Sharon Ayala led the way for the Fresno State women̢۪s track and field team, as it placed seventh at the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field season.

“Our goal going into the year was to climb the ladder and get better than we finished last year,â€Â said head coach Scott Winsor.

Ayala competed in the weight throw and won her third consecutive WAC title in the event. She won the title on the second day of the competition on her fifth of six throws. The mark that won it was a throw of 62 feet, 11.50 inches (19.19 meters).

“Sharon threw well this weekend,â€Â Winsor said. “She went in knowing she needed to throw well if she wanted to win conference, and she did.â€Â

Jordan qualifies for 400- and 200-meter

As for the rest of the team, only six Bulldogs qualified for the final round on Saturday.

Freshman Latrisha Jordan posted strong marks at her first WAC championship.

With solid performances in the preliminaries, she qualified for both the 400-meter and 200-meter final. Jordan was the only freshman to make the finals in the 400 meter. She ran a personal best of 55.37 to take fifth place in the 400 meter.

“I think [Latrisha] learned a lot this weekend,â€Â Winsor said.

Jordan then came back and got in the blocks again for the 200 meter, where she ran a time of 25.07 to take eighth in the event.

In both events, Jordan was placed into the slower of the two heats as her preliminary times only did enough to get her into the finals.

“She learned how to get through prelims and how important it is to make sure you are in the fast section of the finals,â€Â Winsor said. “She put herself in a bad spot for finals. She ran well and had a personal record, but I think she could have ran faster if she ran in the fast section.â€Â

Close competition in 3,000 and 1,500 meters

Winsor was also pleased with the performances by Roxanne Sellick. The junior competed in the 3,000 meter and 1,500 meter races.

Sellick ran a time of 5:06 to qualify for the 1500 meter finals on Saturday, where she posted a personal best time of 4:58.08 for a third place finish.

Her time was less than three seconds off of the first place runner Erin Stratton of Utah and less than a second behind Allix Lee-Painter of Idaho, who placed second in the event.

“She was a little disappointed in the mile,â€Â Winsor said. “She became impatient and took it out with about 800 meters to go, but didn’t really pick up the pace to top anyone. She knows that she should have held back, but she learned from it.â€Â

Sellick finished the weekend with a fifth place finish in the 3,000, where she clocked a time of 10:10.65.

Shotput qualifies

Kayla Xavier was another Bulldog that stepped up to the plate to score points.

On her final throw of the shotput competition, Xavier threw a personal-best of 48 feet 8 inches to move from eighth to second place.

“Kayla came through big time for us,â€Â Winsor said.

The ‘Dogs totaled 43 points to tie with New Mexico State. Idaho won the meet by one point over Louisiana Tech with a score of 111.

Now that the indoor season has concluded, the women̢۪s team will turn its attention to the outdoor season, where it hopes to see even more promising results.

“They all still have a lot to learn and are still adjusting to what we expect out of them,â€Â Winsor said. “It looks good; the future is bright.â€Â