The first day of the Triton Invitational in La Jolla, Calif. wrapped up Friday with three women’s throwing events, all of which included Sun Devils. Redshirt senior Anna Jelmini, who is still nursing a hand injury, competed in the discus throw invitational.
The day started with the women’s hammer throw with junior Jessika Byrd, redshirt freshman Ashley Weber and sophomore Ginger Jarchow in the event. Byrd took the top spot out of the Sun Devils competing with her 57.86 meters good for ninth place. Amber Campbell of Mjolnir Thro, an athletic club in Myrtle Beach, S.C., took first place in the event with a throw of 71.35 meters. Byrd’s personal best in the hammer throw is 61.10 meters. Weber took 20th place in the event with a throw of 52.33 meters. Weber’s personal best in the hammer throw was set at the Baldy Castillo Invite earlier this season at 55.36 meters. Jarchow took 33rd out of the 45 in the event with her throw of 47.07 meters. This is the first time this season that Jarchow has not broken at least 49 meters in the event, her personal best being 49.74 meters at the Sun Angel Classic earlier this season.
The next event of the day was the women’s discus invitational with just Jelmini competing for ASU. Jelmini finished sixth in her flight and eighth overall with a throw of 56.27 meters after fouling on her final three attempts. The winner of the event, Whitney Ashley from Chula Vista, Calif., had a best throw of 63.78 meters; Jelmini’s personal best in the discus is 60.61 meters set last season. Despite only finishing eighth, Jelmini’s throw is a new personal best for this outdoor season. That is good news for the redshirt senior and reigning national champion in the discus who has been dealing with a hand injury all outdoor season long. This event was not one she had to compete in and coach Greg Kraft said Tuesday that she, along with redshirt freshman Thomas Anderson, may just warm up for the meet and not compete. Anderson is still scheduled to participate in the men’s shot put invitational and the men’s discus open tomorrow. With this improvement, it may mean that the hand injury is starting to heal for Jelmini. With the Pac-12 and NCAA meets coming up quickly, it is certainly the hope of the team that it can heal in time for Jelmini to defend her national championship. Jelmini is also scheduled to compete in the women’s shot put Saturday morning.
The last event of the day was the women’s discus open with Jarchow and redshirt junior Alex Hartig competing. Hartig set a new personal best for the season in her fourth-place finish with a throw of 52.44 meters. Hartig’s career personal best in the discus was set last season at 53.21 meters and is 10th best all-time at ASU. That mark was also coincidentally the exact winning distance at Friday’s event. The winner of the event was Lara Crutchley, who competed unattached.
Jarchow finished 18th in the event with a throw of 45.99 meters, a new career personal best. Jarchow has been consistently improving on her throws in the discus all season since opening at the Baldy Castillo Invite with a throw of 40.40 meters.
Tomorrow the throwers will wrap up competition in California with the men’s hammer, women’s shot put, men’s shot put open, men’s shot put invitational and men’s discus open. Competition starts with the men’s hammer throw at 10 a.m.
Reach the reporter at wslane@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @bill_slane
