April 26, 2008
BERKELEY, Calif. - San Diego State's Sherraine Pencil and Kyanna Thomas both qualified for the NCAA West Regionals in the 400-meter dash on Saturday at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational. In all, the Aztecs achieved five regional-qualifying standards on the day and established six personal records in five different events.
Pencil, the team captain, won the 400 with a season-best effort of 24.05 seconds and finished just ahead of Thomas in Heat 1, who clocked in with a personal-record and runner-up time of 54.33. Pencil also raced in the 200 and posted a 2008-best mark of 24.05 while coming in third place.
In the 100, the Aztecs had five athletes advance to the finals with Alicia Lowery running the top time in her heat and the fastest among the SDSU contingent. The senior ran a personal-best, non-wind aided time of 11.97 to finish fourth overall. Like Lowery, Decontee Kaye earned an automatic berth in the final after she won her heat in 12.16. Shana Watson (8th, personal-record 12.07), Alicia King (12th, 12.21) and Jessika Hornsby (13th, 12.25) earned berths in the final as well.
Of the five who qualified for the finals of the 100, only Watson and Lowery competed with Watson crossing the finish line in sixth (12.10) with Lowery coming in right behind her in seventh (12.11).
Briana Johnson led the way for SDSU in the 100-meter hurdles as she continued her recent run of solid efforts by first clocking in with a personal-record preliminary time of 14.20, while finishing eighth. Later in the finals, the freshman swept away her earlier effort and established new PR after she was clocked at 14.02 to finish in fifth. Just last week, the Orlando, Fla., native set a new PR in the event with a time of 14.28 at the Mt. SAC Relays.
In the triple jump, Kaye finished in third with a regional-qualifying leap of 41 feet, 4.25 inches. Teammate and San Diego native Kai Wheeler, meanwhile, set a new season best with a jump of 36-7.50.
In the mid-distance and distance races, Mandy Upuu put up her top effort of 2008 in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:10.41, while Kristin Glen recorded a new personal record with her 4:47.38 showing in the 1,500.
Both Aztec relay teams found themselves among those to qualify for the May regional meet after the 4x100 squad was clocked at 45.38 (3rd) to match a team season best and the 4x400 quartet ran a 2008 outdoor-best 3:39.03 (2nd). For the 4x400 relay, it marked the first time this year that the foursome has qualified for regionals.
San Diego State returns to the track next weekend when it travels to Irvine, Calif., for the Steve Scott Invitational on Saturday, May 3. The meet is the final one prior to the Mountain West Conference Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, beginning May 14.