June 2, 2008

NEW ORLEANS - Seven San Diego State student-athletes and two relay teams were recognized as all-West Region performers by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, the organization announced Monday. To be eligible for regional honors, athletes must place in the top eight of their respective event at the NCAA regional meet.

Sophomore Stephanie Bagan earned her first all-West Region honor after winning the pole vault with a school and Mountain West Conference record of 14 feet, 3.50 inches. The height also set a new standard for the Matador Track and Field Complex on the campus of Cal State Northridge, where the NCAA West Regionals were held May 30-31. The 2008 MWC indoor and outdoor champion in the event became the first Aztec vaulter to take home the regional crown and in the process, posted the seventh-best clearance in a Division I outdoor campaign. She also joined former SDSU All-American Shayla Balentine as one of only 24 athletes to clear 14 feet in a Division I outdoor season.

Senior Sherraine Pencil was recognized in four events earning regional accolades in the 200, 400, 4x100 and 4x400 for the second straight year. Pencil's best showing came in the 400 when she finished in third with a time of 53.499, just .007 seconds short of placing second. Later in the day in the 200, the Toronto, Canada, product recorded the fifth-best time among the field at 24.13.

Junior Shana Solomon, Pencil's fellow competitor in the 200, finished in seventh in the event with a time of 24.50 and also ran the second leg of the regional-award winning 4x100 squad.

Junior Decontee Kaye was also a part of the 4x100 team and was rewarded regionally for her second-place performance in the triple jump and her efforts in the 4x400. The two-time MWC outdoor champion in the event leaped 42-11.75 to finish as the runner-up at regionals for the second year in a row and also secured a spot at the national meet where she was named an All-American one year ago.

Shana Watson joined Kaye as an all-West Region selection after she placed seventh in the triple jump with a distance of 41-2.50.

Other Aztecs to garner regional recognition were seniors Alicia Lowery (4th, 4x100) and Mandy Upuu (8th, 800; 8th, 4x400) and freshmen Briana Johnson (6th, 100mH) and Kyanna Thomas (8th, 4x400).