Nov. 10, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Cross Country Weekly Release in PDF Format
San Diego State Cross Country To Race at NCAA West Regionals
The San Diego State cross country team will travel to Palo Alto, Calif., for a second time this season as it will compete at the NCAA West Regionals. The 6,000-meter race is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 15, at Stanford Golf Course. The meet will start at 11 a.m. PT and will feature all Division I teams from the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
The top two teams in each race automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, along with the top four individuals not on qualifying teams. Additionally, teams around the country are competing for 13 at-large berths, which will be awarded based on a season-long points system developed by the NCAA, with priority toward top regional placers. In the past, the West Region has received several at-large bids and is one of the most competitive in the nation.
SDSU will be looking to rebound from a ninth-place showing at the Mountain West Conference Championships held at Mission Bay Park back on Nov. 1. The Aztecs will be competing for one of those aforementioned spots at the NCAA Championships on Nov. 24 in Terre Haute, Ind. If San Diego State or any of its individual runners fall short of its bid to qualify for nationals, its season will come to an end.
Regionals Bring Out Best in Aztecs
As the season moves forward, Aztec runners get stronger and history shows that regionals bring out the best in them. Of the 10 all-time top 6K times in school history, five have occurred at the regional meet and all have happened during the last five years. Three seasons ago, Lital Azulay registered the second fastest time in program history, while Lisa Crampton (fourth) and Christal Cuadra (sixth) also etched their names in the Aztec record book. The complete top 10 can be found on page two of this release.
MWC Championships Recap
Senior co-captain Kristin Glen led the Aztecs for a fourth straight meet at the Mountain West Conference Championships at Mission Bay Park. Sara Beyers and Sara Cunningham established new personal bests at the meet, while Glen and Michelle Martinez narrowly missed setting new personal records.
Glen, competing in San Diego for the last time as a collegian, crossed the finish line in 23 minutes, 23 seconds. Her effort was 26 seconds short of tying her season best and ended the race nine spots ahead of Martinez. The sophomore from Burbank, Calif., just missed matching her season best by seven seconds with a time of 23:52.
Darien Buc clocked in 10 seconds behind Martinez at 24:02 to log her second-best 6K of 2008, while Beyers established a personal record by navigating the course in 24:04. Cunningham followed Beyers' lead by setting her own PR of 24:19, a mark that was 2.1 seconds better than her previous lifetime best.
Rounding out the SDSU contingent were Rachel Williams (24:37), co-captain Anne Vieira (25:13), Andrea Norton (25:27) and Kelly Oelschlager (26:21).
Last Year at Regionals
San Diego State completed its season at the ultra-competitive NCAA West Regional Championships at Springfield Country Club in Eugene, Ore. Lisa Naucler led the way for the seventh and final race of 2007, while Darien Buc and Lindsay Barajas established personal records at the 6,000-meter course.
Naucler logged the third-fastest 6K time of the season for the Aztecs with a time of 22 minutes, 57.24 seconds. Despite finishing in 138th place, her performance was better than Celeste Tyson's from the previous year when Tyson, SDSU's top runner that day, finished 67th with a mark of 23:06.31.
Kristin Glen concluded her first season in scarlet and black by recording SDSU's second-fastest time at 23:19.30. Trailing Glen was Buc, who turned in a personal-record effort of 23:40.70.
The next three Aztecs all finished within 34 seconds of each of other. Headlining the trio was Makenzie Mabry, who posted a time of 24:03.50, while Anne Vieira crossed the finish line in 24:14.60. The third member of the group was Stephanie Armstrong with a time 24:37.20.
Barajas, who was called up to the `A' team for the MWC Championships, made the trip for the second consecutive week and continued her strong running by recording a new personal record (25:14.65).
Despite finishing in 29th place with 819 points, San Diego State's top-six finishers had times faster than its second-place athlete from the previous year.
Familiar Territory
San Diego State hopes its familiarity with the course will provide them with an advantage other teams may not have after racing at the Stanford Invitational earlier this year in late September.
Of the top-10 6K times of the season for SDSU, four occurred at the Stanford Invite, including the second-best mark of 23:20.00 set by Kristin Glen. The other times were produced by Michelle Martinez (23:45.00; 6th), Darien Buc (23:54.00; 8th), and Kelly Oelschlager (24:06.00; 10th).