Heading into the final race of the night, the ASU track team had yet to win an event as host of the Sun Angel Classic on Saturday. The only race remaining was the men's 1,600-meter relay - an event that the Sun Devils have yet to lose this season.
After Jason Barton, Seth Amoo and Steve Fitch had built a comfortable lead heading into the final leg of the 1,600, Baylor's Jeremy Wariner nearly caught ASU's Lewis Banda down the stretch. But Banda held him off for the win that gave the Sun Devil 1,600-meter relay team its fastest time of the year and 10th fastest in school history at 3:04.44.
"The [Baylor] kid really ran well," ASU coach Greg Kraft said of Wariner. "We were fortunate to win. Lewis has been a little banged up."
Wariner blew away the field in the individual men's 400-meter race with a time of 45.13. The highest an ASU runner placed in the 400 was seventh.
"Our quarter-milers have to be stars," Kraft said.
Kraft added that overall, he wasn't impressed with how his men's team performed.
"I was a little disappointed," he said. "They were average at best. Winning the mile relay really saved the day."
Kraft continued to say that his team needs to stay healthy down the stretch to compete up to its potential.
"The men are struggling a bit, and we can't afford to have anymore setbacks," Kraft said.
Baylor did earn bragging rights in the women's 1,600-meter relay, holding off the ASU team with a time of 3:37.74, about 1.5 seconds faster than the Sun Devils.
One of the members of the women's 1,600-meter relay team, Cassandra Reed, also took second place in the individual 400-meter race with a time of 53.45.
Also fairing well for the women was distance runner Lisa Aguilera, who took second in the 1,500. Aguilera finished strong on the last lap, but Brigham Young's Kassi Andersen wouldn't budge as she beat Aguilera by less than half of a second with a time of 4:20.82.
Kraft said he was pleased with how Aguilera ran, adding that the 1,500 isn't even her strongest event.
"When we're at the Pac-10 Championships, she'll run the steeple chase and the 5,000," Kraft said. "This was all in preparation for that race."
ASU will next be on the track on April 17 for the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in California.
Reach the reporter at andrew.bernick@asu.edu.
