April 4, 2002
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This Week
Coming off a third-place finish at last weekend's Cal-Nevada Championships, the San Diego State track and field program heads to Las Vegas for the UNLV Desert Classic. The event will be held Friday and Saturday at Myron Partridge Stadium on the UNLV campus. Competition gets underway on Friday at 4 p.m. with the hammer throw and shot put events. Saturday's schedule begins at 10 a.m. with the javelin throw and concludes at 2:15 p.m. with the 4x400-meter relay.
SDSU Lately
Noting the Cal-Nevada Championships
*A school record and three NCAA provisional qualifying marks were the story of the day for the Aztecs in the final day of the Cal-Nevada Championships in Fresno. SDSU finished in third place with 121 points, picking up 117 points after sitting in ninth place with just four points on Friday. SDSU won the event in 2001.
* The school record came in the 4x100-meter relay as the team of Ryan Peters, Tonette Dyer, Jini Hogg and Melinda Smedley raced to a second-place and NCAA provisional time of 44.77. Saturday's record time surpassed the team of Sheffield, Robinson, Moon and Ross, which ran the event in 45.02 in 1985. The 44.77 time is also a league record.
* The Aztecs' 4x400 relay team of Jini Hogg, Melinda Smedley, Hollann Givens and Tonette Dyer also earned an NCAA provisional mark, placing second with a time of 3:38.31. That time is a season-best and places the team third all-time on the SDSU charts. The time is the fastest MWC mark all-time.
* As if Tonette Dyer's participation in the relay events wasn't enough, the sophomore set an NCAA provisional mark in the 400 meters with a season-best 53.37. She also raced to a time of 23.64 in the 200 meters, second best by an Aztec this season and just shy of the NCAA provisional mark of 23.60. Her time in the 400 meters is the second fastest in MWC history, while the 200 meter time is fourth all-time on the league chart.
* Melinda Smedley placed second in the 100 meters and third in the 200 meters with times of 11.84 and 24.23, respectively. The time in the 100 meters is a season best.
Looking Ahead
On April 18th-21st (Thurs.-Sun.), the program will be in Walnut, Calif., for the Mt. SAC Heptathalon and Relays. On April 27th, the squad will split, with some traveling to the Oregon Invitational and others heading across town to the UCSD Invitational.
Aztec Honors
Sophomore sprinter Tonette Dyer was named the Mountain West Conference women's track athlete of the week for the period ending March 31st. Dyer competed in four events this past weekend at the Cal-Nevada Championships and NCAA provisionally qualified in three of those contests (4x100 relay, 4x400 relay and 400 meters). She is the second Aztec to earn the honor this year, with senior Tricia Gutierrez doing so during the indoor season.
Vaulting To Success
Freshman Shayla Balentine recorded her fifth NCAA provisional qualifying mark of the season in the pole vault at the Aztec Classic on March 23rd. Her first-place mark of 3.97 meters (13-00.25) was her fourth NCAA provisional vault in as many meets and ties her best this season. The 13-00.25 mark places her second all-time in SDSU's record book. The mark also puts her atop the Mountain West Conference's list of bests in the event this season. Included in her four-meet NCAA mark streak is winning the MWC's indoor title at the league championships in February with a 3.84 meters (12-07.50) MWC record vault. Earlier in the indoor season she set the SDSU indoor record in the vault with a 3.90 meter (12-09.50) mark at the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno.
On Pace
Junior Melinda Smedley has placed no lower than third in the 200-meter dash this season. Her second-place finish of 24.24 at the Aztec Classic broke a streak of three straight first-place finishes including a win in an impressive field at the Trojan Invitational on March 2nd. She also has a trio of second-place clockings in the 100 meters, including a season-best 11.84 this past weekend. That time is the second best in the Mountain West Conference and her 24.00 personal season-best time in the 200 meters is the second best by a league athlete this season, placing her behind teammate Tonette Dyer. Smedley also ran the team's fastest times in the 55 meters (7.23), 60 meters (7.66) and 200 meters (24.34) during the indoor season.
2002 Outdoor Bests100 Meters - Melinda Smedley 11.84200 Meters - Tonette Dyer 23.64400 Meters - Tonette Dyer 53.37#800 Meters - Jennifer Stakiw 2:13.30100 Hurdles - Leslie Miller 14.57400 Hurdles - Leslie Miller 1:00.041,500 Meters - Jennifer Stakiw 4:45.743,000 Meters - Alicia Stewart 10:23.073,000 Steeple - Hillery Gemmill 11:36.275,000 Meters - Alicia Stewart 18:13.974x100-Meter Relay - SDSU "A" 44.77#^4x400-Meter Relay - SDSU "A" 3:38.81#Long Jump - M. Schauermann 19-04.25 (5.90m)High Jump - Alisha Lasswell 5-07.00 (1.70m)Pole Vault - Shayla Balentine 13-00.25 (3.97m)#Javelin - Leslie Miller 105-10.00 (32.27m)Shot Put - Candace Hill 43-06.00 (13.26m)Discus - Candace Hill 149-02.00 (45.46m)Hammer - Candace Hill 144-02.00 (43.95m)