April 9, 2001
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
What's On Tap
The San Diego State women's track and field squad competes in its first team scoring contest of the season Saturday, when the Aztecs welcome four teams to the Choc Sportsman Oval at the SDSU Sports Deck for the All-Women Invitational. The meet, which gets under way with the javelin competition at 11:30 a.m., is the third at home event this season for the Aztecs, who also host the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, May 16-19.
Tickets, Please
Tickets will be available only at the gate. Adults - $5.00, Students (with ID) - $3.00, Youth (17 and under), Senior Citizens, Children 6 and under and SDSU students with ID - free. San Diego State will use each team's official entry sheet for all competitors, trainers, managers, and coaches for entry through the pass gate located at the northeast side of the stadium. There are no complimentary tickets.
ALL-WOMEN INVITATIONAL
Saturday, April 14, 2001
Choc Sportsman Oval at SDSU Sports Deck
San Diego, Calif.
Participating Teams: San Diego State, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, UNLV, Utah
Field events: 11:30 a.m.
Running events: 1 p.m.
ALL WOMEN INVITATIONAL RESULTS
World Wide Web: Complete results will be made available via the world wide web at www.goaztecs.com as soon as possible following the conclusion of competition.
Fax On Demand: As an alternative, results will also be available via Pivotal Communications' Info Connection. From the handset of your fax machine, dial 770/558-6000. Enter your school's passcode or contact Pivotal Communications at 770/399-0096 to obtain one. Enter the Mountain West Conference passcode: 692. Results will be under document number 2064.PROBABLE EVENT SCHEDULE (as of 4/6/01, subject to change)
Field Events*11:30 a.m. Javelin11:45 a.m. Long Jump11:45 a.m. High Jump11:45 a.m. Pole Vault1:00 a.m. Shot Put1:00 a.m. Discus2:15 p.m. Triple Jump* Hammer will be contested on Friday, April 13, at 5 p.m. at UC San Diego.
Track Events1:00 p.m. 3000 Steeplechase1:15 p.m. 4x100 Relay1:25 p.m. 1500 Meters1:45 p.m. 100 Hurdles2:05 p.m. 400 Meters2:25 p.m. 100 Meters2:45 p.m. 800 Meters3:05 p.m. 400 Hurdles3:20 p.m. 200 Meters3:55 p.m. 3000 Meters4:10 p.m. 4x400 RelayMini Mountain West
Color this week's All-Women Invitational the mini Mountain West Conference meet as three of the eight MWC schools are slated to be among the five competing teams. In addition to host school San Diego State, UNLV and Utah will get a chance to preview the Sports Deck in advance of the conference meet. Rounding out the field at this week's All-Women Invitational are Sacramento State and Southern Utah.
Endangered Species
Saturday's All-Women Invitational is the first of just three team scored meets San Diego State will compete in during the 2001 campaign. The others are the Cal-Nevada State Championships, April 28-29, and the Mountain West Conference Championships, May 16-19. Last season, the Aztecs also only competed in three team-scored meets.
Out Of The Blocks
It may still be early--the All-Women Invitational is the midpoint of the 2001 season for San Diego State--but the Aztec are showing promise thus far. Through the first five meet of the year, the Aztecs have posted the Mountain West Conference's best mark in 9-of-21 events (400 meters - Promise Mose, 800 meters - Kylie Edwards, 1500 meters - Kylie Edwards, 100 hurdles - Marisa Robinson, 4x100 relay, 4x400 relay, pole vault - Aimee Crabtree, long jump - Aja Frary, heptathlon - Aja Frary).
Soaring to New Heights
After setting a school and conference record of 13-1 1/2 at the Willie Williams Classic in Tucson, Ariz., on March 17, Aimee Crabtree went out and won her second meet of the season in the pole vault with a Percy Beard Track Stadium Record mark of 12-10. Crabtree's vault at the Willie Williams was also an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. In fact, the senior has posted NCAA provisional qualifying marks in three of the four meets in which she has competed this season.
Middle Distance Magic
Though she is yet to set any new personal bests this season, Kylie Edwards appears to be well positioned for a strong run at both the Mountain West Conference 800 and 1500 meters as well as an NCAA berth in each event. Coming out of last week's Florida Relays, the junior owned the conference's top time in each event, running a 2:09.72 in the 800 and a 4:27.00 in the 1500. Her 4:27.00 at the USC Invitational tied a personal best and ranks fourth on SDSU's outdoor records chart.
Doing It All
In addition to being one of the nation's top heptathletes, senior Aja Frary has also shown an ability to score as an individual. Midway through the 2001 outdoor season, Frary has already put up one of the three best times in the Mountain West in the 200 meters, 100-meter hurdles and the long jump. She is also one of the league's best high jumpers. Last week, Frary was strong down the stretch in the Florida Relays heptathlon, winning the final three events and coming up just 83 points shy of taking the title.
We Haven't Seen This In A While
After not competing in the throws a year ago, San Diego State has a legitimate shot of putting up some points in those events this season thanks to redshirt freshman Candace Hill. The Hoover High School product, who spent 2000 at Arizona State, has already elbowed her way into the Aztec record book in the discus with her throw of 145-11.00 in the Florida humidity last week in Gainesville. The throw ranks sixth-best all-time at SDSU and fifth best in the conference this season. The MWC's other top-4 throws in the event all came at altitude, suggesting that Hill could do some damage on even footing at this year's conference meet at the SDSU Sports Deck. She also ranks among the MWC's best in the shot put with a season-best throw of 42-05.25 at the Aztec Invitational.
Keeping Promises
Senior Promise Mose had perhaps her best meet of the season last week in Florida, running a 54.77 in the 400 meters. The time is the fastest at that distance this season in the Mountain West Conference by nearly 1.5 seconds.
Head Coach Ron Sheffield
Now in his 16th year with the San Diego State coaching staff and his 10th as head coach, Rahn Sheffield has played an integral part in rewriting the Aztec track history books. A graduate of SDSU with a bachelor's degree in industrial arts and a champion track competitor himself, Sheffield has gained a reputation as one of the best coaches at taking athletes with raw talent and developing them to their full potential. Since his arrival on Montezuma Mesa, Sheffield's athletes have rewritten SDSU's top ten lists, claiming ten separate school records. The Aztecs also dominated the PCAA/Big West Conference, setting six of eight records in the sprinting events. In 1991, his first year as head coach, SDSU won four events, set three conference records and placed second at the WAC Outdoor Championships. All of this earned Sheffield Coach-of-the-Year honors in the conference. Sheffield's coaching ability has given him worldwide recognition. He has been named one of the top hurdle/sprint coaches four times by the United States Olympic Development Committee. Sheffield's unique hurdling technique, the "rotation", has changed the outlook on hurdling. Using two of his athletes, the Olympic Development Committee compared this technique to the ultimate 400 meter hurdle model. Sheffield's athletes' performance was proven to be superior to that of the ultimate model.