The ASU men's cross-country team went to Wisconsin looking to put the team on the map.
Although they didn't achieve the top-ten performance they were looking for, the Sun Devils finished in a solid 16th place and beat several ranked teams in the process.
Junior Nick Happe led the Sun Devils at the prestigious Wisconsin Invitational, putting up his best performance of the year. Happe finished in 40th place, posting a time of 24:25, and men's coach Louie Quintana was impressed with his performance.
“Nick had a nice day,” Quintana said. “It was really a race that we have been waiting for. I was real happy for him and we'll see if he can use this as a springboard for the rest of the season.”
Junior Darius Terry, the team's usual No. 1 runner, ran into trouble on the course. Although he still finished 3rd on the team and 74th overall with a time of 24:41, Terry was bothered by injury during the meet.
“Darius had a bad case of back spasms, which is something he has never experienced before,” Quintana said. “It happened just passed the 1k mark. He was probably a top ten guy today, so we really know we have a good team.”
The Sun Devils still finished ahead of five teams ranked higher than them in the national polls, and Quintana is anxious to run the squad again in two weeks at the Pac-12 Championships.
“The group is ready to go at the Pac-12's,” Quintana said. “We walked away racing solid yet knowing we are better. The group is hungry and ready for more.”
The women finished in 26th place and were once again paced by freshman phenomenon Shelby Houlihan. She finished 40th among all women, with a time of 20:49.
Women's coach Ryan Cole was once again pleased with Houlihan's performance.
“Shelby had a very strong run,” Cole said. “She's continuing to establish herself as one of the top freshman in the NCAA. She was the second freshman to finish today.”
Past Houlihan, senior Lindsay Prescott was the next Sun Devil women to cross the finish. Prescott finished in 123rd place with a time of 21:26. Right behind Prescott came junior Kate Lydy (130th, 21:29) and freshman Macy Bricks (135th, 21:31). Junior Natasa Vulic was the last Sun Devil point scorer to cross the finish line, placing 165th in a time of 21:40.
“Kate Lydy and Natasa Vulic also did a great job executing the race plan today,” Cole said. “Very pleased with them.”
As for the team performance, Cole was frustrated with the overall finish.
“26th place is a very disappointing team finish,” Cole said. “This is not indicative of where we're at as a team. A few people need to race equivalent to their training.”
Like the men, the women will have two weeks until the Pac-12 Championships, and Cole is stoic in his approach leading up to the event.
“This was just a step in our preparation for the championship part of the season, which begins with the Pac-12 champs,” Cole said.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
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