Champions manifest themselves through an extraordinary set of circumstances.

Preparation, maintenance of health, and determination to out-will and outperform one’s opponent are prerequisites.

ASU’s track and field team knows the formula well, and the men will look to the women this year for a formula of how to repeat.

Last year the women captured their second consecutive title at the NCAA Indoor Championships and are poised to make a run at a third.

The men begin this season ranked No. 2 in the country, even higher than their No. 6 female counterpart.

But it is the women who have the ability to impart the keys to continued success upon the men.

“[There has] to be a certain synergy that the team has, and last year was unique in that the men really fed off the women’s team,” said ASU coach Greg Kraft. “I think they showed them the way how to win the year before, and the guys really took it to heart.”

In the Sun Devil’s way stand the usual suspects: Louisiana State, Florida State and Texas A&M.

This season, ASU will miss the extra points provided by Jacquelyn Johnson.

One of the best athletes ASU has ever seen, Johnson graduated and competed in the Beijing Olympics where she was forced to withdraw because of injury.

On the men’s side, Trevell Quinley also will be missed.

Quinley, who also competed in Beijing, was a two-time All-American during his stint as a Sun Devil.

The loss of talent should not be that catastrophic for ASU. Winning a National Championship provided Kraft with the luxury of recruiting whomever he wanted.

Not surprisingly, one of the recruits he wanted included his son Cory Kraft, who will begin his freshman campaign after compiling quite the resume at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, the national high school champions in 2007 and 2008.

The Sun Devils are not short on returning talent ­either.

On the women’s side, senior Stephanie Garnett returns as a two-time All-American in the long jump and is one of only three Sun Devil women to clear the distance of 21 feet in school history.

Garnett’s experience as a champion will be vital to the team’s pursuit of yet another title.

The team’s younger athletes can learn an important lesson from her on what dedication to winning can get them. Garnett said that she made a change in her diet that was more beneficial in nourishing her body, and her on-the-track performances speaks as a result.

On the men’s side, ASU received a talented transfer in senior Donald Sanford, who ran for Morgan State last year and Central Arizona College during the two years prior.

Sanford will shore up the 4x400 relay team along with senior Joel Phillip, senior Darryl Elston and junior Justin Kremer.

College Station, Texas, will host this year’s edition of the National Indoor Championship on March 13 and 14. It will be a chance for the Sun Devils to stake their claim as a dynasty, a term most schools will never sniff.

It is undoubtedly in the forefront of some minds and in the back for others, but it is on their minds nonetheless.

“As big as [the NCAA Indoor National Championship] is, I try not to think about it,” said Garnett. “We all have the tools to get there. … We are so ready to take over.”

Reach the reporter at emschimm@asu.edu.