Meet Week Preview
NCAA West Preliminary Championships – May 27 & May 29
College Station, Texas – E.B. Cushing Stadium (Hosted by Texas A&M)
SEC Network Plus (subscription required)
The Aztecs, fresh off winning the Mountain West Outdoor Championships, will have 14 student-athletes competing at the NCAA West Preliminary Championships this Thursday and Saturday at Texas A&M seeking qualification for the NCAA Outdoor Championships (June 10-12, Eugene, Ore.). The meet will follow the same format as the national championships and will be shown on ESPN's SEC Network Plus (subscription required). Thursday's broadcast will begin at 4 p.m. PT and Saturday's will start at 3:30 p.m. PT and will primarily focus on the track events.
For the 100, 200, 400, 800, 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles, there are six heats with nine runners in each. The top three from each heat plus the next six fastest times will advance to Saturday's finals, where the top three from each of three heats will advance plus the next three fastest times qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
In the 1,500m run, where Jessica Kain is competing, the top five from each of the four heats plus the next fastest four times advance to Saturday's prelim finals.
The 4x100m and 4x400m relays will only run on Saturday with the top three from each of the three heats plus the next three fastest times advance to Eugene. The SDSU 4x100m team is ranked ninth and the 4x400m team is 18th.
For the field events where the Aztecs will have competitors in the pole vault (Kaitlin Heri), discus (Jordyn Bryant & Erica Grotegeer), high jump (Jade Cany), triple jump (Simone Johnson) and shot put (Bryant), the top 12 marks advance.
On Thursday, the Aztecs will be competing in the pole vault (1 p.m. PT) and shot put (4 p.m. PT) and in the first round of all individual track events, beginning with Danae Dyer in the 100m hurdles at 4 p.m. PT. On Saturday, SDSU competes in the high jump (11 a.m. PT), discus (11:30 a.m.) and triple jump (1:15 p.m. PT) in addition the finals for all track events including the relays.
NCAA Prelim Notes
- The 14 Aztecs competing at the NCAA West Preliminary Championships is the most SDSU has qualified since 2008.
- This is the sixth consecutive season the Aztecs have had at least 10 student-athletes qualify for regionals.
- This will be the first appearance in the NCAA West prelims for nine of the 14 Aztec qualifiers. Maya Brosch, Erica Grotegeer, Jalyn Harris, Kaitlin Heri and Nyjari McNeil all competed in 2019 (the 2020 outdoor season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Heri and Harris also qualified in 2018.
- The Aztecs will have four athletes running in the 200m dash (Dyer, Harris, Moore & Watt). They last had four competitors in an event in the pole vault in 2019.
- SDSU has had a representative in 22 of the last 23 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
- The Aztecs have had their 4x400m relay team qualify for the last two NCAA Outdoor Championships (2018 & 2019) as well as the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships. SDSU is one of five non-power five schools with a 4x400m team competing.
Mountain West Championship Tidbits
- The Aztecs have won three of the last four Mountain West Outdoor Championships and five of the last eight.
- SDSU's 161 points were their most at a MW Outdoor Championship since 2013.
- Shelia Burrell was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year for the fifth time.
- The Aztecs have finished third or higher in each of the last eight championships.
- SDSU has won three of the last four 4x100m relays and the last four 4x400m relays.
- The Aztecs had seven new entries into the top ten of their outdoor record book and five those were top-five marks: Jada Moore (200m, 23.11, No. 4), Jessica Kain (1,500m, 4:21.87, No. 4), Jade Cany (high jump, 5-09.75), Erica Grotegeer (discus, 182-5) and the 4x100m relay team (44.15, No. 5).
- Kain's time was the fastest by an Aztec since 1982 and Cany's high jump was the best since 1989.
- Jada Moore won three gold medals (100m, 200m and 4x100m) and set SDSU outdoor records for a freshman in the 100.
- Nyjari McNeil set an Aztec outdoor record in the 800m (2:05.34) for sophomores. She now has the SDSU record in the 800 for freshman and sophomores in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.