This weekend’s Sun Angel Track Classic will be the third meet in four weeks that the Sun Devils have hosted this outdoor season.

It comes after a valuable week off that ASU’s athletes used to recuperate mind and body before the Pac-10 Championships start in a month.

“[The team] can use it to [our] advantage. We’re [five] weeks out from the Pac-10 [Championships], and it allows us to get two good weeks of training in. … It was a last, kind of, window to get a lot of work in and not worry about resting for a competition,” ASU coach Greg Kraft said.

Similar to the last meet at Joe Selleh Track, the talent level will be sure to push the Sun Devils to give their best effort.

LSU will bring its No. 7 men’s team and its No. 3 women’s team to the Valley and will provide some great matchups against the Sun Devils.

In particular, the women’s 100-meter Premiere dash looks to be one of the elite races of the day, with three All-Americans competing in the second heat, ASU senior Charonda Williams and LSU’s Kenyanna Wilson and Samantha Henry.

The women’s shot put will also feature a fair share of talent, as ASU senior Sarah Stevens headlines a field that includes four competitors that finished in the top 10 at this year’s indoor championships.

It won’t be easy going for any of the men’s throwers, either.

The men’s hammer boasts three of the top five finishers from nationals including the national champion junior Jason Lewis, who will be competing for the Sun Devils in the shot put, alongside fellow junior teammate Ryan Whiting, the indoor national champion in the event.

The Sun Devils will also have a glimpse of how they stack up against Olympic talent.

The Sun Angel Classic will feature 16 athletes who represented their countries in the Beijing games.

The list of competitors also includes former Sun Devils and Olympic gold medalists Nick Hysong and Dwight Phillips.

Phillips is this year’s meet honoree and won the gold medal in the long jump at the 2004 games in Athens.

The hammer throw begins at noon on Friday, and the rest of the events will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Reach the reporter at emschimm@asu.edu.