March 11, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State Track and Field Weekly Release in PDF Format
Looking at the Week
San Diego State, which opened its 2008 outdoor season last weekend in La Jolla, Calif., will stay in the county and play host to the 30th annual Aztec Track and Field Classic at SDSU Sports Deck.
The two-day event that starts on Friday, March 14, will begin at 10: 45 a.m. PDT on Friday and at 11 a.m. on Saturday. All events will take place at San Diego State, with the exception of the hammer throw, which will take place just north of campus at UC San Diego.
In addition to playing host to its only home meet of the season, the Aztecs will send senior Karoline Koehler and sophomore Stephanie Bagan to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Both are set to compete on Saturday, March 15, at approximately 5 p.m. local time.
After a busy weekend, San Diego State will focus solely on the outdoor season as it will travel to Los Angeles for the Trojan Invitational set for March 22.
Bagan Returns to Indoor Nationals
Sophomore pole vaulter Stephanie Bagan will be making her second consecutive trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships after winning her second straight Mountain West Conference indoor pole vault title two weeks ago.
Bagan defended her pole vault title after she cleared 13-8.50, to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships. Her personal-record vault was two inches better than the second-place finisher, was 3.25 inches better than her 2007 championship clearance, ranked as the second-best in MWC championship history, third-best in school history and was the fourth-best effort in the nation.
After becoming the fourth SDSU athlete to win the indoor pole vault, she enters the Championships with the fifth-best effort nationally. Bagan will be looking to improve on her 14th-place finish from a year ago after going into nationals with a No. 17 ranking.
Koehler Jumps Into Nationals
Senior Karoline Koehler will join Bagan in the South as she enters the indoor championships with the 13th-best triple jump in America. Her appearance at indoor nationals will be the first of her career.
Koehler got to this point after she earned all-MWC accolades when she established a new school record and NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 43 feet, 5.00 inches in the triple jump at the Mountain West Indoor Championships.
The senior also provisionally qualified in the long jump at the MWC Championships, but her effort did not rank high enough on the descending order list.
Keeping the Tradition Alive
SDSU has always been one of the elite track and field progams in the nation and its pole vaulters have done their part in helping the Aztecs maintain their status.
With Stephanie Bagan's clearance of 13-5.25 at the San Diego City Championships last weekend in La Jolla, Calif., San Diego State ranks behind just UCLA and Arkansas for the most 13-foot pole vaulters on their top-10 lists.
On a world level, Bagan is representing the Scarlet and Black to the highest level as her 13-8.50 at the conference meet ranks fifth in the NCAA, 19th in the United States and 71st in the world according to trackandfieldnews.com on March 9.
Last Year at the Aztec Track Classic
Last year at the Aztec Track and Field Classic, SDSU qualified four athletes and its 4x100 relay team for the NCAA West Regionals. In a meet that featured no team scoring, the Aztecs won five events on the final day.
In the 800-meter run, Mandy Upuu and Lisa Naucler took the top two spots, while Stephanie Bagan and Dana VanWagner shared the pole vault crown.
Shana Watson was SDSU's only double-winner as she finished in first place in the 100 open and in the long jump. Kristin Olafsdottir (100-meter hurdles) and Decontee Kaye (triple jump) were also victorious on the day.
The 4x100 relay, which consisted of Sherraine Pencil, Shana Solomon, Nicole Stone and Karoline Koehler, crossed the finish line in second place with a time of 45.57.
S.D. City Championships Recap
In a meet that followed the Mountain West Indoor Championships and preceded the NCAA Indoor Championships, San Diego State rested many key athletes and still won eight events and finished in second place at the San Diego City Championships.
Shana Solomon was the lone double-winner for SDSU after she outclassed the field in the 100 and 200. Alicia Lowery competed step-for-step with Solomon as she pocketed two runner-up finishes.
With the 100 and 200 titles already in the Aztec corner, Kyanna Thomas made it 3-for-3 inthe sprints when she won the 400.
For the second straight week, the Aztecs continued to impress in the throwing events as Tamara McMillan won the shot put with a personal-record effort of 42-1.25, while Laura Boggeln threw over 40 feet for the first-time ever with a toss of 40-0.50. In the discus, Michele Dannhausen posted a PR of 146-4 to finish in second place. Andrea Martinez, meanwhile came in second in the hammer throw with a personal-best distance of 155-5.