Meet Week Preview
Anteater Opener (4K)
Wednesday, Sept. 1 | 5:30 p.m. PT | Irvine, Calif. | UCI Arc Fields
Media Coverage: Live Results (via Finished Results)
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State cross country team kicks off their 2021 season Wednesday evening at the Anteater Opener at UC Irvine.
The Aztecs will be competing in a 4k on UCI's Arc Fields, which features a mix of flat 1,500m and 1000m grass loops. Other schools competing will be UC Irvine, California Baptist and Long Beach State. The forecast calls for clear skies and temperatures in the low 70's.
Slated to run for SDSU: Emily Burd, Jessica Kain, Amber Elias, Lauren Harper, Alex Lomeli, Taylor Lustyan, Carlene Masar, Nicole Meyer, Natalie Regalado, Naomi Smitham and Bailey Watts.
Coach Lusitana's Take on the Anteater Opener
"The team is excited to get out and compete again. Since it's a very early season meet, it's a shorter course than we will see during the year, a 4k instead of the normal 6k. The team trained hard on their own over the summer and we just had two quality weeks of training, the first of which was in altitude in Mammoth. They are ready to race but we'll be facing a stiff challenge on Wednesday, going up against California Baptist, who is ranked No. 10 in the west region preseason rankings as well as a strong young UC Irvine team and a veteran Long Beach State squad."
Aztec Storylines
• The Aztecs competed in just two races in the shortened 2020 season (that occurred in the winter of 2021), both of which took place at Craig Ranch Regional Park in Las Vegas.
• SDSU had the same top three finishers in both races: Jessica Kain, Carlene Masar and freshman Amber Elias.
• Carlene Masar has finished in the top two among Aztecs in every race she's run in her career.
• SDSU has three new runners this year: freshmen Vanessa Cabello (Los Altos, Calif.) and Nicole Meyer (Orange, Calif.) and Taylor Lustyan (Clovis, Calif.), a transfer from Chico State.
• Jessica Kain broke out during the 2021 outdoor track season. She became the first Aztec to qualify for the NCAA West Regionals in the 1,500m and her PR of 4:21.87 was the fastest time by an SDSU runner since 1982.
• Every race besides the Mountain West Championships (Oct. 29), which are hosted by New Mexico, will be in the state of California.
Coach Lusitana's Season Outlook
"As difficult as the pandemic has been for all of us, it has actually motivated the team and brought them together. They had a much-improved track season last spring and if our first two weeks of practice are any indication, the team is even more focused and motivated this cross country season. As always our focus for the season will be the end of the season meets, the conference championship and NCAA regionals in Sacramento. We hope to make some big improvements at these meets and to surprise some teams."
Aztecs Begin Season at Anteater Opener
