TEMPE – For the first time in nearly three decades, the Sun Devil track and field team will start its season under new leadership as the Dion Miller era begins at the NAU Friday Night Duals in Flagstaff.
While ASU will open the season with a new coach, the venue and competition will be familiar to the Devils as the squad has started its indoor campaign at the Walkup Skydome in each of the past nine seasons.
The quick day trip up to 7,000 feet will feature plenty of new and familiar faces, including two-time NCAA champion Samantha Noennig.
Leading the way for the throws group will once again be Noennig, who finished her sophomore indoor season with a conference and national title, and will begin her junior season on the Bowerman Award watch list.
She's had plenty of success in the Skydome, winning the shot put competition in three of her five outings in Flagstaff. The only times she didn't win the event, she took second behind four-time NCAA champion and Sun Devil great Maggie Ewen and eight-time All-American Alyssa Wilson.
The long-anticipated Sun Devil debut of All-American Turner Washington will finally come to fruition Friday with the redshirt-sophomore set to compete in the men's shot put.
Washington sat out last season after transferring from Arizona, but used that time to shatter his personal best in the shot put and even compete at the U.S. Championships. In his first few months under throws coach Brian Blutreich, Washington launched a throw 20.75m/68-1 feet, which would have been sixth in the nation in 2019 if he competed for the Devils.
Friday's season-opener will be the Sun Devil debut for 16 freshmen and newcomers that a season ago gave ASU one of the top recruiting classes in the nation.
The sprints-focused class featured nine Devils who will lace up in Flagstaff, including JUCO transfer Antonio Mitchell.
Mitchell was one of the fastest men in the nation in 2019, clocking a 10.12 personal best and winning three CCCAA titles in the 100, 200 and 4x100-meter relay.
ASU had success from its JUCO transfers a season ago as Josephine Anokye, Marcus Reaves and Jeminise Parris all came from the NJCAA level, scored at conference championships and advanced to the NCAA West Prelims in their first seasons in Maroon and Gold.
Anokye came in just before the start of the indoor season, but managed to score at the MPSF Championships in the 200, and break up the stranglehold of scoring from USC and Oregon in the outdoor season when she finished sixth in the Pac-12 100-meter dash final and fourth in the 200.
Her 23.00 from the Desert Heat Classic put her at third in ASU history and sent her to the West Prelims where she made the regional final while being hindered by injury.
Reaves was a top-20 seed at the regional meet in the 200 and was the first Sun Devil in three years to score in the open 100-meter final at the Pac-12 Championships. Parris scored in the 100-meter hurdles at Pac-12s then raced her way into the regional final in the same event.
The Sun Devils will get back one of their highest flyers Friday with the return of Cole Riddle.
A two-time conference scorer, Riddle missed most of the indoor season and the entire outdoor campaign due to injury, but is set to take the runway for the first time in nearly a year Friday.
In only one full season of competition, Riddle has made a name for himself in Tempe, moving to fifth in school history in the indoor vault and second in the event outdoors, trailing only Olympic gold medalist Nick Hysong.
Along with Riddle, juniors Michael Chadwick and Tommi Hintnaus have also jumped himself into the Sun Devil record book, and Chadwick is seeking a third-straight all-MPSF honor in the pole vault.
The Sun Devils lost the reigning MPSF long jump champion with the graduation of indoor All-American Jessica Barreira, but first-year coach John Ellis still has plenty of potential and experience on his roster.
Although the Devils will be without two-time conference scorer Sydnee Larkin to start the season, they will have true freshman and Pennsylvania triple jump champion Christina Warren joining the fray with Tyrek McNeese, Greg Fernandez, Ivan Hinson and Katie Eidem.
ASU and distance coach Cory Leslie won't get grad transfers Alex George and Garrett O'Toole until the spring, but Friday will mark the return of Ireland U23 champion Fearghal Curtin, who missed all of the cross country season after having a successful summer of racing overseas. Curtin will open 2020 in the 800 a few minutes after Bianca Tinoco toes the line for the women's 800.
The men's and women's mile will be loaded with athletes from this year's cross country roster, including team captains Megan Reniewicki and Jackson Lewis, as well as freshmen standouts Ava Shackell and Lee Nasewytewa among others.
The 2020 Sun Devil track and field season kicks off Friday at 2 p.m. MST in Flagstaff with Riddle, Chadwick and Hintnaus leading the Devils in the pole vault competitions. The track will open at 4:30, and events will run until the 4x400-meter relay concludes after 8:40 p.m.
