Nov. 10, 2003
SAN DIEGO -
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Aztec Cross Country Takes On The Best In The West Saturday
* SDSU heads to the Pacific Northwest Saturday for the NCAA West Regional Cross Country meet in Troutdale, Ore. The Aztecs will run the 6K race at Blue Lake Park, beginning at 12:15 p.m. The University of Portland is playing host to this season's regional meet.
* The Aztecs leave all but one of their Mountain West Conference opponents behind for this week's meet. SDSU and UNLV will both compete in the NCAA west regional, while the other six schools head to Riverside, Utah, for the NCAA mountain regional (host - Weber State).
* The NCAA west region is made up of schools from Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Washington and Oregon. SDSU's competition includes six of the country's top 30 teams, highlighted by top-ranked Stanford.
* Bids to this season's national meet, scheduled for Nov. 24, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, will be on the line at the regional meets. The top two teams from each of the nine regional meets will automatically advance. The next four individuals who are not on one of the two teams will also be invited.
On Monday, Nov. 17, 13 teams will be selected to receive at-large bids, while two additional individuals will also be chosen to compete at the national meet based on various criteria.
* SDSU plans to send seven runners to the NCAA west regional including seniors Marie Nilsson (Kil, Sweden) and Kylie Edwards (Mt. Dundeed, Australia), juniors Allison Brown (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and Tina Fodor (Fullerton, Calif.), sophomore Christal Cuadra (Honolulu, Hawaii), redshirt freshman Christian Fairing (Irvine, Calif.) and freshman Sara Cates (Carlsbad, Calif.).
* The last Aztec to qualify for the NCAA meet was Sophia Hawker, who earned an at-large individual bid in 1999. Hawker finished 24th out of 196 runners at the regional meet, which was incidentally also held in Troutdale, Ore.
SDSU has only qualified once as a team for the national championships (1981 - 7th).
* Below is a rundown of the Aztecs in the past four NCAA regional meets:
Year Team Finish Top Finisher (Time)
2002 18th (478 pts.) 71. Jamillah Titus(23:31.00)
2001 NTS 61. Jennifer Stakiw (23:35.30)
2000 16th (492 pts.) 75. Kylie Edwards (22:34.00)
1999 18th (435 pts.) 24. Sophia Hawker (17:57.00)*
* = 5K race (others 6K)
SDSU Makes Best Of MWC Meet
* The San Diego State women's cross country squad made the best of a difficult situation, posting its best finish in three seasons by coming in sixth overall (143 points) at the 2003 Mountain West Conference championships in Albuquerque, N.M., on Nov. 1. The Aztecs were just two points behind fifth place New Mexico (141 pts.) in a 6K race won by defending NCAA champion and No. 2 ranked Brigham Young (19 pts.).
Senior Marie Nilsson posted the best-ever finish and time by an Aztec at the MWC championships, coming in fourth overall in 21:53. Nilsson's finish earned her a spot on the seven-member Mountain West Conference first team, becoming the first SDSU runner so honored in the meet's five-year history. Her final time of 21:53 also matches her 2003 season best at the Stanford Invitational and ties for second-fastest in school history.
Nilsson was helped by fellow senior Kylie Edwards, who came in 24th overall with a season-best time of 23:18. Junior Allison Brown (39th - 24:12), sophomore Christal Cuadra (42nd - 24:24) and redshirt freshman Christian Fairing (47th - 24:49) rounded out the Aztec top-five finishers.
The Aztecs were supposed to play host to this year's conference meet, but wildfires and the ensuing poor air quality in the San Diego area earlier in the week caused the event to be moved to Albuquerque, N.M., with just three days notice.
* Below is a rundown of the Aztecs' history in the MWC meet:
Year Team Finish Top Finisher (Time)
2003 6th (143 pts.) 4. Marie Nilsson(21:53.00)
2002 7th (176 pts.) 22. Jennifer Stakiw (22:36.80)
2001 7th (177 pts.) 32. Alicia Stewart (23:24.00)
2000 5th (166 pts.) 31. Kylie Edwards (23:10.20)
1999 5th (146 pts.) 16. Sophia Hawker (18:36.10)*
* = 5K race (others 6K)
Flashback - 2002 NCAA Regional
* 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.
Titus finished 71st out of the 189 runners with a time of 23:31. Cuadra was the second Aztec to cross the finish line, placing 85th in 23:49. Seniors Alicia Stewart and Kylie Edwards came in 87th and 103rd, respectively, while sophomore Tina Fodor rounded out the Aztec finishers with a time of 24:58.
Senior captain Jennifer Stakiw, who appeared to be on her way to a top-20 performance, did not finish the race.
2002 NCAA West Regionals - 6K - Palo Alto, Calif.
* Aztec Individual Results - 71. Jamillah Titus (23:31); 85. Christal Cuadra (23:49); 87. Alicia Stewart (23:51); 103. Kylie Edwards (24:09); 144. Tina Fodor (24:58); DNF. Jennifer Stakiw