By Matt Simpson
State Press
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Women 2. Lisa Aguilera, so. 17:32 5. Kelly MacDonald, jr.17:47 6. Mary Duerbeck, jr.17:53 17. Colleen Burke, jr. 18:14 23. Brianna Torres, so.18:21 49. Cody Shon, so. 8:42 51. Amy Maciasek, jr. 8:42 Men 11. Fasil Bizuneh, so. 24:46 47. Brandon Strong, jr. 25:33 48. Isaiah Festa, so. 25:34 52. Garrett Jenson, sr. 25:37 59. Juan Chaulea, so. 25:44 113. Jeremy Rasmussen, fr. 26:17 141. Cheyne Jones, jr. 26:39 |
The ASU women's cross country team won in impressive fashion Saturday at the highly competitive Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis.
The 16th-ranked Sun Devils posted a 20-point victory over a 25-team field that included seven ranked opponents. Among those ranked opponents were No. 10 Providence College, which finished ninth, and No. 15 NAU, which finished seventh.
The closest competition ASU faced in the 5,000-meter event came from unranked BYU. However, Sun Devil runners finished the race 10 seconds faster on average than their Cougar counterparts.
Third place went to 23rd-ranked Minnesota, which finished a full 112 points behind the Sun Devils.
Head coach Walt Drenth was very pleased with the win.
"They beat a national field and they did it in pretty good fashion," he said. "We didn't eke (it out) by any stretch of the imagination."
Pacing the ASU team for the second straight meet was sophomore Lisa Aguilera. She finished in second place with a time of 17:32, just one second behind Duke freshman Sheela Agrawal, who led her Blue Devils squad to an eight-place finish. Aguilera also had the highest finish among the ASU runners on Sept. 11 at the University of California-Irvine Invitational.
Aguilera was followed closely by teammates Kelly MacDonald, who finished in fifth place with a time of 17:47, and Mary Duerbeck, who placed sixth with a time of 17:53. Duerbeck's finish was a major improvement over her last race when she finished fourth among her teammates while battling flu-like symptoms.
"Our front people are consistent," Drenth said, "and our four through seven people seem to be getting better, which is critical for us if we're going to be really good."
Those fourth through seventh finishers were junior Colleen Burke (17th place overall, 18:14), sophomore Brianna Torres (23rd, 18:21), sophomore Cody Sohn (49th, 18:42), and junior Amy Maciasek (51st, 18:42).
While the women continued to excel, the 21st-ranked men's team struggled in its second outing, placing ninth in the 28-team field.
"I didn't think we ran that well," Drenth said. "It certainly wasn't the effort that we are capable of."
Drenth, while obviously displeased in the team's finish, acknowledged the presence of many nationally recognized teams.
"We beat a lot of ranked teams," he said, "and we beat the teams we needed to beat to give ourselves a chance at nationals."
Although they finished higher than No. 13 Minnesota and No. 15 Butler, the Sun Devils were not able to overcome three unranked opponents.
Drenth said the low finish was partially a result of allowing his runners to begin the race too fast. The quick start, according to Drenth, led to his runners struggling through the more difficult middle stage of the course.
Although he was disappointed in his team's overall effort, Drenth was pleased by another strong showing by sophomore Fasil Bizuneh, who led the Sun Devils for the second straight week. He finished in 11th-place with a time of 24:46.
"The men's race was highly competitive," he said. "There were some great individuals from Wisconsin and BYU, (including) a number of All-Americans. Fasil in demonstrating that he has the potential to be an All-American."
Drenth was also pleased with junior Brandon Strong, who competed in his first race of the season. He finished the 8,000-meter race in 25:33, which qualified for second on the team and 47th overall in a field of 227 runners.
Fifth-ranked Wisconsin took first-place with a total of 86 points. BYU, with 133 points, and sixth-ranked NAU, with 143 points, rounded out the top three.
The Sun Devils will compete in one of their two valley races this Saturday at the Canyon West Invitational in Mesa.
