March 8, 2008
LA JOLLA, Calif. - The San Diego State track and field team finished its first outdoor meet of 2008 by winning eight events on Saturday at the San Diego City Championships contested on the campus of UC San Diego. In a meet that immediately followed the Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships and precedes the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Aztecs rested many of their key athletes and still logged a second-place finish with 204 points behind champion UCSD (217.50).
Junior Shana Solomon was a double-winner on the day for SDSU after she ran into a headwind in the 100-meter dash and still crossed the finish line in 12.16 seconds. In the 200, Solomon claimed the crown with a time of 24.88, just ahead of senior Alicia Lowery, who clocked in with a second-place time of 24.95. Lowery was also a runner-up in the 100 after clocking in at 12.54. Overall, the Aztecs took seven of the top eight places in the 100 and six of the first seven in the 200.
Freshman Kyanna Thomas made it a clean SDSU sweep of the sprints when she recorded the fastest time among the 10 competitors in the 400 with a mark of 56.84.
Sophomore Darien Buc carried over her impressive 2008 indoor campaign into the outdoor season by winning the 1,500-meter run with a personal-record time of 4 minutes, 42.65 seconds. Buc's effort eclipsed her previous PR accomplished last season at the Claremont Classic (4:49.51) by nearly seven seconds. Other Aztecs to post PRs in the event include junior Kristin Glen (4:52.24), sophomores Stephanie Armstrong (4:56.96) and Makenzie Mabry (4:57.84), and freshmen Michelle Martinez (4:58.57), Sara Cunningham (5:03.27) and Lindsey Deane (5:30.67).
In the 400-meter hurdles, junior Kristin Olafsdottir won the title after she completed the race in 1:01.60. Fellow classmate Corri Campbell-Fell finished in third place with a time of 1:02.25. In the short hurdles, freshman Briana Johnson notched a second-place effort of 14.59.
Much like the sprinting events, San Diego State dominated the pole vault by taking the top six spots. Sophomore Stephanie Bagan, who entered the weekend with the fifth-best indoor vault in the nation, logged the top clearance of 13 feet, 5.25 inches. Seniors Monica Pacas and Christin Shibley, along with junior Dana Jensen, all cleared 12-1.50, while freshman Katie Vo and junior Joanna Burley recorded heights of 11-9.75.
After scoring in the throwing events for the first time in MWC Championship history last weekend, the Aztec throwers continued to impress for the second straight week. Junior Tamara McMillan won the shot put with a personal-record effort of 42-1.25, while freshman Laura Boggeln threw over 40 feet for the first-time ever with a toss of 40-0.50. In the discus, sophomore Michele Dannhausen posted a PR performance of 146-4 to finish in second place. Similar to Dannhausen, junior Andrea Martinez came in second in the hammer throw with a personal-best distance of 155-5.
In the relays, the quartet of Alicia King, Solomon, Lowery and Thomas posted a first-place time of 46.48 in the 4x100, while Thomas, King, Lowery and Amber Waddell came in second in the 4x400 after crossing the finish line in 3:50.13.
Next week, San Diego State will play host to the Aztec Track and Field Classic at SDSU Sports Deck, March 14-15. Other SDSU athletes will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the NCAA Indoor Championships on the same two days. National qualifiers will be released early this coming week.
San Diego City Championships (La Jolla, Calif.)
Team Standings
1. UC San Diego - 217.50 points
2. San Diego State - 204
3. Point Loma Nazarene - 125.50
4. CS San Marcos - 68