SAN DIEGO -- After a weekend off from competition, the San Diego State track and field team is back in action with two meets this week. The Aztecs will have a mid-distance and distance contingent run at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California, from Wednesday through Friday, while the rest of the team will compete at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California, on Friday and Saturday.
Presley Bennett and Maddie Heller kicks things off for SDSU with the 10,000-meter run at 7:30 a.m. PT Wednesday at the Bryan Clay Invitational. On Thursday, Lauren Harper, Sara Jones, Sophia Wolf, Samantha Wood and Tatum Zinkin will run in the 800 at either 2 p.m. PT or 3:50 p.m. PT. Action closes for San Diego State at the BCI with the 1,500, including Harper, Jones, Wood and Zinkin at either 9 a.m. PT or 5 p.m. PT.
The Bryan Clay Invitational is named after Bryan Clay, the Olympic gold medal winner in the decathlon in 2008 after taking silver in 2004. Clay was a four-time World Indoor Championships medalist, winning Gold in 2008 and 2010, and also won the gold medal at the 2005 World Outdoor Championships. Before his Olympic Team success, Clay was a member of the Azusa Pacific men’s track & field teams from 1999-200 where he was a seven-time NAIA champion with one in the decathlon, three in the pentathlon and another three in the long jump. Clay helped lead the Cougars to three NAIA national championships (two outdoor and one indoor) over the course of his career.
The Bryan Clay Invitational is one of the fastest and largest collegiate meets in the U.S. Set next to the stunning Azusa foothills in Southern California, the event promises an electric atmosphere, fantastic weather, and fierce competition. If you're chasing a personal best, a collegiate record, or even a national record, this is the place to make it happen.
At the Mt. SAC Relays, the Aztecs will compete in the collegiate events on Friday with the invitational events set for Saturday. Friday’s festivities begin with the long jump (Maya Gorman and Pavana Nagaraj) at 11 a.m. PT, followed by the 100 hurdles (Mia Reid) at 11:25 a.m. PT, 100 (Olivia Hicks, Aji Mbye and Mikaela Warr) at 1:15 p.m. PT, 400 hurdles (Anna Mager) at 2:20 p.m. PT, the 200 (Laraigh Allen, Hicks, Jada Pierre and Warr) at 3:05 p.m. PT, the 800 (Wolf) at 3:55 p.m. PT, and the triple jump (Alyssa Alumbres) and pole vault (Peyton Bedrosian, Jordan Leveque and Kayla Tassara) at 4 p.m. PT.
In Saturday’s invitational events, Shaquena Foote is set to run the 100 at 1 p.m. PT, Charlize James and Pierre in the 100 hurdles at 1:20 p.m. PT and Mbye in the 200 at 4:05 p.m. PT. SDSU will also run a pair of relay teams, beginning with the 4x100 at 10:40 a.m. PT and then the 4x400 at 4:45 p.m. PT.
The Mt. SAC Relays has been running since the 1959 season, when Hilmer Lodge (who the stadium is now named after) convinced the Mt. San Antonio College Board of Trustees to construct a state-of-the-art track & field facility inside an already beautiful stadium complex. When completed, it was considered one of the fastest all-weather tracks in the world. The composition was of volcanic ash, clay and diatomaceous earth. Lodge’s bold plan to put on a major Relay carnival on the west coast to match those of the well-established Penn and Drake Relays turned into reality. The event has turned into an international caliber event, hosting high school, collegiate and professional competitors each year.
Mbye has the top 100-meter time in the Mountain West this season, running 11.52 seconds at the Aztec Invitational on March 22. Mbye anchored the fastest 4x100 time in the league this year at 44.29, also at the Aztec Invitational. Hicks led off, followed by Foote and Hannah Waller.
San Diego State next heads to Provo, Utah, for the BYU Invitational, April 30-May 1.
SDSU Back in Action at Bryan Clay Invite and Mt. SAC Relays
SDSU to compete at meets from Wednesday through Sunday.
