April 12, 2002
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This Week
The San Diego State track and field program defends its home turf this weekend when it plays host to the All-Women Invitational on Saturday. Field events are scheduled to start at 9 a.m. with the hammer throw. Track events begin at 11:15 a.m. with the 10,000 meters. The last event of the day is the 4x400 relay, scheduled to start at 3:10 p.m. SDSU will compete against CSU Dominguez Hills, CSU Sacramento, Southern Utah and Utah in the team-scored event.
Also This Week
Four Aztec athletes will not be present at Saturday's home meet, instead traveling to Tempe, Ariz., for the Arizona State Sun Angel Track Classic. Tonette Dyer, Ryan Peters, Jini Hogg and Hollann Givens will compete in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Dyer will run in the 100 meters as well.
SDSU Lately
Noting the UNLV Desert Classic
* The Aztecs' Tonette Dyer set an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 200 meters and Candace Hill took first place in the discus and hammer throw on Saturday in triangular competition with UNLV and Southern Utah at the UNLV Desert Classic. The event was not team scored.
* Dyer ran the 200 meters in a second-place time of 23.41. Dyer's mark is just shy of the school record of 23.40 held by Lori Smith.
*Three other Aztecs paced the sophomore in the event, with Melinda Smedley coming in third (23.99), Jini Hogg fourth (24.52) and Hollann Givens fifth (24.70).
* Dyer, Hogg and Smedley finished 3-4-5, respectively, in the 100 meters. Dyer's third-place time of 11.77 is a season best.
* Hill's first-place distance of 145-3 (44.29m) in the hammer throw was a season best and came on the heels of a first-place 148-1 (45.14m) toss in the discus competition. The graduate of San Diego's Hoover High School also threw to a mark of 43-10 (13.36m) in the shot put, good for second place.
* Shayla Balentine earned her sixth NCAA provisional mark of the year in the pole vault, winning the event with a clearance of 12-8.00 (3.86m). Tricia Gutierrez placed second 12-3.50 (3.75m).
* Alisha Lasswell placed second in the high jump with a mark of 5-5.00 (1.65m).
* SDSU's 4x100 relay team raced to a second-place time of 45.69.
Under Consideration
Tonette Dyer's NCAA provisional mark in the 200 meters this past weekend was the seventh consideration mark set by SDSU this season. Dyer also raced to a provisional time of 53.37 in the 400 meters at the Cal-Nevada Championships on March 30. The Aztecs' 4x100 and 4x400 meter relay teams also qualified provisionally at the Cal-Nevada Meet. Three SDSU pole vaulters, Shayla Balentine, Patricia Gutierrez and Jesika Englebretson have a provisional mark at least once this season.
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 was honored after she competed in four events 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 sixth NCAA provisional qualifying mark of the season in the pole vault this past weekend. Her first-place mark of 3.97 meters (13-00.25) at the Aztec Classic on March 23 was her fourth NCAA provisional vault in as many meets and tied 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 MWC record vault of 3.84 meters (12-07.50). 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. Her personal season-best of 11.83 in the 100 came this past weekend. That time is the third best in the Mountain West Conference and her 23.99 personal season-best time in the 200 meters is the third best by a league athlete this season.