Chuk Gawlik, Staff Photographer

Last Friday, when freshman Decontee Kaye triple jumped 41 feet, 9 3/4 inches, she matched a record that had stood at San Diego State for 18 years.

Kaye’s jump placed her fourth in the event at the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C. – but it was long enough to match former Aztec Gaylen Ames’ record-setting jump from 1988.

At the same time as Ames’ jump, the No. 1 song in the country was “Need You Tonight” by INXS, and movie patrons were flocking to theaters to see Bruce Willis in “Die Hard.”

Meanwhile, Kaye was still in diapers.

Despite the impressive performance, Kaye’s coaches stressed that this is merely a starting point, not a finish line.

“The biggest thing with (Kaye) is that she’s starting to understand what (she needs to do) to be competitive,” assistant coach Michael LoBue said. “She is responding well to her training and just getting over the whole ‘being a freshman’ thing right now.”

However, Kaye doesn’t seem as impressed with her mark as her coaches were.

“Forty-one, nine is a good mark, but it’s not really what I was looking forward to,” Kaye said. “I’m shooting for (43-feet), and that should get me close (for a bid) to nationals.”

Added LoBue: “I think that she could be a (43-foot) triple jumper pretty easily. I think she has that in her, and I think being consistent at that mark in the coming weeks could be something realistic for her.”

Also in the triple jump, fellow freshman Shana Watson had a personal record for the third meet in a row, placing 10th overall with a jump of 39 feet, 11 1/4 inches.

“(Kaye and Watson) feed off of each other pretty well,” LoBue said. “They’re phenomenal training partners. Both of them are starting to gain a lot of momentum in the triple jump, and I think that’s due to their great training environment.”