May 3, 2000
This Week
The Sun Devils will compete with Northern Arizona and the University of Arizona for state bragging rights at this weekend's annual dual meet. Events will take place at Roy P. Drachman Stadium in Tucson, Ariz. Field events are scheduled to start at 4 p.m., with running geting underway at 7 p.m.
National Rankings
The Sun Devils' men's squad dropped four spots in the fifth edition of TrackWire.com's rankings and is currently tied for 17th with California. The women remain unranked. In the men's rankings, seven Pac-10 teams are in the top 25, leading with second-ranked Stanford and fourth-ranked USC, and followed by Arizona at 14th, California tied for 17th, UCLA tied at 19th and No. 22 Washington State. Additionally, all three Arizona universities are represented as Nothern Arizona is tied at 19th. On the women's side, league members USC is ranked third, followed by UCLA in fifth, Stanford in the 13th spot and Arizona tied for 16th.
Penn Relays Recap
ASU posted six qualifying marks for the NCAAs and reached six season bests at the 106th Penn Relays at Franklin Field. The Sun Devils were led by Kelly MacDonald and Dwight Phillips, each posting second-place finishes.
With his season-best long jump of 26-1, Phillips became the first individual for the men's squad to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. MacDonald, already provisionally qualified in 3,000m, bettered her mark by eight seconds with a 9:20.12 finish.
Also already provisionally qualified in the 3,000m is Lisa Aguilera, who placed ninth with a time of 9:30.32.
Posting season bests were MacDonald (3,000m), Phillips (LJ), Brianna Torres (3,000m),
In the women's 10,000m, Mary Duerbeck placed seventh with a 35:12.48 to provisionally qualify for NCAAs.
The Sun Devil men were also in action, led by Jeremy Rasmussen's fifth place in the 3,000m steeplechase with a season best 8:58.08.
Isaiah Festa and Fasil Bizuneh both provisionally qualified in the 5,000m with their respective eighth and 10th place finishes. Festa has a lower time from earlier in the season than the 14:02.90 he posted today but Bizuneh now qualifies for his second NCAA event with his season best 14:04.20 mark. He has already met the standard in the 10,000m.
More than 250 colleges and universities will have athletes on hand and more than 100,000 spectators are expected during the week.
Oregon Invitational Recap
Adrienne Judie, Courtnie Ratliff and Erika Johnson all earned victories for the Sun Devil track team at the Oregon Invitational in Eugene, Ore.
Judie's shot put throw of 50-7.5 is a season best and betters a previous provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships.
Ratliff won the women's 400m in 54.87 while Johnson won with a triple jump of 39-2.25.
In all, Arizona State earned 13 top-five finishes.
Pac-10 Athlete of the Week
Senior Dwight Phillips earned this season's first Pac-10 athlete of the week honors on April 11 as he placed third in the 100m at the Texas Relays with a wind-aided 10.12. In the previous day's qualifier, he clocked a wind-aided 10.11 to win his heat. As the wind was above the NCAA-allowable 4.0 mps in both events, he cannot use those times to qualify for the NCAA Championships. His time was the second fastest in ASU history. The senior from Tucker, Ga. is a six-time All American, holds four school records and is a two-time NCAA runner-up in the indoor long jump.
Pac-10 Championships
This year's Pac-10 Championshiops are being hosted by the University of Oregon at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Heptathlon and decathlon competition will take place May 13-14 while all other events will occur the following weekend, May 20-21.
Outdoor NCAA Championships
This year's National Championships will be held at Duke University in Durham, N.C., May 31 through June 3. The Sun Devil men are looking to improve on last year's 18th place finish while the women are looking to place for the first time since 1996. Tiffany Greer (women's long jump), Kelly MacDonald (women's 5,000m), Dwight Phillips (LJ) and the men's 4x100m relay are already automatically qualified. The Sun Devils are also provisionally qualified (athletes/events) in seven men's and nine women's events.
Track & Field News
Track & Field News' John Auka and Jack Pheifer are posting updated predictions on the magazine's website for the Outdoor NCAA Championships. Although neither ASU men's or women's teams crack the top 10, a handful of individuals are listed as predictions for top-10 finishes. As of April 21, they include Dwight Phillips (LJ - 3rd, TJ - 7th), Tony Berrian (400m - 8th) and both relays (4x400 - 5th, 4x100 - 5th) for the men and Lisa Aguilera (1,500m - 7th), Kelly MacDonald (5,000m - 6th) and Tiffany Greer (LJ - 9th) for the women.
