May. 2, 2005
SAN DIEGO -
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Aztecs To Send Small Contingent to Oxy Invitational in Los Angeles
• In its final meet before the Mountain West Conference Championships, SDSU will send seven student-athletes to this Saturday's Oxy Invitational at Occidental College in Los Angeles. The Aztec contingent will consist of middle-distance and distance runners, some who will be trying for NCAA regional qualifying times.
• Ali Baker, Sara Cates, Emily Joller and Anne Vieira are expected to run the distance events, while Lital Azulay, Nicole Carmier and Lisa Naucler will look to post NCAA regional qualifying times in the middle-distance events.
• The meet is scheduled to get underway at 11 a.m. with the hammer and javelin, while track events are slated for a 3 p.m. start time.
• Saturday's competition will be the squad's ninth meet of the its first 10 in the state of California. The last time the Aztecs travele outside the state was March 24-26 in Gainesville, Fla., when the majority of the meet was cancelled due to excessive rain and thunderstorms.
• Following the Oxy Invitational, SDSU will travel to Fort Collins, Colo., for the MWC Championships and to Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA regional meet. The NCAA Championships will be from June 8-11 in Sacramento, Calif.
Rewind: Six Aztecs Win Events at Steve Scott Invitational
• The San Diego State track and field squad won six individual events at the Steve Scott Invitational in Irvine, Calif., on Sat., April 30.
Senior Shayla Balentine remained undefeated in collegiate competition in the pole vault with a first-place vault of 13 feet, 9 ¾ inches, while freshmen Monica Pacas (12-5 ½) and Christin Shibley (11-11 ¾) took third and fifth in the event.
Sophomore Lital Azulay, competing in only her second 5,000-meter run of the season, won the event with a time of 17 minutes, 16.08 seconds. The time is the ninth-fastest time ever recorded by an Aztec.
Senior Heather Heron posted a season-best time in the 100 hurdles (first, 13.53), and classmate Jennifer Greene (first, 38-7 ¾) and junior Nicole Carmier (first, 5-8 ¾) tied their season-best marks in the triple jump and high jump, respectively.
Sophomore Janine Polischuk won the long jump (18-2 ¼), senior Tori Respass-Parsons was third in the 100 (12.21) and Carmier added a third-place finish in the 800 (2:10.14) for SDSU.
In relay competition, the 400-meter relay team of freshman Brittani Dudley, Respass-Parsons, sophomore Vonnie Fulford and Heron took second with a season-best time of 46.75 seconds.
Flashback: 2004 Oxy Invitational
• In its final pre-conference tune-up, the San Diego State women's track and field squad posted two, top-10 finishes at the 2004 Oxy Invitational in Los Angeles, Calif.
Tina Fodor ran a personal best time of 11:42.09 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to finish fourth overall. Fodor's effort beat her previous best (11:47.05) by almost a full five seconds.
Jennifer Greene in only her second meet of the year, took ninth in the high jump by clearing 5-0 1/4 and also was 15th in the javelin with a season best of 91-11.
Jamillah Titus notched a pair of 17th places in both the 800 meters (2:13.13), and the 1,500 (4:54.20).
Three of the Aztecs five runners notched personal bests in the 5,000 meters - the final event of the meet. Sara Cates came in 20th with a time of 19:04.51, Julie Amster was 22nd in 19:08.10 and Emily Joller had the other personal record with a 27th-place finish in 20:08.34. Christian Fairing was SDSU's top finisher in the event, finishing 19th in 19:00.76.
The Heather Heron Show
• Heather Heron is making the best of her last season on the Mesa, posting the team-best times in three individual events. The senior native of Yakima, Wash., has the top marks in the 200 (24.71), 100-hurdles (13.53) and the 400-hurdles (1:01.64), and the third-best time in the 100 (12.27).
Heron is also a member of two relays with the fastest times - 400 relay (46.75) and 1,600 relay (3:47.41).
Foreign Flavor
• If you look at the SDSU season best lists for the distance running events, you might think you were looking at a performance list outside the United States rather than a SDSU performance list. The top-two marks in the 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 have been run by student-athletes born outside the United States.
A Ljusdal, Sweden native, Lisa Naucler has the top-time in the 1,500 (4:35.32) and the second-best mark on the team in the 800 (2:11.29).
Not to be outdone, fellow Swede Marie Nilsson (Kil, Sweden) has the team's best time in the 3,000 (9:59.65), and the second-fastest clockings in the 1,500 (4:38.95) and 5,000 (17:40.97).
Coastal Carolina transfer Lital Azulay (Holon, Israel) has team's fastest time in the 5,000 (17:16.08) and the second-best time in the 3,000 (10:12.85).
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