Student-athletes with Arizona ties reflect on competing for Arizona State
By Drew Schott
Drew Schott is currently a graduate student in the Master of Sports Law and Business program at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, as well as a Business Development Intern at USA Triathlon. He graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications in 2022. Drew has previously written for On3, The Arizona Republic and The Daily Northwestern among other publications.
At the start of the fall 2023 semester, more than 59,000 students from Arizona were enrolled at Arizona State University, including nearly 16,500 first-year, transfer and graduate students from Arizona taking their first classes at ASU. Strong representation from the Grand Canyon State can also be found in the Sun Devils’ athletic programs.
Of ASU’s roughly 650 student-athletes listed on 2023-24 rosters, 135 of them attended high school in Arizona. This season, they can be found playing for 21 of the Sun Devils’ 26 athletic programs.
ASU student-athletes who decided to stay in-state for their college careers have not only achieved impressive individual honors and helped their squads earn conference and national recognition, they also contributed to the Sun Devils’ student-athletes matching their all-time high Graduate Success Rate of 92% in 2022 and earning a 3.31 average cumulative grade point average in the 2022-23 academic year.
As ASU continues its athletic endeavors in 2024 and prepares for its upcoming move to the Big 12 Conference from the Pac-12, six student-athletes who attended high school in Arizona and have ties to The Valley shared their stories about what it means to wear the maroon and gold and represent the 48th state as a Sun Devil.
‘Growing up, ASU was my dream school’
On March 27, 2022, pitcher/utility player Marissa Schuld made program history. The current graduate student pitched the eighth perfect game in ASU softball history, and the first since 2017, in an 8-0 win over Arizona.
That performance marks one of the highlights of Schuld’s career in Tempe, along with winning the Pac-12 Championship outright later that season. For Schuld – an alumna of Pinnacle High School in Phoenix – her connection with the Sun Devils started long before her arrival as a transfer from Arizona following the 2020 season.
“My older cousin… he went to ASU, so it was in the family,” Schuld said. “We just grew up ASU fans. We had season tickets to the football games and the softball games.”
During her childhood, Schuld took part in the tradition of running the bases alongside other kids following multiple Sunday contests. Additionally, she took private hitting lessons from Katelyn Boyd, who earned All-America honors while playing shortstop for the Sun Devils from 2009-12 and helped them win the 2011 Women’s College World Series.
In eighth grade, Schuld committed to Arizona and spent two seasons with the Wildcats. When she entered the transfer portal, ASU quickly made a positive impression on her, in part because of her knowledge of the local program.
“I played my high school state championship games at ASU, so I was very familiar with the facilities and then at the time, the team had a lot of Arizona girls such as Alynah Torres and Bella Loomis,” Schuld said. “They were girls that I grew up playing with or against and I just wanted to finish my career where I started. Growing up, ASU was my dream school because I came to almost every game, so I knew of coach (Trisha) Ford – at the time – and what that coaching staff was about from other players. That was something I wanted to be a part of.”
Approaching her sixth and final season of eligibility, Schuld has certainly made an impact for the Sun Devils. In addition to her perfect game, she led ASU in strikeouts, had the program’s best opponent batting average (.215) and recorded the squad’s lowest earned run average (2.09) during the 2022 season, which ended in the NCAA Super Regionals. Meanwhile, Schuld appeared in 25 games during the 2023 campaign, the first under current head coach Megan Bartlett.
According to Schuld, it is “awesome” having family and friends make the short drive to games at Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium, located roughly 25 miles away from Pinnacle. She credited these individuals with giving her a strong support system and being the “biggest help” with matters both on and off the field.
“Playing under two different coaching staffs here has allowed me to grow as a person and a player,” Schuld said. “Honestly, ASU is just home.”
Recently, Schuld has been reflecting on the legacy of ASU’s softball program, especially the players and coaches who brought a national title to the desert in 2011. Before exhausting her eligibility, she hopes to proudly represent the Sun Devils as an in-state student-athlete and help them climb towards the pinnacle of college softball.
