The ASU track and field team will send a handful of athletes to La Jolla, Calif., this weekend to participate in the Triton Invitational.
The No. 1 women's team and the No. 4 men's team are looking to get more athletes qualified for the NCAA West Region Championships, and are trying to keep improving their marks before the Pac-10 Championships beginning in three weeks.
"We're getting to that point where you start making that push towards the championship season," coach Greg Kraft said. "We're looking to get some additional people qualified for the regionals, but really we're just at that final stage [where] you're just trying to sharpen up a little bit, and obviously you're trying to stay healthy."
The Sun Devils also want to complete their roster that will compete for the Pac-10 and NCAA Championships at the end of the season.
"We're just trying to finalize our roster for the conference meet, so we're trying to look at some additional people," Kraft said. "Obviously, 99 percent of the roster has been set, but we're just looking at a couple more people.
"The last few places will really be determined by who we feel has the best chance of scoring."
The Sun Devils are in good shape at this point as they currently have numerous athletes and two relay teams ranked in Trackwire.com's Dandy Dozen, which ranks the top 12 individual athletes or relay teams in each event and predicts how they will finish at the NCAA Championships.
ASU holds four No. 1 spots. Sophomore Sarah Stevens is ranked first in the shot put and discus. Junior Jacquelyn Johnson is ranked first in the heptathlon. And senior Aaron Aguayo is ranked first in the 3,000m steeplechase.
Kraft believes that the ASU throwers should have another solid meet, not just because of the talent on the roster, but because of the San Diego weather.
"It's a hot meet for the throwing events because they've got favorable coastal winds," he said.
In addition to expecting high marks from the team leaders, Kraft is also looking for other athletes to make a push to be a key part of the championship roster.
Some of those athletes include junior distance runner Corey Randall, junior sprinter Jordan Durham, freshman sprinter Jasmine Chaney, sophomore distance runner Jack Mann, sophomore distance runner David Mehlhorn and freshman thrower Jason Lewis.
"For us collectively, we have some people that are simmering under the radar," Kraft said.
The Triton Invitational begins Friday at 10 a.m., with the women's hammer and continues all day Saturday.
Reach the reporter at: gina.mizell@asu.edu.
