TEMPE – The biggest weekend of the indoor season will see the Sun Devils travel to three different meets across the country to take on the nation's best, looking to move up on the NCAA's descending order list.
With just under a month until the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Sun Devils have two women and two men in position to advance to the championship meet in Birmingham, Alabama.
Samantha Noennig leads the way for the women and has all but punched her ticket to Birmingham in the shot put with her NCAA-leading mark. Jessica Barreira is the other ASU woman who owns a spot in the top-16 in the long jump.
Both women, plus the rest of ASU's field athletes will head to the Don Kirby Elite in Albuquerque.
"For the field events, there's no penalty for altitude, so making the short trip to Albuquerque gives us a great chance to compete against the measuring tape, as well as some great athletes," coach Greg Kraft said.
On the men's side, both Fearghal Curtin (3,000 meters) and William Paulson (mile) hold qualifying places, but will look to improve their positioning at the Iowa State Classic. Both Sun Devils will move up in distance as Paulson jumps up to the 3K and Curtin is entered in the 5,000 – the farthest event of the indoor season.
"I'm not sure what it is about that facility, but when you look at recent NCAA qualifiers in the distance events, half or more are coming out of Iowa State," men's distance coach Cory Leslie said. "When you consistently bring in the best distance kids in the country to run in one place, the only option is to run fast."
At last year's Iowa State Classic, 20 men put up marks that would eventually send them to the NCAA Championships, including 16 men in the 3,000 and 5,000 alone.
While Leslie and coach Jeremy Rasmussen take their crews to an all-out distance carnival, the sprinters travel to the fastest indoor track in the nation down in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The track at Randal Tyson has been a hotbed for NCAA qualifiers in recent years, and last year 21 qualifying times were clocked in the sprints at the Razorbacks' home track.
"Our kids have only been able to run on one 200-meter banked track this season, so going to Arkansas where it's one of the faster tracks in the nation, there's no penalty for altitude and the competition is always great just gives our student-athletes the best opportunity to make a mark," Kraft said.
All three meets will be available to watch as the Tyson Invitational will be on the SECNetwork+, while the other two will be streamed on FloTrack.
Results and a full recap of ASU's days will be available on thesundevils.com following the conclusion of competition.
Rankings Update
Texas Tech and Arkansas both held onto their places at the top of the men's and women's polls, respectively, heading into the biggest weekend of the indoor season.
The top-three teams stayed the same on both sides with Florida State and Florida as the only teams with both squads ranked in the top-six.
Six SEC teams own spots in the men's top-25 with Tennessee just outside the poll. The Big 12 has five programs in the men's ranking and the MPSF has four.
The SEC leads on the women's side as well with eight programs making the elite list. The MPSF is close behind with six teams, including No. 2 Southern California and No. 6 Oregon.
The Sun Devil women checked in at 38 and the men came in at 75.
The Finest of February
The second week of February has historically been an important week for athletes seeking qualifying marks for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Of the 512 individual berths for the NCAA Championships, more than a quarter were clinched during this weekend in 2018.
During this weekend last year, 15 of the 16 men's 5,000-meter run entries ran qualifying times on Feb. 9, with 10 coming at the Iowa State Classic alone.
The Sun Devils will chase qualifying marks at three of the most competitive meets of the weekend in Albuquerque, Ames and Fayetteville.
Only Maggie Ewen advanced to the indoor championship in 2018, but the four-time national champion earned her qualifying marks in the weight throw and shot put at the Don Kirby Elite in Albuquerque.
Samantha Noennig currently leads the nation in the shot put, and she'll look to put distance between herself and the rest of the field at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Up in Ames, Bianca Tinoco is in a field with 11 women under 2:05 in the 800, and the men's 5K field includes 20 men with times under 14 minutes.
Some of the fastest times of the last few years in the sprints have come on the tracks inside the Randal Tyson Indoor Facility, and Austin Kratz and Co. lace up to add to that history and send a Sun Devil to the Championship in the sprints for the first time since 2016.
Jumping into the History Books
In 2019, six Sun Devil jumpers have put themselves into the ASU record book.
In the pole vault, both Matthew Eckles and Michael Chadwick improved on their top-10 marks that they set last season as the senior Eckles moved to fourth in school history into a tie with Cole Riddle and two others, and Chadwick improved to seventh.
