April 27, 2007
BERKELEY, Calif. - The San Diego State track and field team completed first-day action at the California Collegiate Challenge at Edwards Stadium/Goldman Field in Berkeley, Calif., on Friday. After one day of competition, the Aztecs posted an NCAA regional qualifying mark in the long jump and had three establish seasonal bests.
SDSU had its best showing of the day in the long jump as three of the four competing Aztecs finished in the top 10 in a field of 29 competitors. Sophomore Karoline Koehler was San Diego State's top performer as she leaped 19 feet, 10.75 inches to finish in third place, posting her second NCAA regional qualifying effort of the season. Classmates Decontee Kaye and Shana Watson rounded out the Aztec top-10 continent as Kaye recorded a personal-best jump of 19-8.00 (6th) and Shana Watson registered a distance of 19-2.00 to finish in ninth. Freshman Kai Wheeler turned in a 14th-place effort with her personal-best jump of 18-5.25.
In other events, freshman pole vaulter Stephanie Bagan cleared 11-11.75 to finish in 10th place just ahead of junior Monica Pacas, who ended the competition in 11th (11-5.75), while sophomore Michele Dannhausen finished 13th in the discus throw with a distance of 136-9. In the high jump, both senior Kristin Karhio and sophomore Kristin Olafsdottir recorded heights of 5-3.00 with Olafsdottir tying a season best.
Senior Celeste Tyson ended SDSU's day by competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase where she completed the race in 11:20.56, to finish in fourth.
San Diego State returns to the track on Saturday when the preliminaries of the 100-meter dash get underway at 10:30 a.m. PDT. The Aztecs will also have a group of athletes competing in Irvine, Calif., at the Asics/Steve Scott Invitational. That meet is set for a 10 a.m. start.