After a hectic road schedule that featured trips ranging from Flagstaff to Fayetteville, Ark., it's
time for the ASU track and field team - or at least some of its members - to get some home cooking and only light traveling.
The majority of the squad will open its outdoor season Saturday with the Bill Sawyer Invitational at Sun Angel Stadium while smaller groups of Sun Devils will travel to Washington and Iowa State University for meets.
So far this year, the squads, either in part or as a team, have traveled to eight different events, including three bus trips to Flagstaff and two trips to Boise, Idaho.
This season, track and field head coach Greg Kraft said his team has seen varied levels of success competing indoors. Kraft believes both the men's and women's teams have made improvement since the beginning of the season. He contends that both still have areas to work on before the Pac-10 Championships during mid-May in Tucson.
For the men, the dominant force has again come from its 4x400m relay team, comprised of Jason Barton, Domenik Peterson, Seth Amoo and Lewis Banda. Last season, the four-man squad finished first in the Pac-10 Championships and ninth at the NCAAs in the event.
On the women's side, newcomer freshman Jacquelyn Johnson has emerged as a leader. After graduating from Yuma High School with 14 state titles in track and field, and leaving as one of the most decorated track athletes in Arizona prep history, Johnson has translated those results directly to the college level.
This season, the 5-foot-8 Johnson has won in multiple events, including the pentathlon, where she finished with 4,044 points - the second most in the country this season - in her first time competing in the event.
Prior to this weekend, the teams had competed solely indoors, meaning a new style of preparation for outdoor venues has been in the works.
"We have some people here that really have gone back into some base training, and just do some other things in their training program," said Kraft.
Kraft also said many of the athletes who will participate in the Sawyer Invitational will work on their off events - high and long jumpers will be in the sprints while long distance runners might be racing at unfamiliar lengths.
"For our people, this weekend is really for the kids that didn't have the opportunity to compete indoors," Kraft said. "The rest of the athletes are in a base training period as we start recycling and getting ready for the championships in May."
The smaller groups traveling to Ames, Iowa, and Seattle will be competing in "last chance meets," named for the last chance for athletes to qualify for next week's NCAA Indoor Championships.
Reach the reporter at jeffrey.hoodzow@asu.edu.
