May 14, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas - San Diego State opened the first day of the 2008 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships with juniors Kristin Olafsdottir and Shana Watson competing in the heptathlon at TCU's Lowdon Track and Field Complex. Olafsdottir currently finds herself in fourth place with 3,188 points, while Watson occupies the seventh position after earning 2,949 points.
In the first event of the day, the 100-meter hurdles, Olafsdottir turned in a season-low time of 14.05 seconds to finish in third place. Watson, meanwhile, ran a wind-aided lifetime-best 14.84 and finished eighth.
As the heptathlon moved from the track to the field, Olafsdottir cleared 5 feet, 4.25 inches in the high jump to tie for fourth in the event with Colorado State's Kristen Kugler. Both athletes were just one inch shy of sharing the lead after CSU's Emily Pearson and Katie Lloyd and Sandy Fortner of New Mexico each jumped 5-5.25. Rounding out the event was Watson, who earned 599 points for her ninth-place leap of 4-10.25.
In the shot put, Olafsdottir continued to place in the upper half of the field in each event with her fourth-place and season-best toss of 36-0.00. Prior to today, Olafsdottir's best performance came at the Mt. SAC Heptathlon when she logged a distance of 35-1.75. After the dust settled, Watson found herself just two places behind her classmate in sixth place with an effort of 34-9.75.
With only one event remaining for the day, Watson saved her best for last as she ran a personal-best 24.66 in the 200-meter dash to finish second overall. Similar to Olafsdottir in the shot put, Watson's top 200 clocking came during the Mt. SAC Heptathlon when she placed fourth with a time of 25.27. Olafsdottir, meanwhile, was not that far behind Watson after she crossed the finish line in a season-best 25.37 to log the fifth-fastest time in the field.
Olafsdottir's first-day point total of 3,188 is 126 points better than her performance after one day at the Mt. SAC Heptathlon when she provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. The automatic national qualifying total is 5,500 points.
The final day of the Mountain West heptathlon is scheduled to get underway on Thursday beginning at 11:30 a.m. CT.
Mountain West Conference Championships
Lowdon Track and Field Complex (Fort Worth, Texas)
Heptathlon (after four events)
1. Emily Pearson (Colorado State) - 3,407 points
2. Sandy Fortner (New Mexico) - 3,393
3. Katie Lloyd (Colorado State) - 3,219
4. Kristin Olafsdottir (San Diego State) - 3,188
5. Chelsi Petersen (Brigham Young) - 3,039
6. Meghan Peoples (TCU) - 2,969
7. Shana Watson (San Diego State) - 2,949
8. Kristen Kugler (Colorado State) - 2,820
9. Danielle McCarty (Air Force) - 2,619
DNF. Mindy Robins (Brigham Young)