May 24, 2002
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This Week --
Arizona State will send seven individuals (four men and three women) and the men's 4x400m relay team to the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Louisiana State University at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium in Baton Rouge, La., Wednesday, May 29, through Saturday, June 1.
ASU's NCAA Championships Participants --
Men Event Mark (Nat. Rank) Note Fasil Bizuneh, Jr. 10K 28:46.88 (6th)* 6th at '01 NCAAs Fasil Bizuneh, Jr. 5000m 13:51.88 (16th) 10th at '02 Pac-10s Tony Galaviz, Sr. 110mH 13.75 (16th) 4th at '02 Pac-10s Brandon Strong, Sr. 1500m 3:41.42 (5th)* '02 Pac-10 runner-up David Wood, Sr. SP 61-1.5 (19th) '02 Indoor All-American Men's 4x400m Relay 3:05.41 (9th) '02 Pac-10 ChampWomen Event Mark (Nat. Rank) Note Lisa Aguilera, Jr. 3K SC 15:57.37 (16th) '02 Pac-10 Champ Tiffany Greer, Jr. LJ 21-4 (14th) '00, '02 Pac-10 Champ Brianna Torres, Jr. 5000m 16:13.79 (12th) 4th at '02 Pac-10s *denotes NCAA automatic qualifying mark
Sun Devil Notables --
Junior Luiz Mello (alternate)...senior David Wood, the 2001 Pac-10 champion in the shot put, looks for his second straight All-America honors, but first outdoors, after a sixth-place finish indoors earlier this season...senior Tony Galaviz seeks his first All-America nod in the 110m hurdles...he competed at the 2002 Indoor Championships but did not finish his prelim race...Galaviz has finished third and fourth in the '01 and '02 Pac-10 meets...junior Brianna Torres also aims for her first All-America honors with a 12th place national ranking in the 5000m.
National Rankings --
In the USTCA Team-Power Rankings as of May 24, the men are sixth in the nation and the women are 16th. Team-Power Rankings are dual meet predictors and demonstrate team depth. For the fourth straight poll, the ASU women are absent from the latest Trackwire 25 released May 14. ASU's women opened the 2002 outdoor season ranked 25th and moved up to 21st (tie) in the April 9 poll. ASU's men have not been ranked in all six polls of the outdoor season.
ASU Men's Pac-10 Championship Results --
The ASU men finished fourth at the Pac-10 Championships (hosted by Washington State in Pullman, Wash, May 18-19) for the second-straight season, recording 103 points and missing third place by half a point. This year was the fifth straight top-five finish and third straight time the men have surpassed the century mark in point total at the Pac-10 meet. ASU's 103 points this year was the second-highest since 1981 when the Sun Devils won their only Pac-10 team title with 133 points. The 4x400m relay team of junior Lorenzo Parham, freshman Seth Amoo, senior Pete Lopez and sophomore Steve Fitch won the only Pac-10 title for the men, winning the event with a Mooberry Track record and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 3:06.03. It was the second straight men's 4x400m Pac-10 title for ASU and fifth overall. Earning runner-up finishes were Amoo in the 400m, senior Brandon Strong in the 1500m, junior Jeremy Rasmussen in the 3000m steeplechase and freshman Trevell Quinley in the long jump. Senior David Wood, the Pac-10 champion in the shot put last year, finished third this season.
ASU Women's Pac-10 Championship Results --
At the 2002 Pac-10 Championships hosted by Washington State in Pullman, Wash., May 18-19, the ASU women placed fourth, the best team performance since a third-place standing in 1994. The Sun Devils tallied 89 points, matching last year's point total, the highest also since 1994 when they scored 96. Junior Tiffany Greer won her second career Pac-10 long jump title, while junior Lisa Aguilera captured her first crown in the 3000m steeplechase. Greer was responsible for 20 of ASU's points, also placing third in the 100m and fifth in the 200m. Aguilera also finished third in the 5000m. Greer was also a member of the 4x100m team that placed second with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 44.68. Sophomore Jodi Smith also tied for third in the high jump, while fourth-place finishes came from sophomore Jen Hurbis (10,000m), junior Cody Sohn (3000m steeplechase), junior Joni Smith (400m) and sophomore Seneca Holmes (100m hurdles).
