Track. ASU Track & Field Teams Lead After Day One at MPSF Championships

The No. 7 men opened up an impressive lead while the women hold in a slim margin heading into the final day in Seattle.

Feb. 24, 2012

Complete Results

SEATTLE, Wash. – The Arizona State University men’s and women’s track and field teams established their presence early at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships as both teams lead the event after one day of competition at the Dempsey Indoor Center in Seattle.

The No. 7 men used a balanced effort across all event groups to take a commanding lead after day one with 67.50 points through six events – nearly 40 points more than second-place UCLA’s 29 points. 

The Arizona State women hold a slim lead over second-place Arizona after posting 39 points on the first day. Arizona scored 38 points and Stanford is directly behind them in third with 36 points. 

The team’s combined for three conference titles and numbers of point-scoring finishes. 

The MPSF Championships are, in essence, the indoor version of the track and field conference championships.  The MPSF is comprised mainly of teams from the Pac-12 Conference with additions from the Big West and West Coast Conference. 

Complete recaps of both the men’s and women’s section of the events are below. 

MEN’S RECAP

The Arizona State men entered as the favorites to win the indoor MPSF title and showed they were up to the task on the first day.  The men scored 67.50 points on the first day of competition.  Putting that into perspective, ASU only scored 72.50 points total at the 2011 event. 

The team was paced by a dominating effort in the 200-meter dash that saw the Sun Devils post a 1-2-3-4 sweep of the event for a cumulative 29 points. 

Rashad Ross continued his tear through the indoor season in the event after joining the track team at the beginning of the semester following a fall semester with the football team.  Ross earned his first conference title, posting a new career best time of 21.16.

 

 

Teammate Chris Burrows was hot on his tail in 21.19 – also a career best - and the two now rank fourth and fifth, respectively, on ASU’s all-time list.  Senior Daniel Auberry - who hadn’t ran a 200-meter dash all season - was third in 21.36, which was also an indoor career best and the ninth-best indoor time in school history.

Sophomore Ryan Milus rounded out the sweep in the 200-meter dash while also posting the top time in the 60-meter dash preliminary round in 6.61.  Auberry posted the second fastest time in the prelims in 6.68 while Ross also made it into tomorrow’s final with the eighth and final qualifying bid in a time of 6.86 seconds.

Senior transfer Brian Pierre may have been the biggest surprise of the day, winning the MPSF title at 5,000 meters as he obliterated his previous indoor best in the event with a time of 13:50.37 to edge BYU’s Alden Bahr for the victory.

The men’s distance medley relay posted the fourth-best time in school history as the combination of Darius Terry, Will Henry, Mason McHenry and Nick Happe finished third overall in 9:33.48 – a mark that should rank in the top 10 nationally at the conclusion of the weekend.

In the men’s long jump, senior Chris Benard posted a new career best leap of 7.64 (25-00.75) to take runner-up honors and move to No. 7 on ASU’s all-time indoor list.  Teammate Brian McBride also scored a new indoor best of 7.21m (23-08.00).  Both athletes will have more chances to score points tomorrow with Benard the favorite in the triple jump and McBride the top seed in the high jump.

Jordan Clarke participated in the weight throw for the first time this season and posted a third-place finish with a throw of 19.04m (62-05.75) for a new career best. 

Derick Hinch and Jeremy Marcinko rounded out the day one scoring for the Sun Devils, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively, in the pole vault competition.  

WOMEN’S RECAP

Junior Keia Pinnick won her first career conference title as she scored 3,975 point to hold off Arizona’s Liana Fuentes and for the women’s pentathlon crown. 

Pinnick used a solid final two events to jump from third to first to take her first championship.  The junior posted the top long jump of the day with a leap of 5.89, (19-04.00) before smoking the field in the 800-meter run in a time of 2:19.45 to seal the pentathlon victory. 

Senior Kayla Sanchez had a solid day of competition, setting a new season’s best in the 200-meter dash in 23.99.  Sanchez would also match her season’s best in the 60-meter dash with the fourth-fastest time of the preliminary rounds in 7.51 to advance to tomorrow’s final.  Teammate Asiah Gooden had the sixth-best time in 7.55 and will also advance to tomorrow’s final. 

Senior Lindsay Prescott picked up some addition points in the 5000-meter run, clocking a new career best – both indoors and outdoors – of 16:46.78 to finish seventh overall and move to ninth in ASU’s indoor history in the event. 

Christabel Nettey continued her strong season in the long jump, setting another season’s best in a runner-up finish in Friday’s event with a leap of 6.27m (20-07.00).  Constance Ezugha had the redemption story of the day, bouncing back from a leg injury sustained last year that required surgery to finish eighth on Friday and earn All-MPSF honors.

In the women’s weight throw, seniors Cj Navarro and Ashley Lampley finished fifth and sixth, respectively, to add seven points to ASU’s total.

Events are scheduled to results at 10:30 a.m. PST tomorrow as both the men and women will look to hold on to their leads and earn MPSF crowns.

 

ASU POINT SCORERS – Day One

Men:

200 meters

Rashad Ross, 21.16, First

Chris Burrows, 21.19, Second

Daniel Auberry, 21.36, Third

Ryan Milus, 21.41, Fourth

5,000 meters

Brian Pierre, 13:50.37, First 

Pole Vault

Derick Hunch, 5.08m, Fifth

Jeremy Marcinko, J5.08m, Seventh

Long Jump

Chris Benard, 7.64m, Second

Bryan McBride, 7.21m, Sixth 

Weight Throw

Jordan Clarke, 19.04m, Sixth

 

Women:

200 meters

Kayla Sanchez, 23.99, Second

Alycia Herring, 24.57, Eighth 

5,000 meters

Lindsay Prescott, 16:46.78, Seventh

Long Jump

Christabel Nettey, 7.27m, Second

Constance Ezugha, 5.96m, Eighth

Weight Throw

Cj Navarro, 17.89m, Fifth

Ashley Lampley, 17.85m, Sixth 

Pentathlon

Keia Pinnick, 3,975, First

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Track. ASU Track & Field Teams Lead After Day One at MPSF Championships