The Arizona track and field team will be tested this weekend when it hosts ASU and NAU at the Roy P. Drachman Stadium on Saturday.
The No. 59 Arizona men’s squad will take on the No. 4 Sun Devils and No. 38 Lumberjacks, while the No. 29 Arizona women’s team will face off against No. 66 ASU and unranked NAU.
“”I’m really hyped for this meet,”” said junior LaTisha Holden, who will be running the 4×100-meter, the 100m hurdles and the 100m.
“”It’s our rivals coming to our home track,”” she added. “”When I think about the competition in the Pac-10, I don’t think about ASU as having anybody on their team that’s a big challenger.””
The Wildcat women may have a leg up on the Sun Devils in the rankings, but no victory will come easily on Saturday.
The most anticipated race of the day is the women’s 4x400m relay. The Sun Devils are ranked 24th in the event, while the Wildcats are 25th and within 0.12 seconds of ASU.
“”ASU is running the same times as us and for the past two weekends,”” said redshirt sophomore Echos Blevins, who runs the second leg of the relay and will be running the 400m and the 200m. “”If we’re not ahead of them, we should be neck and neck.””
The meet will be a battle from start to finish, but Arizona athletes and coaches alike are confident that they can come out with a win.
“”Man, we’re ready. I keep telling them it is time,”” said sprinting coach Francesca Green. “”Every race we’ve had some little stumbles, but this week we can’t afford to do that. I want to go out there and beat ASU.””
Blevins and Green aren’t the only ones who have confidence going into this meet. Sophomore distance runner Hannah Moen is ready to dominate the women’s steeplechase. “”There’s not a lot of pressure. I’m running with (junior) Maggie (Callahan) and we should take first and second,”” Moen said. “”I don’t really worry about names, but Coach expects that we shouldn’t have any trouble.””