Kelly Calligan, Assistant Photo Editor

Senior Erin Asay just hasn’t been challenged enough lately.

The confident San Diego State track standout has coasted to pole vault victories all season – a perfect 4-0 showing during indoor events.

“At track meets I’ve been to, I’m usually the best vaulter going into the meet,” Asay said. “I usually don’t have someone to push me, someone to compete against.”

That was certainly the case at the Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships on Feb. 24. Asay’s opponents were simply outmatched, as she won the event despite only jumping twice.

“Conference was really just a business meet for her,” pole vault coach Richard Fox said. “She went in there, won the meet and did what she had to. She already had the meet won, so she wasn’t trying to prove anything.”

She jumped 13 feet, 4 1/2 inches, almost eight inches below her personal best as she rested her body.

What Asay was preparing herself for – what she was holding off for – was competition.

And she will get the competition she’s been waiting for this weekend, when she travels to Fayetteville, Ark. to compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Asay enters the event at No. 4 in the nation with a vault of 14-feet, 1/2 inches – an SDSU and MWC indoor record.

“I think its good for me to jump against these girls that have jumped a little bit higher than me – because then I have something to shoot for,” Asay said. “I think just having them there is going to motivate me to want to beat them.”

Added Fox: “She is a very competitive athlete. She raises her output to surpass the competitor she’s going against. It’s just a wonderful gift that she has; to be able to bring herself up and make improvements in the heat of competition.”

While Asay is vaulting her way toward what she hopes will be the Aztecs’ first ever NCAA pole vault title, her team will be competing in the San Diego City Championships.

This meet is comprised of other San Diego colleges, including UCSD, CSU San Marcos, Point Loma Nazarene and USD.

“It’s kind of a low-key meet for us,” assistant coach Jennifer Nanista said. “We’re obviously going to try and win everything, but we have people trying a bunch of different events that they haven’t normally done.

“We’re just trying people out at different things before we really get going into the heart of the season.”