Shana Solomon and the Aztecs will compete at the MWC Championships this week.

Aztecs Travel to Texas for MWC Championships

SDSU looks for its second MWC outdoor championship

May 12, 2008

SAN DIEGO -

SDSU Track and Field Weekly Release in PDF Format

Looking at the Week
San Diego State will travel to the Lone Star State for the 2008 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, May 14-17, at TCU's Lowdon Track and Field Complex in Fort Worth, Texas. The Aztecs will be looking to capture their second MWC outdoor crown in the league's nine-year history.

For SDSU, the first two days will feature the heptathlon with Kristin Olafsdottir and Shana Watson competing for the seven-event championship. The first four events will begin at noon CT on Wednesday with the final three set for Thursday at 11 a.m.

On Friday, a handful of field events (trials and finals) will take place, along with the finals of the 10,000-meter run and steeplechase and the qualifying rounds of the running events. Friday action is set to start at 7:30 a.m. with the 10K.

On Saturday, the remaining trials and finals of the field events will be contested beginning with the discus throw at 10 a.m. Then at noon, the finals of the running events will commence with the 4x100-relay taking center stage.

Following the championships, the Aztecs will have two weeks off prior to competing at the NCAA West Regionals.

SDSU at the MWC Championships
San Diego State is the only school, besides Brigham Young, in MWC history to win an outdoor championship in the eight previous years of the league.

The Aztecs won their lone title in 2003 when they earned 217 points, 11 more than the Cougars. Prior to that magical season, BYU won three straight titles from 2000-02 and currently have won four consecutive Mountain West crowns.

This year is the first time the conference meet will be held in Fort Worth.

Below is a look at SDSU's showing at the MWC Championships:

Year	Place (Pts.)	Location
2000	5th (80)	Provo, Utah
2001	3rd (148)	San Diego, Calif.
2002	3rd (119.33)	Colorado Springs, Colo.
2003	1st (217)	Albuquerque, N.M.
2004	2nd (160)	Las Vegas, Nev.
2005	4th (88)	Fort Collins, Colo.
2006	4th (121)	Provo, Utah
2007	3rd (128)	San Diego, Calif.

Upuu Joins List of Qualifiers
Senior Mandy Upuu joined a long list of Aztec regional qualifiers with her 800-meter run effort at the Steve Scott Invitational back on May 4.

Upuu, a three-time regional qualifier, punched her ticket to Northridge, Calif., in the 800 for a second straight year after running 2 minutes, 9.55 seconds to finish the race in third place.

Upuu became the 14th Aztec this season to qualify for the regional meet. It marked the fourth straight year in which at least 12 SDSU athletes made the trip to regionals and the third consecutive campaign in which 14 qualified.

Underclassman Impact
On a team full of juniors and seniors, the Aztec underclassmen have proven to be valuable contributors to this year's San Diego State team.

Sophomores Stephanie Bagan and Dana Jensen have both qualified for regionals in the pole vault and rank first and fourth, respectively, in the conference. In addition, Bagan owns the third-best mark in the nation and has already qualified for the Olympic Trials later this year.

Meanwhile, the freshmen trio of Jessika Hornsby, Alicia King, Kyanna Thomas all have played huge parts in helping the relay teams qualify for the West Regionals. The trio has one time or another run a leg on a qualifying 4x100 relay, while Thomas has the 4x400 relay to her credit as well. In addition to the two relays, Thomas also secured a spot at regionals in the 400-meter dash after placing second at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational in Berkeley, Calif., on April 26.

A fourth freshman, Briana Johnson, has also played a big part as she is the lone 100-meter hurdler on the team. She is just a tenth of a second away from securing a spot at regionals with just one meet left.