Redshirt junior thrower Chelsea Cassulo walks off the field after throwing during the Sun Angel Classic on April 6. Cassulo and the rest of the track and field team travel to face LSU this weekend. (Photo by Abhiram Chandrashekar)With the championship season just a month away, the ASU track and field team is tightening up all loose ends.
After a record-breaking Sun Angel Classic, the Sun Devils will travel east to Louisiana for the Battle on the Bayou.
The meet is more a tune-up more than an actual competitive meet. That doesn’t mean ASU is looking past it.
“It’s a good way to get some competition under my belt and stay consistent,” redshirt junior thrower Chelsea Cassulo said.
The No. 1 thrower has won eight of her last nine meets dating back to the indoor season.
Her five throws of all over 66 meters, which are all better than the No. 2 woman thrower in the country.
She has no intentions of slowing down either.
“The past two meets have been really nice to start off strong and get the ball rolling toward a strong season,” she said.
Cassulo said her performance and progress is not just a matter of strength, but more the little things.
“Just staying focused and healthy is key,” she said. “I have the technique I need, now just perfecting it and doing what I know how to do best: competing.”
Her teammate on the field, sophomore distance runner Shelby Houlihan, has also been climbing the rankings.
Houlihan is currently ranked in the top 12 in two different events and has helped the women’s 4x400 team climb the rankings to No. 17.
Her time of 4:13.64 in the 1500-meter run qualified her for the No. 12 seed, but did much more than that.
Houlihan smashed one of the oldest ASU records in track and field history — set back in 1999 — and will use that to motivate her through championship season.
“I’ll be focusing more on the 1500 now and will most likely be running that at Pac-12s,” she said. “I just need to keep focusing on training hard, staying healthy and having fun.”
The team ranks No. 8 in the country.
Men making moves
The No. 17 men’s team has moved up a spot since last week, gaining four points on their competition.
Atop the Sun Devil men are two juniors and two seniors.
Senior sprinter Chris Burrows currently ranks No. 14 in the 200-meter dash and is currently on track to qualify for the NCAA championships.
He has also helped the men’s 4x100-meter team to a No. 7 ranking.
Redshirt senior thrower Jordan Clarke continues his dominance and keeps working toward tying the NCAA record of five straight championships.
Burrows’ teammate, redshirt junior sprinter Ryan Milus, sits at No. 21 in the 100-meter dash but hasn’t moved in the last two weeks.
He’ll plan to make a move this weekend against the Tigers in Baton Rouge.
Redshirt junior pole vaulter Derick Hinch sits at the same No. 13 spot he did the last two weeks as well. Hinch’s only has competition with himself and the No. 18 pole-vaulter this weekend.
Reach the reporter at msterrel@asu.edu or follow on Twitter @ASUreporter_MT
