March 29, 2016
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State track and field athletes Ashley Henderson and Bonnie Draxler swept the Mountain West weekly awards, the league announced today. Henderson was chosen as the MW Outdoor Track & Field Women's Track Athlete of the Week, while Draxler picked up the MW Outdoor Track & Field Women's Field-of-the-Week honor.
Henderson went unbeaten over the weekend at SDSU's 38th annual Aztec Invitational, winning the open 100-meter dash on Friday, and the invitational 100, invitational 200 and anchoring the winning invitational 4x100-meter relay on Saturday. All three wins on Saturday were top times in the MW, top-10 marks in program history and top-20 marks in the country.
Henderson began her week Friday by defeating 60 other entrants in the open 100 in a wind-aided time of 11.62 seconds. On Saturday, she first anchored the winning 4x100 relay in the invitational race to a time of 45.03, which ranks first in the MW, 20th in the country and 10th in school history. Next up was the invitational 100, which she won in 11.29, defeating 29 other starters. The time was the fastest in the MW this year, second fastest in school history and tied for the third-fastest wind-legal time (<2.0 mph) in the nation this year (tied for fifth regardless of wind). Henderson ended her fine day by beating 36 others in the invitational 200 in 23.16 into a 1.7 mph headwind, the fastest MW time this season, second fastest in program history and the third-fastest wind-legal time in the country this year (fourth regardless of wind).
It was Henderson's first career weekly league honor.
Draxler, meanwhile, came in third in the invitational pole vault at the same Aztec Invitational. She finished third out of 32 entrants in the event by clearing 13 feet, 8 ½ inches (4.18 meters). Draxler was the top collegian in the invitational pole vault, behind only Kortney Ross and Kristen Brown, former Aztecs who recently competed at the USA Indoor Championships. The 13-08.50 is the top mark in the MW this year and the 12th best in the nation so far.
The weekly accolade was Draxler's second this season (also Jan. 19 during the indoor campaign) and third over her career (also Jan. 20, 2015).
SDSU is back in action this weekend, splitting squads to the Stanford Invitational (April 1-2) in Stanford, Calif., and the California Collegiate Challenge in La Jolla, Calif., on April 2.