The ASU track and field team celebrated senior day at its final home meet of the season over the weekend at the Sun Angel Classic.
Redshirt senior Maggie Ewen leads the world in the hammer throw, shot put and is the regional leader in the discus throw. This weekend the senior thrower set new personal records in two events and was one-inch shy of another.
“I think this weekend, I just had the right mindset of, ‘I’m just gonna attack every competition, you know, very technical, very slow, very controlled,’ and once we get that rhythm, then you know the last three-four throws, we can really take off and try and maybe hit something big,” Ewen said.
Ewen is now the only track and field athlete to hold the first place spot for three events in the NCAA for both men and women.
DAY ONE:
The hammer throw was a big event for the Sun Devils this weekend. In this event, Ewen beat the collegiate record not just once, but three times with her throw of 74.53m/244-6ft.
Redshirt sophomore Kaylee Antill took fourth place in the hammer throw with a throw of 58.90m/193-3ft.
Jackson Lewis took first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a new personal record of four seconds at 9:24.44.
The Sun Devil women also had good results in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with redshirt sophomore Anna Pruter in second place at 11:01.83 and senior Billie Jo Dytrt in third at 11:05.05.
In the 3,000 meter race, the Sun Devils had two finishes in the top five, with redshirt freshman Daan Haven in third with a time of 9:44.92 and redshirt sophomore Samantha Ortega in fifth at 9:55.05.
DAY TWO:
Saturday’s events were dominated by Ewen. Her throw of 19.22m/63-0.75ft in the shot put made her the leader in the world in 2018 and number two in NCAA history. Just 11 centimeters shy of collegiate record.
Ewen also won the discus premiere with a throw of 61.27m/201ft. This throw also put her in first place of the NCAA for 2018.
Ewen had many family members and friends fly out from her hometown of Minnesota for the chance to see her compete in her last home meet as a Sun Devil.
“It’s been really awesome to have them out here supporting me in my last year at our big senior meet, and I think having them here really helped too,” Ewen said.
Behind Ewen in the shot put, redshirt freshman Samantha Noennig finished in fourth place with a mark of 16.65m/54-7.5ft.
Junior Jessica Barreira secured herself two first place marks in the triple jump at 12.51m/41-0.5ft and in the javelin throw at 45.23m/148-4ft.
Freshman pole vaulter Cole Riddle made his outdoor season debut with a fourth place finish at 5.35m/17-6.5ft. This jump put him in fourth place all time at ASU, only as a freshman.
The Sun Devil women’s relay teams also yielded good results. The 4x100-meter relay finished in third place with a time of 45.12 and the 4x400-meter relay finished in fourth at 3:38.92.
In the 200-meter dash, Sha'Maya Flanagan finished in fourth with a time of 24.41. Immediately behind her was Kalei Matthews in fifth at 24.57.
Graduate student Alethia Marrero had a seventh place finish with a time of 53.88, putting her at seventh in her conference this year.
With the meet coming to an end, Ewen reflected on her time as a Sun Devil.
“It’s weird thinking that I’ll never compete here in this uniform again … it’s only a practice stadium now,” Ewen said.
For full results click here.
The Sun Devils compete next at the Triton Invitational in San Diego on April 13-14.
Reach the reporter at cncarte1@asu.edu or follow @CCydeni on Twitter.
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