“I want little girls that grew up in Arizona to see how important and how cool it can be to play in front of your hometown,” Schuld said. “The more that we can get The Valley behind ASU athletics, I think that we’ll start seeing more opportunities for us student-athletes. That’s what I want to do in this last semester that I’m here or even beyond. I’m going to be a Sun Devil for life and even past my playing time here, I want to help out the school and these athletes in the best way that I can.”
‘I want to represent Arizona’
While playing at Chandler High School, linebacker Tate Romney won three consecutive Arizona Interscholastic Association state championships. His head coach until his senior season was Shaun Aguano, who departed to become the running backs coach at ASU in January 2019.
When Romney entered the transfer portal in 2022 following his true freshman season at BYU, Aguano reached out and encouraged his former player to make a visit to Tempe. Romney took up Aguano on that request and within two weeks of putting his name in the portal, he committed to the Sun Devils.
“(Aguano) played a big role in that,” Romney said. “Being able to play for your high school head coach, it’s a cool opportunity not many people have.”
Romney’s arrival at ASU led to him seeing time in all 12 games during the Sun Devils’ 2023 season, during which he recorded 52 total tackles, four tackles-for-loss, one sack and a fumble recovery. The redshirt sophomore notched a season-high eight takedowns against both Southern Utah and Washington State and also had seven tackles in games against USC and Colorado.
During his high school recruitment, Romney was “really interested” in the Sun Devils and included them in his top three before choosing BYU, where his brothers, Gunner and Baylor, played. After serving a mission in Bahia Blanca, Argentina and San Antonio, Texas for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Romney appeared in three games for the Cougars, but decided to transfer following the 2022 season.
By January 2023, he arrived on campus in The Valley. Romney’s family living in Arizona and him viewing the Grand Canyon State “as my home” helped lead him to play for the Sun Devils.
“I know a ton of ASU fans and went to high school with a bunch of ASU fans,” Romney said. “I have a lot of family here. It’s exciting being able to play near your home city. Obviously, it wasn’t the season we wanted and I want to make Arizona State fans happier with this upcoming season. It’s exciting, it’s a great opportunity and I’m glad I’m able to be a part of it.”
So far, Romney has enjoyed playing for ASU’s fanbase and his family members – many of whom bought season tickets – and representing the program on and off the field. Coming back to Arizona has also given Romney the “cool experience” of suiting up in maroon and gold with former teammates at Chandler High School and players he knew from other local high schools including Scottsdale (Ariz.) Saguaro.
This past fall, Arizona ties were well represented in the Sun Devils’ football program as 44 of its players graduated from Arizona high schools. Meanwhile, head coach Kenny Dillingham graduated from both ASU and Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral and Aguano, tight ends coach Jason Mohns and assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Charlie Ragle won high school state championships as head coaches at Chandler, Saguaro and Chaparral, respectively.
“They are some of the best coaches in Arizona football history (coach Mohns, coach Aguano and coach Ragle) for Arizona high schools,” Romney said. “When you get all that knowledge together, all that football wisdom together, it’s pretty cool. There’s a ton of potential with that.”
With ASU’s move to the Big 12, Romney will have the chance to play against BYU next season at Mountain America Stadium. But in the meantime, he is working to help the Sun Devils improve in 2024 under Dillingham, an Arizona native who is working hard to Activate The Valley.
“His philosophy is he wants people who want to be here, who want to be a part of this program, who want to make it great,” Romney said. “It makes me want to buy in because I want to represent Arizona and I want us to be a great team. It makes sense what he’s doing. I’m happy about what he’s doing. The coaches who are here, they want to be here. You can feel that, you can tell that most of them are from here. It’s exciting. That’s what we want to base our culture on.”
‘I’ve definitely felt a really big sense of pride being back here’
While growing up, Mary Shroll was present at multiple ASU volleyball games. She remembers watching Macey Gardner record her 1,000th kill and sensing the passion Sun Devil fans had for the squad as it participated in multiple NCAA Tournament appearances in the early-to-mid 2010s.
