Sept. 24, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Cross Country Weekly Release in PDF Format
SDSU to Race at Stanford and UC Riverside Invitationals This Week
The San Diego State cross country team will compete in two meets this weekend, the 6K Stanford Invitational and the 5K UC Riverside Invitational. Both races are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27, with the Stanford race set for 11:30 a.m. PT and the Riverside competition slated for a 7:30 a.m. start.
SDSU will send its first team to compete in Northern California for its first 6K of the year. The Aztecs will be one of 37 squads ready to conquer the same course that will play host to the NCAA West Regionals in November. Among the teams appearing in Palo Alto, Calif., are Stanford (West Region No. 2), UC Santa Barbara (West No. 7), UC Irvine (West No. 8), Utah (Mountain No. 10), UC Davis (West No. 11) and UCLA (West No. 15).
Closer to home, San Diego State will form a group to race at the UC Riverside Invite, a 5K that will be held at the Ag/Ops Cross Country Course on the campus of UCR. While the A-team is competing against a number of the West's elite, the SDSU B-team, along with the rest of the field, will go against a Riverside squad that is currently ranked No. 5 in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) Preseason West Region Poll.
After a busy weekend, San Diego State will have the following Saturday (Oct. 4) off before staying in the county to run in the Triton Classic (6K) at UC San Diego.
Williams and Glen Among MWC Leaders
After three meets in the first four weeks of the season, Rachel Williams and Kristin Glen find themselves among the top runners in the Mountain West Conference.
As of Sept. 23, Williams owns the second-best 4K time (14:47.81) trailing only TCU's Tanja Ivandic's effort of 14:43.76 at the Baylor Twilight Invitational back on Aug. 29. The junior also has the 12th-fastest performance for a 5K when she ran 18:39.00 at the Aztec Invitational.
Glen, meanwhile, sits in fourth place in the conference with a 4K time of 15:01.20. Among all Mountain West 5K times, Glen resides in 15th place with a mark of 18:52.00, accomplished at the Aztec Invitational earlier this month.
Oelschlager Contributing Early
Much like Rachel Williams, Kelly Oelschlager has been a major contributor in her first season at San Diego State. After not running last year, the senior has raced in every meet in 2008 and has contributed to the Aztecs' team score in each of the last two meets. In addition, she has improved her times through the first two 5Ks of the season.
Another Successful Trip to Hawaii
For the second straight weekend, San Diego State showed dramatic improvement from the year before, this time producing improved results at the Big Wave Invitational.
Rachel Williams led the Aztec charge by completing the race in 14:47.81 (4th place), 25 seconds faster than Lisa Naucler, who was SDSU's top performer at the race in 2007.
Overall, the Aztec top five finished the race ahead of SDSU's second-place runner from a year ago and had all seven runners cross the finish line faster than the lineup from 2007. All of the above led San Diego State to a second-place finish for the second year in a row.
Familiarity Breeds Success
Last week, San Diego State had two runners in Kristin Glen and Darien Buc who had competed at the Big Wave Invitational before and the results were positive. Both set personal records for a 4K and finished second and third among all Aztecs. This year, SDSU is expected to bring three - Buc, Glen and Anne Vieira - who have had experience running at Stanford. With the trio's familiarity and experience, San Diego State hopes last week's results carry over to this week.
Last year at Stanford
In 2007, San Diego State had all seven athletes set personal records at the Stanford Invitational.
For the fourth straight meet, Lisa Naucler led the team with a time of 22:06, while Kristin Glen logged SDSU's second-best effort at 22:52.
Finishing behind the Aztecs' top two were Makenzie Mabry (23:12), Stephanie Armstrong (23:28), Anne Vieira (23:48), Darien Buc (24:00) and Alyssa Robinson (24:01).
As a team, San Diego State finished with 434 points to finish in 16th place in a very tough 28-team field.
Last year at UC Riverside
Much like last season's Stanford Invitational results, SDSU came away from the UC Riverside meet with all six of its athletes establishing personal records with four eclipsing their previous PR by more than one minute.
Sara Cunningham led the way for the Aztecs with a then team-best 5K time of 18:56.10. Prior to the race, her PR for a 5K was 20:44.00.
Michelle Martinez was the next SDSU runner to cross the finish line at 19:15.20 and was followed by Elizabeth Leonard (19:27.40), Lindsay Barajas (19:40.50), Sara Beyers (19:51.80) and Lindsey Deane (21:41.90).
When the dust settled, San Diego State found itself in 13th place out of 22 teams with 366 points.