March 10, 2007
LA JOLLA, Calif. - The San Diego State track and field team opened its outdoor season on a winning note Saturday by capturing the team title at the San Diego City Championships on the campus of UC San Diego. The Aztecs earned 218 points and were followed by the host Tritons (203.5), Point Loma Nazarene (122.5) and Cal State San Marcos (80).
SDSU won eight events on the day and was led by Dana Van Wagner's lifetime-best clearance of 13 feet, 1.50 inches in the pole vault, which qualified her for the NCAA Regionals. Her performance eclipsed her previous best of 12-6.00 by 7.5 inches.
Other Aztecs to win their respective events were Karoline Koehler (100-meter, 12.00 seconds and long jump, 19-5.25), Shana Solomon (200m, 24.46), Nicole Stone (400m, 55.02), Lisa Naucler (1,500m, 4:39.49), Kristin Olafsdottir (400-meter hurdles, 1:00.59) and the 4x100 relay team of Sherraine Pencil, Solomon, Stone and Koehler (45.96).
Olafsdottir's effort in the 400 hurdles qualified her for the regional meet, joining Monica Pacas, who finished second in the pole vault with a clearance of 12-9.50.
Besides winning eight different events, the Aztecs took the top seven spots in the 200, the top five in the 100, the top three in the 400 and the top two in the 400 hurdles.
In the 800, Naucler (2:17.91) and Jackie Duncan (2:18.05) finished in third and fourth place, respectively, while Celeste Tyson joined Naucler in the top five of the 1,500 by placing third (4:46.67).
In addition, Tyson came in second place in the 3,000 with a time of 10:27.64 with Lital Azulay crossing the finish line in third with a clocking of 10:36.11.
In the jumping events, Wendy Bohn established a lifetime best with a 5-1.00 effort in the high jump, while Shana Watson finished second in the long jump (18-10.00) and the triple jump (38-4.25).
Meanwhile, in the field events, Michele Dannhausen set a lifetime best in the javelin (122-10) and finished third in the shot put (37-8.75) and fourth in the discus (134-8).
San Diego State returns to the track March 16-17, as it hosts the Aztec Invitational at SDSU Sports Deck.