Shroll, an alumna of Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, eventually became a talented volleyball recruit herself and chose Loyola Marymount University over ASU. After playing for the Lions from 2019-22, she entered the transfer portal and the Sun Devils quickly established contact.
“Having that idea of coming home, being in The Valley again, this past year was really exciting,” Shroll said. “It was a really cool realization that I could play in my home city. It’s been amazing.”
Shroll eventually chose ASU and became a key contributor to its volleyball squad, starting every match at libero during the 2023 season and leading the team in digs with 458. In addition to being second on the Sun Devils in total aces with 43, the graduate student ended her campaign with multiple accolades, including an American Volleyball Coaches Association Pacific South All-Region nod and a Pac-12 Honorable Mention.
As ASU went 28-7 and made it to the Regional Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, Shroll was able to feel the support of the Sun Devil fanbase – and her family – throughout the season. Her parents sat in the front row at numerous games and brought multiple guests to support Shroll, which she called a “really special experience” for them.
“I don’t think I realized how cool of an experience that it has been for me,” Shroll said. “I knew it was big coming home and playing for the city. ASU through the recruiting process emphasized how cool that is and having a bunch of hometown kids. Now, after playing this season at ASU, it has been really surreal and humbling just to be back and playing in front of family and friends, especially with the volleyball community being so huge in Arizona. The support that I’ve felt from old coaches and the volleyball community as a whole has been overwhelming and super amazing. Definitely, the experience has been more than what I could’ve ever expected.”
Defeating Stanford at home and beating BYU – who Shroll did not win against while at LMU – in the postseason mark some of her top memories from this past campaign. In the Sun Devils’ final match of the year, an NCAA Tournament loss to the Cardinal, she recorded a season-high 30 digs.
In addition to her family and friends, Shroll is grateful for the support from many local coaches involved in her volleyball journey, including Corona del Sol head coach Ben Maxfield. Shroll is set to write another chapter in her career with the Sun Devils, as she will return in 2024 for her sixth year of eligibility.
“This historic season of course gets you excited for the next,” Shroll said. “Winning is always amazing and making it to where we did is a privilege. I’m just so excited for this group of people and I know we’re bringing in some amazing people. We have high standards for next year as well, so we’re excited.”
As one of two ASU volleyball players on the 2023 squad that attended high school in Arizona, Shroll was proud to represent the Grand Canyon State in one of the Sun Devils’ best seasons in recent memory. She is ready to have the same experience one more time starting next fall.
“I do feel a lot of pride for ASU and for Arizona, Tempe and all the clubs, the club I was at EVJ and Corona del Sol, and really for The Valley as a whole,” Shroll said. “Arizona is just so huge with volleyball. It’s really a hub. The support goes all around. I’ve definitely felt a really big sense of pride being back here.”
‘I’m living the dream’
Growing up, Ryan King heard numerous stories about ASU. It was not only the place where his parents met, but also where his father, Doug, swam backstroke in the 1990s.
King learned about his dad competing for the Sun Devils, who he earned two top-20 finishes with at the 1993 NCAA Championships. He also got to know about the close bonds he built with teammates both inside and outside of the pool.
Roughly three decades later, King is following in his father’s footsteps by swimming for ASU and head coach Bob Bowman.
“ASU was this place that had formed in my mind through my dad’s stories,” King said. “It became a dream and now, I’m experiencing it and it is like all these stories I’ve heard. It’s this amazing place full of a great group of men and women. It’s awesome.”
King swims freestyle for the Sun Devils and has recorded a strong sophomore campaign so far. The sophomore placed third in both the 500-yard freestyle and 1,000-yard freestyle in a Nov. 20 meet at Utah, as well as earned three top-25 finishes at the NC State Invite in November.
Despite his connection to ASU, his journey to Tempe was “very different” from his swim and dive teammates. After graduating from Gilbert’s Campo Verde High School in May 2021, he took a gap year to compete for the Gold Medal Swim Club, where he dropped one minute and 12 seconds off his time in the 1,650-yard freestyle and 19 seconds off his time in the 500-yard freestyle.
