Sept. 17, 2005
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SAN DIEGO - Aztec sophomore Lital Azulay (Holon, Israel) placed eighth in 18:12 to lead the San Diego State women's cross country team to a third-place finish Saturday at the 61st Annual Aztec Invitational at Balboa Park. No. 17 Arkansas won the women's invitational division with 31 points, followed by Northern Arizona (83 pts.), SDSU (98 pts.), Loyola Marymount (116 pts.) and Cal Coast (124 pts.)
"I was very pleased with our team's performance, finishing behind two cross country powerhouses," SDSU coach Jennifer Nanista said. "This was not an easy course and we came out and ran a good, solid race."
Lital Azulay, making her scarlet and black debut, came in 43 seconds behind the leader, Johanna Nilsson of Northern Arizona, who finished the 5K race in 17:29. Azulay's clocking was the fastest Aztec 5K time since Sophia Hawker's 18:11 showing at the 1999 NCAA championships.
SDSU placed six other runners in the top 40, including senior Christal Cuadra (20th - 18:42), junior Lisa Crampton (23rd - 18:56), sophomore Lisa Naucler (26th - 19:02) and juniors Celeste Tyson (33rd - 19:18), Sarah Belger (39th - 19:46) and Sara Cates (40th - 19:46).
Other Aztec finishers included sophomore Briana Powell (65th - 20:52), freshman Amanda Maydeck (71st - 21:22), sophomore Anne Vieira (74th - 21:35) and junior Dora Sanders (75th 21:35).
In the women's open division, Grace Jepngetich of Vanguard University won the individual title in 19:04, while Point Loma Nazarene captured the team crown.
The Northern Arizona men's squad, led by winner Joseph Lomong (25:43), took the team crown in the 8K invitational race, placing four runners in the top ten. Gateway Community College (Ariz.) won the men's open division over local school Southwestern College 51-68.
SDSU will head north next Saturday to compete in the Stanford Invitational on Sept. 24.