EUGENE, Ore. – In his first-ever appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships – and last-ever collegiate competition – senior Kyle Long made the most of his opportunity, finishing 8th for a First-Team All-American honor in the men's discus throw on Friday evening.
Long, who entered the meet 19th on the performance list, climbed 11 spots with a best throw of 58.09m (190-7) on his fifth attempt at Historic Hayward Field.
"It feels pretty sweet," said Long. "This is obviously what we trained for. I would have loved to place higher, but I had probably the best series of my life. Not much more I can ask for.
"It was really fun. Coming in, especially as a senior, thinking this is it, this is why we do this. I just trusted the training and just went along for the ride. This year was definitely my most taxing in terms of lifestyle change, eating way healthier, cutting out soda. This week I had four chicken salads, because chicken and veggies are easy to digest and I wanted to make sure all my muscles were firing the right way and nothing was going in the wrong place. It was definitely worth it."
In Long's final year, he climbed both the hammer and discus throw ASU top-10 all-time lists, moving into sixth in the discus and third in the hammer throw.
Saturday wraps up the final day of competition in Eugene, with Maggie Ewen competing in the discus throw at approximately 4:15 p.m. PT and senior Keyasia Tibbs going in the triple jump at 3:40 p.m. PT on ESPN and ESPN3.
Long, who entered the meet 19th on the performance list, climbed 11 spots with a best throw of 58.09m (190-7) on his fifth attempt at Historic Hayward Field.
"It feels pretty sweet," said Long. "This is obviously what we trained for. I would have loved to place higher, but I had probably the best series of my life. Not much more I can ask for.
"It was really fun. Coming in, especially as a senior, thinking this is it, this is why we do this. I just trusted the training and just went along for the ride. This year was definitely my most taxing in terms of lifestyle change, eating way healthier, cutting out soda. This week I had four chicken salads, because chicken and veggies are easy to digest and I wanted to make sure all my muscles were firing the right way and nothing was going in the wrong place. It was definitely worth it."
In Long's final year, he climbed both the hammer and discus throw ASU top-10 all-time lists, moving into sixth in the discus and third in the hammer throw.
Saturday wraps up the final day of competition in Eugene, with Maggie Ewen competing in the discus throw at approximately 4:15 p.m. PT and senior Keyasia Tibbs going in the triple jump at 3:40 p.m. PT on ESPN and ESPN3.