Jan. 23, 2001
SAN DIEGO - Tom Petty said the waiting is the hardest part. For head coach Rahn Sheffield and the San Diego State women's track and field program, the waiting is finally over.
After a two-year sojourn during which the Aztecs were forced to train and compete at a variety of off-campus venues, construction on SDSU's state-of-the-art track and field facility is complete.
Choc Sportsman Oval, a.k.a. The Aztrack, is open for business and San Diego State will host four meets this spring, including the 2001 Mountain West Conference Championships, May 16-19.
The waiting is also over for a number of Aztec seniors, many of whom opted to redshirt the 2000 outdoor campaign in order to finish out their careers on the "new" Aztrack.
And the combination of the two has Sheffield as optimistic as ever heading into the upcoming season.
"I am very excited about the 2001 season," said Sheffield, who enters his 16th year on Montezuma Mesa and 10th as head coach. "This is the most talented team we've had here since the mid '80s. We've had faster runners, but the across-the-board talent base should rank among the best ever at SDSU by the time it's all said and done."
That talent base begins with a pair of athletes who enter the season with their sights set on winning NCAA individual titles - Aimee Crabtree in the pole vault and Aja Frary in the heptathlon. Both athletes redshirted the 2000 outdoor campaign before competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento last June.
"Both Aimee and Aja have set their sights high this year," Sheffield said. "I don't think either one will be satisfied with just qualifying for nationals. They expect to win NCAA championships.
Crabtree, a 1999 All-American, is SDSU's record holder in the pole vault (13-1/4) and just the fourth collegian to clear 13 feet in the event. She also ranks among college track and field's top five pole vaulters entering the season. Frary, the 1999 Western Athletic Conference heptathlon champion and a two-time conference indoor pentathlon winner, is rated among the nation's top three heptathletes and defeated the 2000 NCAA Champion, Christie Smith of Akron, at the Olympic Trials.
In addition to Crabtree and Frary, San Diego State will look to its traditional area of strength, its sprinters, to garner most of its points.
The Aztec sprint corps will be led by senior Promise Mose. SDSU's top performer in the 100, 200 and 400 meters a year ago, Mose narrowly missed posting NCAA provisional qualifying marks in each event last season. Mose ranks third all-time at SDSU in the 400 (53.88) and sixth all-time in both the 100 (11.79) and 200 (24.08).
Sophomores Jini Hogg and Melinda Smedley return with a year of experience under their belts and are poised to have break-out seasons in 2001, according to Sheffield. Hogg's specialty is the 400 meters, where she posted San Diego State's second best time (55.56) last season. Smedley, who potentially could be the Aztecs' top performer in the 100 meters, already ranks seventh in the SDSU record books with a time of 11.93 last season.
Sheffield will also be counting on freshmen Jillita Griffin and Aroline Neal, and junior college transfer Seneik Saavedra to add punch to an already potent lineup. Griffin placed second in both the 100 and 200 at the 2000 South Carolina high school championships and owns a PR of 11.8 in the 100. Neal, a local product from Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista, led the Longhorns to the 2000 CIF championship and has run 24.9 in the 200. Saavedra's best event is the 400, where she owns a PR of 54.70.
In the hurdles, senior team captain Marisa Robinson also has her eyes on earning an NCAA qualifying berth. Robinson, who sat out the 2000 campaign after transferring to Montezuma Mesa from Arkansas, placed third in the 60-meter hurdles at last season's Mountain West indoor meet. Outdoors, Robinson is the former record-holder in the 100-meter hurdles at Arkansas and last year ran a personal best of 13.55 as an open athlete at the Mt. SAC Relays.
"There is not another athlete on this team who could be our captain," said Sheffield. "Marisa has all the qualities it takes to be a strong and effective leader."
Joining Robinson in the short hurdles is junior college transfer Daveetta Shepherd, who owns a PR of 13.51 in the 100-meters.
In the long hurdles, look for sophomore Leslie Miller to make a run at the conference leaders. Miller, who may also see action in the pentathlon and heptathlon, ran 61.50 at the Cal-Nevada meet for the Aztecs' top time in the 400-meter hurdles last season.
San Diego State's middle and long distance squads will be bolstered by the return of senior Meriah Earle, who redshirted in 2000. Earle, who owns SDSU's seventh fastest 800-meter time (2:10.82), will be joined by senior Sophia Hawker, junior Kylie Edwards and sophomores Jennifer Stakiw and Alicia Stewart.
Hawker posted SDSU's top times in both the 3000 and 5000 last season, while Edwards, who placed second in the 800 and third in the 1500 at the Mountain West Conference championships and ranks third and fourth, respectively, all time in those events in SDSU's record book, is considered a serious threat to challenge for a spot at this year's NCAA Championships.
The Aztecs' jump contingent will be led by Frary, who in addition to her prowess in the heptathlon, could be a factor on a national level in both the long jump and high jump. Marisa Taylor, San Diego State's top athlete in both the long jump and triple jump a year ago, returns for her senior season and will be joined by a trio of newcomers, junior Ameerah Omar and freshman Lisa Smith in the high jump, and freshman multi-event athlete Aroline Neal in the long jump.
Omar, a two-time community college All-American, placed second at last year's state meet and has previously cleared 5-8. Smith, who also competes in the triple jump, was a two-time all-CIF performer at La Mirada High School. Neal owns a PR of 18-10 1/4 in the long jump, a leap that would rank 10th all time at SDSU.
The Aztecs' group of pole vaulters should be as deep as any in the nation. In addition to Crabtree, Cal State Fullerton transfer Tricia Guttierez and junior Karen Erkkila, along with sophomore Abigail Huchel, provide Sheffield with plenty of firepower.
Guttierez, who was the Titans' track and field athlete of the year last season, owns a personal best of 12-3 1/2, but has the potential to clear over 13 feet in any meet. Erkkila is perhaps SDSU's most improved pole vaulter and placed seventh at last year's conference outdoor championships.
After competing without any throwers last season, Sheffield will have the luxury of a quality athlete this year with the addition of Candace Hill. A redshirt freshman, Hill prepped locally at Hoover High School before attending Arizona State during the 1999-00 academic year.
"We had a great recruiting class, we have great athletes coming back and with us hosting the Mountain West's outdoor championships, I am looking for us to be in the hunt for one of the conference's top three spots," Sheffield said.
"We are so excited to finally be back on campus and in a world-class facility. It's been a long time since we hosted a meet and we are ready to show our stuff."
The waiting is over. Let the games begin!