June 13, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The San Diego State track and field team wrapped up the NCAA Championships on Saturday with the finals of the triple jump and posted its best team finish since the 1985 season. The Aztecs finished the four-day national meet in 25th place and accumulated 11 team points after Karoline Koehler earned All-America honors for the second time in three days.
A year ago at the NCAA Championships, SDSU finished in a tie for 31st place, which was the program's best showing since the 2005 campaign when it came in 29th. This season, however, the Aztecs end 2009 in the top 25 for the first time since 1985 when they finished in ninth place. Prior to that historic season, San Diego State's best finish was 10th back in 1982.
Koehler, meanwhile, helped bring 2009 to a close with a gutsy performance in the triple jump just two days after injuring her knee in the finals of the long jump, an event she took second in and earned All-America accolades.
The Aztec senior entered Saturday's final with the field's 10th-best preliminary round jump and moved up four spots when the dust settled and finished in sixth place. Koehler, who did not commit a foul on any of her six jumps, posted her top mark of 44-00.75 on her second attempt. With her performance, Koehler earned her third All-America award of the season (indoor triple jump, outdoor long jump and triple jump) and her fourth overall (2008 indoor triple jump).
On a Mountain West Conference level, San Diego State finished in second place among MWC schools trailing only Brigham Young, which finished with 15.50 points and in 15th place. Other league teams to score at Nationals include TCU (35th, 9 pts.), Air Force (t-58th, 3 pts.) and New Mexico (t-70th, 1 pt.). In total, seventy-four teams earned at least one team point.
The Aztecs now enter their offseason on a high note having accomplished something that had not been done in 24 years (finish in top 25 at nationals) and are two weeks removed from their third consecutive top-10 performance at the NCAA West Regional Championships.
NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
McDonnell Field (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Team Standings (top 5 of 74 and SDSU only)
1. Texas A&M - 50
2. Oregon - 43
3. Arizona State - 41
4. Florida State - 40
5. Texas - 36
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25. San Diego State - 11
Triple Jump Finals (top 5 of 12 and SDSU only)
1. Kimberly Williams (Florida State) - 47-02.25
2. Yasmine Regis (Texas A&M) - 45-04.25
3. Sarah Nambawa (Middle Tennessee State) - 45-03.00
4. Shara Proctor (Florida) - 44-11.00
5. Blessing Okagbare (UTEP) - 44-07.50
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6. Karoline Koehler (San Diego State) - 44-00.75