Aug. 29, 2012
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State cross country team looks to start strong in 2012 when it competes in the UC San Diego opener on Friday.
Senior Marianne Hogan will lead the way for SDSU after being the team's top finisher in each of the Aztecs' meets last season and in 12 consecutive meets overall. A native of Bedford, Quebec, Canada, Hogan posted her top time of 21 minutes, 49 seconds at the Stanford Invitational, while her top 5K time of 18:21.9 came in her victory at the Aztec Invitational to open the season. She also took third at the UNLV Invitational (18:28), second at the UCSD Triton Invitational (22:01.8) and finished 25th overall at the conference championship with a time of 22:28.6.
In addition, senior Josefine Koskinen looks to build upon a solid junior season where she came in second place for the Aztecs in each of the six meets in 2011. Her top 5K time of 19:27 came at the UNLV Invitational, where she finished 16th overall.
Following Friday's season-opener, SDSU will compete in the UC Irvine Invitational on Sept. 8 before hosting the 68th annual Aztec Invitational on Sept. 15 at historic Balboa Park. The Aztecs travel to the Stanford Invitational on Sept. 29 before returning to La Jolla for the UC Triton Classic Invitational (Oct. 6). They'll wrap up the regular season at the Fullerton Invite on Oct. 19 before the MW Championships in Las Vegas on Oct. 26.
SDSU has been predicted to finish ninth in the Mountain West in 2012 by the league's coaches, as it attempts to rebound from a ninth-place showing in the MW Championships a year ago. New Mexico was selected to finish first this season after winning the MW meet in 2011, followed by Boise State in second and Colorado State in third.