Follow @SunDevilTFXC on Twitter and Instagram for updates and check out thesundevils.com after the meet for a recap of the day's events.
While ASU will open the season with a new coach, the venue and competition will be familiar to the Devils as the squad has started its indoor campaign at the Walkup Skydome in each of the past nine seasons.
The quick day trip up to 7,000 feet will feature plenty of new and familiar faces, including two-time NCAA champion Samantha Noennig.
Leading the way for the throws group will once again be Noennig, who finished her sophomore indoor season with a conference and national title, and will begin her junior season on the Bowerman Award watch list.
She's had plenty of success in the Skydome, winning the shot put competition in three of her five outings in Flagstaff. The only times she didn't win the event, she took second behind four-time NCAA champion and Sun Devil great Maggie Ewen and eight-time All-American Alyssa Wilson.
The long-anticipated Sun Devil debut of All-American Turner Washington will finally come to fruition Friday with the redshirt-sophomore set to compete in the men's shot put.
Washington sat out last season after transferring from Arizona, but used that time to shatter his personal best in the shot put and even compete at the U.S. Championships. In his first few months under throws coach Brian Blutreich, Washington launched a throw 20.75m/68-1 feet, which would have been sixth in the nation in 2019 if he competed for the Devils.
Friday's season-opener will be the Sun Devil debut for 16 freshmen and newcomers that a season ago gave ASU one of the top recruiting classes in the nation.
The sprints-focused class featured nine Devils who will lace up in Flagstaff, including JUCO transfer Antonio Mitchell.
Mitchell was one of the fastest men in the nation in 2019, clocking a 10.12 personal best and winning three CCCAA titles in the 100, 200 and 4x100-meter relay.
ASU had success from its JUCO transfers a season ago as Josephine Anokye, Marcus Reaves and Jeminise Parris all came from the NJCAA level, scored at conference championships and advanced to the NCAA West Prelims in their first seasons in Maroon and Gold.
Anokye came in just before the start of the indoor season, but managed to score at the MPSF Championships in the 200, and break up the stranglehold of scoring from USC and Oregon in the outdoor season when she finished sixth in the Pac-12 100-meter dash final and fourth in the 200.
Her 23.00 from the Desert Heat Classic put her at third in ASU history and sent her to the West Prelims where she made the regional final while being hindered by injury.
Reaves was a top-20 seed at the regional meet in the 200 and was the first Sun Devil in three years to score in the open 100-meter final at the Pac-12 Championships. Parris scored in the 100-meter hurdles at Pac-12s then raced her way into the regional final in the same event.
The Sun Devils will get back one of their highest flyers Friday with the return of Cole Riddle.
A two-time conference scorer, Riddle missed most of the indoor season and the entire outdoor campaign due to injury, but is set to take the runway for the first time in nearly a year Friday.
In only one full season of competition, Riddle has made a name for himself in Tempe, moving to fifth in school history in the indoor vault and second in the event outdoors, trailing only Olympic gold medalist Nick Hysong.
Along with Riddle, juniors Michael Chadwick and Tommi Hintnaus have also jumped himself into the Sun Devil record book, and Chadwick is seeking a third-straight all-MPSF honor in the pole vault.
The Sun Devils lost the reigning MPSF long jump champion with the graduation of indoor All-American Jessica Barreira, but first-year coach John Ellis still has plenty of potential and experience on his roster.
Although the Devils will be without two-time conference scorer Sydnee Larkin to start the season, they will have true freshman and Pennsylvania triple jump champion Christina Warren joining the fray with Tyrek McNeese, Greg Fernandez, Ivan Hinson and Katie Eidem.
ASU and distance coach Cory Leslie won't get grad transfers Alex George and Garrett O'Toole until the spring, but Friday will mark the return of Ireland U23 champion Fearghal Curtin, who missed all of the cross country season after having a successful summer of racing overseas. Curtin will open 2020 in the 800 a few minutes after Bianca Tinoco toes the line for the women's 800.
The men's and women's mile will be loaded with athletes from this year's cross country roster, including team captains Megan Reniewicki and Jackson Lewis, as well as freshmen standouts Ava Shackell and Lee Nasewytewa among others.
The 2020 Sun Devil track and field season kicks off Friday at 2 p.m. MST in Flagstaff with Riddle, Chadwick and Hintnaus leading the Devils in the pole vault competitions. The track will open at 4:30, and events will run until the 4x400-meter relay concludes after 8:40 p.m.
Follow @SunDevilTFXC on Twitter and Instagram for updates and check out thesundevils.com after the meet for a recap of the day's events.