They expected to start the season fast, but they didn’t expect to start out this fast.
The ASU track and field team was led once again by redshirt senior Jasmine Chaney and the women’s sprinters at the Texas A&M Conference Challenge in College Station, Texas, over the weekend.
“This is the fastest we’ve ever opened up since I’ve been here,” fourth-year ASU women’s sprint coach Kenny McDaniel said.
Chaney had yet another strong performance for the Sun Devils with a 23.16-second, third place finish in the 200-meter dash, which knocked off her previously No. 2-ranked time on the all-time ASU list.
The run also qualified her for a return trip to Texas A&M for the NCAA Indoor Track Championships in March.
“I wanted to run fast from the jump,” Chaney said. “Every year we’ve had a slow start as a team. Our coach told us he was going to be aggressive with our training and our start.”
The aggressive training continued to pay off for Chaney in the 60-meter hurdles with a second place finish of 8.22 seconds, and also for her, senior Dominique’ Maloy, sophomore Keia Pinnick, and junior Kayla Sanchez with a first place finish of three minutes and 35.99 seconds in the 4x400 meter relay.
Pinnick added another top-three finish for the women’s sprinters with a third place time of 53.73 seconds in the 400-meter dash.
All four of those finishes also ranked in the ASU top 10 lists in their respective races.
On the women’s field side, the Sun Devils received four more top three finishes at the Conference Challenge.
Sophomore Christabel Netty and freshman Shayla Simpson leaped to second place finishes with a 6.12-meter long jump and a four-meter pole vault, respectively.
Redshirt freshman Anna Jelmini continued her strong opening season for ASU in the shot put with a third place throw of 16.68 meters.
The Sun Devil men achieved top three results of their own in six different events, punctuated by first place finishes by redshirt seniors Ben Engelhardt and Corey Phallen.
Engelhardt finished with a time of eight minutes and 11.18 seconds in the 3,000-meter race, and Phallen had a 5.22-meter mark in the pole vault, which was good for fourth on the all-time ASU list.
Redshirt freshman Nick Happe gave the Sun Devils a one-two finish in the 3,000-meter run with a time of eight minutes and 12.25 seconds.
Other second place finishes were claimed by redshirt sophomore Jordan Clark and senior Zeke Van Patten, with an 18.2-meter weight throw and a time of four minutes and 10.11 seconds in the mile run, respectively.
The ASU men’s distance medley team of senior Nectaly Barbosa, junior Giorgio Guerdanella, redshirt junior Cameron Liston , and redshirt sophomore Darius Terry rounded out the men’s top three finishes with a time of 10 minutes and 5.12 seconds.
Reach the reporter at zcavanag@asu.edu
