There must be something about the Southern California atmosphere that Arizona's women throwers love.

Led by junior Kelli Burton, the group tallied 11 new or improved regional qualifying performances at two separate meets this weekend, the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., and the Long Beach Invitational in Long Beach, Calif.

"It's one of those types of meets where it was a good meet, and a lot of good things happened, but not a lot of great things," said Arizona head coach Fred Harvey.

"With the roll that we've been on, you want to see a lot of those great things happen all the time," he said. "Realistically, that's not the case."

Saturday, Burton placed first in the women's shot put (50 feet, 2 3/4 inches) and fourth in the hammer (183). Both marks will send her to Eugene, Ore., May 27-28 for the NCAA West Region Championships.

Burton improved upon her performance in the hammer throw at the Mt. SAC Relays yesterday, placing 12th with a throw of 187-9.

Another bright spot for the women was freshman Megan Howard, who placed second in the shot put (49-9) Saturday in Long Beach and won the same event yesterday in Walnut (49-05 1/2). The former mark qualifies her for the regional championships.

Senior Ilona Rutjes won the discus in Long Beach with a throw of 185-2 and placed third in the shot put (49-5 3/4). The marks send her to Eugene.

On the men's side, junior distance runner Robert Cheseret dominated the 10,000-meter, automatically qualifying himself for the regional championships with a time of 28:33.24.

Even though Harvey called Cheseret's race the "performance of the meet," he said that there is still much room for improvement.

"He was very comfortable, (and he) ran really well, but it wasn't - as crazy as it sounds - a super, super performance," Harvey said. "That was far from his best race."

The hurdling duo of Dan Cook and Jeff Hunter got into the qualifying mix as well, as Cook pulled his weight in the 110 hurdles and Hunter in the 400 hurdles.

Placing fourth with a personal-record time of 14.21, Cook ensured himself a trip to the West Regionals.

Hunter qualified by placing 12th in 52.16.

Two other men qualified as well at the Mt. SAC Relays - senior distance runner Joshua Ludwig in the 3,000 steeplechase (8:58.97) and sophomore thrower Adam Kuehl in the shot put (56-6).

Harvey said all of the repeat qualifying performances are essential for athletes as they continue the season.

"Consistency is everything," he said. "If you're not consistent, then chances are you're not going to do anything at the championship meet."

The teams get some time off to prepare for their dual-meet with ASU and NAU April 30, though some throwers will travel to La Jolla, Calif., for the Triton Invitational Saturday.

Rest or no rest, Harvey said, his athletes will be ready to compete.

"We know at this stage of the game that it is towards the tail end of the season, so we have to start peaking," he said.