The ASU men and women’s track and field team finished up two meets on Saturday that included a couple of impressive performances in Flagstaff, at the Mountain T Invitational, and in College Station, Texas, at the Texas A&M; Aggie Invitational.
In Flagstaff, sophomore Jasmine Gibbs placed fifth in the long jump with a jump of 5.61 meters. Gibb’s jump in Flagstaff is now the fourth best this season for women’s team. Freshman Kira Moreland also participated in the event but did not record a distance after fouling out.
ASU had two women place inside the top-10 in Flagstaff in the weight throw. Junior Jessika Byrd placed seventh with her throw of 17.15 meters. That is a new personal record for Byrd, shattering her previous record of 16.11 meters. Redshirt freshman Ashley Weber placed sixth in the event with a throw of 17.44 meters. Sophomore Ginger Jarchow also participated in the weight throw, and placed 14th with a throw of 15.13 meters.
The team’s first winner of the day in Flagstaff came in the men’s shot put. Redshirt freshman Thomas Anderson took the event with a throw of 17.83 meters. Redshirt junior Kyle Lillie, 16.85 meters, and redshirt senior Nathan Estes, 16.44 meters, took fourth and fifth place in the event.
The final event for the Sun Devils in Flagstaff was the women’s pole vault event headlined by senior Heather Areneau. Arseneau, who took has taken first place in the event in two meets already this season, took first yet again in Flagstaff, clearing 4.07 meters. Senior Shaylah Simpson cleared 3.97 meters to take second place in the event. Simpson’s jump is a personal best this season.
In Texas, junior Brianna Tate set a new personal best in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.09 seconds, taking third place in the event.
In the men’s 400-meter, senior William Henry set the second best mark for the team this season with 47.92 seconds. However that mark was only good enough for 11th place in the event. Senior Keith Cleveland took 12th place with a time of 48.27 seconds.
Freshman Micha Auzenne qualified for the women’s 60-meter dash final but placed seventh with a time of 7.57 seconds. Auzenne also ran in the prelims for the 60-meter hurdles but did not qualify. Redshirt senior Ryan Milus qualified for the men’s 60-meter and took fourth with a time of 6.71 seconds.
In the women’s 200-meter, ASU had one athlete in the top 10. Freshman LaTroya Franklin ran a season best 24.11 seconds, taking first place in her heat and eighth overall.
In the men’s mile race, redshirt sophomore Tommy Williams ran a season best 4 minutes, 10 seconds taking third place in the race. Redshirt senior Kevin Rayes took ninth in the race with 4 minutes, 14 seconds.
In the final events of the Texas meet, the men’s and women’s relay teams both showed well. In the women’s 4x400, the ASU team ran a new season best of 3 minutes, 38 seconds to take second place overall in the event. The men’s team had their second fastest race of the season with a time of 3 minutes, 12 seconds, taking third place overall in the event.
After coming back to Tempe this week for more practice, the team will split up again this weekend for two meets. Some of the team will travel back to Albuquerque for the Don Kirby Invitational on Friday. Other members of the team will travel to Seattle for the Husky Classic on Friday and Saturday.
Reach the reporter at wslane@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @bill_slane
