Cross Country

SDSU Cross Country Fine Tunes For MWC Championships

Oct. 9, 2001

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This Week
The San Diego State women's cross country team will compete in the 2001 Triton Classic Invitational this Saturday held on the UC San Diego campus. The women's 6K race is scheduled to get underway at 8:30 a.m. The race will start and finish on the North Campus Athletic Fields.

Recapping The Beach Invite
An eighth-place finish and a season-best time by junior Alicia Stewart paced the Aztecs to a sixth-place finish Saturday at the Long Beach State Invitational held at Eldorado Park. Stewart, who ran the course in 18:52.50, was one of three Aztecs to place in the event's top 25. Senior Amanda Vielbaum ran the 5,000-meter course in 19:36.60 (23rd) and sophomore Allison Brown finished in 25th place (19:39.30). Other Aztec finishers include junior Laura Preston (39th), freshman Tina Fodor (42) and sophomore Julie Amster and freshman Emily Joller, who finished 44th and 45th, respectively.

SDSU This Year
Prior to the Long Beach State meet, SDSU placed 16th in a 25-team field at the Stanford Invite on Sept. 29. The event was the Aztec's first 6,000-meter course. The Aztecs' 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.

Aztec Invite Canceled
The 58th annual Aztec Invitational, scheduled for Sept. 16 in Balboa Park, was canceled due to the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C. and will not be rescheduled. The event was the Aztecs' lone home contest of the season.

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 Conference Championships. She continues to compete as a member of the Sheffield Elite Track Club.

Looking Ahead
The Aztecs take next week off from racing to prepare for the Moutain West Conference championships to be held Sat., Oct. 27, in Albuquerque, N.M.