Feb. 25, 2009
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State Track and Field Weekly Release in PDF Format 
Championship Week
San Diego State will put the finishing touches on the indoor season this week when it takes 28 student-athletes to the United States Air Force Academy for the 10th annual Mountain West Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships. The meet, which will serve as the final means of qualifying for nationals, will begin on Thursday, Jan. 26 and conclude on Saturday, Jan. 28.
Competition will get underway on Thursday at 11 a.m. MT with the pentathlon. The 60-meter hurdles will starts things off and will be followed by the high jump, shot put, long jump and 800-meter run. On Friday, field action starts at 1 p.m. and the running events open at 1:30 p.m. Then on the final day, the trials and finals of the triple jump will start at 10 a.m., while the 60-meter hurdles will commence at 11 a.m.
Following the meet, SDSU will continue its outdoor campaign at nearby UC San Diego as it will compete at the San Diego City Championships on Saturday, March 7.
MWC Championship History
In the nine-year history of the MWC Indoor Championships, the Aztecs have finished in almost every place imaginable. On three occasions SDSU has finished in fourth place (2006-08), including the last three seasons, and has finished second twice (2003 and 2004). The Aztecs have also finished in third (2000), fifth (2005), sixth (2002) and eighth (2001) in the history of the conference, but have never won the championship.
Last Year at Conference
Last season at the MWC Indoor Championships, Stephanie Bagan successfully defended her MWC indoor pole vault title and continued San Diego State's dominance in the event after she cleared 13 feet, 8.50 inches, to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships. Her personal-record vault was two inches better than Air Force's Melissa Beerse, was 3.25 inches better than her championship 2007 clearance, ranked as the second-best in MWC championship history and was fourth nationally.
A trio of school records also fell as Karoline Koehler set the new school standard in the long jump (20-3.00) and triple jump (43-5.00), while Andrea Martinez etched her name atop the school's all-time performance list in the weight throw with a toss of 54-8.25.
At the conclusion of the meet, Koehler was given the High Point Award, which is handed out to the athlete who scores the most points at the meet. Koehler finished three-day meet with four top-5 performances and one sixth-place effort.
Going Back Indoors
San Diego State returns indoors for the first time since competing at the New Mexico Classic back on Feb. 7. Since that meet, SDSU has participated in a pair of outdoor meets in the APU Indoor Qualifier (Feb. 14) and the UCSD Quad Meet last week. Despite being an indoor qualifier at APU, all events took place outdoors at the NAIA school and therefore counts as an outdoor competition for SDSU.
Look Out for Koehler
Karoline Koehler is an athlete to keep an eye on at the Championships considering her performance at the meet last season and what she has done up to this point. Despite competing in just one meet this year, the New Mexico Classic, it seems as if she is picking up where she left off last indoor campaign after redshirting the 2008 outdoor season.
In her only outing, Karoline Koehler turned in three top-5 efforts highlighted by her triple jump championship. The senior won the event with an NCAA provisional-qualifying and facility-record leap of 43 feet, 5.00 inches to lead an Aztec group that had six finish among the top 10. Her effort is the seventh-best in NCAA Division I, according to TrackShark.com. Koehler, meanwhile, came in third place in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.48 seconds, which was a personal record and matched the second-best time in school history. The 2008 All-American also finished in fifth place with a clocking of 24.66 in the 200. For her efforts, Koehler was named the MWC Athlete of the Week.
Williams on the Run
Junior newcomer Rachel Williams has been solid in her first track and field season at San Diego State. After having competed for the Aztecs in the fall with the cross country team, the Mt. Hermon, Calif., native has been impressive in her last two meets.
At the New Mexico Classic, Williams won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10 minutes, 26.70 seconds. Her performance was good enough to enter the Aztec record book at No. 4 all-time. Then at the APU Indoor Qualifier, Williams took home the 5K title with a lifetime-best effort of 17:51.66.
Johnson Hurdling Well
An NCAA Outdoor Championships participant last year as a freshman, Briana Johnson is enjoying a spectacular sophomore season so far. The Orlando, Fla., product set a personal record in the 60-meter hurdles at the Mountain T's Invitational (8.73) and then later topped that a week later at the New Mexico Classic with her second-place time of 8.54. That time currently ranks No. 6 at SDSU.
