The 36th annual Mt. SAC Relays wrapped up Saturday with some of the elite athletes invited to the event in competition.
The ASU men’s and women’s track and field teams had several of their athletes in competition, and some scheduled to compete who ended up not participating.
Before the event, the Sun Devils had just one athlete scheduled to compete in a field event Saturday, redshirt junior Bryan McBride in the elite invite high jump. McBride did not end up participating in the event. The winner of the event was Michael Mason of Valley Royals Track & Field Club with a clearance of 2.28 meters. That jump would have been a personal best for McBride and nearly a new ASU record.
Also not competing for the Sun Devils despite the schedule beforehand was the men’s 4x100 relay team. The winning time, coming from the team representing TC Management, was 39.17 seconds. That time does beat the ASU team’s season best of 39.89 seconds.
The first competition of the day from the Sun Devils came from the women’s 4x100 relay team of senior Asiah Gooden, junior Brianna Tate, senior Alyica Herring and freshman LaTroya Franklin. The team placed first in its heat of the race but finished sixth overall with a time of 44.98 seconds. The winning time came from the team from Oregon at 43.31 seconds. The ASU team’s best time of the season came last weekend at the Sun Angel Classic at 44.63 seconds.
All-American and redshirt senior Ryan Milus participated in the 100-meter elite invite. Milus placed fifth in his heat of the race and 12th overall with a time of 10.35 seconds, tying his second-best time of the season. The winning time came from Diondre Batson of Alabama with 10.06 seconds. Milus’ personal best in this event is 10.07 seconds set back in 2011.
Junior Shelby Houlihan ran in the 800-meter elite invite and placed third in her heat and 10th overall. Houlihan ran the race in just over two minutes and two seconds. The winner of the race was Laura Roesler of Oregon who finished just a shade over two minutes flat. Houlihan’s time was just a few hundredths of a second shy of her own personal best and the ASU record in the event.
The final events of the day for the Sun Devils were the men’s and women’s 4x400 relays. First was the men’s team, with senior Keith Cleveland, redshirt junior Devan Spann, senior Daveon Collins and senior Will Henry competing for ASU. That team placed second both in its heat and overall, matching the season best of three minutes and six seconds. They were beat for first place by just about a second by the team from Western Kentucky.
Lastly for ASU was the women’s team of junior Sara McDonald, freshman LaTroya Franklin, senior Sarah Geren and junior Brianna Tate in the 4x400 relay. Like the men, the women’s team ended in the same position overall as it did in its heat, although that position was third with a time of three minutes and 33 seconds. It is a new season best for the team, beating the previous best by just a few hundredths of a second. The winning team from Nigeria finished in three minutes and 28 seconds.
Next on the schedule, the throwers will travel to La Jolla, Calif. for the Triton Invitational at UC San Diego beginning on April 25. The next major event for the team, however, will be the Double Dual in Tucson on May 3.
Reach the reporter at wslane@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @bill_slane
