June 6, 2012
Final Stats | Photo Gallery | Watch Ashley's Throws
DES MOINES, Iowa - San Diego State senior Whitney Ashley won the national title in the discus throw on the first day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Wednesday in Des Moines, Iowa. She became the fourth national champion in program history and the first since 1985 (La Tanya Sheffield (400 hurdles) and Laura DeSnoo (discus throw)).
Ashley defeated 23 other entrants in the discus with a toss of 196 feet, 10 inches (59.99 meters). The mark, which came on her fifth of six throws, was a school record, a Mountain West record and a U.S. Olympic Trials "B" standard mark. The automatic standard is 60.00 meters, meaning she missed the "A" standard by one centimeter. The mark of 59.99 meters, however, almost guarantees her a spot in the trials, which will be held later this month in Eugene, Ore.
"We are extremely proud of Whitney (Ashley)," head coach Shelia Burrell said. "It was an amazing competition to watch. She's worked so hard this year with (assistant coach) Dorian (Scott) and it all paid off today. She was focused, determined and stayed cool under pressure. It's our first national championship since 1985 and a great accomplishment for San Diego State athletics. Since I've been here, we've been trying to take this program to the next level and build an Aztec legacy. Today was a big step in the right direction."
"It was unbelievable," Ashley said. "Once I made finals (after three throws), I just went for it. I was nervous, but I calmed myself down and just let it go. When the throw finally registered (on the scoreboard), I was ecstatic. I cried almost immediately. I know it's a cliché, but I've never really believed that dreams come true until today."
Ashley, who finished seventh at the NCAA Championships last year with a mark of 179-07, set a PR (personal record) on her first throw of 184-05, which ranked second at the time. The 184-05 had her fourth after four rounds, as she followed with throws of 183-11, 169-01 and 175-00. On her fifth attempt, Ashley exploded past Arizona State's Anna Jelmini (192-10) with her record-setting throw of 196-10. For good measure, she finished with a toss of 185-01.
Heading into the weekend, Ashley was ranked sixth of the 24 entrants. She bettered her previous PR of 183-01 an impressive four times on the day. Ashley's not done for the week as she is slated to compete in the shot put at 5 p.m. CT Friday, where she is ranked sixth.
Kelsy Hintz, meanwhile, just missed scoring for the Aztecs as she finished ninth in the pole vault by clearing 13-07.25 (4.15m). Seven others tied Hintz with the mark, but Hintz got the ninth place alone because she had less misses earlier on. Hintz cleared each of her first three heights of 12-09.50 (3.90m), 13-03.50 (4.05m) and 13-07.25 (4.15m), before failing to clear 13-09.25 (4.20m) on all three of her attempts. She came into the weekend with a PR of 13-10.00.
After three of 21 events scored, SDSU sits alone in fourth place with 10 points, trailing Stanford (18.00), Oklahoma (14.00) and Penn State (11.00). Last year, San Diego State totaled two points, which tied for 60th out of the 131 competing teams.
"We came into this meet with some serious scoring opportunities," Burrell said. "We just keep doing what we've been doing. Hopefully this great start by Whitney and Kelsy (Hintz) will motivate Shanieka (Thomas), Allison (Reaser) and Alex (Evans). If we stay focused, anything can happen."
Next up for the Aztecs is Allison Reaser, who begins her two-day heptathlon tomorrow at 1 p.m. CT with the 100-meter hurdles. She'll follow with the high jump (2 p.m. CT), shot put (4:30 p.m. CT) and 200 meters (6 p.m. CT) on Thursday and the long jump (3 p.m. CT), javelin (4:15 p.m. CT) and 800 (6:45 p.m. CT) on Friday. Her 5,653 points, which won the MW Championships, rank her 11th of the 24 scheduled competitors. Last year, Reaser was 18th in the event with 5,165 points. She went onto win the heptathlon at the U.S. Junior Track & Field Championships (5,359) and take fourth at the Pan American Junior Championships (5,162).
Live results for the four-day meet can be followed at http://www.flashresults.com/.
2012 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships (Finals)
Des Moines, Iowa (Drake University)
June 6, 2012 (Day One of Four)
Team Results (Top 5 and SDSU only) (after 3 of 21 events)
1. Stanford - 18.00
2. Oklahoma - 14.00
3. Penn State - 11.00
4. San Diego State - 10.00
5t. Arizona State - 8.00
5t. Georgia - 8.00
5t. South Dakota - 8.00
Individual Results (Top 5 and SDSU only)
Pole Vault (out of 24 entrants)
1. Katerina Stefanidi (Stanford) - 14-07.25 (4.45m)
2. Morgan Leleux (Georgia) - 14-05.25 (4.40m)
3. Bethany Buell (South Dakota) - 14-05.25 (4.40m)
4. Logan Miller (Washington) - 14-03.25 (4.35m)
5. Alexandra Acker (Oklahoma) - 14-03.25 (4.35m)
9. Kelsy Hintz (SDSU) - 13-07.25 (4.15m)
Discus Throw (out of 24 entrants)
1. Whitney Ashley (SDSU) - 196-10 (59.99m) (school record) (Mountain West record) (U.S. Olympic "B" standard)
2. Anna Jelmini (Arizona State) - 192-10 (58.79m)
3. Ashley Hearn (UC Davis) - 190-01 (57.94m)
4. Beth Rohl (Michigan State) - 186-06 (56.85m)
5. Annie Alexander (Tennessee) - 186-00 (56.69m)