Oct. 25, 2005
SAN DIEGO -
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SDSU CROSS COUNTRY LOOKS FOR FIRST-EVER UPPER-DIVISION FINISH AT MWC CHAMPIONSHIPS
* The San Diego State women's cross country team will have its sights set on a first-ever upper-division finish on Saturday when it travels to Fort Collins, Colo., for the Mountain West Conference championships, set to begin at 11 a.m. MDT at Collindale Golf Course.
Seven Aztecs are scheduled for the 6K race, including four first-time participants - juniors Sarah Belger and Lisa Crampton and sophomores Lital Azulay and Lisa Naucler.
This week will be the fourth trip to the conference meet for senior Christal Cuadra, while juniors Sara Cates and Celeste Tyson are each slated to compete in their third consecutive MWC championships.
Brigham Young has won all six MWC meets since the conference's inception in 1999 and are once again favored to claim another title. The Cougars are currently ranked eighth nationally in the latest FinishLynx poll released Oct. 17.
LAST YEAR AT THE MWC CHAMPIONSHIPS
* A year ago, the Aztecs finished seventh in the overall standings with 192 points as SDSU played host to the MWC championships for the first time, which were held at Morley Field. Then junior Christal Cuadra earned second-team All-MWC honors, finishing in 14th place with a time of 23:03.00.
Below is a rundown of the Aztecs history in the MWC meet, including the top finisher for the scarlet and black from each year:
Year Team Finish Top Aztec Finisher (Time)
2004 7th (192 pts.) 14. Christal Cuadra (23:03.00)#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 (all others 6K)* - First Team All-MWC# - Second Team All-MWC
2005 SANTA CLARA INVITE--TWO WEEKS AGO
* Backed by the duo of sophomore Lital Azulay (Holon, Israel) and junior Lisa Crampton (Livermore, Calif.), the San Diego State women's cross country team captured its first team title in two years Saturday at the Santa Clara Invitational at Baylands Regional Park in Sunnyvale, Calif. SDSU won the eight-team women's division with 31 points, placing five runners in the top 12 en route to its first meet victory since the 2003 Long Beach State Invitational.
"I was very happy with everyone's performance," Aztec coach Jennifer Nanista said. "We got out to a great start during the first mile, and for the first time this season, we were able to really close the gaps between our fourth and fifth runners. This gives us tremendous confidence heading into the conference and regional meets."
Lital Azulay won the individual title out of a field of 79 runners, completing the 5,000-meter course in a time of 17 minutes, three seconds, which was her career-best and also the fifth-fastest 5K time in school history. Lisa Crampton finished second overall behind Azulay, coming in with a 17:34 clocking.
SDSU placed three other runners in the top 12, including sophomore Lisa Naucler (seventh - 18:02), senior Christal Cuadra (ninth - 18:05) and junior Sarah Belger (12th - 18:11). Also completing a successful day for the Aztecs were juniors Celeste Tyson (18th - 18:28) and Sara Cates (27th - 18:51).
2005 Santa Clara Invitational Results
(Women's 5K)
Final Team Results (Top 5): 1. San Diego State 31; 2. Cal State Fullerton, 54; 3. UC Davis, 70; 4. San Jose State, 87; 5. Santa Clara, 109.
Aztec Individual Results:
1. Lital Azulay (17:03.10); 2. Lisa Crampton (17:34.23); 7. Lisa Naucler (18:02.19); 9. Christal Cuadra (18:05.73); 12. Sarah Belger (18:11.79); 18. Celeste Tyson (18:28.33); 27. Sara Cates (18:51.87).
LITAL STANDS TALL
* Sophomore Lital Azulay continues to lead the Aztecs' resurgence in 2005. Azulay has been the team's top runner this season, finishing no worse than ninth place overall in each of her four meets. She has also posted the fifth and tenth-fastest 5K times in school history along with the fifth-fastest 6K mark.
Azulay was named the Mountain West Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Week on two occasions, becoming only the second Aztec after Marie Nilsson (2003) to receive the award twice in one season.
AZTECS RECEIVE FIRST-EVER REGIONAL RANKING
* SDSU received its first-ever regional ranking this season. The Aztecs entered the polls on Oct. 3 and are currently ranked No. 8 in the West Region according to the latest Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Coaches Association (WICCCA) poll released Oct. 17. With its victory at Santa Clara, SDSU has now recorded five straight top-five team finishes and possesses an aggregate 75-10 record against the competition thus far in 2005.
WICCCA Rankings--West Region (Week of Oct. 16)
1. Stanford, 2. Arizona State, 3. Oregon, 4. Washington, 5. UCLA, 6. Washington State, 7. Portland, 8. San Diego State, 9. UC Irvine, 10. Arizona.