Conferences collided this weekend at Sun Angel Stadium as ASU track and field teamed up with Arizona and UCLA to take on Nebraska, Indiana and Michigan in the Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Invitational. This meet differed from all others as the points were scored by conference and not by individual team.
The Pac-12 narrowly edged the Big Ten in the women’s events, while the opposite was true for the men, where the Big Ten took home the victory after winning the final event.
The meet started well for the Sun Devils on Friday in the women’s hammer throw. Senior Jessika Byrd had the highest finish of any Sun Devil in second place with a distance of 58.85 meters. Freshman Maggie Ewen finished just behind her in third place with a personal record throw of 58.69. Junior Ginger Jarchow and redshirt sophomore Ashley Weber finished in fifth and seventh, respectively.
Senior Michael Ohakwe set a personal record in the men’s discus, coming in second place with a distance of 56.24. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Long finished fourth at 52.52.
The women’s discus produced a win for ASU through the efforts of Ewen. She won the women’s discus with a throw of 52.98 on her fourth attempt. Senior Alex Hartig finished just behind in second place at 51.95. Jarchow finished in fifth in the event with a 47.20 throw.
Saturday began strong for the Sun Devils out on the track. Senior Shelby Houlihan set the pace for the day by winning the women’s 1500 meter in 4:14.35, a new meet record. Houlihan is the defending national champion in the event.
The women’s 4x100m relay team ran a blazing fast 44.99 second time on their way to a first place finish in the event. Senior Brianna Tate helped put the Sun Devils in the lead in the second leg and sophomore LaTroya Franklin finished out the race by anchoring a strong final leg to the finish.
Freshman Melese Crozier had a good showing in the women’s 400 race, finishing third in 55.27 seconds. Sophomore Jamol James also finished third in his race, the men’s 100, in 10.51 seconds.
In the men’s 3000 steeplechase, redshirt sophomore CJ Albertson won with a time of 9:01.29, his first win of the outdoor season. Senior Shaina Corbin ran the 3000 steeplechase for the women, finishing third in 10:43.20.
Redshirt junior Trevor Landry finished in third place with a time of 1:50.62 while junior teammate Michael Julian came in a close fifth place in 1:51.77.
Redshirt junior Cody Moore set a personal best in his event, the men’s 400 hurdles. Moore finished with a time of 53.15.
In the final track event of the meet, the women’s 4x400m relay team took first place with a stellar time of 3:38.61.
There were great individual performances out on the field for the Sun Devils as well. Senior Bryan McBride won the men’s high jump at 2.24 meters while senior teammate Edmond Baker finished in a tie for third with a height of 2.10.
Junior Josh Dixon had an exceptional day on the field by winning the men’s triple jump with a mark of 15.43. He followed that up by tying for second in the men’s long jump with a jump of 7.33. James finished fourth in the long jump at 7.30m.
Hartig and Ewen got in on Saturday’s action as well, finishing second and fifth in the women’s shot put, respectively. Hartig threw a distance of 15.58 while Ewen topped out at 14.91.
Reach the reporter at tjwilkin@asu.edu or follow @Twilkins23 on Twitter.
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