Last Saturday's Grand Canyon Invitational was a meet solely dedicated to give more runners a chance to perform at a high level. The ASU cross-country teams took advantage of the opportunity, with the men winning their race and the women finishing in a solid second-place finish behind UA.
The Sun Devils sat their top runners in preparation for next week's meet in Wisconsin, but still put forth a great performance.
“I am extremely proud of this young group,” men's coach Louie Quintana said. “They don't know any different. They feel they are supposed to win each time they suit up.
Pacing the men's side was sophomore Steven Schnieders, who finished in second place with a time of 25:18.5. Schnieders’ performance solidified his position on the team and placed confidence in Quintana for the rest of the year.
“I have a lot of faith in Steven,” Quintana said. “Really what I love about Schnieds is that he is always ready when his number is called. He was our fourth man at Pac-10's last year and he is more fit than he was last year. I know he wants to be in the mix and he wants to travel.
“It's a testament to his teammates on how much our team has improved ... but he is a big part of it ... he is a leader and a great young man. I'm confident he will race well when he suits up at the Pac-12 meet in three weeks.”
Past Schnieders, three other Sun Devils crossed the finish line in under 26 minutes, including redshirt junior walk-on Josh Walker's fifth-place time of 25:36.9.
On the women's side, coach Ryan Cole wasn't completely satisfied with the second-place finish, but understood the importance of this meet for the future.
“While we obviously want to win every meet we compete in, sometimes meet are stepping stones in our build-up during the season,” Cole said.
Cole praised some of his runners individually, including junior Hailey Hanna. Hanna finished fourth at the invitational.
“Hailey Hanna had a great run and her hard work, patience and persistence is paying off,” Cole said. “Due to her performance, she punched her ticket as the seventh girl on our travel roster for next weekend.”
Three other Sun Devil women also finished in the top ten in Saturday's meet. Sophomore Karlee Owens finished in seventh, while Senior Kauren Tarver placed eight with a time of 18:46.9, followed closely by freshman Taylor Conway, who finished in 10th place with a time of 18:58.9.
“That was Karlee Owens' first race in almost a year due to injury, so we're pleased to have her back in uniform, healthy, and beginning to compete again,” Cole said.
The next meet for both the men and women is the Wisconsin Invite on Friday, where the teams will face their steepest competition so far this year.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
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