April 28, 2007
California Collegiate Challenge Complete Results
Asics/Steve Scott Invitational Complete Results
BERKELEY, Calif. - San Diego State's Decontee Kaye established a new school record in the triple jump and won the event in the process at the California Collegiate Challenge on Saturday at Edwards Stadium/Goldman Field in Berkeley, Calif. While a majority of its team competed in Northern California, San Diego State also had a group compete at the Asics/Steve Scott Invitational in Irvine, Calif., to complete a busy day of action.
Kaye, who set the school record in the event last season, won the triple jump with a leap of 42 feet, 3.50 inches to surpass Karoline Koehler, who broke Kaye's old mark with an effort of 41-11.50 at the Cal-Nevada Championships in March. Kaye's performance qualified her for the NCAA West Region meet and was a new personal record for the sophomore. Koehler did quite well for herself as well, finishing second (42-2.75), and qualifying for the western meet and setting a new personal best. Shana Watson also got into the act as she came in fifth place with a regional qualifying jump of 40-8.25.
In the sprinting events, SDSU got off to a great start as Shana Solomon (11.85 seconds), Sherraine Pencil (11.86) and Koehler (12.11) all qualified for the 100-meter dash finals to take place later in the day. Much to the Aztecs' delight, all three completed the finals in the top 10 with Solomon and Pencil becoming San Diego State's first two NCAA regional qualifiers of the season in 100 with lifetime-best times of 11.69 (fifth place) and 11.75 (seventh), respectively. Koehler came in eighth with a clocking of 11.85, just .01 seconds shy of qualifying for the regional meet herself.
In the 200, Solomon registered another NCAA regional qualifying performance while finishing in seventh with a time of 23.93. Unlike the 100, Pencil was not as fortunate as she fell just short of regionally qualifying for the meet in May by .03 seconds with a clocking of 23.99 (eighth). Meanwhile, Koehler crossed the finish line in 24.46, setting a new personal record.
Equally impressive were Mandy Upuu and Lisa Naucler as they both regionally qualified for the NCAA meet in the 800-meter run. Upuu posted a runner-up finish with a personal-record time of 2:06.56 (third all-time at SDSU), while Naucler came in fourth with a clocking of 2:09.77. For Upuu, her performance is her third 800 regional qualifying mark and is the second for Naucler.
Kristin Olafsdottir joined the aforementioned group as she notched her second NCAA regional qualifying performance of the season with a seventh-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.65. The sophomore also competed in the 100 hurdles and crossed the finish line in 14.29.
In the relays, the SDSU 4x100 quartet set a new season-low mark and qualified regionally for the NCAA meet with a time of 45.55, while the 4x400 completed the race in 3:43.35.
At the Asics/Steve Scott Invite, Darien Buc continued her strong push toward the end of the season as the freshman ran a personal-best time of 4:51.50 in the 1,500 to finish second in her section.
The Aztecs' final tune-up for the Mountain West Conference Championships will come next Saturday, May 5, when they compete at the Claremont Classic in Claremont, Calif.