Cross Country Heads to Oregon for the Bill Dellinger Invitational

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women’s cross country will race in their fourth meet of the season on Friday heading to the Pacific Northwest for the Bill Dellinger Invitational hosted by the University of Oregon.

Among the teams competing is nationally ranked No. 6 Utah and the hosts No. 12 Oregon, as well as Cal, Nebraska, Oregon State and UCLA in the field of 15 teams.

Aztecs at Oregon: Presley Bennett, Vanessa Cabello, Isabella Fauria, Lauren Harper, Maddie Heller, Sara Jones, Eva Rethmeier, Emily Van Valkenburg, Samantha Wood

Last Time Out
• The Aztecs split their roster for two races on Sept. 20-21 with eight competing at the Roy Griak Invitational and four at the UC Riverside Invitational.
• It was the first time the Aztecs had ever competed at a University of Minnesota meet, finishing ninth of 17 teams with a team time 2:44:39.4. Samantha Wood’s 22:31.8 was the top Aztec finisher.
• The four racing in Riverside were led by freshman Sara Jones, who finished with a time of 17:53.1 in sixth place. Her time ranks fifth best on UCR’s 5k course and ultimately won her Mountain West Women’s Freshman of the Week.

Individual Notes
• Vanessa Cabello won the first meet of the year with an SDSU Carbon Canyon Regional Park course record and personal best 5k time of 17:47.1.
• Samantha Wood has been in the Aztecs’ top two finishers in each of her first two races this season, including the top finisher at the Roy Griak Invitational in 31st place.
• Sara Jones, in just her second collegiate race, was the the top SDSU finisher at the UCR Invitational. Her sixth-place finish and 17:53.1 time earned her the first ever MW Freshman of the Week honor for San Diego State since the conference initiated the award in 2021.
• Twelve of the 13 athletes on the roster have run a race this season. Six of those 12 have recorded personal bests.

Last Year in Oregon
• The Aztecs competed in this same Bill Dellenger Invitational meet last year, finishing 12th of the 14 teams with 307 points.
• New assistant coach Jessica Kain paced the team with a time of 20:52.1 for a 27th place finish. Of the returners, Eva Rethmeier was 46th at 21:24.0, Vanessa Cabello ran a 22:21.0, Maddie Heller ran a 22:45.3 and Maddy Parrone ran a 23:52.5.