SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Western Illinois University sophomore track and field standout Aubrey Martin finished seventh in the shot put at the 2004 USA Olympic Track and Field Trials last night at Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex."I'm really pleased with my performance," said Martin. "I was really excited to make the finals, and it's great to know that I came in ranked 14th and finished seventh."Martin (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) used a heave of 52'02.75" to solidify her seventh place finish. She earned a spot in the finals after throwing a 51'11.75" during the qualifying round on Thursday night.Western Illinois assistant track and field coach and throws coach Ross Richardson knows Martin will be able to use this experience to her advantage. "Aubrey did a fantastic job of not letting the size of this meet overwhelm her," said Richardson. "It's been a long season for her and a lot of great things have happened. She is a phenomenal athlete and her performance this week just shows how much farther she can go in her career."Martin earned a spot at the trials after finishing sixth at this year's NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She hopes to use this experience to help with many of the larger meets to come in her career. "This was an experience that I will take with me," continued Martin. "It will help me with the bigger meets I will compete in in the future.""We set a goal for her to throw better last night, and this just shows that Aubrey knows what it takes to get to the next level," continued Richardson. "It only gets one step higher after this, and we will use her experience at the Olympic trials to push toward that goal."Taking the top three spots in the women's shot put and earning a spot on Team USA was this year's national champion Laura Gerraughty (North Carolina, 60'08.50"), Kristin Heaston (Nike, 59'04.75") and the 2004 outdoor runner up to Gerraughty, Jillian Camarena (Stanford, 58'02.00").