Desert Edge senior hurdler Asad Ali, left, track and field coach Sharod Selph, center, and senior jumper Dayvon Standard, right, pose for a photo May 5 in front of the Goodyear school’s locker rooms. The finger guns Selph and Standard are holding up are a tribute to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Selph's alma mater and the school that Standard recently signed with to play football.
Dayvon Standard and Asad Ali are making the most of their one year in the Desert Edge track program.
Both won Division II state titles this week and are ready to go for overall state titles this week.
Standard transferred in from Buckeye right after his junior year and track season ended. He also hoped playing for the Scorpions would raise his recruiting profile.
“Last year went good. I topped out at 46-1 for triple jump, so my goal for this year was to get as close to 50 as possible and go for No. 1 in the state,” Standard said.
Ali went to Oak Hills High School in California as a sophomore, then moved to Desert Edge last year. He did not race for the Scorpions, but it was not a wasted year.
“Racing Bellemy Amina-Harris last year, we would go back and forth and I wasn’t always behind him,” Ali said. “After that I thought I could be up there at the top.”
In Standard sophomore year at Buckeye his friend Lucifer Pridgett introduced him to the triple jump
“I was an only long jump kind of guy. My first time doing triple jump at practice it just kind of took over. I learned this basics pretty fast and my first jump was a 42,” Standard said.
This year’s Brooks Chandler Rotary meet on March 20-21 served as the coming out party for both seniors as Scorpions.
Standard took a bow with a personal best triple jump of 47-11, good for second place at the elite level behind Phoenix Sunnyslope senior Ajani Leggett. He also was second in the long jump at 22-6.
“It was a big meet to come back to, especially since there was a lot of weight and pressure on my shoulders. I feel like I handled it quite well,” Standard said.
It was Ali’s sixth meet of the year but his debut in the spotlight. He made his name by placing second in the 300-meter hurdles in 38.60, behind Mesa Red Mountain senior Matthew Heitz.
Ali also finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.61 behind two California sprinters and Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge junior Jett Merill.
“That was the biggest meet and the most fun meet. We all did good,” Ali said.
Ali won the Division II 300-meter hurdles in 38.04, He also led off the division-winning 4x400-meter relay, and placed second in the 110-meter hurdles at 14.33.
Standard cruised to the triple jump title with a leap of 47-08. He placed third in the long jump at 22.08-5.
Ali and Standard said they’re both looking forward to the final state meet May 15-16 at Mesa Community College. Both credited Selph with preparing them to face Arizona’s best.
“It’s really a great environment, especially with the Oklahoma State connection. We’ve got that little thing in common and it’s cool. Every day in practice he pushes us and drives us. He really wants us to be great so it feels good to have a good coach by your back,” Standard said.
Ali said he wants to run a 13.9 in the 110-meter hurdles and 37 in the 300.
He also praised his coach.
“I think it’s great. He teaches us how to be a young man. He motivates us every practice that we’ve got to work because the other kids are working hard,” Ali said.
Colleges are starting to catch on to Ali. He said he wants to study accounting.
Grambling State, Chicago State, Central Arizona College, Glendale Community College have all shown interest in Ali.
“They’re just starting to take notice, because last year I had to sit out the whole year. I was on nobody’s radar,” Ali said. “My goal was to pop out this year and get on somebody’s radar.”
Meanwhile, Standard did something increasingly rare in February. He caught 23 passes for 463 yards and 10 touchdowns in six games this football season.
Oklahoma State was watching the 6-4 receiver and offered him a scholarship. In this era of the transfer portal and NIL money and the transfer portal, a team in the power four conferences offering a player after his senior season is virtually unheard of.
It gives Standard another link to Selph, who sprinted for the Cowboys a decade ago. Standard goes to Stillwater at the end of this month. He plans to study business
“I’d say my recruiting process was really an emotional roller coaster. I’ve done my best to stay down, stay grounded and keep my faith in God and let him take over,” Standard said. “When I really got the call, all the pressure relieved from by body a bit. I knew that my transfer here was for a good reason.”
Richard Smith Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps
Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.
An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.
For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.
As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.
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