Last Year At The NCAA Outdoor Championships --
The Sun Devils made a bit of history at the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. last season, as ASU's men recorded their best national finish since 1981, a span of 20 years. The men tallied 19 points and tied with Texas for 15th, the highest finish since the '81 squad placed fourth. ASU's women secured their best national finish since 1994 (10th-place), recording 18 points to tie for 14th with Appalachian State. Leading the men, senior Marcus Brunson earned three All-America honors with a third-place finish in the 100m, a fourth-place finish in the 200m and a fourth-place finish as a member of the men's 4x400m relay team. On the women's side, senior Kelly MacDonald made the most of her homecoming trip to Oregon, notching third-place finishes in the 3000m steeplechase and the 5000m, adding two more All-America honors to an already impressive resume. ASU took home a total of seven All-America honors: Brunson (100m, 200m), MacDonald (3000m SC, 5000m), sophomore Tiffany Greer (long jump), sophomore Fasil Bizuneh (10,000m) and the men's 4x400m relay team (senior Michael Campbell, Brunson, junior Pete Lopez and senior Tony Berrian).
ASU Men's NCAA Outdoor History --
Dating back to 1942, ASU's men have captured one national team title in 1977, 13 individual titles and one relay title while 86 athletes have earned 144 All-America honors. The last Sun Devil man to win a national title was Pal Arne Fagernes in the javelin in 1996. ASU's men have tallied 17 top-20 finishes, six top-10 finishes and five top-five finishes. Their last top-10 finish was fourth-place in 1981. Under head coach Greg Kraft, the men have steadily increased their national team finishes, from 38th in 1998, to 18th in 1999, 17th in 2000 (tie) and 15th in 2001 (tie).
ASU Women's NCAA Outdoor History --
After scoring points for the first time since 1996 in 2000, the ASU women jumped from 38th (tie) to 14th (tie) in 2001. Since 1982, they have turned in nine top-20 finishes and five top-10 finishes. The women's school record national finish includes back-to-back fourth-place finishes in 1988 and 1989. Twelve Sun Devil outdoor national champions have been crowned, including three relay teams, while 45 athletes have earned 101 All-America honors. ASU's last female outdoor national champion was Maicel Malone, winning the 400m in 1990.
ASU Women Tie For 16th At 2002 NCAA Indoors --
Junior Lisa Aguilera finished second in the 3,000m and junior Tiffany Greer placed third in the long jump, leading the ASU women to a 16th-place tie at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., March 8-9. Matching BYU and Colorado's 14 points, ASU notched its best NCAA indoor finish since 1994 and the first top-20 finish since 1995. The ASU men's three points, scored by senior David Wood's sixth-place finish in the shot put, tied the team for 51st with Middle Tennessee and Southern Illinois. With their top-eight finishes in their respective events, Aguilera, Greer and Wood earned All-America honors. Now a three-time All-American in track and field, Aguilera crossed the 3000m finish line second in 9:09.67, shattering her previous personal best and school record time of 9:16.23. She finished only behind champion Lauren Fleshman of Stanford who won the race with a stadium record of 9:07.45. Greer added her third indoor All-America certificate and fifth overall to her Sun Devil resume, placing third in the women's long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 7.25 inches. Wood earned his first All-America honors with a personal best shot put effort of 64 feet, three inches that placed him sixth. ASU qualified a total of six athletes to the 2002 indoor nationals. Freshman Trevell Quinley finished 14th in the men's long jump (23-11.5), while senior Brandon Strong and senior Tony Galaviz were unable to advance past the prelims of the mile and 60m hurdles, respectively.
About The Sun Devil Coaches --
Greg Kraft is in his sixth year at the helm of the Arizona State track and field program. His tenure has produced 28 All-Americans, six All-American relay teams, 17 individual Pac-10 titles, five individual NCAA runner-up finishes and 29 first or second-team Pac-10 All-Academic selections. Kraft came to ASU in 1996 after serving as the head track and field coach at the University of South Carolina from 1989 to 1996. Kraft is assisted by distance coach Walt Drenth (sixth year), sprints and hurdles coach Darryl Anderson (sixth year), throws coach David Dumble (first year) and graduate assistant Louie Quintana (first year).