TEMPE – One week after traveling up the hill to open the season, the Sun Devil track and field squads return to the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff for a second day of competition at altitude.
Although the Devils will field a smaller team this weekend, ASU has three All-Americans entered in open events, including Samantha Noennig, and newcomers Beatrice Llano and Kentre Patterson.
"Last week was kind of a rust-buster and we're still in a heavy part of our training program," director of track and field Greg Kraft said. "We have some athletes held out because they're in a two-week prep phase for some upcoming meets."
Last weekend, Noennig all but punched her ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships with her personal best mark of 17.62/57-9.75 feet in the shot put.
Noennig's mark is already the second-best throw in the NCAA this season, and the third-best throw in Sun Devil history. As a sophomore, she's just under two feet away from moving to second in school history, and six feet off of Maggie Ewen's school-record throw that also sits in the top-four in NCAA history.
Llano, a 2017 All-American, will make her Sun Devil debut after redshirting last season, and semester transfer Kentre Patterson will start his sophomore campaign seeking a second-straight NCAA Indoor Championships bid in the 60-meter hurdles.
Cole Riddle has won twice in Flagstaff and finished third in his only other competition in the Skydome. After coming up just short of clearing a personal best last week, Riddle still sits atop the MPSF heading into week two.
Despite it only being the second week of competition, this Friday's meet will be one of the last times the Sun Devils will all compete in the same place as the squads will split into event groups to tackle the remainder of the indoor season. They'll regroup for a shot at a conference title at the MPSF Championships in late February.
Live results will once again be provided by Wingfoot Finish and a compiled list of ASU's results and full recap of the day will be available at thesundevils.com.
Rankings Update
The first preseason poll using the new USTFCCCA ratings index revealed that Texas Tech was the No. 1 men's program, and the Razorbacks of Arkansas led the way for the women.
Unsurprisingly, the SEC dominated the top-10 on both sides with four men's programs (No. 2 Florida, No. 5 Georgia, Nos. 7 and 8 Alabama, Arkansas) and six women's teams (Arkansas, No. 3 Texas A&M, Nos. 6-8 Florida, LSU, Georgia and No. 10 Kentucky) making up the country's best.
There is no Pac-12 during the indoor season, so the Sun Devils and the rest of their conference foes jump into the MPSF, which has some impressive seedings of its own with BYU coming in at No. 10, Oregon and Stanford checking in at 12 and 13, respectively, Colorado at 15 and Arizona at 21 on the men's list.
Southern California and Oregon earn top-five bids on the women's side, with Washington (11), Stanford (16) and Colorado (24) also making it into the ranking.
Arizona State's men's team came in at No. 57, while the women slotted in at 89.
Breaking Four
In sports, there are universally accepted thresholds for determining greatness. For mid-distance runners, it's the 4-minute mile.
Breaking 4 minutes has become a necessity for men seeking an NCAA Championship berth, but it's been an elusive accomplishment for the Sun Devils in the past 10 years.
Since 2009, only one Sun Devil has broken four, and it was Nick Happe's school record-setting 3:58.73 from 2012.
This season, however, ASU has two men on the indoor roster who have times around four minutes coming into the indoor season.
William Paulson is a little over two seconds away from completing a 3:59. The graduate transfer's personal best of 4:01.78 is the fastest PR of any Sun Devil on the active roster.
While Paulson only has one season to complete the task and rewrite the record books, sophomore Fearghal Curtin sits at a 4:09.93 and is second on the team ahead of senior staple John Reniewicki.
Coach Cory Leslie's lineup will have plenty of opportunities to go after history with their best chance likely coming against elite distance competition at next weekend's UW Invitational, the Iowa State Classic and the MPSF Championships.
New Year, New Faces
Along with new associate head coach Dion Miller taking the reins of the sprints program, Arizona State has bolstered its roster by adding some impact freshmen and transfers for the 2019 season.
The fastest newcomer based on time is the JUCO All-American Marcus Reaves (10.30; 100), but just behind him is the highly-touted frosh Austin Kratz (10.31; 100) out of Pennsylvania.
Kentre Patterson, an All-American 60-meter hurdler from Michigan, was added in the fall and Devin Cadena has already proven his ability by taking fourth in the 300 (35.54) during the opener.
On the women's side, Nia Brown ran herself into the Sun Devil record book after just one race. Her altitude adjusted 60-meter time put her at 10th in school history.
