March 20, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - The first day of the 2004 Baldy Castillo Invitational saw members of the Arizona State track and field teams combine to earn 19 berths into the NCAA West Region and Pac-10 Championships during the competition at Sun Angel Stadium Friday in Tempe. Overall, Sun Devil athletes won two events and finished in the Top 3 nine times total.
On the women's side, ASU athletes turned in four performances that meet NCAA regional qualifying standards with another six earning them a berth into the conference championship meet. On the track, Jana Pintz (43.15m/141-07) also booked a spot in the Pac-10 meet in the javelin. In the long jump, both Porchea Carroll (5.95m/16-06.25) and Tinishia Johnson (5.94m/16-06.00) earned a place in both championship meets to round out the women's qualifiers.
For the men, four regional standards and five conference standards were met. On the track, Lee Bartes (53.10) earned a Pac-10 qualifier in the 400m hurdles while a trio of 1,500m runners earned both regional and conference places. Dan Maher (3:45.14), Roger Cahill (3:45.17) and Aaron Aguayo (3:45.55) all crossed the line close together and will now have the chance to race together in the championship meets. In the field, Travis Jones (56.79m/186-04) earned a berth into the regional meet in the hammer throw.
Competition at the meet continues at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with the discus while the first running event starts at 1 p.m.