Meet Week Preview
Mountain West Outdoor Championships
May 8-11
Clovis, Calif. | Veteran's Memorial Stadium
Streaming on FloTrack (subscription required)
Aztecs Looking to Defend Outdoor Title
The Aztec track and field team will be looking to defend their Mountain West Outdoor Championship this week at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, Calif. SDSU has won four of the past six outdoor championships, including last years. The meet runs Wednesday to Saturday and will be streamed live on FloTrack (subscription required).
Sara Absten and Asia Smith kick off the meet for the Aztecs, competing in the heptathlon Wednesday and Thursday. Beginning at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, they will compete in the 100 meter hurdles, the high jump, shot put and 200 meter dash before wrapping up Thursday with the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.
On Friday there will be the prelims for all track events and finals for the long jump, shot put and pole vault. Saturday will feature the finals for the javelin, triple jump, discus and high jump as well as all the track events.
Entering the meet, the Aztecs have the top mark in the conference in the pole vault (Bonnie Draxler; 14-09.50) and 4x400m relay (3:37.46). SDSU also has athletes in the top three in the 200 (Callista Fletcher; 23.57), 800 (Nyjari McNeil; 2:06.58), 400m hurdles (Maya Brosch; 1:00.42), pole vault (Kaitlin Heri, 13-11.00), heptathlon (Asia Smith; 5,157) and 4x100m relay (44.85). SDSU has a chance to finish first through fourth in the pole vault, a feat they accomplished in 2015.
The Aztecs will not compete in the hammer throw or any of the distance events.
MWN's @ImTamaraBrown highlights some of the athletes to watch ahead of the 2019 MW Outdoor Track & Field Championships. pic.twitter.com/QxMetXDDvH
— Mountain West (@MW_OlySports) May 7, 2019
Kaitlin Heri Named Mountain West Field Athlete of the Week
Aztec pole vaulter Kaitlin Heri was named the Mountain West Field Athlete of the Week following her first place finish at BYU's Robison Invitational. She cleared 13-11.00 (4.24m), which beat her closest competition by eight inches and topped her previous best mark by 5.75". Her height of 13-11.00 gives her the fifth best vault in SDSU outdoor history. Heri was the second SDSU vaulter to be named MW Field Athlete of the Week - Bonnie Draxler won the award on April 2.
Aztecs Pole Vault, Discus & 400m Squads Rank Top 16 in the Nation
The Aztecs are top 16 in three events in the USTFCCCA Event Squad rankings, which take the average of a team's top four competitors. They are No. 3 in the pole vault with an average of 4.16m with Bonnie Draxler having the No. 2 height in the nation. They are also No. 12 in the 400m with an average time of 54.28 and No. 16 in the discus throw (47.07m average).
Recapping the 2018 Outdoor Championships
Last year the Aztecs entered the final day of the Mountain West Outdoor Championships in 11th place and rallied to win their fourth outdoor championship in the last six years by dominating the sprinting events. The Aztecs took first in all five sprinting events and ended up earning a combined eight top-four finishes in the 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes, including sweeping the medals in the 200 meter dash. SDSU also won their third straight 4x100m relay. Following the meet, Ashley Henderson was named the Most Outstanding Performer and Shelia Burrell was given the Coach of the Year Award.