SUN DEVIL CROSS COUNTRY Contact: Elias Williams | [email protected] | (816) 830-5335 2018 SUN DEVIL SCHEDULE Date Meet Location/Result 9/1 Mark Covert Classic M. 10th | W. 3rd 9/14 Dave Murray Invitational Tucson, Ariz. 9/29 Stanford Invitational Palo Alto, Calif. Dave Murray Invitational 10/5 Mesa Thunderbird Classic Mesa, Ariz. Tucson, Arizona | Sept. 14, 2018 | 4:30 p.m. PT 10/13 Pre-Nationals Invitational Madison, Wisc. High: 104 ° | Race time: 102 ° | Sunny | 0% Chance of rain 10/19 ASU Invitational TBA 10/26 Pac-12 Championships Palo Alto, Calif. 11/9 NCAA West Reg.Championships Sacramento, Calif. 11/17 NCAA Championships Madison, Wisc. Devils Head to in-state scorcher in Tucson 2018 ASU QUICK FACTS TEMPE – After a week off from competition, the Sun Devils head into enemy territory for the Dave Murray Invitational this Friday in Tucson. Location ................................................... Tempe, Ariz. Enrollment ..................................................... 103,410 Nickname / Mascot ..................... Sun Devils / Sparky The women come into the meet after a solid start in Fullerton that saw them Colors ................................................. Maroon & Gold finish third led by Daan Haven and Alexis Nichols. Conference ...................................................... Pac-12 University President ....................... Dr. Michael Crow “The race is 4K, so the one thing that will help us in this particular event is Athletics Director ................................. Ray Anderson getting out hard,” head women’s cross country coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. Team Information “In all of the races we’ll be in the rest of the year, that’s going to be something Dir. of Track & Field ................ Greg Kraft (23rd year) we have to be great at in order to have success.” Alma Mater ............................... Cal Poly SLO, 1978 Women’s XC Head Coach ........... Jeremy Rasmussen Alma Mater .................................Arizona State, 2003 Samantha Ortega was the No. 3 finisher last time out, but no current Sun Devil Men’s XC Head Coach ............................... Cory Leslie has been more successful at the Randolph Municipal Golf Course than she Alma Mater ..................................... Ohio State, 2012 has with her win in 2015 and a sixth-place finish last year. Assistant Coach – Throws ......................Brian Blutreich Alma Mater .............................................UCLA, 1990 Assistant Coach – Pole Vault ...................... Ron Barela As for the men, last season’s Dave Murray Invitational was John Reniewicki’s Alma Mater .................................Arizona State, 1979 season debut and the start to his stranglehold on the Devils’ No. 1 place. Assistant Sprints Coach ..........................Javonie Small Jackson Lewis finished in 12th to finish as the No. 3 scorer, but ultimately ASU Alma Mater .................................... Morehouse, 2005 saw its streak of back-to-back team titles break when they finished third as a squad. Director of Operations .......................... Priscilla Schultz Alma Mater .................................Arizona State, 1999 “I’m just expecting the guys to compete,” men’s head coach Cory Leslie said. XC/TF Office Phone ........................... (480) 965-0016 “It’s going to be hot, but it’ll be hot for everybody. Anytime you’re in a setting XC/TF Office Fax ................................ (480) 965-8149 where you get to compete against all of your in-state rivals, there’s some bragging rights on the line. Media Relations Information Contact ................................................. Elias Williams Email ............................................... [email protected] “We’re going to let the younger guys get another go out it at a shorter Phone .................................................. (816) 830-5335 distance, but ultimately we want to give them an opportunity to go beat our in-state rivals,” Leslie said. As is always the case during Summers in the Grand Canyon State, heat will 2017 SEASON REVIEW play a factor as start time temperatures are expected to be over 100 degrees for the first time since the 2010 running. 2017 Women’s Championship Performances Pac-12 Conference ............................... 9th ............. 232 pts NCAA West Region ................................9th ............ 304 pts. “There’s an added challenge with it being 104 degrees, but we’ll have to NCAA Championships ..........................N/A ......................N/A figure out how to manage that so we can get what we want to get out of the race,” Rasmussen said. 2017 Men’s Championship Performances Pac-12 Conference ............................... 9th ............ 