The trio of transfers, Josephine Anokye, Jeminise Parris and Anaya Bailey, have yet to open up in an individual race this season, but are expected to improve a young sprints team that fields just two seniors in Courtnee Oglesby and Alexandra Williams.
Rewriting the Record Books
After just one week of competition, the 2019 Sun Devil women's squad has already made a name for itself in ASU history as three women set top-10 marks at the NAU Friday Night Duals to open the season.
The All-American Samantha Noennig threw herself into the top-three in the shot put on her fourth throw of the season. With a mark of 17.62m/58-9.75 feet, the sophomore Noennig passed Sun Devil greats Jessica Pressley, Leslie Deniz and Anna Jelmini, who all set their marks as seniors. Only Sarah Stevens and school-record holder Maggie Ewen sit ahead of Noennig.
Nia Brown's altitude adjusted 60-meter time put her at No. 10 in ASU history in just her first career race donning the pitchfork. The true freshman is a little over two-tenths of a second off Charonda Williams' school record of 7.30 that was set in 2009.
Back in the field, freshman Sydnee Larkin lept her way to sixth in school history in the triple jump, recording a distance of 12.01m/39-5.00 feet.
All three women will return to Flagstaff this weekend with another chance to move up on the top-10 list.
Blu's Crew
Although Sun Devil legend Maggie Ewen graduated from Arizona State in the spring, ASU's throws program is still thriving with returning All-Americans, a new crop of freshmen and a handful of transfers with national championship experience.
Leading the way for the Devils is sophomore Samantha Noennig, who finished as the runner-up in the shot put at the Pac-12 Championships a season ago, and advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the shot put as a freshman after just missing out on a berth to the indoor championships.
Kaylee Antill is the other returning All-American, who represented ASU in the hammer throw last year outdoors after scoring in the indoor weight throw and hammer at conference meets.
Although she has yet to compete in a Sun Devil uniform, All-American transfer Beatrice Llano is expected to make an impact as she finished third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in her last season of competition.
On the men's side, Arizona native Turner Washington joined the Devils in the fall after a successful freshman season that ended in a trip to Eugene for the school down south.
The only javelin champion in Arizona high school history, Carlan Naisant, and Texas throwing standout Jared Tracy will join Connery McLaughlin and represent the Sun Devils on the men's side.
Although the Devils will field a smaller team this weekend, ASU has three All-Americans entered in open events, including Samantha Noennig, and newcomers Beatrice Llano and Kentre Patterson.
"Last week was kind of a rust-buster and we're still in a heavy part of our training program," director of track and field Greg Kraft said. "We have some athletes held out because they're in a two-week prep phase for some upcoming meets."
Last weekend, Noennig all but punched her ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships with her personal best mark of 17.62/57-9.75 feet in the shot put.
Noennig's mark is already the second-best throw in the NCAA this season, and the third-best throw in Sun Devil history. As a sophomore, she's just under two feet away from moving to second in school history, and six feet off of Maggie Ewen's school-record throw that also sits in the top-four in NCAA history.
Llano, a 2017 All-American, will make her Sun Devil debut after redshirting last season, and semester transfer Kentre Patterson will start his sophomore campaign seeking a second-straight NCAA Indoor Championships bid in the 60-meter hurdles.
Cole Riddle has won twice in Flagstaff and finished third in his only other competition in the Skydome. After coming up just short of clearing a personal best last week, Riddle still sits atop the MPSF heading into week two.
Despite it only being the second week of competition, this Friday's meet will be one of the last times the Sun Devils will all compete in the same place as the squads will split into event groups to tackle the remainder of the indoor season. They'll regroup for a shot at a conference title at the MPSF Championships in late February.
Live results will once again be provided by Wingfoot Finish and a compiled list of ASU's results and full recap of the day will be available at thesundevils.com.
Rankings Update
The first preseason poll using the new USTFCCCA ratings index revealed that Texas Tech was the No. 1 men's program, and the Razorbacks of Arkansas led the way for the women.
Unsurprisingly, the SEC dominated the top-10 on both sides with four men's programs (No. 2 Florida, No. 5 Georgia, Nos. 7 and 8 Alabama, Arkansas) and six women's teams (Arkansas, No. 3 Texas A&M, Nos. 6-8 Florida, LSU, Georgia and No. 10 Kentucky) making up the country's best.
