For the past three years, the men’s track and field team that finished fourth overall at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships has gone on to win the NCAA Indoor National Championship, including the ASU men two years ago.
Behind impressive performances from all over, the No. 5 Sun Devil men did just that: taking fourth place this past weekend at the MPSF meet.
The Sun Devils also qualified numerous athletes to give themselves a chance at another indoor title. In total, the men provisionally qualified in eight different events for the NCAA Indoor Championships in two weeks, with senior sprinter Donald Sanford lending a hand on three of those qualifying marks.
Sanford won the men’s open 400-meter dash with a time of 46.19 seconds and also opened up the race for the 4x400 relay team, which took first with a time of 3:07.83. Sanford also ran the 400 leg on the men’s distance medley relay team, as he rallied the team into a second-place finish.
But Sanford wasn’t the only dual-qualifier. ASU sophomore distance runner Mason McHenry qualified and won the men’s open 800-meter race in 1:48.89 and also ran on the DMR team.
ASU senior sprinter Joel Phillip also qualified in the 400-meter dash and on the 4x400 relay team, while senior distance runner Brandon Bethke is headed for indoors in the mile and the DMR.
ASU senior sprinter Lawrence Trice Jr. continued his strong season, winning the 60-meter dash in 6.68 second to also qualify for indoor nationals. ASU junior distance runner Jeff Helmer also qualified in the 5,000-meter race.
But the men were topped in qualifying marks by the women, who hit nine marks in various events over the weekend and also finished fourth in the team standings.
Two freshmen long jumpers led the way, as Constance Ezugha and Christabel Nettey both soared over 21 feet to automatically qualify for indoor nationals. Ezugha and Nettey are the only freshmen women to qualify for the long jump so far this season in the nation.
ASU senior sprinter Jasmine Chaney provisionally qualified in the women’s open 400-meter dash in 53.83 seconds, while finishing second in the women’s 60-meter hurdles to qualify in that event as well. Chaney also ran on the women’s 4x400 relay team that also provisionally qualified.
In the pentathlon, ASU freshman Keia Pinnick also provisionally qualified with 3,753 points.
The women’s distance team also had a strong showing this past weekend, as senior Allie Kieffer and junior Kari Hardt both provisionally qualified in the 3,000-meter race.
ASU senior distance runner Ali Kielty provisionally qualified in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 16:33.69.
Reach the reporter at eric.l.smith@asu.edu
