San Diego State senior Danae Dyer, a Mountain West Conference indoor champion in the 60-meter hurdles and 4x400-meter relay, as well as a conference outdoor winner in the 100-meter hurdles and 4x100-meter relay, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss competing in the 43rd Aztec Invitational held March 24-26 at the AZTrack Sports Deck, the final home meet of her collegiate career. Dyer explains her rehabilitation from an emergency appendectomy during the indoor season and being able to recover in time to capture her first Mountain West indoor title in the 60-meter hurdles Feb. 26 at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico. She shares how significant a role her faith has played in overcoming obstacles throughout her career and the belief that she would always be able to return to competition this season. Dyer examines the strengths of this year's San Diego State roster and the motivation the Aztecs have to add to their legacy after winning three of the past four Mountain West women's outdoor team titles, along with five in the past eight years overall. She speaks about the veteran leadership of sprinter Jalyn Harris and pole vaulter Kaitlin Heri, and how it will be emotional for all the seniors and graduate student-athletes to be recognized in their final home competition. Dyer shares the pride she has in continuing to build the San Diego State into a regional and national power, and being able to attract programs like Oregon and many Mountain West rivals to compete at the Aztec Invitational, and why the environment and energy at the event is so special. Dyer reflects on the learning experiences that she and her teammates gained following her false start in the 200 meters at the Division 1 West Regional last year at Texas A&M, as well as a disqualification in the semifinals of the 4x100 relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. She speaks about the blessing of having coach Sheila Burrell as a mentor throughout her San Diego State career and her ambition to continue to train with her as a post-collegiate athlete, in order to continue her improvement. Dyer analyzes her potential in the 100 hurdles after running a wind-aided 12.99 seconds to win the conference title last year at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, Calif. She also shares details of her new collaboration with Edge Theory Labs and their personal home ice baths as part of the Name, Image and Likeness platform available to student-athletes, along with revisiting her recent photo shoot with San Diego sports and portrait photographer Allen Vexler.

WATCH THE LIVE WEBCAST OF THE 43RD AZTEC INVITATIONAL, SATURDAY, MARCH 26 WITH RUNNERSPACE +PLUS (MARCH 24 AND 25 EVENTS WILL BE RECORDED FOR ON-DEMAND)