As King found success with the club – he finished third in the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle at the 2022 Speedo Sectionals in Austin, Texas – the Sun Devils began to recruit him. This led to Bowman and associate head coach Herbie Behm eventually extending him an offer to come swim at ASU.
“One of the best moments of my life was sitting in the room with Bob and Herbie and I remember them saying, ‘Obviously, you want to be here and we’re going to offer you a spot. And so, you can think it over and get back to us if you want to commit here,’” King said. “I said it right in the room, ‘I’ll commit right now.’ This was my dream school. If I had gone to another school, my plan was to eventually transfer over to ASU. I didn’t really want to go anywhere else.”
According to King, he attended around 90 percent of the Sun Devils’ home football games with his family from ages 3 to 12. Now, his role is reversed as he competes for ASU with them in the stands.
“I’m super close to my family, especially my dad,” King said. “I go home every week for dinner, every Sunday, so I see him very often. They come to all of my meets. Sometimes, my grandparents show up and sometimes others like my aunts and uncles. It means a lot. I have such a big support group cheering me on. It’s not only family. Some alumni and my dad’s friends will come over and watch as well.”
The NC State Invite and multiple dual meets – where King is “performing better” – are two early highlights of his 2023-24 season with the Sun Devils. Additionally, he fondly remembers ASU winning the Pac-12 Championship last March for the first time in program history. Even though he did not compete in it, he felt proud to be part of the Sun Devils’ swim and dive program and was congratulated by his father and his former teammates.
As ASU looks to defend its conference title in two months, King is excited to continue racing for what his father calls “the best team in the world.” To him, it means more than chasing championships, working hard with his teammates and learning from coaches.
“I’m living the dream,” King said. “It means the world to me. I would not want to be anywhere else training. This is my home and the fact that I get to keep training here in Arizona and compete for ASU… it’s just amazing.”
‘It’s pretty special’
ASU women’s golf currently holds the NCAA record with eight national championships and has developed multiple professional golfers including Anna Nordqvist and Jaclyn Sweeney. That success caught the attention of Grace Summerhays.
Summerhays, who played golf at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale during her freshman year, grew into one of the top recruits in the country after becoming the youngest winner of the Utah Women’s State Amateur Championship at 16 years old and winning the Utah PGA Junior Series Major Championship. Being recruited by the Sun Devils offered her the chance to join a strong program near her home and play at the same school as her brother Preston, who was selected to Team USA for the 2023 Arnold Palmer Cup and won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in May 2022.
“I got to go onto the football field when I was getting recruited and that was a really cool experience, just to see that I was joining something that’s not only golf,” Summerhays said. “Everyone goes to ASU for a different reason, so to be able to see different athletes that were being recruited at the time, seeing the football players on the field, it was an awakening of, ‘Okay, everyone here has their own story.’ It was a cool experience for me before getting to college.”
Since her arrival to Tempe in January 2022, Summerhays has certainly written her own Sun Devil story in a profound way. Last year, the junior notched a First Team Pac-12 All-Conference selection after three top-10 and six top-20 finishes, including a tie for fourth at the Nexus Collegiate in The Bahamas and a sixth-place finish in the Silverado Showdown in Napa, California.
Summerhays, who has earned another two top-20 finishes in four matches this season, also contributed quickly during her freshman campaign, which head coach Missy Farr-Kaye told her she could expect if she chose ASU. Tying for 10th place at the NCAA Regional in Stillwater, Oklahoma, not only caused Summerhays to help ASU appear in the 2022 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship, but also enabled her to play for a national title in front of friends and family at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale.
“Playing nationals at Grayhawk has to be my favorite (memory),” Summerhays said. “It was such a cool experience to see the people that I’ve been surrounded by my whole life come out to such a big event that’s on the Golf Channel. It’s what you train for all year.”
