June 1, 2004
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State track and field will send four individuals and two relays to this month's NCAA championships, slated for June 9-12, in Austin, Texas. The meet will be hosted by the University of Texas at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Seniors Tonette Dyer (Shreveport, La.) and Nicole Ireland (Las Vegas, Nev.) and the team's 4x400-meter relay received automatic invitations to the national meet as a result of their performances at last weekend's NCAA West Regional in Northridge, Calif. The Aztec 4x100 relay and juniors Shayla Balentine (Los Osos, Calif.) and Heather Heron (Yakima, Wash.) earned at-large bids to the NCAAs.
Dyer heads to the NCAA championships for the third straight year and will compete individually in both the 100 and 200 meters. This year will be Dyer's first appearance in the 100 meters and second in the 200 meters, after running the 400 in both 2002 and 2003. Dyer enters the 2004 NCAAs with the top qualifying time in the 200 meters of 22.34 and is tied for the third-best in the 100-meter race (11.24). Dyer is a two-time All-American as a member of the school's eighth-place 4x400 relay (2003) and was ninth in the 400 meters in 2002.
Ireland automatically qualified in the 400 hurdles with her runner-up performance at the regional meet. She is making her fourth consecutive trip and her second straight as an Aztec to the NCAA outdoor meet, after representing the University of Alabama her first two seasons. Ireland has garnered All-America honors in the event each of the last three years with a fourth-place finish in 2003, and 10th and 11th place performances the previous two seasons. Overall, Ireland is already a five-time All-American (also 4x400 in 2004, 4x100 in 2001).
Aztec pole vaulter Balentine returns to the NCAA meet for the second time in the last three years after missing out on a trip by one spot in 2003. Balentine tied for seventh at last Saturday's regional, but earned an at-large bid as a result of her school record vault of 13-03.50 at the Cal-Nevada Championships earlier this season. Balentine ranks 18th nationally in 2004 and was 17th in her first NCAA appearance in 2002.
A transfer from Cal State Northridge, Heron will compete in the 100 hurdles, boasting the 20th-best time in the nation of 13.26, which she logged at the Mt. SAC Relays in mid-April. Heron is two years removed from her first NCAA appearance in 2002, where she advanced to the semifinals of the 100 hurdles.
Dyer, Heron and Ireland will be joined by first-time NCAA participant sophomore Larnie Boyd (Vallejo, Calif.) on the team's 4x100 relay, which has the 16th-best qualifying time of 44.45. Senior Hollann Givens (San Diego, Calif.) will also head to Austin as a member of SDSU's 4x400 relay, which earned an automatic bid with its third place at the regional meet.
SDSU Participants - 2004 NCAA Championships (June 9-12 - Austin, Texas)
Name Event Ranking Among NCAA Qualifiers
Shayla BalentinePole Vault 18th
Tonette Dyer 100 meters Tied for 3rd
200 meters 1st
Heather Heron 100 hurdles 20th
Nicole Ireland 400 hurdles 7th
4x100-meter relay 16th
(Larnie Boyd, Dyer, Heron, Ireland)
4x400-meter relay 17th
(Boyd, Heron, Ireland, Hollann Givens)