June 8, 2005
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State track and field coach Rahn Sheffield announced today the signing of six student-athletes to National Letters of Intent for the 2005-06 season. The six - Dana Jensen, Decontee Kaye, Kristin Olafsdottir, Shana Solomon, Nicole Stone and Shana Watson - round out a class of eight who will join the Aztecs in the fall of 2005.
Jensen, the CIF Southern Section champion in the pole vault, comes to The Mesa with the seventh-best jump in California and 17th-highest mark in the nation. The Temecula, Calif., native is also the Chaparral High School record holder in the event, clearing 12 feet, 3 inches.
A native of Union City, Calif., Kaye won both the triple jump and long jump at the North Coast Section championships for James Logan High School, and finished third in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, respectively. She ranks third in the nation in the triple jump with a career best leap of 42-8 3/4, a mark that would put her No. 1 on the SDSU all-time list. Kaye also boasts personal best marks of 19-3 in the long jump and 14.57 in the 100 hurdles.
Olafsdottir (Reykjavik, Iceland) brings an impressive resume to San Diego State after winning the heptathlon at the 2004 Icelandic Championships with the highest point total (4,968 pts.) at the meet since 1985. A former Iceland junior national champion in the heptathlon, triple jump and 400 hurdles, Olafsdottir should continue the Aztec tradition in the heptathlon, where four of the last five Mountain West Conference champions have been from SDSU.
Solomon (Long Beach, Calif.) brings experience in the sprints to San Diego State as a member of national record holding 400 and 800 relay teams for Long Beach Poly High School. Also on the Arcadia meet record holding sprint medley relay, Solomon holds personal bests of 11.86 in the 100 and 24.25 in the 200.
Stone, who hails from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., is ranked third in California in the 400 and eighth in the nation with a time of 54.33. A member of the Cougars' nationally ranked 400 and 1600 relay teams, Stone has also competed in the 300 hurdles with a personal best time of 43.96.
The 2005 Oakland Section champion for Skyline High School in the 100, long jump and triple jump, Watson (Oakland, Calif.) will be a key contributor in a very strong field event 2006 class. She finished third at the state meet in the long jump with a personal best jump of 19-9 and has a best leap in the triple jump of 38-11.