282 pts NCAA West Region ...............................N/A ......................N/A The women’s 4K race opens the afternoon at 4:45 p.m., then the men’s 6K NCAA Championships ..........................N/A ......................N/A starts at 5:30 p.m. Results will be provided by Finished Results, and Arizona State’s full results and a recap of the day’s events will be available at thesundevils.com following the races. Sun devil Track and Field/ @Sundeviltfxc Cross Country Thesundevils.com 1 SUN DEVIL CROSS COUNTRY NOTES Sun Devils: Reloaded The Sun Devil men’s cross country team got an upgrade this offseason DIRECTOR OF TRACK AND FIELD when they added some talented transfers and freshmen to the fray for the GREG KRAFT 2018 campaign. Spearheaded by All-American Princeton graduate transfer Garrett One of the longest-tenured coaches at O’Toole, the Sun Devils welcomed seven new faces for the season with Arizona State, director of track and field Greg Kraft is one of the premier names in impressive credentials across the board. the NCAA. Having led teams to 12 top-four finishes at The other transfer who is expected to play a crucial role in the ASU NCAA Championships, three conference crowns and four NCAA team titles, Kraft is lineup is Fearghal Curtin, who picked up three all-Big South honors before also one of the more decorated coaches in ASU history. joining the Sun Devils over the summer. Individual athletes under Kraft have also thrived as he has seen 33 Sun Devil NCAA Joseph Dicke (Colorado), Ian Kebenei (Kenya), Adam Klein (Oregon), titles since 1996. Fitzgerald Laurie (Illinois) and Timothy Sterkel (California) round out the new crop of Sun Devils. KRAFT TEAM FINISHES AT ASU Rankings Update NCAA Out Pac-12/10 MPSF/Indoor NCAA In Year M W M W M W M W 1997 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC The Sun Devils weren’t featured in the week one polls both on the 1998 38th dns 9th 7th -- -- DNC 55th regional or national level, but a majority of their competition made the rankings 1999 18th dns 5th 8th -- -- 11th 32nd 2000 17th 38th 3rd 5th -- -- 10th 23rd as the Pac-12 dominated the polls once again. 2001 15th 14th 4th 5th -- -- dns 25th 2002 68th 22nd 4th 4th -- -- 51st 16th On the women’s side, Colorado (2), Stanford (3) and Oregon (4) make 2003 dns 29th 5th 3rd -- -- 45th 42nd 2004 10th 20th 3rd 4th -- -- 12th 27th up most of the top-five, sandwiched by defending champion New Mexico at 2005 17th dns 3rd 3rd -- -- 13th 43rd 2006 29th 4th 6th 1st 6th 2nd 60th 3rd No. 1 and Mountain West powerhouse Boise State at No. 5. 2007 22nd 1st 2nd 1st 5th 1st 25th 1st 2008 6th 2nd 2nd 1st 4th 1st 1st 1st Washington (16) and California (21) also made the list to give the Pac- 2009 8th 3rd 6th 3rd 5th 3rd 5th 5th 12 five ranked programs, the joint second-best behind the Big Ten’s six. 2010 4th 46th 4th 3rd 4th 4th 7th dns 2011 25th 19th 3rd 3rd 5th 4th dns 40th Predictably led by Stanford at No. 4, the week one men’s poll features 2012 16th 24th 2nd 5th 1st 4th 4th 43rd 2013 28th 10th 4th 3rd 1st 2nd 16th 7th six Pac-12 schools in its top-30. 2014 13th 22nd 4th 3rd 2nd 2nd 26th 29th 2015 51st 20th 5th 4th 3rd 3rd 31st 21st Colorado (7), Oregon (8), Washington State (13), UCLA and 2016 36th 46th 4th 9th 5th 8th dns dns 2017 74th 10th 8th 6th 5th 6th dns 27th Washington (20 and 26), each own a place in the poll after one week of 2018 N/A 9th 10th 5th 11th 8th dns 13th competition. NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONS UNDER KRAFT Jacquelyn Johnson ...................................................Heptathlon x4 A Look Back: Dave Murray 2017 Victoria Jackson ...............................................................10,000m Jessica Pressley .......................................................... Shot Put x2 The Sun Devil women picked up their second-straight second-place April Kubishta ............................................................Pole Vault x2 Sarah Stevens ..................................................................... Discus finish to start the 2017 season at last year’s Dave Murray Invitational, while the Anna Jelmini ........................................................................ Discus Chelsea Cassulo ................................................... Hammer Throw men took third in John Reniewicki’s season debut. Shelby Houlihan .................................................................1,500m Maggie Ewen ............................ Hammer Throw, Discus, Shot Put Chelsey Albertson and the other four women who scored for the Devils Angela Bizzari ...............................................XC, 5,000m, 3,000m Kyle Alcorn ..................................................3,000m Steeplechase each finished in the top-10 of the race with Albertson nearly coming away with Ryan Whiting .................................................. Shot Put x2, Discus