After a record-breaking and list-climbing meet last weekend in New Mexico, the ASU track and field team looks forward to having an equally successful weekend with a return to Albuquerque for the UNM Classic and a trip to Flagstaff for the NAU Team Challenge.
However, it can’t be expected of the Sun Devils to live up to the same results of the previous weekend.
“Every time you go to a meet, everyone wants to [set a personal record],” redshirt freshman thrower Anna Jelmini said. “You just have to feel like if it’s not a good meet you’re still building on that, because it’s early in the season.”
Jelmini, whose throws last weekend put her at No. 6 on the all-time ASU shot put list, and the rest of the Sun Devil throwers will be at NAU, while the rest of the team competes in Albuquerque.
ASU coach Greg Kraft explained the split.
“We’re trying to maximize our dollars,” Kraft said. “The throwing facility at NAU affords us the opportunity to take more student-athletes to compete. Going to Albuquerque, it’s getting on that 200-meter banked track that will be similar to what we’ll have at the national championships.”
While the team will be split up, Jelmini sees a great positive in this trip for the throwers.
“We’re just going to try to get together and support each other,” Jelmini said. “Like our coach has said, it’s not our house, but we’re going to make it our house. We’ve got to bring a lot of energy and try and get everyone to do well.”
That is what the Sun Devils will try to do each week during the season and especially early on.
With the nature of the sport, individually and as a team, the results aren’t always the best way to gauge performance and improvement.
“It’s modeling championship format,” Kraft said. “It’s coming back on the second day when you’re sore and still being able to race at a high level. It’s a lot of teaching and modeling. Regardless of the outcome on the track, it’s about how we respond through the competition.”
As the indoor season rolls into its second weekend, the meets are just about working for ASU.
“It was nice to get the season started,” Kraft said. “One of the things we talk about is competing, and the rest will take care of itself. At this point in the season, you just focus on yourself because that’s all you can control.”
Reach the reporter at zcavanag@asu.edu
