March 28, 2009
LOS ANGELES - San Diego State captain Nicole Stone ran the fastest 400-meter dash time of 2009 in all of NCAA Division I and in the process qualified for the NCAA West Regionals on Saturday at the Cal-Nevada Championships held at Drake Stadium on the campus of UCLA. Stone was one of two Aztecs to qualify for the regional meet joining fellow co-captain Michele Dannhausen, who secured a spot in the javelin throw.
Stone qualified for Sunday's 400 final by finishing the race in 53.95. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., native also advanced to the finals of the 400-meter hurdles by crossing the finish line in 61.25.
Dannhausen, meanwhile, will join Stone at regionals after finishing in fourth place in the javelin with a personal-record toss of 143 feet, 9 inches.
In the 100 and 200, Karoline Koehler and Alicia King punched their tickets to Sunday's championship heat in both races. Koehler qualified for the 100 after crossing the finish in 11.78 and guaranteed herself a spot among the 200 field with a season-best time of 24.72. King followed suit with her 100 effort of 12.19, which was .01 off her season best, and her 2009-best performance of 24.71 in the 200.
In the 100 hurdles, Briana Johnson continued her strong start to her sophomore campaign by qualifying for the finals with a time of 14.04.
In the finals of the long jump, Kai Wheeler turned in a fifth-place, season-best leap of 18-7.00, while Koehler logged a season-long jump of 18-4.50.
Tamara McMillan posted a personal-record performance in the finals of the hammer throw by placing 10th with a toss of 163-6. Senior classmate Andrea Martinez came in 12th with an effort of 161-1 and Jeanette McConnell scored a PR with a distance of 159-5.
Rachel Williams was another Aztec to post a new PR as she ran the 5,000-meter run in 16:56.49 late Saturday evening, while finishing in third place. Her time was four seconds shy of qualifying for the NCAA West Regionals.
Fellow distance runner Kristin Glen also logged a personal record as she came in 12th place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The senior finished the race in 11:13.37.
Darien Buc was solid in her attempt to qualify for the 800 finals, but fell just short after clocking in with a personal-record time of 2:16.25.
The Aztecs will be back in action on Sunday at 11 a.m.