SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women's track and field team continues its indoor season with a trip to Washington for the UW Invite. The meet will take place Friday and Saturday at Dempsey Indoor.
SDSU will send a contingency of distance runners and pole vaulters to Seattle. The distance group consists of Vanessa Cabello, Sophia Nevin, Isabella Fauria, Jessica Kain, Alex Lomeli, Maddy Parrone, Eva Rethmeier, and Tatum Zinkin. The pole-vaulting group will be Sydney Ash, Ashley Callahan, Jordan Leveque, Lily Mulligan, and Kayla Tassara.
Friday will see the distance runners compete in the 5,000m race at 3:40 p.m. and the 3,000m race at 6:40 p.m. The pole vaulters will compete at 9 a.m. on Saturday while the distance group is back for the 800m at 10:35 a.m. The Aztecs will have their first relay team in action this season to close out their weekend at 11:35 a.m.
Callahan led the Aztec pole vaulters in the season opener, clearing the bar at 3.97m (13-00.25) to finish fifth overall. She currently ranks tied for ninth in the west region and third in the Mountain West. Behind her, Leveque became the 21st different Aztec to clear 3.82m (12-06.25) doing so in her collegiate debut.
Of the distance runners making their season debuts, Cabello and Lomeli will look to improve on their PRs that rank in the SDSU top ten. Cabello currently ranks second in the 3,000m (10:04.20) while Lomeli is ninth in the 800m (2:12.31).
Aztec Tidbits
• Shaquena Foote and Aji Mbye earned Mountain West weekly honors following their performances in the season opener. Foote was the Women's Track Athlete of the Week and Mbye was the Women's Freshman of the Week.
• Foote broke SDSU's 20-year-old school record in the 400m with a time of 53.50, finishing second overall and first among all collegiate competitors. She also ran the third fastest 200m in program history at 23.47 to win the event.
• Mbye, competing in her first ever collegiate meet, won her heat and finished third overall in both the 60m (7.50) and 200m (24.29) unseeded races. Both times are best by a freshman in the Mountain West this season.
• Charlize James moved into number two on SDSU's all-time list for the 60m hurdles. She finished third in her prelim with a PR of 8.34 to qualify for the final where she bested herself with an 8.23. She finished second overall, and first among collegiate runners, trailing only Team USA's Talie Bonds.
• Hannah Waller competed in two events at the season opener. On the track, she won the 60m preliminary to qualify for the final with the second fastest time (7.26) in program history. She also moved into number three all-time in long jump with a mark of 20-2.5 reaching the finals again.
• Newcomer Xiamara Young posted the eighth best triple jump mark in SDSU indoor history in her Aztec debut. Her jump of 40-11 led the field until Premier Elite's Sela Pastrana's final attempt, forcing Young to take second overall (top collegiate finisher).
• The freshmen duo of Lidia Major and Jordan Leveque made history in their collegiate debuts. Major finished 12th overall in the 600m with a time of 1:37.23, the eighth-fastest time in program history. Leveque posted a mark of 3.82m (12-6.25) in pole vault becoming just the 21st different Aztec to clear the bar at that height.
• Head coach Shelia Burrell, a six-time Mountain West Coach of the Year, is in her 15th season on The Mesa.
• The Aztecs return 22 student-athletes from last year's roster along with 14 newcomers. Of the newcomers, nine are freshmen.
Track and Field Heads to Washington for UW Invite
