Once a year, the ASU track and field team squares off against its in-state rivals to the north and south.
It is a rare occurrence for a meet to only include three schools.
The meet primarily focuses on ASU's matchup with UA, but NAU is also entered in the competition.
While this meet doesn’t directly influence the Territorial Cup, it’s still a good old-fashioned rivalry.
“The UA competition isn’t a huge deal, but it is a big deal to beat them,” redshirt senior thrower Jordan Clarke said. “We have an annual territorial cup where whoever wins takes it home, but the (actual) Territorial Cup doesn’t count until Pac-12s. So this meet is more of a tune-up.”
When it comes to track and field, the Territorial Cup point goes to whichever team finishes higher in the Pac-12 championships, which begin in a week with Pac-12 Multis.
Clarke is one of the Sun Devils still not qualified for nationals in his respective event.
However, this is strictly due to his minor injury refraining him from competing in a shot put thus far.
“I’ll be taking this weekend off from the shot put to give my hand some more rest,” Clarke said. “I’ve been dealing with a sprained finger on my throwing hand the whole season, so (I'm) trying to manage through it. I’ll open up at Pac-12s.”
Clarke is currently qualified for the discus and hammer throw.
On the track side the men's team is now unranked. Redshirt freshman distance runner Ryan Herson moved into the No. 15 spot in the 5000-meter national rankings after his personal best time of 13:51.00.
His competition will be the athlete just ahead of him in the rankings: NAU freshman distance runner Futsum Zienasellassie.
Both men’s 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams are sitting at No. 11 in the rankings and will look to continue their climb to the top.
Clarke’s teammate, redshirt senior thrower Joe Riccio, is sitting at No. 35 in the shot put and hopes to qualify for nationals along with Clarke in the same event.
Top-10 Battle
The ASU women are currently ranked No. 8 in the country while the UA women are sitting above them at No. 3.
The Sun Devils want to use the rivalry as motivation and use the meet to test their ability against a top team.
“We are still wanting to get personal records and work on things that have to be perfected,” senior sprinter Keia Pinnick said. “All the while, it’s our rival school, so we are attacking it like a big deal.”
Pinnick is sitting at No. 20 in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, No. 9 in the 400-meter hurdles and No. 3 in the heptathlon. She also has helped both of her 4x100 and 4x400-relay teammates into the top 25.
Her main focus against the Wildcats is the heptathlon with the Pac-12 Multis being just a week away.
“The main goal is to beat UA, but also kind of practice some of my heptathlon events one last time before Pac-12s,” she said.
Reach the reporter at msterrel@asu.edu and follow on Twitter at @ASUreporter_MT
