San Diego State women’s track coach Rahn Sheffield likes to say the sun doesn’t shine every day. If that’s true, last weekend was slightly overcast.
The SDSU women’s track team traveled to Walnut, Calif., last weekend to compete in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays, a world-renowned track meet. Schools from all over the United States, as well as world-class track clubs, competed.
Although the Aztecs did not get the spectacular results they had hoped for, the results were not bad.
“Overall, everyone did well,” SDSU assistant coach Jennifer Nanista said. “We have a young team, and when you get into this kind of competition, you never know how they’re going to react.”
Freshman Meriah Earle was the highlight of the competition for the Aztecs with her running time of 2:14.48 in the 800-meters, a 3.5-second improvement over her previous time.
Felicia Stone was also a standout for SDSU, setting season-best times in her three events. Her time of 14.12 in the 100-meter hurdles placed her on the top 10 list of fastest times ever run by an Aztec.
Miesha McKelvy, who became an automatic qualifier for the National Championships in the 100 hurdles two weeks ago, turned in a strong performance, although it was not as good as what was hoped for.
“She was just a little off (on Sunday),” Nanista said. “Not that she did bad, but we were hoping for a little bit more.”
Sunday marked the first collegiate loss in the 100 hurdles for McKelvy; she placed third, with a time of 13.37. On Friday, however, McKelvy placed first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.66, which provisionally qualifies her for the National Championships in her third event.
The Aztecs now must prepare for the California-Nevada State Championships next weekend. According to Nanista, several athletes on the team have been scoring fairly consistent marks, which, she said, usually indicates a dramatic improvement is about to occur.
With approximately 25 teams competing at the championship next week, competition will be fierce.
“The girls will see some really good competition,” Nanista said. “Hopefully, this week’s competition will let them know that they need to step it up if we want to do anything.”
