Nov. 18, 2002
SAN DIEGO -
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Freshmen Lead Aztec Runners in Season Finale * Top freshmen Jamillah Titus and Christal Cuadra stepped up to lead the San Diego State women's cross country squad to an 18th-place finish at the NCAA West Regional meet at Stanford University Saturday morning. * Titus finished 71st out of the 189 runners with a time of 23:31. Cuadra came in at 23:49 to finish 85th overall. Seniors Alicia Stewart and Kylie Edwards finished 87th and 103rd, respectively, while sophomore Tina Fodor rounded out the Aztec finishers with a time of 24:58. "We did okay," said assistant coach Jennifer Nanista. "The course was a bit longer this time. They made some adjustments to it. But Jamillah (Titus) and Christal (Cuadra) ran very well." * Senior captain Jennifer Stakiw, who appeared to be on her way to a top-20 finish, did not finish the race. * Stanford won the meet with 24 points, while four other Pac-10 schools rounded out the top five. SDSU finished ahead of names like Eastern Washington, Arizona, San Diego and Pepperdine.
Conference Championships * Battling cold weather and high altitude, the San Diego State women's cross country team finished seventh overall in the Mountain West Conference Championships on Nov. 1 in Provo, Utah. * For the sixth time this season, senior Jennifer Stakiw led SDSU with a 22nd-place finish overall, clocking in at 22:36.8. Following close behind Stakiw was fellow senior Alicia Stewart, who finished 32nd with a time of 23:19.6. Stakiw and Stewart have teamed up three times this season to pace the Aztecs. "They ran tough," said Nanista. "They went out and did a good job. The altitude just caught up with us today." * According to Nanista, the middle of the field could have gone to any squad. SDSU was nine points out of fifth place and just three points out of sixth. The Aztecs finished ahead of UNLV by 14 points.
A Stellar Season For Stakiw * Senior Jennifer Stakiw has led the squad in six of the seven races she appeared in this season. In those six races, she finished in the top-25 every time. Stakiw also set personal records in both the 5K and the 6K. Her current 5K personal best stands at 18:13 and was set in the Long Beach meet on Oct. 19. Her impressive 21:50 finish in the 6K course at Stanford was good enough for not only a personal best, but one of the top times in the conference standings. * The Long Beach meet also marked Stakiw's highest finish of the season. The fifth-place finish was her first finish in the top-10 this season. Stakiw led the Aztecs to a third place finish in Long Beach. * Last, but certainly not least, Stakiw received MWC honors for the week on Sept. 24. She finished 11th out of 111 runners at the Hawai'i Invitational on Sept. 21. She posted a time of 19:37.90 and led the Aztecs to a fourth-place finish.