In the long jump, both Derrick Monroe and Jessica Barreira secured top-10 places for the first time in their ASU careers. Monroe owns the seventh-best mark while Barreira sits in a tie for tenth.
Barreira also soared to second in history in the triple jump with her 12.85m/42-2-foot leap. Freshman Sydnee Larkin joins Barreira in the triple jump at sixth all-time.
Newcomer Erika Voyzey rounds out the top-10 marks with her 1.75m/5-8.75 in the high jump that's good for sixth on the list.
What to Watch For
There's plenty to look out for this weekend as the Sun Devils head out to improve their places on the NCAA's descending order list.
Just across the eastern border, Samantha Noennig and the Sun Devil women's throwers headline festivities in Albuquerque. ASU has three All-Americans entered in the throws at the Don Kirby Elite, but all three are seeking their first NCAA Indoor berth.
Joining the throwers at Don Kirby will be Jessica Barreira, Derrick Monroe and the ASU jumps crew that has been shuffling the record book all season.
Down south on the SECNetwork+, Nia Brown, Josephine Anokye and the women's sprinters will look to continue to drop their times on the fastest track in the country.
Freshman Austin Kratz is the only Sun Devil man to lead the team in two events as he has the fastest 60 and 200-meter times in 2019. He'll get a second opportunity on a banked track down in Fayetteville, as well as a chance to race against some of the fastest men in the country.
The biggest race of the weekend for the Sun Devils will be the longest. Up in Ames, Fearghal Curtin and John Reniewicki will take on a stacked field in the men's 5K.
The 5K at the Iowa State Classic has produced the majority of NCAA qualifying marks in the past three years including 10 of the 16 qualifying marks from 2018.
Samantha Ortega will make her open 5,000 debut on the oversized track at the Lied Recreation Center.
William Paulson already has a sub-4 mile under his belt and will move up to nearly double the distance to look for a qualifying time in the 3,000 with teammate Jackson Lewis.
The Iowa State Classic and Don Kirby Elite will be available to watch on a live stream provided by FloTrack and the Tyson Invitational will be live on SECNetwork+.
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.
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. She's already recorded the sixth-best mark in school history in the weight throw, but the Norwegian international has made a name for herself in the outdoor season in the hammer.
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.
With just under a month until the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Sun Devils have two women and two men in position to advance to the championship meet in Birmingham, Alabama.
Samantha Noennig leads the way for the women and has all but punched her ticket to Birmingham in the shot put with her NCAA-leading mark. Jessica Barreira is the other ASU woman who owns a spot in the top-16 in the long jump.
Both women, plus the rest of ASU's field athletes will head to the Don Kirby Elite in Albuquerque.
"For the field events, there's no penalty for altitude, so making the short trip to Albuquerque gives us a great chance to compete against the measuring tape, as well as some great athletes," coach Greg Kraft said.
On the men's side, both Fearghal Curtin (3,000 meters) and William Paulson (mile) hold qualifying places, but will look to improve their positioning at the Iowa State Classic. Both Sun Devils will move up in distance as Paulson jumps up to the 3K and Curtin is entered in the 5,000 – the farthest event of the indoor season.
"I'm not sure what it is about that facility, but when you look at recent NCAA qualifiers in the distance events, half or more are coming out of Iowa State," men's distance coach Cory Leslie said. "When you consistently bring in the best distance kids in the country to run in one place, the only option is to run fast."
At last year's Iowa State Classic, 20 men put up marks that would eventually send them to the NCAA Championships, including 16 men in the 3,000 and 5,000 alone.
While Leslie and coach Jeremy Rasmussen take their crews to an all-out distance carnival, the sprinters travel to the fastest indoor track in the nation down in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The track at Randal Tyson has been a hotbed for NCAA qualifiers in recent years, and last year 21 qualifying times were clocked in the sprints at the Razorbacks' home track.
"Our kids have only been able to run on one 200-meter banked track this season, so going to Arkansas where it's one of the faster tracks in the nation, there's no penalty for altitude and the competition is always great just gives our student-athletes the best opportunity to make a mark," Kraft said.
All three meets will be available to watch as the Tyson Invitational will be on the SECNetwork+, while the other two will be streamed on FloTrack.
Results and a full recap of ASU's days will be available on thesundevils.com following the conclusion of competition.
