SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State track and field team travels to College Station, Texas, this weekend to compete in the NCAA West First Round at Texas A&M’s E.B. Cushing Stadium. The top-12 finishers in each event will advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held June 12 and June 14 in Eugene, Oregon.
Ten Aztecs are making the trip to College Station where the first round will take place on Thursday (May 29) with the quarterfinals set for Saturday (May 31). The entire meet, including the men’s competition on Wednesday and Friday, will air on ESPN+.
Shaquena Foote enters the weekend ranked eighth in the west region in the 400 meters with a time of 51.42 seconds. Foote has run in two 400 outdoor prelims in the past, taking 17th in 2023 in 52.21 and coming in 12th as the final qualifier in 2024 in 51.85. She also ran a leg of seventh-place 4x100 team at last year’s meet in 43.45 and the 20th-place 4x400 team in 3:36.12.
Jada Pierre, meanwhile, qualified in both the 100-meter hurdles, where she is ranked 14th in 13.12, and in the 100, where she is 41st in 11.43. Pierre has run in a pair of outdoor prelims in her career, taking 15th while running for Virginia in the 4x100 in the 2023 east regional in 44.50 and coming in 44th in the 100 hurdles at last year’s west regional in 15.01.
Both Foote and Pierre are also in the 4x100-relay pool, along with Olivia Hicks, Aji Mbye and Mikaela Warr. SDSU is ranked 16th in the west region in 44.29. Mbye ran on the seventh-place qualifying 4x100 at last year’s meet, and came in 33rd (23.30w) and 46th (11.56w) in the 200 and 100 individual events, respectively.
Pavana Nagaraj is San Diego State’s lone qualifier in a field event and is ranked 21st in the long jump at 20-09.00 (6.32 meters).
Lauren Harper (22nd, 2:05.00) and Sophia Wolf (39th, 2:06.67) both made it in the 800, while Charlize James (27th, 13.29) and Anna Mager (35th, 58.64) qualified in the 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles, respectively. Harper was 46th in the 2022 west regional in the 800 in 2:17.52 and Mager was 18th in the 2023 west regional while competing for Tulsa in the 400m hurdles in 58.76. This is the third straight year that James will compete in the west regional in the 100 hurdles, having taken 22nd in 2023 in 13.54 and 15th in 2024 in a wind-aided 13.19.
More meet information can be found here: https://12thman.com/feature/ncaawest25.
Below are SDSU’s qualifiers for the NCAA West First Round.
2025 NCAA West First Round
Thursday, May 29 and Saturday, May 31
College Station, Texas
SDSU Qualifiers
100 Meters
41. Jada Pierre - 11.43
(First round - 5 p.m. CT (3 p.m. PT) Thursday: Six heats - Top 3 from each heat advance to quarterfinals, plus next 6 fastest times)
(Quarterfinals - 4:35 p.m. CT (2:35 p.m. PT) Saturday: Top 3 from each heat advance to semifinals in Eugene, plus next 3 fastest times)
400 Meters
8. Shaquena Foote - 51.42
(First round - 5:25 p.m. CT (3:25 p.m. PT) Thursday: Six heats - Top 3 from each heat advance to quarterfinals, plus next 6 fastest times)
(Quarterfinals - 4:50 p.m. CT (2:50 p.m. PT) Saturday: Top 3 from each heat advance to semifinals in Eugene, plus next 3 fastest times)
800 Meters
22. Lauren Harper - 2:05.00
39. Sophia Wolf - 2:06.67
(First round - 5:50 p.m. CT (3:50 p.m. PT) Thursday: Six heats - Top 3 from each heat advance to quarterfinals, plus next 6 fastest times)
(Quarterfinals - 5:05 p.m. CT (3:05 p.m. PT) Saturday: Top 3 from each heat advance to semifinals in Eugene, plus next 3 fastest times)
100-Meter Hurdles
14. Jada Pierre - 13.12
27. Charlize James - 13.29
(First round - 4 p.m. CT (2 p.m. PT) Thursday: Six heats - Top 3 from each heat advance to quarterfinals, plus next 6 fastest times)
(Quarterfinals - 4:15 p.m. CT (2:15 p.m. PT) Saturday: Top 3 from each heat advance to semifinals in Eugene, plus next 3 fastest times)
400-Meter Hurdles
35. Anna Mager - 58.64
(First round - 6:20 p.m. CT (4:20 p.m. PT) Thursday: Six heats - Top 3 from each heat advance to quarterfinals, plus next 6 fastest times)
(Quarterfinals - 5:25 p.m. CT (3:25 p.m. PT) Saturday: Top 3 from each heat advance to semifinals in Eugene, plus next 3 fastest times)
4x100-Meter Relay
16. Pool of Olivia Hicks, Shaquena Foote, Aji Mbye, Mikaela Warr and Jada Pierre - 44.29
(Quarterfinals - 5 p.m. CT (3 p.m. PT) Saturday: Top 3 from each heat advance to semifinals in Eugene, plus next 3 fastest times)
Long Jump
21. Pavana Nagaraj - 20-09.00 (6.32m)
(First round - 4:30 p.m. CT (2:30 p.m. PT) Thursday: Top 12 advance to finals in Eugene)
SDSU Track & Field Readies for NCAA West First Round
Aztecs to compete on Thursday and Saturday, while looking to qualify for NCAA Championships next month in Eugene, Oregon.
