It was a bittersweet week for the ASU track and field team.
On the same day that the Sun Devils wrapped up another superior performance at Northern Arizona, iconic coach Senon “Baldy” Castillo died at his home in Phoenix at the age of 90.
Castillo was the track coach at ASU for 29 years, and two dozen of his athletes competed in a total of eight Summer Olympiads. Seven of them went on to win gold medals.
Under his tutelage, the ASU men’s team won its first NCAA Outdoor Championship in 1977.
The tumultuous week had its share of good fortune as well, as ASU inked some of the top talent from across North America on Wednesday’s National Signing Day.
“We were able to hit it big with the women,” ASU coach Greg Kraft said.
Among the recruits, the Sun Devils signed two-time Oklahoma state champion in the long jump, Constance Ezugha.
ASU also nabbed Shakeia Pinnick, five-time Illinois state champion and two-time AAU national champion in the heptathalon and hurdles.
One of the Sun Devils’ recruits came from north of the border, as ASU signed Canadian standout Christabel Nettey.
Also new to next year’s team will be Anna Jelmini and Kevyn Murphy.
Jelmini won the shot put and the discus at the California state meet and finished seventh in the discus at the 2008 IAAF World Junior Championships.
Murphy will add some depth to the cross-country team, as she brings a top-ten finish in the California Division II Cross Country State Championship.
The current Sun Devil track and field team will be spread out over the nation this weekend.
It’s back to ASU’s home away from home for some of the athletes, as they compete in Flagstaff again for the NAU Team Challenge.
Another portion of the team will compete in Albuquerque, N.M., for the New Mexico Challenge.
The meet in New Mexico will be a preview of the 200-meter bank track that the Sun Devils will see in College Station, Texas, for the indoor championships.
“That’s really going to be the breakout weekend across the country where [the coaches] find out where their team stands,” Kraft said.
ASU will also send freshmen Kate Lydy, Kauren Tarver and Matt Boughton to Derwood, Md., for the 2009 USA Junior Cross Country Championships.
Reach the reporter at emschimm@asu.edu.
