April 10, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State Track and Field Weekly Release in PDF Format
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Aztecs Set to Compete at Prestigious Mt. SAC Relays
The San Diego State track and field team will go from one prestigious meet to the next as it will compete at the Mt. SAC Relays running from April 11-15. The heptathlon will begin April 11-12 in Azusa, Calif., and will be followed by the the rest of the meet in Walnut, Calif., April 13-15. The annual event comes one week after SDSU competed at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.
Sophomore Kristin Olafsdottir will get things underway for San Diego State when she competes in the heptathlon beginning Wednesday. She is one of 16 individuals entered in the event, which will feature last year's runner-up Jackie Poulson, who is a former two-time All-American at Idaho State, and Oregon sophomore Kalindra McFadden, who finished third in the 2006 Mt. SAC heptathlon with a career-best 5,428 points.
Select SDSU student-athletes not participating at Mt. SAC will compete in Long Beach, Calif., for the Long Beach Invitational. The one-day event is set to begin at 10 a.m. PDT.
Next week, San Diego State will stay within county lines as it will take part in the UCSD Invitational in La Jolla, Calif.
Triple Jumping Into Regionals
Last week at the Texas Relays, Shana Watson and Decontee Kaye both qualified for the NCAA regional meet in May in the triple jump. For both, it marked the second straight week in which they posted regional qualifying distances. Watson improved on her fifth-place standing in SDSU history after she established a new personal-best effort of 41 feet, 1.50 inches, while Kaye leaped 40-5.50, her second-best performance of 2007.
Koehler Wins Second Straight MWC Athlete of the Week Award
Last week, Karoline Koehler was named Mountain West Conference Women's Track and Field Athlete of the Week, the league office announced on April 3. The award was the second of her career and the second in as many weeks, making her the first league athlete to earn the honor twice this season.
Koehler helped the Aztecs to their fourth title in the last five seasons in which they competed at the Cal-Nevada Championships with four top-five performances. Koehler finished first in the triple jump with an SDSU school record and NCAA regional qualifying mark of 41 feet, 11.50 inches. The jump is the third best in conference history and is currently tied for seventh best in the nation. In addition, she outdistanced the event's second-place competitor, UCLA's Nicole Duhart (41-4.50), by seven inches. Koehler also competed in the long jump and finished second with a mark of 19-6.25.
In sprinting events, the sophomore from Germany notched season-best times in the 100 (11.83) and 200 (24.61), finishing second and fifth, respectively, while also helping the Aztec 4x100 relay quartet to a first-place finish in a regional qualifying time of 45.61. The relay's effort marked the third straight week in which it posted an NCAA regional qualifying clocking. fying time.
Last Year at Mt. SAC
Last year at the Mt. SAC Relays, San Diego State's heralded freshman class contributed to a highly successful weekend as numerous season and personal bests were recorded by Aztec newcomers at the prestigious four-day meet.
In the heptathlon, Kristin Olafsdottir placed fifth overall and third among collegians after tallying a personal-best 5,402 points, which ranked sixth on the school's all-time list. The Reykjavik, Iceland, native set personal bests in every event, highlighted by first-place finishes in the 100-meter hurdles (14.14) and 800 meters (2:13.75). With her effort, Olafsdottir improved on her NCAA provisional qualifying score and also established a new standard of excellence in her native Iceland, surpassing that country's national record of 5,204 points set by Birgitta Guðjonsdottir in 1985.
Nicole Stone continued her impressive debut as well, claiming two of SDSU's three event titles on the weekend. Stone added her name to the Aztecs' growing list of regional qualifiers after capturing first place in the university/open section of the 400 hurdles with a season-best time of 1:00.72. The Ontario, Calif., native was also victorious in the Olympic development division of the 400 with a season-best clocking of 55.00.
Shana Solomon, meanwhile, rounded out SDSU's freshman parade at the meet after logging a personal-best time of 11.72 in the 100, which ties her for seventh on the Aztecs' all-time list.
SDSU also received season-best efforts from a pair of seniors as Jamillah Titus placed second in the university/open division of the high jump with a leap of 5-5), while Erin Asay cleared 13-2.25 to finish seventh in the pole vault invitational.