Into the Outdoor Recordbooks
Two school records were broken on April 14 at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.
Redshirt freshman Fasil Bizuneh broke a 31-year-old school record in the men's 10,000m run, posting a 29:13.61 to place 18th. His time was five seconds better than the mark Jerry Jobski posted for Arizona State in 1969. Bizuneh's mark also provisionally qualifies him for the NCAA Championships and his time was just seven seconds away from qualifying for the Olympic Trials. Athletes from this year's squad now hold three ASU outdoor records, as Marcus Brunson (100m) and Dwight Phillips (LJ) set new standards last season.
Junior Kelly MacDonald qualified for the NCAA Championships and the Olympic Trials with her 15:55.90 performance in the women's 5,000m. That time placed her 10th in the meet and broke Lynn Nelson's 1984 school standard by three seconds. MacDonald's record-setting performance was her third this season, as she also holds ASU record in the indoor 3,000 and 5,000 meter events. Adrienne Judie (HT) and Olivia Mazzaglia (PV) have also set records this season for the Sun Devils.
Head Coach Greg Kraft
Greg Kraft, ASU's eighth director of track & field and cross country, has tirelessly rebuilt the Sun Devils' program from probation to prosperity as he's in his fourth year as a Sun Devil. After spending his first two years at ASU rebuilding the program one event at a time, 1999 saw Kraft get some results. During the indoor season, ASU's men finished 11th and the women tied for 32nd at the NCAA Championships. Marcus Brunson (60 meters) and Dwight Phillips (Long Jump) were NCAA runners-up. Six indoor school records were broken. The outdoor season saw three school records fall while the men finished fifth in the Pac-10, just 0.5 points out of fourth place, and 18th at the NCAA Championships. Three conference crowns were won at the Pac-10 Championships. Kraft, 44, was introduced as ASU's head coach July 28, 1996, after spending seven years heading the track & field and cross country programs at the University of South Carolina where he was the 1996 SEC Coach of the Year. During Kraft's tenure at South Carolina, he rebuilt the men's program into a league power and built the women's program from scratch. Kraft also headed the men's program transition from the Metro Conference to the SEC. Kraft, a Cal Poly SLO graduate, is now entering his 20th year of Division I coaching and 11th as a head coach, has long been associated with successful track & field and cross country programs. As an assistant, Kraft tutored 34 All-Americans and individual conference champions while helping guide his schools to four conference championships and three NCAA Top 10 finishes.
Pac-10 Championship Qualifiers
Eugene, Ore.
May 13-14, 20-21
Men
Tony Berrian - 200m, 400m
Fasil Bizuneh - 5,000m, 10,000m
Marcus Brunson - 200m
David Burke - 1,500m
Michael Campbell - 400m
Casey Clark - HJ
Isaiah Festa - 1,500m, 5,000m
Maurice Lee - 200m
Eric Logvin - DT
Pete Lopez - 200m
Jim McGee - 100m
Dwight Phillips - 100m, LJ, TJ
Jeremy Rasmussen - 3,000m StCh
LaVell Robinson-Blanchard - 200m, 400m
Brandon Strong - 800m, 1,500m, Mile
ASU Relay - 4x100, 4x400
Women
Lisa Aguilera - 1,500m, Mile, 3,000m
Elizabeth Arollo - Heptathalon
Candida Coulson - 400mH
Candi Criscione - 1,500m
Arlaina Davis - 400m
Mary Duerbeck - 5,000m, 10,000m
Tiffany Greer - 100m, LJ
Erika Johnson - TJ
Adrienne Judie - SP, DT, HT
Kelly MacDonald - Mile, 3,000m, 5,000m
Olivia Mazzaglia - HJ, PV
Courtnie Ratliff - 400m
Jodi Smith - HJ
Joni Smith - 400m
Brianna Torres - 3,000m
Sharesa Turner - 100m, 200m, LJ
Valerie Williams - LJ, TJ
ASU Relay - 4x100, 4x400