Rankings Update
Texas Tech and Arkansas both held onto their places at the top of the men's and women's polls, respectively, heading into the biggest weekend of the indoor season.
The top-three teams stayed the same on both sides with Florida State and Florida as the only teams with both squads ranked in the top-six.
Six SEC teams own spots in the men's top-25 with Tennessee just outside the poll. The Big 12 has five programs in the men's ranking and the MPSF has four.
The SEC leads on the women's side as well with eight programs making the elite list. The MPSF is close behind with six teams, including No. 2 Southern California and No. 6 Oregon.
The Sun Devil women checked in at 38 and the men came in at 75.
The Finest of February
The second week of February has historically been an important week for athletes seeking qualifying marks for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Of the 512 individual berths for the NCAA Championships, more than a quarter were clinched during this weekend in 2018.
During this weekend last year, 15 of the 16 men's 5,000-meter run entries ran qualifying times on Feb. 9, with 10 coming at the Iowa State Classic alone.
The Sun Devils will chase qualifying marks at three of the most competitive meets of the weekend in Albuquerque, Ames and Fayetteville.
Only Maggie Ewen advanced to the indoor championship in 2018, but the four-time national champion earned her qualifying marks in the weight throw and shot put at the Don Kirby Elite in Albuquerque.
Samantha Noennig currently leads the nation in the shot put, and she'll look to put distance between herself and the rest of the field at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Up in Ames, Bianca Tinoco is in a field with 11 women under 2:05 in the 800, and the men's 5K field includes 20 men with times under 14 minutes.
Some of the fastest times of the last few years in the sprints have come on the tracks inside the Randal Tyson Indoor Facility, and Austin Kratz and Co. lace up to add to that history and send a Sun Devil to the Championship in the sprints for the first time since 2016.
Jumping into the History Books
In 2019, six Sun Devil jumpers have put themselves into the ASU record book.
In the pole vault, both Matthew Eckles and Michael Chadwick improved on their top-10 marks that they set last season as the senior Eckles moved to fourth in school history into a tie with Cole Riddle and two others, and Chadwick improved to seventh.
In the long jump, both Derrick Monroe and Jessica Barreira secured top-10 places for the first time in their ASU careers. Monroe owns the seventh-best mark while Barreira sits in a tie for tenth.
Barreira also soared to second in history in the triple jump with her 12.85m/42-2-foot leap. Freshman Sydnee Larkin joins Barreira in the triple jump at sixth all-time.
Newcomer Erika Voyzey rounds out the top-10 marks with her 1.75m/5-8.75 in the high jump that's good for sixth on the list.
What to Watch For
There's plenty to look out for this weekend as the Sun Devils head out to improve their places on the NCAA's descending order list.
Just across the eastern border, Samantha Noennig and the Sun Devil women's throwers headline festivities in Albuquerque. ASU has three All-Americans entered in the throws at the Don Kirby Elite, but all three are seeking their first NCAA Indoor berth.
Joining the throwers at Don Kirby will be Jessica Barreira, Derrick Monroe and the ASU jumps crew that has been shuffling the record book all season.
Down south on the SECNetwork+, Nia Brown, Josephine Anokye and the women's sprinters will look to continue to drop their times on the fastest track in the country.
Freshman Austin Kratz is the only Sun Devil man to lead the team in two events as he has the fastest 60 and 200-meter times in 2019. He'll get a second opportunity on a banked track down in Fayetteville, as well as a chance to race against some of the fastest men in the country.
The biggest race of the weekend for the Sun Devils will be the longest. Up in Ames, Fearghal Curtin and John Reniewicki will take on a stacked field in the men's 5K.
The 5K at the Iowa State Classic has produced the majority of NCAA qualifying marks in the past three years including 10 of the 16 qualifying marks from 2018.
Samantha Ortega will make her open 5,000 debut on the oversized track at the Lied Recreation Center.
William Paulson already has a sub-4 mile under his belt and will move up to nearly double the distance to look for a qualifying time in the 3,000 with teammate Jackson Lewis.
The Iowa State Classic and Don Kirby Elite will be available to watch on a live stream provided by FloTrack and the Tyson Invitational will be live on SECNetwork+.
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.
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. She's already recorded the sixth-best mark in school history in the weight throw, but the Norwegian international has made a name for herself in the outdoor season in the hammer.
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.