In its season-opening cross country race on Sept. 3, ASU’s women took home first place, while the men fell to Northern Arizona to ultimately finish in second.
This time around, at the Dave Murray Invitational in Tucson, the script was flipped. It was the ASU men who scored the all-around team win in dominant fashion, with five of the top six slots and six of the top ten being filled by Sun Devils.
“It was fantastic, we’re dealing with pretty hot conditions which is typical of this time of year,” head coach Louie Quintana said. “They took control of the race, were really smart throughout the race, kept building great momentum, they were ready to do it. I was really pleased, we executed well, stayed with the gameplan, and came out with the W.”
C.J. Albertson, who was victorious in the season’s inaugural run, earned first place yet again, starting off his redshirt senior season on an extremely high note. His wife, redshirt junior Chelsey Albertson, once again finished in second place behind Arizona’s Claire Green — this time by just four seconds.
CJ Albertson with another win! ☀️ pic.twitter.com/5zSS8LmJUu
— SunDevilTFXC (@SunDevilTFXC) September 17, 2016
“It’s really big, obviously C.J. getting a couple of wins is huge,” Quintana said. “For Chelsey, battling with U of A’s top girl, she’s really talented, so she’s continuing to improve and this is going to set her up well for the championship part of the season.”
The women’s team as a whole, which topped Arizona in their previous meeting, finished within five points of the Wildcats after starting the 4000-meter race far behind their in-state rivals.
Quintana doesn’t see that as a reason to worry heading into more important races this season, citing the team’s slow start as a large reason for the loss that they can ultimately fix for future events.
True freshmen Megan Reniewicki and Courtney Lewis, who each earned top ten honors at the Sept. 3 meet, finished in 7th and 8th respectively — cementing themselves as two of the leading new faces on an underclassmen-heavy women’s team.
“The first time you come out, maybe you’re excited and have a good one,” Quintana said. “But to do it again, step up to the plate...that’s what we’re looking for.
"They’re doing a really nice job of keeping an even keel and staying really consistent. That’s going to be huge as we move forward this season.”
As for Megan's brother, John Reniewicki, he earned second place in the men’s 6000-meter race — a breakout performance for the redshirt sophomore.
“It was a huge run for him, he kind of just cemented his level of training,” Quintana said. “He had a great effort, it was definitely the best race he’s ever had.”
ASU will be headed to Sacramento, California, for the NCAA West Preview in two weeks, which will be the Sun Devils’ first high-profile meet of the season. After two encouraging performances to start the season, the outlook is bright for the highly-anticipated meet.
Reach the reporter at jeff.griffith21@asu.edu or follow @Jeff_Griffith21 on Twitter.
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