June 18, 2013
SAN DIEGO -
The San Diego State track and field team will be well represented across three national championships this weekend.
Junior Allison Reaser and former Aztec Whitney Ashley will compete at the USA Championships, freshman Nicole Oudenaarden will be at the Canadian National Championships and junior Shanieka Thomas will participate in the Jamaican National Championships. All three championship meets will be contested from Thursday-Sunday (June 20-23).
Reaser will compete in the heptathlon at the USA Championships at historic Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, while Ashley is entered in the discus throw. Reaser's two-day heptathlon kicks off Thursday at 2:35 p.m. CDT (12:35 p.m. PDT). Reaser, a three-time Mountain West champion and school-record holder in the event, is seeded 11th out of the 17 entrants with 5,813 points. Day two is set for 2 p.m. CDT (noon PDT) Friday.
Ashley, who won an NCAA title in the discus throw for SDSU at the 2012 NCAA Championships, is slated to get underway with her event at 2:20 p.m. CDT (12:20 p.m. PDT) Sunday. Ashley currently is seeded fourth out of the 16 entrants with a toss of 202 feet, 3 inches (61.64 meters).
The top-three finishers in each event at the USA Championships qualify for the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia, from Aug. 10-18, assuming they achieve the applicable IAAF "A" standard by July 20 or two of the three have "A" standard and the third has reached the "B" standard. There are other possible scenarios, but the easiest way to qualify is to finish among the top three and get the "A" standard, which is 6,100 points for the heptathlon and 203-05 (62.00m) for the discus.
Oudenaarden is slated to participate in both the shot put and javelin throw at the Canadian National Championships at Moncton Stadium in Moncton, New Brunswick. The shot put final is set for 7:30 p.m. ADT (3:30 p.m. PDT) Friday. Oudenaarden is ranked eighth of 17 in the shot put. Oudenaarden, who ranks second all-time at San Diego State in the heptathlon, is seeded seventh of 18 in the javelin throw at 161-07 (49.27m), which gets underway at 6:15 p.m. ADT (2:15 p.m. PDT) Saturday. Three Canadian athletes may qualify for the IAAF World Championships if they get the "A" standard (203-05 (62.00m) in javelin, 60-00.50 (18.30m) in shot put) or a maximum of one athlete if they earn the "B" standard (196-10 (60.00m) in javelin, 56-05.25 (17.20m) in shot put).
Thomas, who earlier this month won a NCAA title in the triple jump, will look to add a national title in the event at the Jamaican National Championships in Kingston & St. Andrew, Jamaica. Seeded second out of an apparent nine entrants, Thomas competes at 6 p.m. EDT (3 p.m. PDT) Sunday in the triple jump. Her mark of 46-05.25 (14.15m) trails only Kimberly Williams' 46-09.00 (14.15m). Thomas will need to get the "A" standard of 47-03.00 (14.40m) to automatically qualify for Moscow.
Results for the national championships will be posted when they become available.
2013 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Drake Stadium - Des Moines, Iowa
June 20-23, 2013
Thursday, June 20, 2013
2:35 p.m. CT (12:35 p.m. PDT) - Allison Reaser, heptathlon - first day (seeded 11th out of 17 entrants with 5,813 points)
Friday, June 21, 2013
2 p.m. CT (Noon PDT) - Allison Reaser, heptathlon - second day
Sunday, June 23, 2013
2:20 p.m. CT (12:20 p.m. PDT) - Whitney Ashley, discus throw (seeded fourth out of 16 entrants at 202-03 (61.64m))
2013 Canadian National Championships
Moncton Stadium - Moncton, New Brunswick
June 20-23, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
7:30 p.m. ADT (3:30 p.m. PDT) - Nicole Oudenaarden, shot put (seeded eighth out of 17 entrants at 46-00.75 (14.04m))
Saturday, June 22, 2013
6:15 p.m. ADT (2:15 p.m. PDT) - Nicole Oudenaarden, javelin throw (seeded seventh out of 18 entrants at 161-07 (49.27m))
2013 Jamaican National Championships
National Stadium - Kingston & St. Andrew, Jamaica
June 20-23, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
6 p.m. EDT (3 p.m. PDT) - Shanieka Thomas, triple jump (seeded second out nine entrants at 46-05.25 (14.15m))