May 1, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. - Current Arizona State University track and field student-athlete Jacquelyn Johnson and former standout Maicel Malone recently earned a place on the NCAA Division I Silver Anniversary Indoor Team as selected by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the association announce Monday. Johnson was selected in the pentathlon while Malone was chosen for the 400m dash.
Both women were selected to the team that consists of the outstanding individuals in each of the contested events at the NCAA Championships as well as the top coach and most successful school over the past 25 years. All of the women selected to the anniversary team competed and won national titles dating back to the first NCAA Division I Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships that were held in Pontiac, Mich., in 1983 and including the most recent event in Fayetteville, Ark., where the Sun Devils captured their first national team title in track and field.
Johnson was selected for the pentathlon, an event that has only been contested since 2004, as the current Sun Devil junior has won half of the titles after successfully defending her national title earlier this year. The runner-up in the event as a true freshman in 2004, Johnson captured her first indoor crown in 2006 before repeating this year and raising her national title count to four total after taking the outdoor heptathlon crowns in 2004 and 2006. Johnson has been instrumental in helping the Sun Devils rise to the top of both the conference and national standings as she has scored numerous team points at the major competitions. In 2006, Johnson helped the women win their first Pac-10 Championship as she scored a school-record 29 points (won the heptathlon, second in both the high jump and 4x400m relay, third in the 100m hurdles and sixth in the long jump). This year, she played a large role in ASU's first MPSF Indoor Championship crown before winning its first NCAA team title at the indoor event.
Malone won three 400m dash titles in a row at the NCAA Indoor Championships between 1990-92 and also anchored the victorious 4x400m relay to gold at the 1991 meet. The most decorated track and field student-athlete in program history, Malone concluded her career in Tempe with 10 All-America honors (the most earned among men and women in track and field history at ASU) while capturing four indoor national titles and two outdoor crowns, including the 1990 400m dash and helping with the 1988 4x100m relay title. Malone also had a hand in 10 Pac-10 titles, winning the both the 200m and 400m dash in 1988, 1990 and 1991 while helping her teammates capture titles in the 4x100m (1988 and 1991) and 4x400m (1988 and 1990) relays. Currently the women's track coach at Florida A&M, Malone also won an Olympic Gold Medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games as part of the American 4x400m relay.
Johnson, along with Angela Piana and Joshua Kinnaman, will travel to Palo Alto, Calif., this weekend to compete in the 2007 Pac-10 Track and Field Multi-Event Championships on Saturday and Sunday. Johnson, the defending champion, and Piana will compete in the heptathlon while Kinnaman, a two-time runner-up, will compete in the decathlon as the conference championships open this weekend and conclude with all other events at Stanford next weekend (May 12-13).
NCAA Division I Silver Anniversary Team
55m/60m Dash - Carlette Guidry (Texas) and Gwen Torrence (Georgia)
55m Hurdles - Candy Young (Farleigh Dickinson) and Gillian Russell (Miami)
60m Hurdles - Virginia Powell (USC)
200m Dash - Muna Lee (LSU)
400m Dash - Maicel Malone (Arizona State)
800m Run - Amy Wickus (Wisconsin)
Mile Run - Suzy Favor (Wisconsin)
3,000m Run - Vicki Huber (Villanova)
5,000m Run - Kim Smith (Providence)
4x400m Relay - Texas
4x800m Relay - Villanova
Distance Medley - North Carolina
High Jump - Amy Acuff (UCLA)
Pole Vault - Amy Linnen (Arizona/Kansas)
Long Jump - Trecia Smith (Pittsburgh)
Triple Jump - Yvette Bates (USC)
Shot Put - Laura Gerraughty (North Carolina)
Weight Throw - Brittany Riley (Southern Illinois) and Candice Scott (Florida)
Pentathlon - Jacquelyn Johnson (Arizona State)
Coach - Pat Henry (LSU/Texas A&M)
Institution - LSU