Oct. 28, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Cross Country Weekly Release in PDF Format
SDSU Set to Play Host to MWC Cross Country Championships
The San Diego State cross country team is set to play host to the 10th annual Mountain West Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships, on Saturday, Nov. 1, at Mission Bay Park in San Diego. The women's 6K will begin at 10 a.m. PT and the men's 8K will start at 11 a.m.
This year's Championships will feature one of the most, if not the most, competitive fields in conference history. Of the nine women's teams, seven are regionally ranked, while five of the six squads on the men's side hold a rank in their region. On a national scale, two women's teams and a men's team were ranked in the USTFCCCA Top 30 Poll, released Oct. 28.
All 15 teams will be competing on a course that played host to the 2008 USA Cross Country Championships and World Cross Country Team Trials back in February. It is also the same site where the 2007 MWC Championships were to be held, but wildfires in San Diego forced the relocation to Albuquerque, N.M.
Following the league meet, SDSU will have next week off prior to traveling to Stanford for the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 15. It will be the Aztecs third trip to Northern California this season and their second to Stanford.
Directions to Mission Bay Park
From San Diego State: Take Interstate 8 West to Interstate 5 North and exit Sea World Drive. Make a right on E. Mission Bay Drive. The park is on the left approximately 1/2 mile down the road.
MWC Championships History
This weekend in front of their home fans, the Aztecs will be looking to finish higher than fifth for the first time in MWC history. Throughout the years, SDSU has registered three seventh-place performances (2001, 2002, 2004), finished sixth in 2003, came in fifth three times (1999, 2000, 2005), finished eighth in 2006 and ninth last year.
Former Aztecs Lital Azulay and Marie Nilsson are the lone runners to earn all-MWC first-team honors and are the only ones to finish in the top 10. In 2005, Azulay finished fifth with a time of 21:14.20, while Nilsson came in fourth (21:53.00) in 2003. Back in 2004, Christal Cuadra emerged with second-team honors with a 14th-place performance (23:03.00).
This is the second time in school history that SDSU has played host to the conference's premier event. The last time the MWC held its meet in San Diego was in 2004 and the Aztecs finished in seventh place.
Below is a year-by-year look at SDSU at the MWC Championships:
Year Team Finish Top Aztec Finisher (Time)2007 9th (229 pts.) 36. Lisa Naucler (23:35.00)2006 8th (203 pts.) 30. Celeste Tyson (22:57.00)2005 5th (134 pts.) 5. Lital Azulay (21:14.20)*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)^* - All-MWC first team, # - All-MWC second team, ^ - 5K race (all others 6K)
The Lineup
SDSU assistant coach Jennifer Nanista will take the same nine-athlete lineup that appeared in the team's last outing at the Bronco Invitational. That group, which posted eight personal records and a season best performance for a 5,000-meter course, includes Sara Beyers, Darien Buc, Sara Cunningham, Kristin Glen, Michelle Martinez, Andrea Norton, Kelly Oelschlager, Anne Vieira and Rachel Williams. The group also recorded the top three, five of the top six and six of the top-10 5K times of the year.
New Faces at Conference
Despite having practiced on the Championship course last week, there will be five Aztecs who will be racing for the first time at an MWC meet. That group includes Sara Beyers, Michelle Martinez, Andrea Norton, Kelly Oelschlager and Rachel Williams. As for the rest of the travel squad, only four athletes boast previous experience at conference as Darien Buc, Sara Cunningham, Kristin Glen and Anne Vieira have only one league race under their belts. With that said, SDSU will be counting on the experience of its senior (Glen, Oelschlager, Vieira) and junior classes (Buc, Cunningham, Williams) to shoulder the load this Saturday.
Record Morning at Bronco Invitational
San Diego State had eight runners establish personal records for a 5K at the Bronco Invitational. Kristin Glen was one of those eight and led the Aztecs for a third straight meet.
Glen logged a time of 18:09.00 to finish in 28th place at Baylands Regional Park. The Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., native shattered her old personal record of 18:52.00 set earlier this year at the Aztec Invitational and earned MWC athlete of the week honors for her performance. More impressive is the fact that Glen completed last year's Bronco Invite in 19:16.00 (92nd place).
Other Aztecs to set personal records were Rachel Williams (18:19.00), Darien Buc (18:22.00), Sara Cunningham (18:41.00), Kelly Oelschlager (18:43.00), Sara Beyers (19:03.00), Michelle Martinez (19:08.00) and Andrea Norton (19:22.00). Anne Vieira, the ninth member of the group, posted a season-best effort of 19:51.00.