
April 12, 2014. (Photo by Becca Smouse)
The ASU track and field team went up against some of the top competition in the country at the Texas A&M; Quadrangular on Saturday and it showed. The Sun Devils had a tough outing with only two individual wins against stiff SEC opposition.
The first win of the day came from senior Payton Schutte who won the women’s 1-mile race. Schutte narrowly edged out Oklahoma’s Kelsey McKee by .02 seconds en route to her first win of the season.
The only other win came from senior Shelby Houlihan in the women’s 3000-meter. She won with a time of 9:03.71, which is good for the fastest time in the nation this year. She beat second place finisher Hillary Montgomery of Texas A&M; by more than 27 seconds.
There were a few bright spots out on the track for the Sun Devils as well, though. Senior Cameron Taylor came in second place in the men’s 60-meter. Sophomore CJ Albertson and junior Ryan Herson had close third and fourth place finishes, respectively, in the men’s 3,000.
And in the team events on the track, the women’s 4x400 meter relay team came in second in their event with a time of 3:42.35.
While the field events produced no wins for the ASU, there were still bright spots all around for the Sun Devils.
In the women’s shot put, senior Alex Hartig finished third with a throw of 15.56 meters.
Senior Edmond Baker tied for third in his event, the men’s high jump. Baker, a Phoenix native, tied Texas A&M;’s Samuel McSwain with a jump of 2.06 meters.
Freshman Magdalyn Ewen continued her success this year with a respectable third-place finish in the women’s weight throw with a toss of 18.70 meters. Ewen participated in only her second ever meet as a Sun Devil on Saturday.
Ewen was not the only underclassmen that contested well at the Quadrangular. Sophomore Ashley Weber also competed in the women’s weight throw and finished in fourth, just behind Ewen with a throw of 17.97 meters.
On the men’s side, the best throwing performances came from sophomore Thomas Anderson and junior Ahmed Hassan in the men’s shot put. Anderson and Hassan finished third and fourth in the event, respectively. Anderson threw 17.64 meters while Hassan came right behind him with a throw of 17.31 meters.
While there are improvements to be made and things to be adjusted, ASU did well. The competition was just too tough to handle.
The Sun Devils have a week to practice and prepare before they head out to Albuquerque next Saturday for the Indoor New Mexico Collegiate Invitational.
Reach the reporter at tjwilkin@asu.edu or follow @Twilkins23 on Twitter.
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