(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)
The 39th annual Sun Angel Classic was one for the books. Fans, coaches and athletes alike witnessed one of the greatest performances in collegiate track and field history.
In the final home meet of her illustrious career, redshirt senior Maggie Ewen put together a historic performance, that Arizona State Track and Field head coach, Greg Kraft described as “the finest meet by a female thrower ever in NCAA history.”
Assistant coach, Brian Blutreich echoed the same sentiment.
“To do what she did today is the greatest meet by a thrower ever in the history of the NCAA, and quite honestly is probably the best ever in the history of the world in terms of three events,” Blutreich said.
Ewen has had quite the career at ASU racking up numerous accolades including nine All-American titles, multiple national and conference championships, school records, NCAA records, made a U.S world championship team, scored the most points of any female in the nation at the NCAA Division I championships last year (in fact, she scored every point in the Sun Devils 10th place finish), and was one of three finalists for the Bowerman award (best track and field competitor in the nation). Excellence has been the norm for her over the last four and a half years, but even for her standards this was performance was something special.
Ewen kicked things off on Friday, winning the hammer throw, in dominating fashion. She broke the collegiate record (her own) on three of her six throws. Her best throw of 74.53m (244′ 6″) was 4.54 meters further than her nearest competitor.
On Saturday, Ewen picked up right where she left off, by winning the discus in a throw 61.27m (201′ 0″) which was good for a personal best and the number one throw in the NCAA this season. She beat her closest competitor by a staggering 8.4 meters.
Ewen would cap off her magical weekend, and last home meet by winning the shot put in a throw of 19.22m (63′ 0¾”). This mark set the Arizona State school record, is the number one throw in the world in 2018 and is the second-best mark in NCAA history. This was her first meet throwing the shot put this season.
The humble Ewen was pleased with her performance.
“I’m just really happy with how this weekend went, and really proud that this is how my home career finished up,” Ewen said.
Despite how unlikely it may seem, she still has room to improve according to Blutreich.
“Believe it or not there’s still more there in all three events, which is exciting,” Blutreich said. “We’ve just got to stay grounded, and use this as a stepping stone and a confidence builder for the rest of the season.”
Blutreich is only in his second year with the team and talked about he and Ewens trust in one another.
“For her to trust in me after being three years with another coach, and then to trust with me her last two years takes a lot on her end,” Blutreich said.
When Ewen was a finalist for the Bowerman award last year, Blutreich described the progress he and Ewen have made and mentioned the development that can still be achieved even past this season.
“I coached her like a freshman last year, and this year I’m going to coach her like a sophomore and that’s where we’re at right now in our progress and our development, so her first year out will be junior year and Olympic year will be senior year, and usually great things happen your senior year,” Blutreich said.
Post-collegiate career aside, Ewen now turns her focus to regionals, The Pac-12 Championships, and nationals in the coming months, with some simple goals in mind.
“I really just want to throw farther, stay healthy, keep chunking away at all my distances, all my marks and just try and steadily improve and get ready for nationals,” Ewen said.
To cap off her unbelievable day, Ewen had just one thing on her mind.
“I just couldn’t be happier to be a Sun Devil,” Ewen exclaimed.
It was a fitting and perfect end to the home career of one of Arizona State Universities all-time greats.
