Oct. 28, 2015
SAN DIEGO -
The San Diego State cross country team begins its championship season Friday (Oct. 30) at the 2015 Mountain West Championships in Reno, Nev. The women's 6,000-meter race will begin at 10:45 a.m. PT at Montrêux Golf Course.
The 6K women's race and the men's 8K race (10 a.m. PT) will each be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network here: http://www.themwc.com/page/championship_c-xc. Additional live links will be added when they become available.
The Aztecs head into this weekend's meet with three team wins in five meets, their most in a single season in the MW era (since 1999. Additionally, SDSU has placed in the top five (UC Riverside Invite - 5th-of-15 and Highlander Invite - 2nd-of-10) at its other two meets of the season.
Junior Elaine Ribeiro has led the way in all five races and posted collegiate-best marks in both the 5K (Highlander Invite, 17:31.70) and 6K (UC Riverside Invite, 21:05.3). Ribeiro's 6K time is No. 2 on SDSU's all-time rankings, while her 5K time places her at No. 8. Ribeiro's performances have resulted in two first-place finishes for the La Mesa, Calif., native in addition to being named the California Bank and Trust Student Athlete of the Week (Sept. 15) and the MW Athlete of the Week (Sept. 22).
Meanwhile, sophomores Lily Seynaeve and Cassidy Towner have earned top-10 finishes at each of the three meets SDSU has won this season (Mark Covert Classic, Aztec Invitational and UNLV Invitational). Both also ran a career-best time at the UC Riverside 6K, with Seynaeve (21:30.8) taking 18th and Towner (22:10.9) 37th out of 110 participants. Senior Rachel Roesgen also has compiled three top-10 finishes to contribute to the Aztecs' success over the course of the season.
At last year's championships in Fresno, Calif., the SDSU finished 10th and was led by Ribeiro, who took 39th with a time of 22:02.30. Seynaeve (61st, 22:36.30), Towner (64th, 22:43.00), Dynasty Gammage (22:45.60), Roesgen (72nd, 22:58.60) and Grace Hanshaw (77th, 23:33.90) also ran in the race. Last year's New Mexico team, which was ranked at No. 10 heading into the championship meet, won with 33 points.
Results and photos from the race will be posted at TheMWC.com following the meet.
If you'd like to follow along via social media, content will be available on Twitter (@MW_OlySports), Facebook (Facebook.com/MountainWestConference), Instagram (@MountainWestConference) and Snapchat (@MountainWest), courtesy of the Mountain West Conference Staff.
Following the MW Championships, the Aztecs will head to Seattle for the NCAA West Regional Championships on Nov. 13.