March 30, 2010
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State redshirt junior Stephanie James (Granite Bay, Calif.) has been named the Mountain West Conference women's outdoor track and field athlete of the week, the league announced Tuesday.
James won the pole vault at the Cal/Nevada Championships last weekend on the campus of UCLA to lead the Aztecs to a second-place tie out of 32 teams (28 scoring schools). James cleared an NCAA-best height of 14 feet, 3 ¼ inches to win the 25-person event. The vault of 14-03.25 was just ¼ inch short of her school record of 14-03.50, set in the 2008 season.
The mark leads three other athletes by a full two inches, according to the website TFRRS.org. It is also the second-best mark in the United States and fourth in the world. James' victory came over a healthy dose of competition, including 2010 NCAA indoor All-American Tori Pena of UCLA and current teammate and former Cal 2008 NCAA outdoor national champion Katie Morgan.
A two-time NCAA All-American (2008 indoor, 2008 outdoor) and four-time MWC pole vault champion (2007, 2008, 2010 indoor, 2008 outdoor), James picked up her third weekly award by the league after being selected an indoor athlete of the week on Feb. 9.
San Diego State will send a small contingent of athletes to the Mangrum Invitational at Cal State San Marcos on Saturday.