The ASU indoor track and field team sent athletes to the NAU Tune-Up to do just that: tune up for next week's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships. Instead, the Sun Devils put together some impressive performances, including their third NCAA automatic qualifier.
Redshirt junior Jordan Clarke earned an automatic bid to the NCAA championships in the shot put with his throw of 19.44 meters. The distance was good enough to become Clarke's personal indoor record in the event and place him sixth overall in the nation.
In the men's mile, redshirt juniors Nick Happe and Darius Terry put up exceptional times. Happe finished in a time of 4:08.98, which became altitude adjusted to 3:59.93. He became the only third Sun Devil to run a sub-four-minute mile in school history.
Terry’s time of 4:12.64 (4:03 altitude adjusted) became the fifth-best time in Sun Devils’ history.
The women also had a solid day and received encouraging performances from All-America athletes redshirt sophomore Anna Jelmini and junior Christabel Nettey.
Jelmini earned her longest throw of the year in the shot put at 16.91 meters, good enough to break the top 10 in the event. The throw also put Jelmini in position for a trip to the national championships.
Nettey also put herself in position for a national championship berth with a jump of 6.25 meters, which puts her in 11th place nationally.
Junior Keia Pinnick had a nice overall day, setting career marks in the 60-meter dash and the high jump. Pinnick’s time of 8.51 seconds in the 60-meter dash was a new career best and her jump of 1.62 meters in the high jump earned her an indoor record.
The Sun Devils will now start preparing for the MPSF Championships next weekend in Seattle, Wash.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
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