Summerhays is currently planning to graduate in four years with a degree in communications before going professional, a path taken by multiple family members and relatives including her father, who coaches players on the PGA Tour. But at the moment, she is focused on representing the Sun Devils with strong play on the golf course.
Living in Arizona for roughly a decade is one of the reasons why “it’s pretty special” to play for ASU, according to Summerhays. She is one of two Sun Devil women’s golfers from the Grand Canyon State alongside Ashley Menne, who graduated from Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix.
“I think being from Arizona and competing for Arizona State is something that not everyone can say they’ve done,” Summerhays said. “Being able to grow up in Arizona junior golf and then taking it to the next stage and being part of such a successful program is a really cool experience and I think we have a lot of pride when it comes to living that life.”
Summerhays is excited for the remainder of the 2023-24 season and believes ASU will put together strong performances in the spring. She looks forward to doing so with her family close by.
“To be able to go to college and still keep the same people around me has definitely been a special experience,” Summerhays said. “I’ve had classes with my brother and I get to practice at the same facility as him. I don’t think many siblings can say that, so being able to be close to him and then also close to the rest of my family has been really cool and has made the transition a lot easier to college golf.”
‘I got to stay here and be on a seven-time national championship winning team’
After moving to Arizona from Illinois, Katy Clausen attended the 2017 Women's Collegiate Triathlon National Championship in Tempe. On that early November day, she saw ASU win its second-straight national title and place three student-athletes on the podium, including first-place finisher Hannah Henry.
Seeing the accomplishments of the Sun Devils’ women’s triathlon team firsthand was a catalyst for Clausen’s interest in the program. As a swimmer and runner at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, she was intrigued by the opportunity to join head coach Cliff English’s program.
After reaching out to English, Clausen took an official visit to ASU and eventually signed with the Sun Devils in November 2019. Landing Clausen marked a significant milestone for the program, as she became its first Arizona recruit.
“When I got to do my signing day at Desert Vista, people were going all over the place,” Clausen said. “But I got to stay here and be on a seven-time national championship winning team.”
The success of ASU’s women’s triathlon program made choosing the Sun Devils “a perfect opportunity that I couldn’t really pass up,” Clausen shared. That decision allowed her to be a part of school history, as ASU earned its seventh-consecutive national title in November.
Being able to stay home for her college career has been special to Clausen, who enjoys going past the Phoenix Zoo on her Sunday long runs and helping teammates find the best coffee shop following bike rides. Familiarity with the East Valley, Arizona’s favorable weather for year-round training and having family close by are other things that have made competing for the Sun Devils even better for the senior.
“I definitely realized from looking at the roster that you see people from all over the world and then there’s me from Phoenix, Arizona,” Clausen said. “I think it is such a cool thing because there are people from out of the country and out of the state, but (I’ve been) able to show my teammates my home. They’ve met my family and we’ve had dinners out here… it’s such a cool thing to bring people out here and help some of them have a second home.”
Competing for the Sun Devils has not only enabled Clausen – who earned a top-40 finish at the West Region National Qualifier in October – to gain close friends and role models within the triathlon program, but also pursue her academic passions. At the moment, she is studying counseling and is interested in pursuing a Master’s degree at ASU.
“There’s nothing quite like the campus and the people and the professors,” Clausen said. “They’ve taken such an interest in developing me, whether it’s in the educational realm or whether it’s winning a national championship. There’s been so many special events that have shaped me into who I am and… I definitely don’t think I’d be the person that I want to be without ASU. It’s brought everything that I’ve wanted and everything that I’ve dreamed of.”
According to Clausen, attending ASU and competing for the Sun Devils’ triathlon program is one of the “greatest” decisions she has made. As women’s triathlon continues pushing for championship sport designation from the NCAA, she is thrilled to represent ASU and Arizona athletes while swimming, biking and running.
“There’s such a great atmosphere that I’m proud to be a part of,” Clausen said. “There are definitely young girls out there that are doing triathlons and to be a team that shows such mastery in the classroom and competitiveness in competition, there’s just something about each and every one of us. I’m proud to be on a team with such high achieving girls.”