Sept. 27, 2003
PALO ALTO, Calif. - The San Diego State women's cross country team finished 12th out of 26 teams at the prestigious 30th annual Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. The Aztecs, racing their first 6K distance of the season, ended up with 314 team points at a meet won by 24th-ranked UCLA, which upset No. 2 Stanford to the title.
"I thought the team ran well, but we still have some more work to do," SDSU coach Jennifer Nanista said. "We beat one conference team (UNLV) and were close to another (Utah). We had a couple of people run personal bests, but running the 6K course will take a little while to get use to racing."
Senior Marie Nilsson (Kil, Sweden) was the first SDSU runner to cross the finish line for the third straight meet, coming in 13th of 187 runners with a time of 21:53. Behind her was sophomore Christal Cuadra (Honolulu, Hawaii), who has established herself as the team's consistent No. 2 runner, placing 36th overall in 22:32.
A year ago, SDSU was ninth in a 33-team field, its best finish ever at the annual event.
The Aztecs return home next Saturday for their second of three meets in San Diego in 2003, the pre-Mountain West Conference championship meet, set for a 10 a.m. start.
30th Annual Stanford Invitational
Palo Alto, Calif. - - Stanford Golf Course - 6K
Team Results
1. UCLA 37 pts.
2. Stanford 56 pts.
3. Wisconsin 88 pts.
4. Arkansas 101 pts.
5. Nevada 219 pts.
12. San Diego State 314 pts.