Redshirt junior Chelsea Cassulo rotates her body one more time before letting go in the hammer throw competition in the Sun Angel Classic on April 5. Cassulo earned her eighth win in the last nine meets this weekend. (Photo by Abhiram Chandrashekar)The 34th annual Sun Angel Classic has always been one of the largest meets of the regular season for ASU track and field.
With over 20 colleges and universities with over 1,000 entries, the Sun Devils had their work cut out for them.
Friday started with the men and women’s hammer throw, where the Sun Devils got off to a hot start.
Redshirt junior Chelsea Cassulo earned her eighth win in the last nine meets with a throw of 68.90m (226-00) to start the meet off. Cassulo had three throws of 68 meters or more. Her worst throw was 66.39m, which is still better than any other NCAA athlete this season.
On the men’s side, redshirt senior Jordan Clarke made no surprises, winning the event by about five meters over his teammate Joe Riccio.
Redshirt senior Riccio is commonly overlooked due to his teammate being a four-time national champion, but he still enjoys being able to still help his team and compete with Clarke.
“Indoor season I scored 11 points at our conference meet and that was more beneficial to the team than anything,” Riccio said. “That’s all I’m here to do is try to win that Pac-12 Championship outdoors and make a little bit of noise.”
While Riccio says he’s his own thrower and wants to be the best he can, he still embraces being looked at as another attribute for ASU.
He also says competing with and pushing Clarke on a daily basis is another added bonus.
“If I can help Jordan get a little bit better, my job is done. I feel like he makes me better everyday and I hope I can do the same (for him)," Riccio said. "He’s better than me but he was four meters above me today and I was like, ‘I’m still coming for you.’”
Throwing coach David Dumble says having two senior leaders in Clarke and Riccio is not only beneficial to the team, but to each of them as competitors as well.
“They’re great training partners (and) they really push each other well,” Dumble said. “It started when Joe transferred here two years ago, they’ve really just been good buddies…it’s phenomenal because once you get challenged you just try a little bit harder each day at practice.”
Having two athletes in the top 30 in the hammer throw, along with Riccio moving up the rankings in the other events, is an added bonus for the Sun Devils moving forward into championship season.
“They’re going to score a lot of points for us at Pac-12s,” Dumble said. “Those two seniors are going to do some outstanding stuff.”
Senior Keia Pinnick had a great Friday as well, recording a personal best in the heptathlon at the Jim Click Multi in Tucson, Ariz. In just her first heptathlon competition of the outdoor season, Pinnick tallied 5,791 points for a first place finish out of all collegiate competitors.
It was good enough to put her atop the national rankings.
Only Bettie Wade beat Pinnick. Wade competed for Nike in the Jim Click Multi and did not compete as a collegiate athlete, so Pinnick was the top college competitor in the event.
Records broken Saturday
Senior multi-athlete Christabel Nettey and sophomore mid-distance runner Shelby Houlihan each beat some of the longest-standing school records in ASU history.
For Nettey, her jump of 6.69 meters in the long jump was .07 meters further than the record set back in 1989.
The senior didn’t stop her weekend success there. Her 100-meter hurdle time of 13.42 qualified second.
Houlihan then ran a time of 4:13.64 in the 1,500 meter, beating Priscilla Hein’s time of 4:17.98 set in 1999.
By the time the Sun Angel Classic was over, five different ASU athletes either retained or moved into No. 1 rankings in the country in their respective events.
Reach the reporter at msterrel@asu.edu
