May 9, 2002
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This Week
The San Diego State track and field team will send its distance runners to Saturday's Oxy Invitational in Los Angeles. The event will be held on the Occidental campus and gets underway at 2 p.m. with the hammer throw. The last event of the day is the 5,000 meters, scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. Saturday's meet will be the last of the season for the Aztec distance corp as those athletes will not be traveling to next week's Mountain West Conference Championships. SDSU comes off a impressive performance at last Sunday's Steve Scott Invitational in Irvine, earning 12 top-three finishes.
SDSU Lately
Noting the Steve Scott Invitational
* Paced by hurdler Leslie Miller and sprinter Tonette Dyer, SDSU recorded 12 top-three finishes on Sunday at the Steve Scott Invitational held on the UC Irvine campus.
* Miller took first place in both the 100-meter hurdles (14.46) and 400-meter hurdles (1:01.00). Dyer raced to a first-place time of 24.03 in the 200 meters and placed third in the 100 meters (11.83). Miller also placed fourth in the high jump (5-2.25).
* Melinda Smedley completed a 1-2 sweep of the 200 meters, clocking in behind Dyer at 24.31. Hollann Givens and Jillita Griffin placed 2-3, respectively, in section two of the 100 meters. Givens stopped the clock at 12.12 and Griffin at 12.16. Jini Hogg took the top spot in the 400 meters (53.76).
* Ryan Peters took second place behind Miller in both hurdling events. She ran the 100 in 14.65 and the 400 in 1:02.35.
* The Aztecs' 4x400 relay squad took the gold in their event, coming in at 3:40.55.
* The remaining top-three mark came courtesy of Candace Hill in the discus (146-11.0).
* Three Aztec pole vaulters set NCAA provisional marks. Shayla Balentine led the trio with a fifth-place mark of 12-9.50, followed by Jesika Englebretson, who finished seventh (12-8.25). Patricia Gutierrez placed eighth with a clearance of 12-5.50. All three had set at least one NCAA provisional mark prior to Sunday's competition and Englebretson's height was a career best.
* Other highlights include, Jennifer Stakiw's season-best time of 2:13.21 in the 800 meters and Alicia Stewart's season best of 4:44.03 in the 1,500 meters. Alisha Lasswell also set a season best in the triple jump (35-8.50).
Looking Ahead
The MWC Outdoor Championships will be held May 15-18 in Colorado Springs. The NCAA Outdoor Championships will be held May 29-June 1 in Baton Rouge, La., several SDSU athletes have qualified provisionally for the event.
Leader Board
With the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Championships a week away, several SDSU athletes are listed among the league's top times and marks this season. Five of the conference's 10-best marks in the 100 meters are held by Aztecs, with Tonette Dyer holding the second best (11.77). Dyer also has the league's second-best time in the 200 meters (23.41), Melinda Smedley the third best (23.99) and Jini Hogg the fourth fastest (24.09). Dyer also has the fastest clocking in the 400 meters (52.48). Leslie Miller holds the No. 3 spot in both the 100 and 400 hurdles, with times of 14.00 and 1:00.04 respectively. Miller also holds the league's highest-point total in the heptathlon (5,472). SDSU's 4x100 relay squad has the fastest time in the league (44.77), with the 4x400 quartet being listed second (3:36.82). Pole vaulters Shayla Balentine and Jesika Englebretson are 1-2, respectively. Alicia Stewart and Allison Brown are 2-3 in the 3,000 meters.
Under Consideration
SDSU athletes have set 15 NCAA provisional qualifying marks thus far this season, with the most recent being in the pole vault this past weekend. The Aztecs have set provional qualifiers in the 4x100 and 4x400. Tonette Dyer, a member of both those relay squads, ran an NCAA provisional mark in the 200 meters at the UNLV Desert Classic. Dyer also raced to a provisional time of 53.37 in the 400 meters at the Cal-Nevada Championships and set another in the 400 (52.48) at Mt. SAC. Three SDSU pole vaulters, Shayla Balentine, Patricia Gutierrez and Jesika Englebretson, have cleared a provisional mark at least twice this season. Leslie Miller's 5,472 points in the heptathlon at Mt. SAC was also a provisional mark.
Among The National Leaders
Several Aztecs are listed among the top times and marks in the nation this season. Tonette Dyer's time in the 200 meters (23.41) and 400 meters (52.48) are the 14th and ninth best this year. The team's time in the 4x100 (44.77) is the 20th fastest, to go along with the 24th best in the 4x400 (3:36.82). Shayla Balentine's 13-0.25 mark in the pole vault is 17th best. Leslie Miller's 5,472 points in the heptathlon ranks her seventh.