May 23, 2005
SAN DIEGO -
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NCAA Bids On The Line For SDSU At West Regionals This Weekend
• Four San Diego State track and field members will head to the Northwest this coming weekend for the NCAA West Regional at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. This is the third season that the NCAA is holding regionals as the means of qualifying for the national championship meet, slated for June 8-11 in Sacramento, Calif.
• Other regional meets are scheduled for Oklahoma (Midwest), Indiana (Mid-East) and Manhattan College (East). The west regional consists of 42 division I institutions from the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
• The top-five finishers in each individual event and the top three relays will earn automatic entries to the NCAA meet, while the remaining berths will go to the highest ranking individuals and relays not to earn automatic bids.
The fields at the NCAA meet are expected to be a minimum of 20 for each individual event and 12 teams in each relay.
• The heptathlon (women) and decathlon (men), along with the 10,000 meters are the only events that directly qualify for the NCAA meet and will not be contested at the regional level. Aztec sophomore Janine Polischuk (Regina, Saskatchewan) provisionally qualified for nationals with her 5,050-point total at the MWC championship meet. However, Polischuk's point total puts her 45th on the national list, far from an NCAA qualifying spot.
• On day one of the regional meet, competition for the women begins at noon (field events) and 4 p.m. (track events). The women's discus kicks off Saturday at 11 a.m., while the final event, the 4x400 relay, starts at 6:20 p.m.
And The Line-Up Is ...
• SDSU will send four student-athletes to the meet. The following is an alphabetical list with events:
- Shayla Balentine (Los Osos, Calif.) - Pole vault
- Nicole Carmier (Elk Grove, Calif.) - 800, high jump
- Heather Heron (Yakima, Wash.) - 100H, 400H
- Monica Pacas (Atascadero, Calif..) - Pole vault
• Senior Marie Nilsson (Kil, Sweden) qualified to compete in the meet in the steeplechase (10:51.37), but will not participate due to an injury.
004 NCAA Regionals: A Look Back
• SDSU automatically qualified two individuals and one relay for the national championship meet last year at the NCAA West Regional in Northridge, Calif. The Aztecs finished sixth with 40 points, two places better than 2003.
Tonette Dyer and Nicole Ireland both garnered individual NCAA trips, with Dyer making her third straight appearance and Ireland her fourth. Ireland then ran the second leg of SDSU's 4x400 relay, which qualified for the national championships for the second year in a row.
Dyer won both the 100 and 200 meters, posting a new school and conference record of 11.24 in the 100 in the process. In the 200, Dyer finished in 22.91, almost a half a second better than her nearest competitor, California's Antonette Carter (23.33).
Ireland came in second in the 400-meter hurdles for the second consecutive season, posting a season best of 56.64.
After running the fourth-best time in the preliminaries, the Aztec 4x100 relay of Larnie Boyd, Dyer, Heather Heron and Ireland placed fifth in 44.69, only 0.34 seconds out of first place.
Boyd, Ireland, Heron and Hollann Givens closed out the meet by taking third in the 4x400 with the sixth-fastest time in school history of 3:35.89.
SDSU Fourth at 2005 MWC Meet
• Shayla Balentine and Heather Heron took home first-place honors in the pole vault and 100-meter hurdles, respectively, to lead the Aztecs to a fourth-place showing at the 2005 MWC Championships. The Aztecs had 88 points, just 4.5 points shy of third-place Wyoming (92.5).
Balentine remained undefeated this season in collegiate competition in the pole vault with a first-place clear of 13 feet, 10 inches. She broke her own meet record by 8 ½ inches, set in 2002 (13-1 ½).
Heron won the 100 hurdles with the eighth-fastest time in SDSU history of 13.31 seconds. She also took second in the 400 hurdles (59.09).
Nicole Carmier and Monica Pacas logged third-place finishes in the 800 (2:10.28) and pole vault (12-0 ¾), respectively.
Other highlights on the day included Janine Polischuk in the 400 hurdles (fifth place, 1:01.19), Sherraine Pencil in the 100 (fifth, 12.20) and Christin Shibley in the pole vault (fifth, 11-8).
In relay competition, the 1,600-meter team of Carmier, Larnie Boyd, Heron and Brittani Dudley took second in a season-best time of 3:43.39.
SDSU In The NCAA Event Rankings
• Shayla Balentine is the most notable performer in the NCAA event rankings with her 14-0 1/2 leap in the pole vault at the Azusa Pacific Meet of Champions meet on April 9. The jump is the second best collegiate mark in the nation, eighth in the United States and 19th in the world. The vault also set a SDSU and Mountain West Conference record.
The 2005 indoor and outdoor MWC championship meet winner is also undefeated this outdoor season against collegiate athletes and is ranked second in the latest "Dandy Dozen" poll. The D12 factors in performances in past major competitions (such as conference championships, national championships and Olympic competition), durability and freedom from injuries, demonstrated ability to compete well in multiple rounds of competition, ability in other events, head-to-head competition with other top athletes, and personal or seasonal bests. It is the highest an Aztec pole vaulter has ever been ranked.
Balentine is joined on the NCAA list in the pole vault by Monica Pacas, who is ranked 55th in the nation and 20th in the region with her jump of 12-6 1/4.
Heather Heron is 24th in the nation in the 100 hurdles (13.35) and 33rd in 400 hurdles (59.17). The senior has a good chance of qualifying for the national meet in both events, as she is ranked sixth (100 hurdles) and third (400 hurdles) in the region.
Nicole Carmier is ranked 64th nationally and 16th in the region in the 800 with a time of 2:08.50. She is also 72nd in the nation in the high jump (5-8 4/4) and 17th in the region.