ASU track and field completed a successful weekend at the 36th annual Sun Angel Classic and came up with a few wins as well. After the high school athletes from around Arizona came to play on Thursday, the collegiate athletes competed for the next two days to show them what the next level looks like.
Junior Ginger Jarchow started the weekend off right by winning the women’s hammer throw open section on Friday. Her throw of 57.70 meters was a new personal best for her.
Senior Jessika Byrd also did well in the women’s hammer premiere section by placing third with a 57.49 throw.
Saturday began with the discus throw events and Jarchow proved she was not done. She finished second in the women’s discus open section with a distance of 47.22, another personal record for her. Freshman Maggie Ewen finished second in the premiere section of the women’s discus at 53.42.
The discus proved to be a strong point for the men as well. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Long finished second in the men’s discus open section with a personal record throw of 52.83, while Senior Michael Ohakwe finished fourth in the premiere section at 55.10.
In the shot put events, redshirt sophomore Ashley Weber won the women’s shot put open section with a throw of 15.12. The men had an excellent showing, with Long winning the men’s shot put open section at a massive personal record 16.85 while redshirt senior Kyle Lillie finished second in the premiere section at 18.07, also a personal record.
In one of the final throwing events, redshirt sophomore Alyssa Cornell finished third in the women’s javelin throw open section. Her 40.86 throw was a new personal best.
The Sun Devils performed well in the jumping events as well. Sophomore Keyasia Tibbs showed her prowess on the field, finishing second in the women’s triple jump at 12.38. Junior Josh Dixon followed that up with his own second place finish in the men’s triple jump at 15.59.
Seniors Bryan McBride and Edmond Baker finished 1-2 in the men’s high jump. McBride cleared 2.26 for the win, while Baker topped out at 2.14.
McBride was not done there as he came back to finish second in the men’s premiere long jump with a distance of 7.38.
On the track, senior Cameron Taylor got ASU off to a hot start on Saturday by winning the men’s 110 hurdles in 14.01 seconds.
The 400 dash proved a big event for the women. Freshman Melese Crozier won the open section in 54.73. Senior Brianna Tate was not to be outdone, winning the 400 premiere section in 52.61. Senior teammate Sara McDonald finished third in the premiere section with a time of 53.59.
These three ladies, along with junior Jasmine Gibbs went on to finish second in the women’s 4x100 relay with a season-best time of 44.82. They also came back together one more time in the afternoon to take second in the 4x400 relay in 3:38.05.
Junior Ben Trotter came in third in the men’s 100 dash open section with a speedy time of 10.80. Trotter, along with junior Jamol James and senior Kyle Middlebrooks, finished second in the men’s 4x100 relay in 40.13 seconds.
In the distance portions of the event, junior Michael Julian set a huge personal record with a fifth place run of 1:49.85. Teammate Trevor Landry finished in seventh.
Junior Ryan Herson came out and finished third in the men’s premiere mile event with a time of 4:03.85, tenth in ASU history.
Senior Shelby Houlihan continued her dominance on the track, winning the women’s 800 premiere race in 2:01.92. Her time is second in school history, only behind the 2:01.12 she ran last year.
Next up for the Sun Devils are the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California, on April 16-18.
Reach the reporter at tjwilkin@asu.edu or follow @Twilkins23 on Twitter.
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