With an air of change around the ASU athletic department, the Sun Devil track and field team has been knee deep in tradition through this stretch of the season.
A week after hosting their signature event in the 32nd Sun Angel Classic, ASU will be competing in the 53rd annual Mount San Antonio College Relays in Walnut, Calif. Thursday through Saturday.
The Mt. SAC Relays have a long history of competition with all levels of athletes. The event is similar to the Sun Angel Classic, but has a different vibe for the Sun Devils.
“Mt. SAC is fun,” redshirt senior Jasmine Chaney said. “It’s kind of like Sun Angel, but just with more age groups. The atmosphere is fun. It’s not as serious.”
The regular season’s longest road trip also provides ASU coach Greg Kraft an opportunity to bring the athletes together in a team setting.
“This is the only time we go outside of Arizona besides the championship season,” Kraft said. “So we try to get the team together so we can go over some things. We’re taking a bus, so we have a captive audience for 12 hours.”
The long trip also provides the athletes with time to focus on the task at hand.
While Chaney and her women’s sprinting teammates have had great results in terms of placing, the actual finishing order isn’t the greatest concern.
“When I go out and run, I try to just improve my time,” Chaney said. “If someone beats my time, as long as it was better than the last time, then I am satisfied. Winning is part of being competitive, but that’s not what’s always in my head.”
Kraft has been impressed with an overall young group of women’s sprinters.
“The women have been pretty solid,” Kraft said. “Jasmine has taken the younger ones under her wing. [Sophomore] Keia Pinnick is a warrior. So the rest are all taking their keys from them.”
The solid nature of the team is shown in its consistency. As impressive as each result is, together, the team is still on an upward trend.
“A lot of people opened with [personal records], but we’re still improving,” Chaney said. “We’re all still moving forward.”
One area in particular Chaney hopes to move forward is the 4x400 meter relay. While its best runner did not compete last weekend and there were other mitigating factors, the relay team got second place.
Chaney sees this weekend as the best place to improve on their times.
“We’re only getting stronger, and the second place finish just makes us hungrier,” Chaney said. “This weekend at Mt. SAC is going to be fun, because we’re all going to be fresh.”
Reach the reporter at zcavanag@asu.edu