There is no Pac-12 during the indoor season, so the Sun Devils and the rest of their conference foes jump into the MPSF, which has some impressive seedings of its own with BYU coming in at No. 10, Oregon and Stanford checking in at 12 and 13, respectively, Colorado at 15 and Arizona at 21 on the men's list.
Southern California and Oregon earn top-five bids on the women's side, with Washington (11), Stanford (16) and Colorado (24) also making it into the ranking.
Arizona State's men's team came in at No. 57, while the women slotted in at 89.
Breaking Four
In sports, there are universally accepted thresholds for determining greatness. For mid-distance runners, it's the 4-minute mile.
Breaking 4 minutes has become a necessity for men seeking an NCAA Championship berth, but it's been an elusive accomplishment for the Sun Devils in the past 10 years.
Since 2009, only one Sun Devil has broken four, and it was Nick Happe's school record-setting 3:58.73 from 2012.
This season, however, ASU has two men on the indoor roster who have times around four minutes coming into the indoor season.
William Paulson is a little over two seconds away from completing a 3:59. The graduate transfer's personal best of 4:01.78 is the fastest PR of any Sun Devil on the active roster.
While Paulson only has one season to complete the task and rewrite the record books, sophomore Fearghal Curtin sits at a 4:09.93 and is second on the team ahead of senior staple John Reniewicki.
Coach Cory Leslie's lineup will have plenty of opportunities to go after history with their best chance likely coming against elite distance competition at next weekend's UW Invitational, the Iowa State Classic and the MPSF Championships.
New Year, New Faces
Along with new associate head coach Dion Miller taking the reins of the sprints program, Arizona State has bolstered its roster by adding some impact freshmen and transfers for the 2019 season.
The fastest newcomer based on time is the JUCO All-American Marcus Reaves (10.30; 100), but just behind him is the highly-touted frosh Austin Kratz (10.31; 100) out of Pennsylvania.
Kentre Patterson, an All-American 60-meter hurdler from Michigan, was added in the fall and Devin Cadena has already proven his ability by taking fourth in the 300 (35.54) during the opener.
On the women's side, Nia Brown ran herself into the Sun Devil record book after just one race. Her altitude adjusted 60-meter time put her at 10th in school history.
The trio of transfers, Josephine Anokye, Jeminise Parris and Anaya Bailey, have yet to open up in an individual race this season, but are expected to improve a young sprints team that fields just two seniors in Courtnee Oglesby and Alexandra Williams.
Rewriting the Record Books
After just one week of competition, the 2019 Sun Devil women's squad has already made a name for itself in ASU history as three women set top-10 marks at the NAU Friday Night Duals to open the season.
The All-American Samantha Noennig threw herself into the top-three in the shot put on her fourth throw of the season. With a mark of 17.62m/58-9.75 feet, the sophomore Noennig passed Sun Devil greats Jessica Pressley, Leslie Deniz and Anna Jelmini, who all set their marks as seniors. Only Sarah Stevens and school-record holder Maggie Ewen sit ahead of Noennig.
Nia Brown's altitude adjusted 60-meter time put her at No. 10 in ASU history in just her first career race donning the pitchfork. The true freshman is a little over two-tenths of a second off Charonda Williams' school record of 7.30 that was set in 2009.
Back in the field, freshman Sydnee Larkin lept her way to sixth in school history in the triple jump, recording a distance of 12.01m/39-5.00 feet.
All three women will return to Flagstaff this weekend with another chance to move up on the top-10 list.
Blu's Crew
Although Sun Devil legend Maggie Ewen graduated from Arizona State in the spring, ASU's throws program is still thriving with returning All-Americans, a new crop of freshmen and a handful of transfers with national championship experience.
Leading the way for the Devils is sophomore Samantha Noennig, who finished as the runner-up in the shot put at the Pac-12 Championships a season ago, and advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the shot put as a freshman after just missing out on a berth to the indoor championships.
Kaylee Antill is the other returning All-American, who represented ASU in the hammer throw last year outdoors after scoring in the indoor weight throw and hammer at conference meets.
Although she has yet to compete in a Sun Devil uniform, All-American transfer Beatrice Llano is expected to make an impact as she finished third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in her last season of competition.
On the men's side, Arizona native Turner Washington joined the Devils in the fall after a successful freshman season that ended in a trip to Eugene for the school down south.
The only javelin champion in Arizona high school history, Carlan Naisant, and Texas throwing standout Jared Tracy will join Connery McLaughlin and represent the Sun Devils on the men's side.