Oct. 16, 2009
VAN NUYS, Calif. - Senior Rachel Williams (Mt. Hermon, Calif.) finished fifth of 107 runners to pace the San Diego State cross country team to a sixth-place showing at the Northridge Invitational Friday in Van Nuys, Calif.
Williams, who earned Mountain West Conference Athlete of the Week honors on Tuesday, completed the 5,000-meter course in a collegiate-best cross country time of 18 minutes, 15.82 seconds.
The 5K distance, which was said to be a few meters long, was a bit of a surprise to the arriving Aztecs. Because of the heat index, which topped out in the high 90's, the women's race was shortened by 1,000 meters from a 6K to a 5K. The race, held at the Balboa Park/Sepulveda course, was Cal State Northridge's first cross country home meet in 22 years.
As a team, SDSU took sixth with 155 points, five points behind UC Riverside (160) and 17 points ahead of UC Santa Barbara (138), two teams that are ranked in the latest region poll. Cal State Fullerton won the race with 53 points, followed by USC (61), Westmont College (120), the host Matadors (121), UC Santa Barbara, San Diego State and UC Riverside. Cal State Los Angeles (162) and Cal State Bakersfield (213) rounded out the nine-team meet.
Including Williams, four Aztecs set collegiate-best times in the 5K, while two others had season-best marks. Freshman Marianne Hogan (Bedford, Quebec), who owns the team's best 6K time of the season of 23:03.0, took 27th in a collegiate-best clocking of 19:09.82. Freshman Jordan Davis (Santa Rosa, Calif.) also had a college best performance, taking 41st in 19:51.76.
Sophomore Josefine Koskinen (Stockholm, Sweden) (20:21.74) and junior Sara Beyers (20:27.70) took 55th and 57th, respectively, and were followed by sophomore Melissa Bunn's (Simi Valley, Calif.) season-best time of 20:51.42 (60th).
SDSU had a pack of three - junior Michelle Martinez (Burbank, Calif.) (21:33.40), senior Makenzie Mabry (La Crescenta, Calif.) (season-best 21:38.00) and freshman Sabrina Rathor (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) (collegiate-best 21:39.32) - come six seconds apart in 68th, 69th and 70th, while freshman Hana Llata (Camarillo, Calif.) (86th, 23:10.37) made her college debut at the 5K distance.
San Diego State will compete in the MWC championships on Oct. 31 in Provo, Utah.
Northridge Invitational
Cal State Northridge - Van Nuys, Calif.
Women's Results
1. Cal State Fullerton - 53
2. USC - 61
3. Westmont College - 120
4. Cal State Northridge - 121
5. UC Santa Barbara - 138
6. San Diego State - 155
7. UC Riverside - 160
8. Cal State Los Angeles - 162
9. Cal State Bakersfield - 213
Individual Results (5K) - 107 runners
(Top five and SDSU results listed only)
1. Danielle Domenichelli (Unattached), 17:12.96
2. Lilyana Morejon (CSUN), 17:24.62
3. Zsofia Erdelyi (USC), 17:45.03
4. Carolyn Ellis (CSUF), 17:52.86
5. Rachel Williams (SDSU), 18:15.82 (CB)
27. Marianne Hogan (SDSU), 19:09.82 (CB)
41. Jordan Davis (SDSU), 19:51.76 (CB)
55. Josefine Koskinen (SDSU), 20:21.74
57. Sara Beyers (SDSU), 20:27.70
60. Melissa Bunn (SDSU), 20:51.42 (SB)
68. Michelle Martinez (SDSU), 21:33.40
69. Makenzie Mabry (SDSU), 21:38.00 (SB)
70. Sabrina Rathor (SDSU), 21:39.32 (CB)
86. Hana Llata (SDSU), 23:10.37 (CD)
* CB = Collegiate-Best Time, SB = Season-Best Time, CD = Collegiate Debut at Distance