Chuk Gawlik, Staff PhotographerTrack and Field
Against some of the steepest competitors in the nation, San Diego State simply couldn’t keep pace at the Stanford Invitational.
Last weekend in Palo Alto, Calif., SDSU failed to record a single event win. The team finished the competition with two second-place finishers and added another athlete to the list of NCAA regional qualifiers.
Senior pole-vaulter Erin Asay nearly earned a victory, matching event-winner Tamara Diles of Washington State with a vault of 12 feet, 11 3/4 inches. However, because Diles reached the winning bar in less attempts, Asay had to settle for second place.
Freshman Decontee Kaye also finished second in the top section of the triple jump, recording a distance of 40 feet, 3/4 inches. Fellow Aztec freshman Shana Watson was nipping at Kaye’s heels, finishing third with a jump of 39 feet, 2 1/4 inches.
Senior Larnie Boyd finished fifth in the top section of the 400-meter race with a time of 54.57 seconds – a time good enough to qualify her for the NCAA regional tournament.
“Overall, I was pleased with our results today,” assistant coach Jennifer Nanista said. “If everyone maintains the high effort level we’ve been competing at lately, we’ll continue to show improvement.”
Women’s Tennis
When SDSU scheduled the match against tennis powerhouse No. 19 Harvard, it meant to bolster its schedule to increase hopes for an NCAA Tournament bid.
And while the Aztecs lost to the favored Crimson in a 4-3 decision, they definitely made a case to the NCAA selection committee.
No. 31 SDSU (11-6) began the competition Wednesday afternoon at the Aztec Tennis Center, and opened with a disappointing doubles point loss. The No. 1 duo for SDSU, senior Dita Hauerlandova and sophomore Sisse Nielsen, defeated Stephanie Schnitter and Eva Wang with a score of 8-6, but the Aztecs could not capture wins in the other two doubles matches.
In singles play, the Aztecs split wins with Harvard. The most surprising of these wins for SDSU came at the No. 2 position from junior Alesya Vidov, who upset 85th-ranked Elsa O’Riain in straight sets.
-Compiled by Staff Writer Andrew Stewart
