May 24, 2012
AUSTIN, Texas -
Senior Whitney Ashley set a Mountain West record in the shot put and qualified for the NCAA Championships to pace the San Diego State track and field team on the first day of the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds Thursday in Austin, Texas.
Ashley finished fifth of 48 entrants with a heave of 55 feet, 5 inches. As one of the top-12 finishers, Ashley qualified for the NCAA Championships (finals) in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 6-9. The 55-05.00 bettered the previous-best MW mark of 54-09.50, set by Colorado State's Loree Smith in 2005, and is the second-best mark in program history. She headed into the meet ranked fifth in the event in the west region.
Teammate Jasmine Burrell also competed in the shot put in and took 32nd with a toss of 48-06.00. The redshirt freshmen came into the weekend ranked in a tie for 41st in the region.
Sophomore Allison Reaser, who is already going to Des Moines after qualifying in the heptathlon, finished 23rd out of 47 starters in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.93 seconds. The clocking qualified her for tomorrow's quarterfinals, which will begin at 7:45 p.m. CT. With 27 athletes now left, Reaser will have to either finish in the top three of her heat or be among the next three fastest to advance to the semifinals in Des Moines. She came into the meet ranked 17th regionally in the 400 hurdles.
Junior Josefine Koskinen was the other Aztec competing on Thursday, but did not advance to tomorrow's quarterfinal in the 800. She finished 41st of the 48 entrants with a time of 2:11.30. Her season-best time of 2:07.87 had her ranked 31st heading into the preliminary rounds.
Ashley and Burrell take their turn in the discus at 11 a.m. CT Friday, while Kelsy Hintz and Holly Waseloff start the pole vault at 1 p.m. CT Friday. Reaser will end the day in one of three quarterfinal heats of the 400 hurdles, starting at 7:45 p.m. CT.
2012 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships (Preliminaries)
West Region - Austin, Texas
May 24, 2012 - Day One of Three
(Top 12 advance to championship rounds in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 6-9, 2012)
800 Meters (preliminaries) (out of 48 entrants)
1. Justine Fredonic (Stanford) - 2:06.07 (qualified for Friday's quarterfinal)
41. Josefine Koskinen (SDSU) - 2:11.30
400-Meter Hurdles (preliminaries) (out of 47 entrants)
1. Kianna Elahi (Iowa State) - 57.37q (qualified for Friday's quarterfinal)
23. Allison Reaser (SDSU) - 59.93q (qualified for Friday's quarterfinal)
(Quarterfinals - 7:45 p.m. CT Friday: Three heats - Top 3 from each heat advance to semifinals in Des Moines, plus next 3 fastest times)
Shot Put (out of 48 entrants)
1. Tia Brooks (Oklahoma) - 60-03.35q (qualified for finals in Des Moines)
5. Whitney Ashley (SDSU) - 55-05.00q (No. 2 all-time at SDSU) (Mountain West record) (qualified for finals in Des Moines)
32. Jasmine Burrell (SDSU) - 48-06.00
(Top-12 finishers overall advance to finals in Des Moines)