Oct. 13, 2003
SAN DIEGO -
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Cross Country Heads To Long Beach For Final Pre-Conference Tune-Up
* The Aztec women's cross country team heads out of San Diego County for its final pre-conference tune-up Saturday at the Long Beach State Invitational.
* Saturday's race will take place at El Dorado Park East with the women's 6K beginning at 10:45 a.m.
* Saturday's meet will be the Aztecs' fourth at the 6K distance so far this season. The remaining three meets on this year's schedule will all be 6Ks.
* Besides SDSU, other teams planning to race Saturday include host school Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Loyola Marymount, Southern Utah and USC.
Flash Back - 2002 Long Beach Invite
* The San Diego State women's cross country squad logged its second top-three finish of 2002 with a third place at the Long Beach State Invitational.
Senior Jennifer Stakiw came back from an injury the week before to lead the Aztecs with a fifth-place finish out of 92 runners. Stakiw was one of four SDSU runners to log personal best 5K times at the meet, finishing in 18:13. Senior Alicia Stewart (18:37), freshman Jamillah Titus (18:46) and junior Julie Amster (20:21) also posted career best efforts.
2002 Long Beach State Invitational - 5K
* Final Team Results (Top 5) - 1. Track West (35 pts.); 2. Southern Utah (77 pts.); 3. SDSU (85 pts.); 4. USC (88 pts.); 5. Cal Coast TC (99 pts.).
* Aztec Individual Results (2003 Returnees) - 20. Jamillah Titus (18:46); 26. Christal Cuadra (19:10); 29. Kylie Edwards (19:20); 42. Tina Fodor (20:01); 49. Julie Amster (20:21); 58. Angie Fitzpatrick (20:44); 65. Brianne Bricker (21:07); 66. Katie Parry (21:13); 70. Christian Fairing (21:25); 80. Emily Joller (22:17); 82. Jackie Duncan (22:43).
Rewind- UCSD Triton Classic
* With three runners placing in the top 20, the San Diego State women's cross country team matched its season best finish, coming in third (94 pts.) at the 6K UCSD Triton Classic Saturday in La Jolla, Calif. The Aztecs, who jumped three places from their 2002 finish in the same meet, came in behind No. 12 UCLA (60 pts.) and UC Irvine (62 pts.) in the team standings.
"I was very happy with the (runners') groupings today," Aztec coach Jennifer Nanista said. "The team moved up and had a strong showing, especially Kylie Edwards who did a good job of closing up the gaps."
San Diego State senior Marie Nilsson (Kil, Sweden) led the way again, finishing sixth overall with a time of 22:30.20, the fifth fastest 6K time in SDSU history. Sophomore Christal Cuadra (Honolulu, Hawaii) was the second Aztec to cross the finish line for the fourth time this season, posting a 13th-place effort of 23:00.6. Senior Kylie Edwards (Mt. Dundeed, Australia) rounded out the top 20 with her best 6K time of the season, finishing 19th in 23:40.20.
2003 UCSD Triton Classic - 6K
* Final Team Results (Top 5) - 1. No. 12 UCLA (60 pts.); 2. UC Irvine (62 pts.); 3. SDSU (94 pts.); 4. USC (134 pts.); 5. UCSD (170 pts.).
* Aztec Individual Results - 6. Marie Nilsson (22:30.2); 13. Christal Cuadra (23:00.6); 19. Kylie Edwards (23:40.2); 29. Allison Brown (24:05.90); 37. Christian Fairing (24:15.30); 53. Sara Cates (24:41.50); 55. Tina Fodor (24:44.40); 64. Celeste Tyson (25:02.30); 65. Angie Fitzpatrick (25:09.20); 81. Ali Baker (25:36.70); 88. Jamillah Titus (25:54.00); 89. Marilyn Smith (25:54.20); 98. Brianne Bricker (26:07.90); 101. Julie Amster (26:11.30); 110. Jackie Duncan (26:19.20).
Nilsson to Cuadra
* The Aztec duo of senior Marie Nilsson and sophomore Christal Cuadra continue to lead the way for SDSU in 2003.
Nilsson has been the squad's top runner in each of her four meets this season, placing in the overall top 10 three times. She has also posted two of the four fastest 6K times in SDSU history and has earned Mountain West Conference athlete-of-the-week honors twice - a first for the Aztecs.
Cuadra, meanwhile, has been the team's No. 2 finisher in four races and was its top runner at the season-opening Cal State Fullerton meet. Cuadra's 6K time of 22:32.00 at the Stanford Invitational ranks fifth in school history, while she has two top-15 finishes already to her credit in 2003.
Upcoming Schedule
* The Aztecs take a week off to prepare for the Mountain West Conference championships, slated for Nov. 1, in San Diego. The MWC meet will begin at 9 a.m. with the men's 8K, followed an hour later by the women's 6K at Morley Field in Balboa Park.
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).