The ASU track and field team used strong performances from juniors Tiffany Greer and Lisa Aguilera to post a 22nd-place tie with Florida State at the NCAA Track and Field Championships last week in Baton Rouge, La., while the men's contingent failed to finish in the top 20 for the first time since 1998.
South Carolina won the women's title with 82 points while hosting school LSU took home the men's title (64 points) with a seven-point victory over second-place Tennessee.
Greer's runner-up finish in the long jump on Thursday, along with Aguilera's sixth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase helped to buoy an ASU women's team that traveled to Baton Rouge with modest hopes compared to the men's team.
The ASU men, however, managed to tally only a single point at the outdoor championship – an eighth-place finish in the 4x400 meter relay – and finished in an eight-way tie for 68th place.
The 4x400 team of freshman Seth Amoo, sophomore Steve Fitch, junior Lorenzo Parham and senior Pete Lopez finished the event with a time of 3:05.65, three seconds off the first place time of South Carolina.
For her performance in the steeplechase, Aguilera earned All-American honors for the fourth time in her ASU career and the second time this season. The junior has also achieved All-American status twice as a cross-country runner.
Greer's second-place jump of 21 feet, 3.25 inches, was a personal best for the junior and left her a little ore than a foot short of first-place finisher Elva Goulbourne of Auburn.
Sun Devil Brianna Torres placed tenth in the 5,000 meters on Friday, earning yet another point for her squad. Torres was the only Sun Devil who competed in an event final on Friday.
Reach the reporter at al.stevens@asu.edu.
