March 17, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State track and field team returns home this weekend as it plays host to the 2004 Baldy Castillo Invitational, Friday and Saturday, at Sun Angel Stadium. The field events will be divided among the two days with the distance carnival running Friday evening and the remaining running races set for Saturday.
GUEST LIST
Arizona State will be joined by eight other Division I schools this weekend at the Baldy Castillo Invitational, as well as several unattached individuals. The schools signed to compete include Northern Arizona, Ohio State, UC Santa Barbara, Manhattan, Kansas State, George Mason, Notre Dame and Utah Valley State.
ALL-AMERICANS
Over the weekend, members of the track and field program traveled to Fayetteville, Ark., for the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships. Of the 10 athletes that competed in the national event, six returned home as All-Americans. Those Sun Devils included Lewis Banda (4x400m), Jason Barton (4x400m and 400m), Domenik Peterson (4x400m and 200m), Seth Amoo (4x400m), Amy Hastings (5,000m) and Jacquelyn Johnson (pentathlon).
As a team, the men finished tied for 12th with 17 points earned while the women took a tie for 27th with eight points.
PENT ON SUCCESS
In her first collegiate national championship meet, freshman Jacquelyn Johnson competed in the pentathlon and finished as the national runner-up. Johnson compiled 4,263 points at the NCAA Championships in her only her second try at the pentathlon this season. In her first attempt, Johnson scored 4,044 points at the Boise State Holiday Inn Invitational, just six points shy of an automatic berth into the NCAA meet. Her two scores this season also were the best among all freshman in the nation.
MORE FRESHMAN SUCCESS
Johnson was not the only Sun Devil freshman that had an impressive debut at the NCAA Championships. Domenik Peterson competed in three races to earn All-America honors twice while setting one school record. Individually, Peterson finished fourth in the 200m dash with an ASU record time of 20.54. He then anchored the men's 4x400m relay team to a third place finish in the final event of the meet.
BARTON SHINES ON NATIONAL STAGE
Jason Barton joined Peterson as the only Sun Devils to earn multiple All-America honors at the indoor meet. Barton finished third in the 400m dash with a school record of 45.56 before running the leadoff leg of the relay team that finished third.
ACADEMIC HONORS
The men's and women's cross country have been honored by their respective national coaches associations for their success in the classroom. The men were honored by the United States Cross Country Coaches Association while the women earned their sixth honor in as many years from the Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Association.
LAST TIME (OUTDOOR): BILL SAWYER
The outdoor season got underway March 6 with the remaining Sun Devils playing host to the Bill Sawyer Invitational. Travis Jones led the way with two regional qualifying marks, one each in the hammer and shot put. Stephen Dolk became the first Arizona State athlete this season to earn a spot in both the NCAA West Region and Pac-10 Championship meets with his performance in the pole vault.
Overall, the men captured four first-place finishes on the day while the women recorded five. The men took runner-up honors five times and the women six while both squads captured three third-place finishes on the day.
UP NEXT
A trio of events awaits the Sun Devils nest week, including one mid-week affair. The week opens with the Arizona Multis for heptathlon and decathlon athletes, March 23-24, in Tucson. On Friday, March 26, the Sun Devils will play host to the ASU Invitational while some of the squad will head to Palo Alto, Calif., for the Stanford Invitational, March 26-27.