May 21, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State Track and Field Weekly Release in PDF Format
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SDSU Track and Field to Compete at NCAA West Regionals
San Diego State will take a school-record 16 student-athletes to participate in the 2007 NCAA West Region Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., May 25-26, at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon. This marks the fifth season that the NCAA is holding regional meets as the means of qualifying for the national championships, set for June 6-9, in Sacramento, Calif.
The two-day regional championship will commence for the Aztecs on Friday beginning with the preliminaries of the 4x100-meter relay at 2:45 p.m. PDT. Meanwhile on Saturday, SDSU will start its day at 12:45 p.m. with the pole vault finals. Live results will be available at www.goducks.com.
The Aztecs enter the West Region meet having not competed since taking third place at the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, May 9-12, at SDSU Sports Deck. The Scarlet and Black finished with 128 points behind champion Brigham Young (195) and TCU (152). San Diego State's third-place showing was its best since 2004 when it posted a second-place effort.
Taking a Full Load
After qualifying a school-record 15 Aztecs for last year's regional meet, San Diego State one upped that effort by qualifying 16 this season. Prior to 2006, the most SDSU had qualified was 12 in 2003. The following is an alphabetical list of San Diego State's travel list:
Stephanie Bagan (Fr.) - pole vault
Priscilla Chapu (Sr.) - 4x400
Vonnie Fulford (Jr.) - 4x100
Decontee Kaye (So.) - long jump, triple jump
Karoline Koehler (So.) - long jump, triple jump
Alicia Lowery (Jr.) - 4x100
Lisa Naucler (Sr.) - 800m
Kristin Olafsdottir (So.) - 400H, 4x400
Monica Pacas (Jr.) - pole vault
Sherraine Pencil (Jr.) - 200m, 400m, 4x100, 4x400
Christin Shibley (Jr.) - pole vault
Shana Solomon (So.) - 100m, 200m, 4x100
Nicole Stone (So.) - 400m, 400H, 4x100, 4x400
Mandy Upuu (Jr.) - 800m, 4x400
Dana Van Wagner (Sr.) - pole vault
Shana Watson (So.) - long jump, triple jump
Triple Jump Champ
Two weeks after setting the school record in the triple jump at the California Collegiate Challenge, Decontee Kaye broke her own mark en route to winning the triple jump title at the MWC outdoor championships. The sophomore won with a championship-record leap of 43 feet, 10.75 inches and earned all-conference recognition as a result of it. Her performance also ranks second in the West, second all-time in the MWC and ninth nationally. In addition, Kaye made her first appearance last week on trackwire.com's Dandy Dozen coming in at No. 9.
Hurdling Out of Nowhere
Nicole Stone's listed events are sprints and hurdles, but one could argue she was just a sprinter up until the final meet of the regular season. It wasn't until the Claremont Classic that the sophomore competed in her first 400-meter hurdle race, one that she emerged victorious with a time of 1:02.46. Stone's performance was exceptional for her first try of 2007, but it was just a sign of things to come. In the prelims at the MWC meet, the sophomore regionally qualified for this week's championships with a second-place time of 59.43 before clocking in with a personal-record time of 59.21 in the finals to place fourth.
Late Additions
With the MWC Championships serving as a last chance meet for conference athletes to qualify for regionals, SDSU had a group of Aztecs do just that. Christin Shibley qualified for the first time in the pole vault after clearing 12 feet, 5.50 inches, bringing the number of San Diego State pole vaulters making the trip to four. Kaye, who already secured her spot in the triple jump field, punched her ticket in the long jump after finishing second with a leap of 20-4.25. And as mentioned before, Stone qualified in the 400 hurdles.
Last Year at the 2006 NCAA West Regionals
* San Diego State finished in a tie for 16th place in the team standings with 10 points.
* Pole vaulters Monica Pacas (12-11.75) and Dana Van Wagner (12-6.00) posted season-best clearances while coming in seventh and tied for 18th, respectively. Erin Asay, who earned an at-large berth to nationals, finished 12th after clearing 12-11.75.
* The 4x400 relay (Nicole Stone, Larnie Boyd, Sherraine Pencil, Brittani Dudley) barely missed qualifying for nationals with a season-best and fourth-place time of 3:39.26.
* Shana Watson posted a personal-best effort of 20-1.00 as she finished ninth in the long jump.
* Stone and Boyd placed seventh (55.20) and eighth (56.60), respectively, in the finals of the 400-meter dash.
* Decontee Kaye came in 11th place in the triple jump as a freshman with an effort of 40-10.25.
