The ASU women's track and field team cemented its place in school lore with another impressive showing at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif. over the weekend.
Sophomore Jacquelyn Johnson won a national title in the heptathlon for the second time in as many tries and Victoria Jackson won the 10,000-meter run to give the Sun Devil women a fourth place overall finish with 37 points.
Auburn won the team title with 57. ASU finished in the top-4 at the cross country championships, national indoors and national outdoors, only the second team ever to accomplish the feat.
"I was very pleased with the outcome," ASU coach Greg Kraft said. "We felt like 40 points was the magic number... we were close to it."
Johnson was the prohibitive favorite to win the heptathlon, even after completely missing last season while playing for the ASU basketball team. She didn't disappoint, amassing 5,939 points, 112 points ahead of her nearest competitor.
"Everybody expected her to do that, but they don't realize how difficult it is - especially after taking the year off," Kraft said. "What separates her is that she is so competitive."
ASU could have possibly finished as the national runner-up, but Jessica Pressley was beaten out by one centimeter in the women's shot put, giving her a sixth place national finish.
Aaron Aguayo paced the men's team, finishing in third place of the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Ryan Warrenburg finished in eighth place in the event.
The Sun Devils finished with nine points, good for 29th place.
Kraft said he isn't sure how the unprecedented success of this season will affect recruiting.
"We've never had this kind of year to use as a springboard for recruiting, so well see how that goes," Kraft said.
Jackson will be the only major loss from the women's team next year, and Kraft envisions a chance at a national title at the Indoor Championships. The men's team had to deal with an assortment of injuries, and the expectations for next season will be higher.
Reach the reporter at kyle.odegard@asu.edu.
