May 29, 2004
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State track and field automatically qualified two individuals and one relay for next month's national championship meet Saturday at the NCAA West Regional in Northridge, Calif. As a team, the Aztecs jumped two spots from a year ago, taking sixth overall with 40 points at Cal State Northridge's Matador Track Facility.
Seniors Tonette Dyer (Shreveport, La.) and Nicole Ireland (Las Vegas, Nev.) both garnered individual NCAA trips, with Dyer making her third straight appearance and Ireland her fourth. Ireland then ran the second leg of the Aztecs' 4x400 relay, which qualified for the national championships for the second year in a row.
Dyer was the big winner for the Aztecs Saturday, easily winning both the 100 and 200 meters. The All-American posted a new school and conference record of 11.24 in the 100, beating her previous best of 11.29 and the old conference best of 11.28 held by UNLV's Ayanna Hutchinson (2000). Dyer's time in the 100 is tied for the ninth-fastest by an American in 2004.
In the 200, Dyer ran her fifth sub-23 second race of the year, finishing in 22.91, almost a half a second better than her nearest competitor, California's Antonette Carter (23.33). Dyer still owns the fastest time in the world in the 200 meters this season (22.34) and improved upon her second-place finish at the NCAA regionals a year ago.
Ireland came in second in the 400-meter hurdles for the second consecutive season, posting a season best of 56.64, trailing only UCLA's Sheena Johnson, the reigning NCAA champion, who crossed the line in 54.91. Ireland now has a chance to earn her fourth straight All-America honor in the 400 hurdles, after coming in fourth in the event at the NCAAs in 2003, 10th in 2002 and 11th in 2001.
After running the fourth-best time in the preliminaries, the Aztec 4x100 relay of Larnie Boyd (Vallejo, Calif.), Dyer, junior Heather Heron (Yakima, Wash.) and Ireland placed fifth in 44.69, only 0.34 seconds out of first place, which was recorded by Arizona State (44.35).
Boyd, Ireland, Heron and senior Hollann Givens (San Diego, Calif.) closed out the meet by taking third in the 4x400 with the sixth-fastest time in school history of 3:35.89.
Other individuals competing Saturday for SDSU included Boyd in the 400 meters (8th - 54.14), junior Marie Nilsson (Kil, Sweden) in the steeplechase (27th - 11:20.50), senior Candace Hill (San Diego, Calif.) in the shot put (15th - 47-8.50) and sophomore Jamillah Titus (American Canyon, Calif.) in the high jump (did not place - no height).
The top-five finishers in each individual event and the top three relays from each of the four NCAA regions earned automatic berths to the national championship meet. The rest of the field will be filled by the next highest ranking individuals not to earn automatic berths, leaving the door open for more Aztecs to compete at the NCAAs, slated for June 9-12 in Austin, Texas.
2004 SDSU Automatic Qualifiers For the NCAA Championship Meet
Tonette Dyer - 100 and 200 meters
Nicole Ireland - 400 hurdles
4x400 Relay - Larnie Boyd, Ireland, Heather Heron, Hollann Givens (Dyer will be alternate)
2004 NCAA West Regional Track & Field Championships
Northridge, Calif. - Matador Track Facility - Cal State Northridge
Field Event Finals
High Jump
-. Jamillah Titus No height
Shot Put
15. Candace Hill 47-08.50
Track Event Finals
100 Meters
1. Tonette Dyer, SDSU 11.24 (School record; Mountain West Conf. Record;tied for 9th fastest by an American in 2004)
200 Meters
1. Tonette Dyer, SDSU 22.91
400 Meters
8. Larnie Boyd, SDSU 54.14
400 Hurdles
2. Nicole Ireland, SDSU 56.64
3,000-Meter Steeplechase
27. Marie Nilsson, SDSU 11:20.50
4x100 Relay
5. San Diego State (Larnie Boyd, Tonette Dyer, Heather Heron, Nicole Ireland) 44.69
4x400 Relay
3. San Diego State (Larnie Boyd, Nicole Ireland, Heather Heron, Hollann Givens) 3:35.89