Track and Field announces 45th Annual Aztec Invitational

San Diego State University track and field head coach Shelia Burrell has announced the date, plan, participants, and schedule for the 45th annual Aztec Track and Field Invitational. The three-day meet, which takes place from March 21-23, will once again feature some of the top collegiate teams and athletes in the country and the world.
 
This year's main invitational meet will include 18 NCAA Division I and two Division II teams, as well as unattached and professional athletes that have achieved the Invitational meet performance standards.  The entire meet will take place at the Choc Sportsman Oval/Aztrack on the SDSU Sports Deck except for the men and women's invitational hammer throw which will take place on the campus of UC San Diego in nearby La Jolla on the morning of Friday, March 22.
 
"In spite of being a smaller meet than the 2023 edition, this year's Aztec Invitational will still be packed with high level performances as athletes come to San Diego and try to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships, US National Championships and potentially the Olympic Games this summer."  Burrell said. "This year's meet promises to be exciting and competitive as always."
 
In addition to San Diego State, the university and college competition field will include athletes from Alaska Anchorage, Arizona State, Boise State, BYU, California, Cal Poly Pomona, Long Beach State, Nevada Reno, Northern Colorado, Oregon, Sacramento State, Southern Utah, St. UC Irvine, UC San Diego, University of Colorado, University of San Diego, UNLV, Utah, and Utah Valley.
 
A highlight for this year's meet will be the participation of Decathlon World Record Holder, Kevin Mayer from France.Mayer set the current world record of 9,126 points on September 16, 2018, at the Decastar Meeting in Talence, France — breaking American Ashton Eaton's record by 81 points.  He won gold at the Decathlon World Championship in 2022 but suffered an injury during the 2023 World Athletics Championships. He hopes to strike gold again at the Paris Olympics this summer. Kevin will be accompanied by his French training partners, Benjamin Hougardy (Decathlon), Florian Geffrouais (Decathlon), Floria Guei (200m and 400m) and Aurélie Chaboudez (200m and 400m Hurdles).
 
As is an Aztec Invitational tradition, the meet will also feature a number of Elite Paralympians.

The combined events kick off the meet on Thursday, March 21 with the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon. On Friday, March 22 will be the invitational hammer at UC San Diego while the final day of the multi-events will take place at SDSU during the day. Invitational distance races will be competed at SDSU the evening of Friday, March 22. The invitational meet will wrap up on Saturday, March 23.
 
The final schedule, entry list, heat sheets and meet results will be available incrementally on http://finishedresults.com/ starting March 19.
 
ALUMNI REUNION
San Diego State Track and Field/Cross Country alumni will be holding a reunion after the meet on Saturday on the northeast corner of the track. Alumni should contact Joe Briski at [email protected] for further information.
 
STREAM/BROADCAST INFORMATION
Live webcast and on-demand video of all track events will be available on the RunnerSpace +Plus subscription service.
 
RunnerSpace +Plus Subscription Fees: Monthly Pass - $12.99 billed monthly, cancel anytime
1 Year Pass - $119.88 billed annually ($9.99/mo)
2 Year Pass - $199.92 billed every 2 years ($8.33/mo) 
Go to:  https://plus.runnerspace.com/
 
FAN ENTRY
Thursday and Friday will be free entry for all fans, while tickets for Saturday will be $5 and sold at the ticket office near the track entrance. The ticket booth opens at 8:00 a.m. and accepts both cash and credit cards. Kids 12 and under are free as are San Diego State who show their Red ID.
 
Concessions will be available Friday afternoon during the distance events as well as all day Saturday. All concessions are cashless payments.
 
Parking is available in Parking Structure (PS) 7, located directly underneath the track. There are various parking options available at SDSU. 
 
1)  Purchase a permit on-line ahead of time at the rate of $9/day. If you don't have an account, you can create one at this link: https://aztecs.t2hosted.com/cmn/newuser.aspx. 
 
To purchase a permit, you can use this link: https://aztecs.t2hosted.com/cmn/auth.aspx and follow the instructions. Keep in mind all permits are virtual, which means that your license plate is your permit, so be certain to have your license plate information entered correctly. 
 
2) Pay at the kiosk pay station located in Parking Structure 7, on level 2. Should you come in to the parking structure from 55th Street, you will be entering on the 2nd level. If you enter the structure from Montezuma, you will be entering on the south entrance which is on level 1.  You will need to enter your license plate, as your plate will serve as your permit. Cost is $3/hr per hr for 1-4 hours or $15 for 5-10 hours.  If you pay by credit card instead of cash (no change given), the kiosk can send you a reminder text to extend your time for an additional $0.25 and at the rate of $3/hr.  You can choose to print a receipt.  The receipt does not need to be displayed. 
 
3) PayByPhone.  Instructions are at this link: https://bfa.sdsu.edu/campus/parkingtrans/pbp.aspx 

You will need to enter your license plate.  Cost is $3/hr per hr for 1-4 hours or $15 for 5-10 hours plus $0.35 per transaction fee. 
 
Additional information on parking can be found on this website: http://bfa.sdsu.edu/campus/parkingtrans/ or by contacting SDSU Parking and Transportation Services at (619) 594-6671 or [email protected].
 
See the Aztec Invitational Meet Package at this link for additional detailed information:
https://goaztecs.com/documents/2024/2/22/2024_SDSU_Aztec_Invitational_Complete_Meet_Package_v7_22Feb2023.pdf