Cross Country Returns to UCR for Highlander Invitational

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women’s cross country is set for their final meet of the regular season traveling north to UC Riverside for the Highlander Invitational. The 6K race begins at 8 a.m. on the UCR Ag Ops Course.

All 13 student-athletes on the roster are scheduled to run in the final race before the Mountain West Championships on Nov. 1 in Colorado.

Last Time Out
• The Aztecs traveled to Oregon for the Bill Dellinger Invitational 6K race last weekend finishing 10th with 273 points.
• Their team time of 1:48.03 ranks as the fourth fastest 6K team time in program history.
• Vanessa Cabello was the top Aztec finisher with a time of 21:23.7 in 57th place, just ahead of Emily Van Valkenburg at 21:28.2 and Samantha Wood at 21:34.2. The trio has been SDSU’s top three finishers at all three meets the team has scored in.

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. She also paced the Scarlet and Black at Oregon with a 21:23.7, the second fastest time at the Pine Ridge Golf Club in program history.
• Emily Van Valkenburg has been the second or third Aztec across the line in each of her three races this season. At the Bill Dellinger Invitational, her 21:28.2 was the eighth-fastest 6K in SDSU history (without replacement).
• 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. Seven of those 12 have recorded personal bests.

Aztecs on the UCR Ag Ops Course
• San Diego State has raced in Riverside more than any other course in the program’s history. Of their fastest team times, the top two, three of the top five and five of the top ten have come at the UCR Ag Ops Course.
• Last year at the Highlander Invitational, led by Jessica Kain’s sub-20-minute race, the Aztecs posted a team time of 1:46:08. The mark bested the 2022 Highlander Invitational team time for the fastest in SDSU history.
• Individually, four of the fastest 6K times in program history have come on this course including Eva Rethmeier’s 20:46.7 (4th all-time) last season.