Oct. 23, 2001
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This Week
Following a week off, the San Diego State cross country team travels to Albuquerque, N.M., for the Mountain West Conference Championships. Competition gets underway Saturday at 9 a.m. at the Paradise Hills Golf Course. SDSU will be sending its top six runners to event - Julie Amster, Allison Brown, Laura Preston, Jennifer Stakiw, Alicia Stewart and Amanda Vielbaum.
Recapping The UC San Diego Invite
SDSU finished fourth in a 13-team field on Oct. 13 at the 2001 Triton Classic Cross Country Invitational held on the UC San Diego campus. The Aztecs placed two runners in the top 20, with juniors Alicia Stewart and Jennifer Stakiw finishing 16th and 18th, respectively. Stewart ran the 6,000-meter course in 23:41.60 and Stakiw in 23:53.50. Sophomore Allison Brown crossed the finish line next for SDSU, doing so in 24:22.70 and in 30th place. She was followed by Amanda Vielbaum's 31st-place time of 24:23.
SDSU This Year
Prior to the UC San Diego Invite, SDSU placed sixth at the Long Beach State Invitational. An eighth-place finish and a season-best time by junior Alicia Stewart paced the team as three Aztecs placed in the top 25. On Sept. 29, SDSU placed 16th in a 25-team field at the Stanford Invite in Palo Alto. The event was the Aztecs' first 6,000-meter course. The team's top finisher was Jennifer Stakiw, who crossed the finish line at 22:53 and in 53rd place. The previous Saturday, SDSU ran to a 10th-place finish in a 25-team field at the UC Riverside Invite. SDSU was led by junior Alicia Stewart, who placed 29th with a time of 19:34 and junior Jennifer Stakiw's 30th-place finish of 19:35. The scarlet and black got its 2001 campaign started with an eighth-place finish at the CSU Fullerton Jammin' Invitational on Sept. 1. The Aztecs were led by junior Jennifer Stakiw, whose time of 19:43.30 was good for 42nd-place, and Allison Brown's time of 20:22.40 earned her 69th-place.
Coaching Staff
The Aztecs are led by the coaching staff of Rahn Sheffield and Jennifer Nanista. A 1990 graduate of SDSU, Nanista is one of the best middle distance runners to don the scarlet and black. She finished second in the 800 meters at both the 1989 and '90 Big West Championships.
Looking Ahead
The Aztecs take next week off to prepare for the District 8 Championships to be held in Tucson, Ariz., on Sat., Nov. 10.