Oct. 1, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State Cross Country Weekly Release in PDF Format
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San Diego State Cross Country to Race in Triton Classic on Saturday
The San Diego State cross country team enters the second half of its season this Saturday, Oct. 6, when it competes in the Triton Classic. The meet, which will take place on the campus of UC San Diego, will be contested on a 6,000-meter course beginning at 8:30 a.m. PT.
The Aztecs are coming off a weekend in which they competed in two different meets and had all 13 runners set new personal records. At the UC Riverside Invitational, six athletes logged personal bests in the 5K, while seven others posted 6K PRs at the Stanford Invitational.
Following this week's meet in La Jolla, the Aztecs will return to a course that produced its most recent team championship when it travels north to race in the Santa Clara Invitational in Sunnyvale, Calif.
New Face at the Top
Sara Cunningham moved to the top of San Diego State's 5K top-10 list last Saturday at the UC Riverside Invitational. The first-year Aztec clocked in with a time of 18 minutes, 56.10 seconds to finish in 58th place and first among all SDSU runners. Cunningham's effort was a personal record and moved her past Lisa Naucler, who held the top 5K time of 2007 through the first three meets. All told, Cunningham's time was over 17 seconds faster than Naucler's performance of 19:13.80 at the Fullerton Season Opener.
New Week, Same Story
For the fourth straight meet, Lisa Naucler was the Scarlet and Black's fastest runner. Competing in the team's first 6K of the season at the ultra-competitive Stanford Invitational, Naucler finished in 35th place with a personal-best time of 22:06.00. Prior to the meet in Northern California, Naucler was the first Aztec to cross the finish line at the Big Wave Invitational (4K), the Aztec Invitational (5K) and the Fullerton Season Opener (5K).
Breaking Records
The six-athlete group of Sara Cunningham, Michelle Martinez, Elizabeth Leonard, Lindsay Barajas, Sara Beyers and Lindsey Deane had a great showing at the UC Riverside Invitational last Saturday after they all broke their previous personal records. Of the six, Cunningham, Martinez, Leonard and Barajas finished the race having eclipsed their previous PR by more than one minute, while Beyers and Deane surpassed their old marks by at least 39 seconds.
Keeping the Trend ... and Then Some
With the San Diego State `B' squad racing in the Inland Empire and setting personal records, the Aztec first team matched their effort and then some by having all seven runners establish PRs of their own at the 6K Stanford Invitational. What is more impressive is the fact that four of the five returning Aztecs broke their 6K personal record by more than two minutes. Anne Vieira led the group with a 2:43 time differential and was followed by Darien Buc (2:34), Stephanie Armstrong (2:22) and Makenzie Mabry (2:14). Lisa Naucler finished the race 38 seconds faster than her all-time best, while Kristin Glen and Alyssa Robinson each logged a 6K time that was faster than any effort they had given prior to arriving at SDSU.
Outside Looking In
Lisa Naucler's 22:06.00 effort at Stanford was just six seconds shy of putting her in 10th place on San Diego State's all-time top-10 6K list. It was also the fastest time of any Aztec since Lital Azulay ran 21:05.80 at the NCAA West Regionals in 2005, which ranks as the second-best in program history. With two more 6K races on the schedule, including the Mountain West Conference Championships and the NCAA West Regionals, Naucler has a very good shot at entering the SDSU all-time top-10 before closing the book on her Aztec career.
Fresh Faces
Besides Sara Cunningham grabbing the top spot on the 2007 Aztec top-10 5K chart after her performance at UC Riverside, Michelle Martinez, Elizabeth Leonard, Lindsay Barajas and Sara Beyers made their presence felt on the same list for the first time since the opening meet of the season. Entering this weekend's Triton Classic, Martinez has run the third-fastest race of the season, while Leonard, Barajas and Beyers own the sixth, eighth and ninth-best times of 2007, respectively. This marks Martinez's and Beyers' second time on the season top-times list.
Last Time at the Triton Classic
Last year at the Triton Classic, San Diego State finished in 10th place out of 17 schools with 272 points. Four current Aztecs ran in that race, including Makenzie Mabry, Lindsay Barajas, Darien Buc and Anne Vieira with Mabry, Barajas and Buc setting personal bests.