Oct. 8, 2003
SAN DIEGO -
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Cross Country Stays In San Diego Area For Second Straight Week
* The San Diego State women's cross country team will be back to full strength when it travels across town to the UCSD Triton Classic in La Jolla, Calif., on Saturday. Sixteen Aztecs are scheduled to run at this week's meet.
* This Saturday's race will take place at UCSD's North Campus Course with the women's 6K beginning at 8:30 a.m.
* Saturday's meet will be the Aztecs' third at the 6K distance so far this season. The remaining four meets on this year's schedule will all be 6Ks.
* Besides SDSU, there are five other NCAA Div. I teams entered in this week's meet, including No. 12 UCLA, USC, UC Irvine, San Diego and Pepperdine.
Flash Back - 2002 Triton Classic
* San Diego State women's cross country team claimed a sixth-place finish among 11 NCAA Division I teams at the 6K UC San Diego Triton Classic, held at the UCSD North Campus Course. UCLA won the competition with 57 points, 19 ahead of runner-up UC Irvine.
SDSU garnered 172 points and boasted an average time of 23:57.20 for the 6K run. The Aztecs had two runners place in the Div. I top 25, including Christal Cuadra (Honolulu, Hawaii), who took 24th place among Div. I runners and 36th overall in 23:32.30.
2002 UC San Diego Triton Classic
* Final Div. I Team Results (Top 6) - 1. UCLA (57 pts.); 2. UC Irvine (78 pts.); 3. Hawai'i (101 pts.); 4. Nevada (102 pts.); 5. USC (136 pts.); 6. SDSU (172 pts.).
* Aztec Individual Results (2003 Returnees) - 24. Christal Cuadra (23:32.30); 33. Jamillah Titus (23:49.90); 48. Tina Fodor (24:28.00); 51. Kylie Edwards (24:33.00); 66. Julie Amster (25:17.20); 79. Katie Parry (26:05.50); 83. Brianne Bricker (26:41.80); 87. Angie Fitzpatrick (26:53.20); 92. Emily Joller (27:18.00); 96. Jackie Duncan (27:43.10)
Rewind- Pre-MWC Meet
* Competing without its top runners, the San Diego State women's cross country squad finished sixth (160 pts.) at the pre-Mountain West Conference championship meet last Saturday at Morley Field in Balboa Park. The top-ranked Brigham Young women (19 pts.) and the New Mexico men (25 pts.) both easily claimed the team titles.
The Aztecs were led by senior Angie Fitzpatrick (San Diego, Calif.), who came in 29th overall with a 6K time of 25:15. She was followed by junior transfer Marilyn Smith (Fresno, Calif.) and freshman Ali Baker (Pine Valley, Calif.), who placed 33rd (25:34) and 35th (25:42), respectively.
"I was happy with the way that the `B' team stepped up, took charge of the race and ran very well together as a pack," SDSU coach Jennifer Nanista said. "I think it is a fast course and this meet will help us (logistically) work out the bugs for the championships."
BYU's Rena Williams (22.27) won the women's race, while Wyoming's Brian Knight claimed the men's 8K title by crossing the finish line in 26:09.
The pre-MWC meet allows competitors to get used to the course which they will also run on Nov. 1, when the Aztecs play host to the MWC championship meet for the first time in the conference's five-year history.
* Final Team Results - 1. BYU (19 pts.); 2. Utah (55 pts.); 3. Wyoming (81 pts.); 4. New Mexico (85 pts.); 5. UNLV (138 pts.); 6. SDSU (160 pts.).
* Aztec Individual Results - 29. Angie Fitzpatrick (25:15); 33. Marilyn Smith (25:34); 35. Alison Baker (25:42); 37. Jackie Duncan (25:50); 39. Sara Cates (26:16); 40. Julie Amster (26:44)
Oops, She Did It Again
* SDSU senior Marie Nilsson (Kil, Sweden) was named the Mountain West Cross Country Athlete of the Week for the second time this season, the conference office announced Sept. 30.
Nilsson became the first Aztec in the conference's five-year history to be named athlete of the week twice in one season and two times in a career. Previous SDSU honorees include: Sophia Hawker (1999), Kylie Edwards (2000), Alicia Stewart (2001) and Jennifer Stakiw (2002).
Nilsson earned the award for her performance at Saturday's prestigious 30th annual Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. She was the Aztecs' top finisher for the third straight meet, coming in 13th overall in 21:53, the second-fastest 6K time in school history. Nilsson also finished ahead of the entire No. 11 Arkansas team at the Invite, which also featured No. 2 Stanford, No. 18 UCLA and No. 19 Wisconsin.
Upcoming Schedule
* The Aztecs will move out of San Diego County for their final meet prior to the conference championships, Oct. 18, at Long Beach State. SDSU finished third overall and second among collegiate teams at the same meet a year ago.