June 29, 2016
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State will have five representatives at the Olympic Trials over the next few weeks, including current sophomore and 2016 NCAA runner-up Ashley Henderson.
Henderson (200-meter dash), along with former Aztecs Whitney Ashley (discus throw), Kristen Brown (pole vault) and Allison Reaser (heptathlon) will compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., from July 1-10. The top 3 finishers in each event with an Olympic standard will qualify for the Olympics in Rio from Aug. 12-21. Currently Ashley, Brown and Henderson all have hit the standard.
Former three-time NCAA champion Shanieka Thomas also is set for the triple jump at the Jamaican National Senior Championships on July 3.
Henderson will run the 200 meters at her first national championship meet, beginning Friday, July 8 in the first round. The semifinals will follow on Saturday, July 9 with the finals set for Sunday, July 10. Henderson's best wind-legal time is 22.64 seconds in the event, which has her ranked 22nd, however, she has run 22.82 into a 2.5 (meters per second) headwind.
Henderson narrowly missed a title in the 100 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships earlier this month, running a wind-aided time of 10.96 seconds, just 0.01 behind the winner Ariana Washington of Oregon at 10.95. She also anchored the sixth-place 4x100 team to a time of 43.68 in the final two days after setting a school record of 43.55 in the prelims. Henderson also ran a time of 23.30 in the 200 in the prelims to take 11th, finishing with first-team USTFCCCA All-America honors in both the 100 and 4x100, and second-team accolades in the 200. For her efforts, she was named the Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Women's Student-Athlete of the Year. Henderson will compete in the 200 at the U.S. Olympic Trials in July.
Ashley, who won a 2012 NCAA title in the discus throw, will look to add her first U.S. title in the event as well. She has two national runner-up finishes in the discus (2013 and 2015) after taking 22nd at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. Ashley enters the trials with the best mark at 212 feet, 7 inches (64.80m), set last July 6 at the Claremont Field of Dreams Throws Meet. Her best throw this year of 212-00 (64.62m) is tied for the 11th best in the world. The qualifying flights of the discus starts at 4:50 p.m. PT Friday (July 1) with the finals set for 10:45 a.m. PT Saturday (July 2).
Brown has had a huge year, improving on her PR in the pole vault from 14-00.50 (4.28m) in 2014 to 15-05.00 (4.70m) last weekend at a meet at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center. Brown, who graduated in 2015 from SDSU, is ranked in a tie for fifth heading into the U.S. Trials, her first-ever national championship meet. Her best of 15-05.00 is tied for ninth in the world. Qualifying for the pole vault starts on Friday, July 8 with the finals set for Sunday, July 10.
The final former San Diego State athlete in action is current volunteer coach Allison Reaser, who will compete in the heptathlon. Reaser, a NCAA runner-up in the event in 2014, will be participating in her sixth national championship meet, having previous taken first at the Junior Championships in 2011, 15th at the 2012 Olympic Trials, 14th at the 2013 championship meet, seventh in 2014 and 15th in 2015. The two-day heptathlon starts on Saturday, July 9 with the 100 hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200, and ends on Sunday, July 10 with the long jump, javelin throw and the 800.
Thomas finished her SDSU career in 2014 as a three-time NCAA triple jump champion (2013-14 outdoor, 2014 indoor) and a two-time runner-up finisher (2012 outdoor, 2013 indoor). She was a seven-time USTFCCCA All-American and nine-time MW champion. Over her national career, she was third at the 2012 Jamaican Olympic Trials, third at the 2013 Jamaican National Championships, second in 2014. Thomas has world championship experience as well, taking 13th in the event at the 2013 World University Games and 11th last year at the IIAF World Championships. She enters the meet with the fifth-best mark in the world this year at 47-09.75 (14.57m). The triple jump will be contested at National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, on July 3.
2016 U.S. Track & Field Olympic Team Trials
Hayward Field | Eugene, Ore. | Univ. of Oregon
July 1-10 (SDSU athletes / former athletes compete on July 1-2 & July 8-10)
(Top 3 in each event with an Olympic standard mark)
200 Meters (Olympic Standard - 23.20)
22. Ashley Henderson (SDSU) - 22.64
(First Round - 3:30 p.m. PT Friday, July 8)
(Semifinals - 4:40 p.m. PT Saturday, July 9)
(Finals - 5:11 p.m. PT Sunday, July 10)
Pole Vault (Olympic Standard - 14-09.00 (4.50m))
T-5. Kristen Brown (Chula Vista Elite) -15-05.00 (4.70m)
(Qualifying - 3 p.m. PT Friday, July 8)
(Finals - 2:30 p.m. PT Sunday, July 10)
Discus Throw (Olympic Standard - 200-01 (61.00m))
1. Whitney Ashley (Nike) - 212-07 (64.80m)
(Qualifying - 4:50 p.m. PT Friday, July 1)
(Finals - 10:45 a.m. PT Saturday, July 2)
Heptathlon (Olympic Standard - 6,200 pts.)
15. Allison Reaser (Arete Elite Track Club) - 5,990
(Day One - 12:30 p.m. PT Saturday, July 9)
(Day Two - 1:45 p.m. PT Sunday, July 10)
2016 Jamaican Senior National Championships
National Stadium | Kingston, Jamaica
June 30-July 3 (Shanieka Thomas competes on July 3)
Triple Jump
1. Shanieka Thomas - 47-09.75 (14.57m)
(5:30 p.m. CT Sunday, July 3)