Today the Vernal Equinox will beckon Mother Nature to emerge out of the bleakness of winter and into a state of new beginnings.
Coincidentally, the outdoor track and field season commences on the very same day for the Sun Devils.
They have an opportunity to put a somewhat disappointing end to the indoor season behind them.
Although individually the members of the ASU squad performed quite well last weekend in College Station, Texas, as a team the women had its worst showing at nationals in five years, and the men also fell short of repeating as champions.
Sophomore Dominique’ Maloy said she was disappointed with the women’s finish, but she knew that it would be a difficult task since so few athletes on the team qualified for nationals.
In light of March Madness, ASU coach Greg Kraft made an analogy of his team’s performance at Wednesday’s practice.
“I think our expectations have gotten a little out of kilter,” Kraft said. “People talk about the Sweet Sixteen in basketball and how special that is. And it is special, [but] for us, [a Sweet Sixteen-type finish] would be, obviously, a tremendous disappointment.”
The start of the outdoor season will also be the home debut for the Sun Devils at Sun Angel Stadium.
The transition to the outdoor season gives the athletes a chance to get their feet wet in some events that are not held indoors such as discus, steeplechase and the hammer throw.
Along with new events comes a new roster as well.
The Sun Devils will add junior Brandon Bethke to an already star-studded lineup after he completed his transfer from Wisconsin on Monday.
Bethke was last season’s Big-10 Athlete of the Year in indoor track and field and has competed unattached with ASU this year, winning the Murray Invitational and the Thunderbird Invitational.
“He’s a tremendous addition. He’s a sub-4-minute miler, a great steeplechaser [and] just an outstanding runner,” Kraft said.
The hammer throw is the lone event held today for safety issues and starts at 1 p.m.
All of the other events begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. with the women’s discus and concludes at 9:50 p.m. with the men’s 4x400-meter relay.
Reach the reporter at emschimm@asu.edu.
