April 11, 2003
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's track and field team recorded the top preliminary time in six of the running events Friday in day one action at the California-Nevada State Collegiate Championships at the SDSU Sports Deck. The Aztecs will have to score all of their points Saturday in the meet's final day after coming up empty through three event finals completed Friday. UCLA currently leads the women's team competition with 26 points, while Cal Poly Pomona is first on the men's side with 15 points.
SDSU captain Melinda Smedley (Stockton, Calif.) led the way for the Aztecs on day one, logging the fastest preliminary time in both the 100 and 200 meters. Smedley's time of 11.65 in the 100-meter race is the third-fastest in school history, a career best and her second NCAA regional qualifying effort in the same event. The senior later logged another NCAA regional qualifying time of 23.80 in the 200-meter race.
Three other Aztecs also finished with the top time in the preliminaries of their respective events. Junior Nicole Ireland (Las Vegas, Nev.) ran the fastest qualifying time in the 400 meters of 54.94 and also advanced to the finals of the 200 and the triple jump. Freshman Jamillah Titus (American Canyon, Calif.) recorded the best time of the day in the 800-meter prelims of 2:09.82, a career-best which moved her into sixth place on the Aztec career top 10 list.
Senior Leslie Miller (Humble, Texas) rounded out SDSU's top individual finishers in the prelims with the best qualifying time of 14.27 in the 100-meter hurdles. The Aztec 4x100-meter relay also opened the day with the team's best time of the season (45.23) and sixth-fastest in school history to advance as the top qualifier.
Overall, San Diego State will send three competitors or more in five different running events to Saturday's finals, highlighted by a four-runner effort in the nine-athlete field of the 200 meters. The Aztecs also logged 10 NCAA regional qualifying times or marks in just the first day of the meet with nine of those coming in the running events. The team's lone regional qualifying effort in the field events came from sophomore Shayla Balentine (Los Osos, Calif.), who advanced in the pole vault after clearing 12-06.25.
Saturday's competition is set to begin at 11 a.m. with the women's discus and men's shotput, while the women's 5,000-meter final is first on the track two hours later at 1:00 p.m. Complete results for the final day of the 2003 Cal-Nevada championships will be available at the conclusion of the meet on www.goaztecs.com.
Men's Team Scoring Through Two Events (Javelin, Steeplechase) 1. Cal Poly Pomona (15 pts); 2. Long Beach State (13); 3. UCSB (10); 3. Occidental (10); 5. Fresno State (9 pts.); 6. La Verne (7); 6. Claremont-Mudd (7); 8. Cal State Fullerton (6); 8. Cal State Los Angeles (6); 10. UCLA (3); 10. Stanford (3); 12. Pomona-Pitzer (2); 13. UCSD (1).
Women's Team Scoring Through Three Events (Hammer, Steeplechase, 3,000 meters) 1. UCLA (26 pts.); 2. Nevada (23); 3. Long Beach State (14); 4. Cal State Northridge (13); 5. Fresno State (11); 6. UC San Diego (10); 6. CSU Dominguez Hills (10); 8. UC Irvine (8); 9. UC Santa Barbara (6); 9. UC Riverside (6); 11. Humboldt State (5); 12. Stanford (2); 12. Cal Poly Pomona (2); 14. CSU Bakersfield (1); 14. Westmont (1).