April 13, 2004
SAN DIEGO -
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Aztecs Stay In California For Prestigious Mt. SAC Relays
* The San Diego State women's track and field team makes its annual trip north for the 46th running of the Mt. SAC Relays, scheduled for April 14-18 in Walnut, Calif.
Some of the top names in the world will be at this year's meet, including Marion Jones, who is expected to compete in the 400 meters. Over 150 colleges from across the nation will send representatives to the non-team scoring event.
* The action begins with the heptathlon, which will take place at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, Calif., Wednesday at 9 a.m. The heptathlon will conclude a day later, starting at 9:30 a.m.
* The rest of the meet will take place back in Walnut, Calif., at Mt. San Antonio Junior College's Hilmer Lodge Stadium. The running events will be split three ways, with the distance events on Friday, the middle distance on Saturday and the sprints and relays on Sunday.
Dyer's 200 Highlights Trip To Tennessee
* In what has already been a record-setting senior campaign, San Diego State track and field's Tonette Dyer (Shreveport, La.) posted the second-fastest time in the world in 2004, winning the 200 meters in 22.96 last Saturday at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn.
Dyer became the first Aztec to ever complete the 200 meters in under 23 seconds, smashing the previous school record of 23.32, set by former teammate Melinda Smedley in 2002. Dyer's time of 22.96 was a career best (non-wind-aided) by 0.40 seconds and is also a conference record, beating UNLV's Michele Davis' effort of 23.00 in 2002.
Dyer now ranks second in the world in 2004, trailing only Jamaica's Simone Facey (22.71). Her time is the fastest by an American this year (prev. 23.04 - NC Elite's Crystal Cox), the best by a collegian and meets the `B' qualifying standard for this summer's U.S. Olympic Trials.
Dyer received the Tony Wilson Memorial Award at the Sea Ray Relays, given to the athlete of the meet in the women's running events.
* The Aztec 4x200 relay notched the other victory last weekend, beating 16 others with the second-fastest time in school history of 1:33.31.
The team's other two relays also performed well with the 4x100 taking sixth in a season-best of 45.22 (No. 8 in SDSU history) and the distance medley coming in fourth in 11.45.80 (No. 3 in school history).
* Junior Marie Nilsson (Kil, Sweden) continued to make her mark in the Aztec distance rankings, posting the school's best time since 1982 in the 3,000 meters of 9:39.01. Nilsson's time earned her a fifth place, but puts her fourth in the SDSU top 10.
Flashback: 2003 Mt. SAC Relays
*SDSU earned one event title and had five other top-five finishes at last season's Mt. SAC Relays. Then junior Nicole Ireland (Las Vegas, Nev.) won the 400-meter hurdles in 57.30, the second-fastest time in school history. Ireland's time was a season-best by almost two seconds (previous - 59.24) and trailed only NCAA champion LaTanya Sheffield, who owns the school record of 54.64.
*After finishing second in the Olympic Development Division of the 400 meters (52.91), Ireland, along with teammates Bianca McNair (Portland, Ore.), Tonette Dyer and Melinda Smedley, ran the second-fastest 4x400-meter relay in Aztec history, finishing in 3:34.77.
*Dyer and Smedley combined to tally the team's three other top-five finishes. Dyer logged NCAA regional qualifying times in both the 200 (3rd - 23.52) and the 400 (5th - 52.60), while Smedley finished just two spots below her teammate in the 200 with a time of 23.78.
*Other outstanding performances for the Aztecs on the final day of the meet went to Smedley in the 100 meters (t7th - 11.67), Leslie Miller in the 100 hurdles (8th - 14.01) and Jamillah Titus (American Canyon, Calif.) in the high jump (7th - 5-07.00).
*In the meet's final day, SDSU tallied 10 NCAA regional qualifying times/marks and recorded team season bests in the high jump, 100 hurdles, 400 meters, 400 hurdles and the 4x400-meter relay.
*Freshman Shanon Meyer (Hesperia, Calif.) finished seventh in the heptathlon with an NCAA provisional qualifying point total of 5,198. Senior Leslie Miller, placed ninth overall (4,993 pts.) in the two-day competition in Azusa, Calif.
Aztecs Still Prominent In Event Rankings
*With six meets under its belt, SDSU appears prominently in the national performance list, which shows the top times/marks so far in 2004.
Senior Tonette Dyer is the top 200-meter runner in the country with her time of 22.96. She also is seventh in the 100 meters (11.42) and eighth in the 400 meters (52.58).
Junior Marie Nilsson has the second-fastest time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase of 10:23.34, while Shayla Balentine, rounds out the Aztecs in the top 10 with her No. 10 spot in the pole vault of 13-3.50.