The ASU men and women’s track and field teams both finished in third in its respective competitions at this weekend’s MPSF Indoor Championships.
Taking place in Seattle, Washington, at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor facility, the championship consisted of all Pac-12 teams and a few other notable schools from the west coast. The competition began Friday and there were a lot of big performances for the Sun Devils.
The first competition of the weekend was the women’s weight throw where freshman Maggie Ewen showed why she will be one of the best throwers for years to come. Ewen finished third in the event with a throw of 19.21 meters, which is the seventh best in school history.
Senior Bryan McBride showed his versatility on Friday by winning the men’s long jump. McBride, usually a competitor in the high jump or triple jump, won with a distance of 7.79 meters. His distance was good enough for fifth in school history.
ASU did well in the men and women’s 200 meter races. Senior Brianna Tate ran a personal-best 24.26 seconds on her way to a seventh-place finish. Senior Devan Spann finished in second place with a time of 21.11 seconds, the fourth fastest in school history in the men’s 200.
The women’s distance medley relay team had a good showing as well, finishing third in the competition with a time of 11:20.80. Their time was the fourth fastest in school history in the event.
Saturday proved to be the big day for the Sun Devils, scoring lots of points and shooting up the leaderboards. Ewen proved to be one of the stars of the weekend, finishing in second place with an impressive 16.08 meter throw in the women’s shot put. This marks a personal best for Ewen and the best mark of the season for any Sun Devil in the event.
Sophomore Keyasia Tibbs also had a stellar afternoon, winning the women’s triple jump with a 12.47 meter leap. Tibbs owns the school record (12.56 meters) but her jump at the championships is third in school history.
The men’s field events helped the Sun Devils earn big points on Saturday. Sophomore Thomas Anderson finished third in the men’s shot put with a throw of 18.84 meters. McBride showed up in championship form in the men’s high jump, finishing in first with a jump of 2.26 meters. This ties the indoor school record set by him in 2012 and Kyle Arney back in 1979.
McBride continued his success with a fourth place finish in the men’s triple jump. His distance of 15.38 meters put him 10th place in the school record books. Junior Josh Dixon finished just behind McBride with a 15.36 meter jump that put him in fifth place for the event.
Senior Cameron Taylor had an outstanding run in the men’s 60 hurdles to win the event in a time of 7.73 seconds. He passed his own record for second place in ASU history in the event. His time is also tied for the fifth fastest in the country this season.
In the women’s 400, Tate ran a blazing fast time of 52.68 seconds to win the event. Her time is the third fastest in school history and a personal best.
Spann, who ran the race in 6.66 seconds, set another personal best in the men’s 60. He finished in third place and his time was fifth fastest in school history
Senior Shelby Houlihan won the women’s 800 run in a time of 2:04.95, one-hundredth of a second behind her school record time in the event.
In the men’s 3000, junior Ryan Herson ran a time of 8:05.11, 10th fastest in school history and finished in 15th place in the event.
Lastly, the women’s 4x400 relay team of senior Sara McDonald, freshman Melese Crozier, sophomore LaTroya Franklin and Tate finished in second place with a speedy time of 3:36.32 seconds.
Both teams finished in third place, the men with 70 points and the women with 69.33 points. ASU gained two Territorial Cup Series points over rival Arizona with the respective third-place finishes.
The next event for the Sun Devils is the NCAA Indoor National Championships on March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Reach the reporter at tjwilkin@asu.edu or follow @Twilkins23 on Twitter.
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