For ASU cross-country, Saturday's Pac-12 Championship meet is one of great hype and anticipation. Throughout the week, the ASU cross-country Facebook and Twitter feeds have been blowing up with the coverage, and this is the first year ASU has hosted conference championships for any sport.
The teams are ready for the meet and are looking forward to proving themselves on the big stage.
Leading the men's side is redshirt junior Darius Terry, who is looking to bounce back from his disappointing meet in Wisconsin.
“I definitely want to finish as high as possible,” Terry said. “I want to go out smarter than I did in Wisconsin, but I still want to be in that mix and finish top-five or top-10.”
Another key figure for the men is junior Nick Happe. Happe ran the best race of his career in Wisconsin, finishing in a solid 40th place for the Sun Devils.
Other Sun Devil runners to look for are senior Daniel Lovell and junior Doug Smith. Lovell, the undisputed vocal and emotional leader of the Sun Devils, is looking to make an impact after starting the season off slow. Smith is also looking to make an impact. He fell in the George Kyte Invitational and was unable to finish that race, but has been solid ever since.
This is the first time the conference will race with new additions Colorado and Utah. Colorado is sixth in the nation currently and is looking to compete for a national title.
Other ranked men's teams competing include No. 4 Stanford, No. 20 UCLA, and No. 23 Oregon. Nevertheless, Terry is confident in his No. 25 Sun Devils.
“We've had some tough races the last couple of weeks, but it seems like everything is coming together, so we hope to have a pretty good race this week,” Terry said.
The Pac-12 Championships are extra important for the ASU women's cross-country team, as they are on the bubble to make Nationals and need to put together a solid performance on Saturday.
Freshman Shelby Houlihan has come out of nowhere to lead the Sun Devil women, and although the success of the team Saturday has a lot to do with her, she understands the necessity of all of her teammates putting forward solid performances.
“Every girl just has to go out there and run their best, and I'm just hoping to get into the top-10,” Houlihan said.
Other top girls runners include senior Lindsay Prescott and freshman Macy Bricks. Although Prescott has relinquished her No. 1 position to Houlihan, she is still a very solid runner and will undoubtedly make an impact.
Bricks is one of the many freshmen on the women's side, but her 135th place finish in Wisconsin was impressive and the team expects a good race out of her also.
The competition the Sun Devils will face is very strong, though. Six of the top 16 teams in the nation will be competing Saturday, including No. 2 Washington, who won the Wisconsin Invitational. The other highly ranked teams include No. 5 UA, No. 8 Stanford, No. 10 California, No. 11 Oregon, and No. 16 Colorado.
Regardless of the competition, Houlihan is confident in her teammates and herself and is purely looking forward for the chance to compete.
“It's exciting because there are so many more people in the race and it’s a bigger atmosphere,” Houlihan said. “I kind of like it.”
The Pac-12 Championships will be held at the Wigwam Golf Course in Litchfield Park, with the men's race slated for 9 a.m., while the women's race will be at 10 a.m.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
