March 14, 2007
SAN DIEGO - AZTEC INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS | AZTEC INVITATIONAL PERFORMANCE LIST
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SDSU Track and Field Set to Play Host to Aztec Invitational
After opening its outdoor season with a victory at the San Diego City Championships, San Diego State will stay in "America's Finest City" to play host to the annual Aztec Invitational this Friday-Saturday, March 16-17. The meet will take place at SDSU Sports Deck with Friday's action getting underway at 10 a.m. PDT, while Saturday's events commence at 11 a.m.
The Aztecs head into its home invitational with plenty of momentum after taking home the City crown in La Jolla, Calif., a week ago. San Diego State earned 218 points to finish ahead of second-place and host school UC San Diego (203.5 points), Point Loma Nazarene (122.5) and Cal State San Marcos (101.5). On the day, the Aztecs won eight events, established three lifetime bests and qualified three for the NCAA regional meet in May.
Next up for SDSU is a trip to Los Angeles, where it will compete at the Trojan Invitational hosted by the University of Southern California. The invite is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
Bagan Finishes 14th at NCAA Indoor Championships
With the rest of her teammates competing at the San Diego City Championships, freshman Stephanie Bagan was in Fayetteville, Ark., at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships as a competitor in the pole vault. One of just three freshman in a field of 17, she placed second among classmates en route to a 14th overall finish. The Granite Bay, Calif., native cleared 13 feet, 1.50 inches after earning a spot in the field thanks to her Mountain West Conference winning vault of 13-5.25.
Van Wagner Sets New Personal Best
Senior Dana Van Wagner brought her `A' game with her to La Jolla last weekend as she not only won the pole vault, but also shattered her previous lifetime best. A native of Sparr, Fla., Van Wagner cleared 13-1.50 to finish first and surpassed her previous best vault of 12-6.00, by 7.5 inches. Her performance also moved her up from eighth into fourth place on SDSU's all-time performance list. Among all conference pole vaulters, Van Wagner trails only Bagan for the top clearance in both indoor and outdoor track and field.
Aztecs at the Top
In six events at the San Diego City Championships, San Diego State placed at least two individuals in first and second place. That in itself is impressive, but the fact that SDSU had the top seven finishers in the 200-meter dash, the top five in the 100 and the top three in both the 400 and pole vault makes it sound that much more impressive.
Punching Their Ticket
In the first outdoor meet of the season, San Diego State had three Aztecs regionally qualify for the NCAA West Regionals set for May 25-26 in Eugene, Ore. Pole vaulters Dana Van Wagner and Monica Pacas along with Kristin Olafsdottir in the 400-meter hurdles were the three to qualify. This comes on the heels of an indoor season in which it had only four athletes provisionally qualify for nationals with Stephanie Bagan being the lone Aztec to move on.
Three-Time Winner
Karoline Koehler keeps trucking along in her first year on campus as she was victorious in three events last Saturday. The sophomore turned in first-place efforts in the 100 with a time of 12.00 seconds, in the long jump (19-5.25) and ran with the 4x100 relay winning team that crossed the finish line first (45.96). Her three wins was tops on the team, just ahead of Shana Solomon (200 and 4x100) and Nicole Stone's two victories (400 and 4x100).
A Look Back: 2006 Aztec Invitational
The 2006 Aztec Invitational featured impressive performances across the board from San Diego State athletes. On day one of the invite, SDSU captured five event titles and was highlighted by Aztec performances in the 400. Sherraine Pencil won the 400 and was followed in succession by Larnie Boyd, Mandy Upuu and Raquel Butler, while Lisa Naucler led the way in the 1,500. Celeste Tyson won the 800 and Corri Campbell-Fell and Shana Solomon tied for first with a time of 15.19 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles. The remaining two event championships went to Nicole Stone in the 400 hurdles and Lisa Crampton in the steeplechase.
The second day of action saw the Aztecs win eight events after the field withstood periodic rain showers throughout the day. SDSU was particularly good in the field events as it took six of seven individual titles. Erin Asay led the way with an NCAA regional qualifying mark in the pole vault en route to a first-place finish. Other field event winners included Decontee Kaye (triple jump), Shana Watson (long jump), Nicole Carmier (high jump) and Leanne Taylor (shot put, discus). On the track, San Diego State received victories from Stone (400) and Upuu (800), while Kristin Olafsdottir logged a regional qualifying mark in the 400 hurdles.