and baseball!
— Arizona State Sun Devils (@TheSunDevils) May 8, 2019
? @ASUFootball 1-0 ??
? @SunDevilHoops 2-0 ??
? @ASU_Baseball 4-0 ??#TerritorialCupSeries ?? pic.twitter.com/i7jXTPUSDc
Bobby Hurley's squad (23-11) earned 25 points with its First Four win in Dayton over St. John's. ASU notched its first NCAA Tournament win since 2009 and posted 23 wins for just the eighth time in school history. The Sun Devils had not made March Madness in back-to-back years since 1980-81, yet now ASU is the only Pac-12 school to make the NCAAs the last two seasons. In 2017-18 ASU averaged a school-record 10,603 fans, as the 4,103 extra bodies from 2016-17 to 2017-18 was the second-best increase in all of college hoops. In 2018-19 168,602 entered Wells Fargo Arena -- an average of 10,538, second-best in school history. ASU had two-game sweeps of Arizona (first since 2008-09), Oregon State (first since 2009-10) and Cal (second straight). ASU beat No. 15 Mississippi State on Nov. 19 and Utah State on Nov. 21 to win the 2018 MGM Resorts Main Event at T-Mobile Arena, its second straight exempt tourney title after not winning one since November of 1994. It also defeated the No. 1 team in the nation (Kansas) for just the second time in school history and for the first time at home.
Making history from your perspective ??#ForksUp #SunDevilNation pic.twitter.com/a66s3mLF9b
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) December 23, 2018
FOOTBALL 50th/25 POINTS Herm Edwards in his first season put the Sun Devils in contention to win the Pac-12 South in November, as the team finished 7-6 overall after its loss to Fresno State in the Las Vegas Bowl and was 5-1 at home (including wins over ranked foes Michigan State and Utah) and 4-1 in games decided by three points or less, tied for most wins in the nation. The Sun Devils capped the season with a dramatic victory in the Territorial Cup, as they scored 20 unanswered fourth-quarter points en route to erasing a 19-point deficit in a 41-40 victory in Tucson. Eno Benjamin put together a historic sophomore campaign in which his name ended up all over the Sun Devil record book. The Doak Walker Award semifinalist set the school record by rushing for 1,642 yards in 2018, breaking Woody Green's school record set in 1972. The conference's leading rusher finished fifth in the nation in rushing yards and rushing yards per game and broke the single-game school rushing record with his 312 yards against Oregon State. Linebacker Merlin Robertson was named the 2018 Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and became the first true freshman to lead the Sun Devils in tackles (77) since 2001.
HOCKEY 9th/25 POINTS
In Sun Devil Hockey's fourth season, head coach Greg Powers led the Sun Devils to their first NCAA Tournament behind a 21-12-1 regular season record, improving from 8-21-5 for the best regular season improvement year-to-year in the country. The historic season led to coach Powers being named a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award which is awarded to the NCAA Division I Coach of the Year. The season featured several program firsts, including first 20-win season, first tournament appearance, first win over a top-10 opponent (No. 6 Penn State), first ranking in the national poll, first All-American, first Mike Richter finalist, first 20-goal scorer, first 20-win goaltender, and first NCAA single-season goal-scoring leader. Between the pipes, junior Joey Daccord was responsible for many of those firsts, including first 20-win season, first Mike Richter finalist and first CCM/AHCA All-American honor. He also became the first Sun Devil to lead the country in shutouts during the regular season with seven. He was also a key piece in the program's first home sweep with back-to-back shutouts to start the season. At the end of the season, Daccord became the first Sun Devil in program history to sign an NHL entry-level contract as he agreed to sign with the team that drafted him in 2015, the Ottawa Senators, on Monday, April 1. Three days later, on April 4, Daccord became the first Sun Devil to play an NHL game as he started for the Senators against the Buffalo Sabres in New York. Up front, sophomore forward Johnny Walker led the country in goals scored for a majority of the season before finishing tied atop the leaderboards with 23. His 0.72 goals per game average, however, led the country and earned him the scoring champion. The team was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the Allentown Regional, losing a nail-biter to regional two-seed Quinnipiac by a goal. Junior defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk earned All-Region honors for his goal that made it a one-goal game late in the third period. The Sun Devils enter the offseason ranked No. 10 in the Pairwise and No. 15 in the final USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls.