KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Former San Diego State track and field stars Shaquena Foote and Shanieka Ricketts (Thomas) made the World Championships for their performances at the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA)/Puma Senior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica over the weekend.
Foote capped her SDSU career with a fifth-place finish in the 400 meters in 51.42 seconds in Sunday’s final. The mark qualified her for the Jamaican 4x400-meter relay pool at the World Championships, which are set for Sept. 13-21 in Tokyo. Foote ran 52.38 in the prelims on Thursday, 51.44 in the semifinals on Saturday and then 51.42 in the finals on Sunday.
Foote finished 11th at the NCAA Championships in the 400 on June 12, running a time of 51.40 in the semifinals, just 0.06 seconds short of qualifying for the June 14 final. Foote’s 50.95 set on May 29 in the NCAA West First Round set a Mountain West and SDSU record. Foote became just the second San Diego State athlete to run in multiple 400s at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, taking 17th in 2024 in 52.10 and coming in 11th this year in 51.40. She won the 400 at the MW Outdoor Championships, and both the 200 and 400 at the indoor meet.
“This was a wonderful season for me,” said Foote. “Breaking the indoor and outdoor school record (in the 400), and winning (three) Mountain West titles was an amazing feeling. Then coming out to trials and finishing in the top 5 has been great. It has been a challenging journey, but Coach (Shelia Burrell) and Coach (Alrick Munroe) have been by my side the whole time. I’m grateful for their support. Coach (Burrell) is like a mom to me. She made my experience way better than I expected when I got here. She was always with me and the person I could go to when I was feeling down. She’s been amazing.”
Ricketts, meanwhile, won her seventh consecutive triple jump title at the Jamaican Championships, logging a leap of 47 feet, 7 ¾ inches (14.52 meters) on Saturday. Ricketts was a three-time NCAA triple jump champion (2013-14 outdoor, 2014 indoor) and a two-time runner-up finisher (2012 outdoor, 2013 indoor) with the Aztecs. She is a two-time silver medalist at the World Championships.
Rising senior Anna Mager ran a personal best of 54.19 in the open 400 to take third in the second division of the European Team Championships at Athletic Stadium on Saturday in Maribor, Slovenia. The European Athletics Team Championships is the biennial showdown where Europe’s top athletes compete for their country, earning points based on their finishing position with each country having one entry across 37 disciplines along with the 4x400 relays. Austria finished seventh out of 16 teams in the second division.
Current and former San Diego State athletes will also compete in national events this summer with details to be announced at a later date.