Aztecs to Open Outdoor Season at Two Meets

SAN DIEGO – The Aztec track and field team opens their outdoor season this Friday at two meets. San Diego State will participate in the San Diego Collegiate Challenge all day on Friday, which will be hosted by UC San Diego. The distance team will also travel to Fullerton, Calif. for the Astro Al Distance Classic on Friday night, with events slated to get underway at 5 p.m. PT.

The Aztecs will have athletes competing across 14 events at the San Diego Collegiate Challenge, while the distance squad will complete across four events at the Astro Al Distance Classic on Friday night. Action will start at 12:00 p.m. PT with the women's javelin and long jump at the San Diego Collegiate Challenge, and 5:20 p.m. PT at the Astro Al Distance Classic on Friday night with the women's 3000m steeple chase.
 
On Friday at the San Diego Collegiate Challenge, the first SDSU events are the javelin and the long jump which will start at 12:00 p.m. PT. Those will be followed by the hammer throw at 1:00 p.m. PT, the pole vault and 100m hurdles at 1:30 p.m. PT, and the 400m run at 1:55 p.m. PT. The Aztecs will also participate in discus at 2:00 p.m. PT, as well as the triple jump and 100m dash, with both slated to get underway at 2:15 p.m. PT. San Diego State will have athletes competing in the high jump at 2:30 p.m. PT, and the 800m run at 2:35 p.m. PT. The final field event of the day for the Aztecs, the shot put, will start at 3:00 p.m. PT. To wrap up the San Diego Collegiate Challenge, the Aztecs will participate in the 400m hurdles at 3:00 p.m. PT and the 200m dash at 3:20 p.m. PT. 

As for the Al Distance Classic hosted by Cal State Fullerton on Friday night, the Aztecs will be competing in four distance events. San Diego State will have athletes take part in the 3000m steeple chase at 5:20 p.m. PT, the 1500m run at 6:00 p.m. PT, the 5000m run at 7:00 p.m. PT, and the 800m run at 8:05 p.m. PT.

Aztec Indoors Recap
• 14 members of the Aztec track and field team earned All-Mountain West honors for their performances at the Indoor Championships.
• Three individuals and one relay team won their respective competitions at the Indoor Championships.
• Sara Absten won the Pentathlon with a personal best 4,039 points, good for third all-time at SDSU.
• Danae Dyer won the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.29, which is a new PR for her.
• Kaitlin Heri also finished first in the pole vault for the Aztecs, who swept the podium in the event.
• The 4x400m relay team also won gold for San Diego State. The team of Sakura Roberson, Jalyn Harris, Rhea Hoyte and Nyjari McNeil set the second fastest time in school history, running 3:37.06.
• San Diego State also finished second overall at the meet with 112.50 points.

Season Preview Notes
• The Aztecs won the Mountain West Outdoor Championship last year with 161 points, their most in the Outdoor Championships since 2013.
• SDSU has won three of the last four and five of the last eight MW Outdoor Championships.
• Head Coach Shelia Burrell won her fifth Mountain West Coach of the Year award last season.
• SDSU won seven gold medals at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships last year. Jada Moore won three golds (100m, 200m and 4x100m relay).
• The Aztecs had 14 All-Mountain West honorees last season and return 13 of them, losing only Maya Brosch (400m hurdles & 4x400m relay) to graduation.
• The SDSU 4x100m relay team qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships last year and all four runners return (Danae Dyer, Tai McDonald, Jada Moore and Aisha Watt). The Aztecs have had a representative in 23 of the last 24 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
 
-SDSU-