Sept. 22, 2003
SAN DIEGO -
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Cross Country Faces Stiff Competition At Stanford
* The San Diego State women's cross country team will test its mettle Sat., Sept. 27, at the prestigious 30th annual Stanford Invitational, beginning at 4:50 p.m. at the Stanford Golf Course.
The Aztecs will compete in the 6K, which is the fourth collegiate race of the day. More than 3,000 runners representing both the collegiate and high school levels are set for the largest cross country meet in Northern California.
* SDSU's opponents Saturday include four top-25 teams with host and No. 2 Stanford, No. 15 Arkansas, No. 23 Wisconsin and No. 24 UCLA. The meet also has two other Mountain West Conference schools in UNLV and Utah.
* For the first time this season, the Aztecs will run a 6K course, which is the distance used at November's important conference, regional and national championship meets.
SDSU has run the 5K distance at the Fullerton Opener, Aztec Invitational and UC Riverside Invitational, while the team ran a 4K in Hawaii.
Flashback - Stanford 2002
* The San Diego State women's cross country squad finished ninth in a 33-team field at the 2002 Stanford Invitational. The top-10 finish marked the Aztecs' best finish at the annual event.
For the fourth consecutive race, senior Jennifer Stakiw led the team, finishing 20th out of 234 runners, with a personal best time of 21:50. Senior Alicia Stewart also set a personal best with a time of 22:12 (32nd), while 2003 returnees Christal Cuadra (22:50), Jamillah Titus (22:54), Kylie Edwards (23:17), Tina Fodor (24:06) and Brianne Bricker (25:11) rounded out the top places for the Aztecs.
SDSU finished with 281 points, ahead of two Mountain West Conference schools (New Mexico and UNLV). Stanford won the event with 50 points.
* Final Team Results (Top 10) - 1. Stanford, 50; 2. Duke, 74; 3. UCLA, 85; 4. Wisconsin, 121; 5. UC Irvine, 186; 6. Nevada, 211; 7. UCSB, 215; 8. Texas A&M- CC, 236; 9. SDSU, 281; 10. UC Davis 319.
* Aztec Individual Results (2003 Returnees) - 71. Christal Cuadra (22:50) 75. Jamillah Titus (23:17) 105. Kylie Edwards (23:17) 150. Tina Fodor (24:06)* 192. Brianne Bricker (25:11) *- personal best
Rewind - Last Week's Meets
* The San Diego State cross country team finished third and 11th in team competition Saturday at two meets in two different states.
The Aztec 'A' squad tied for third with Navy at the University of Hawai'i's Big Wave Invitational with 122 team points. The 4K meet was won by 24th-ranked UCLA (26 pts.), which upset top-ranked and defending national champion Brigham Young (45 pts.).
SDSU senior Marie Nilsson (Kil, Sweden) and sophomore Crystal Cuadra (Honolulu, Hawaii) were the team's top two runners for the second straight meet. Nilsson, the MWC athlete of the week, came in seventh with a time of 14:08, while Cuadra was 18th (14:47) in her second trip back to her home state of Hawaii.
The rest of the Aztecs also placed in the top 50 in the 89-runner field.
In Riverside, the Aztecs came in 11th overall with 297 team points in a meet won by UC Santa Barbara. Sophomore Jamillah Titus (American Canyon, Calif.) was the team's top runner, coming in 67th with a time of 19:45.00. Behind Titus, three SDSU runners placed in the top 80.
* UH Big Wave Invitational - 4K Race
Final Team Results (Top 5) - 1.) UCLA (26 pts.); 2. BYU (45 pts.); 3. SDSU (122 pts.); 3. Navy (122 pts.); 5. Houston (162 pts.).
Aztec Individual Results - 7. Marie Nilsson (14:08); 18. Crystal Cuadra (14:47); 31. Kylie Edwards (15:20); 38. Christian Fairing (15:35); 39. Celeste Tyson (15:38); 42. Allison Brown (15:50); 50. Tina Fodor (16:04).
* UC Riverside Invitational - 5K Race
Team Results (Top 5 + SDSU) - 1.) UCSB (34 pts.); 2. Track West (57 pts.); 3. CS Northridge (108 pts.); 4. USC (132 pts.); 5. SJSU (139 pts.); 11. SDSU (297 pts.)
Aztec Individual Results - 67. Jamillah Titus (19:45.00); 70. Emily Wynne (19:48.00); 71. Angie Fitzpatrick (19:51.40); 78. Ali Baker (19:59.70); 86. Sara Cates (20:15.40); 94. Julie Amster (20:27.80); 102. Jackie Duncan (20:43.90); 110. Brianne Bricker (20:58.10); 111. Marilyn Smith (20:58.40).
Nilsson Leads The Pack
* With just two meets as an Aztec under her belt, senior Marie Nilsson has already distinguished herself as one of the team's top runners.
Nilsson was the first SDSU runner to cross the finish line at the both the Aztec Invitational and the Hawaii meet last weekend. She was also named the Mountain West Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Sept. 16, for her performance at the Aztec Invite.
Nilsson has finished in the top seven twice and holds the squad's fastest 5K time of 18:23.00 in 2003.
Home Sweet Home
* With one down, the Aztecs will play host to two more meets in San Diego in 2003.
The next two meets involve Mountain West Conference competition as SDSU is the host for the pre-conference championship on Oct. 4, followed by the real MWC meet on Nov. 1.
This is the first time San Diego State has played host to the MWC championship meet in the league's five-year history. Previous sites include: Provo, Utah (1999, 2002), Fort Collins, Colo. (2000) and Albuquerque, N.M. (2001).