May 15, 2009
LARAMIE, Wyo. - Karoline Koehler, the reigning Mountain West Conference indoor long jump champion, won the outdoor version of the event at the 2009 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Wyoming on Friday. Thanks to her winning effort, San Diego State finds itself in sixth place with 24.5 points heading into Saturday and the final day of the meet.
Koehler, who was the favorite to win the long jump going into the Championships, emerged with the title after a leap that covered 20 feet, 9.25 inches, a mark that now stands as the Wyoming facility record. Her regional-qualifying performance was 1.25 inches better than Brigham Young's Mindy Neeley, who finished in second place.
After competing in the long jump, Koehler turned her focus to the sprints where she posted times that qualified her for Saturday's 100- and 200-meter finals. In the 100, Koehler finished in first place in her heat and second overall with a windy personal-record time of 11.47. Roughly 55 minutes later, she took her mark and completed the 200 in 24.55, while coming in seventh.
Joining Koehler in the finals of the 100 will be sophomore duo of Jessika Hornsby and Alicia King. Hornsby posted the field's sixth-best time after crossing the finish line in 11.85, while King logged a time of 11.96. Both marks were windy personal bests. Hornsby will also compete for the 200 crown after recording a season-best and fifth-place preliminary time of 24.29.
In the finals of the discus throw, an event where the Aztecs have struggled to score points in recent years, SDSU picked up 11 team points as a result of Leanne Taylor's third-place finish and Jeanette McConnell's fourth-place effort. Taylor ended the day with a toss of 163-04 and McConnell completed the competition with a personal-record and regional-qualifying effort of 157-11. McConnell also logged a PR in the hammer with a throw that covered 161-06.
In other event finals, Kristin Glen finished in sixth place and scored points for San Diego State in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 13:02.27. Katie Vo also scored after finishing in a tie for eighth place in the pole vault after clearing 11-01.75.
In addition to the aforementioned athletes who qualified for Saturday's championship heats, SDSU had four more athletes advance in their respective events. Nicole Stone enters the 400 as one of the favorites after finishing with the second-best 400 performance (54.27), while Annimari Korte and Briana Johnson will look to take the top two spots in the 100 hurdles after prelim times of 13.89 and 13.95, respectively. In the 1,500-meter run, Darien Buc will look to score points on Saturday after coming in 11th place in the preliminary round (5:05.80).
The MWC Championships will wrap up tomorrow with the festivities set to begin at noon MT/11 a.m. PT.
Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships
University of Wyoming (Laramie, Wyo.)
Team Standings
1. Brigham Young - 64
2. Colorado State - 53
3. New Mexico - 34.5
4. Utah - 34
5. Air Force - 25
6. San Diego State - 24.5
7. TCU - 20
8. Wyoming - 10
9. UNLV - 5