Feb. 11, 2003
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State pole vaulter Shayla Balentine (Los Osos, Calif.) has been named the Mountain West Conference (MWC) Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday.
Balentine set a school indoor record in the pole vault by clearing 12-10, an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, at the Mountain T's Invitational in Flagstaff, Ariz., last Saturday. Balentine beat the previous school record of 12-9.50 set a year ago, which she held with former teammate Patricia Gutierrez. Balentine's mark of 12-10 ranks second all-time in Mountain West Conference history.
The award is the first such honor for the sophomore, who claimed both MWC pole vaulting titles a year ago. SDSU pole vaulters have now earned both of the school's all-time indoor MWC weekly awards, as Gutierrez received the same honor for her then school record-setting performance at the 2002 Pole Vault Summitt in Reno, Nev.
The San Diego State track and field squad continues its indoor season by traveling to the Dempsey Indoor on the campus of the University of Washington on Feb. 15, for its final tune-up prior to the Mountain West Conference indoor championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., Feb. 27- March 1.