Cross Country Set for Mountain West Championships

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women’s cross country heads to Colorado Springs this weekend for the Mountain West Championships. The 6K race begins at 9 a.m. at Eisenhower Golf Course. The Aztecs were picked to finish seventh by the cross country coaches of the conference.

For the first time in program history, San Diego State has been regionally ranked by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Association, earning the No. 15 spot on the most recent West Region rankings.

Aztecs at MW Championships: Presley Bennett, Melanie Falkowski, Isabella Fauria, Maddie Heller, Sara Jones, Maddy Parrone, Tatum Zinkin

Last Time Out
• The Aztecs made history in their last race winning the 6K team title at the Highlander Invitational at UC Riverside.
• The win is their first 6K team win in program history and their first team victory of any length since 2016 when they won a pair of 5K races.
• Their team time of 1:45:27.9 was also the fastest of any 6K race in program history.

Individual Notes
• This season, Vanessa Cabello has a race victory (Mark Covert Classic), the SDSU Carbon Canyon Regional Park course record (17:47.1), the second fastest time at Pine Ridge Golf Club in program history (21:23.7), the fifth fastest mark on UCR’s Ag Ops 6K course (20:51.7) and now ranks fifth fastest in SDSU individual 6K history.
• Emily Van Valkenburg has been a huge addition to the roster this season finishing among the top three Aztecs in each race she’s competed in. She also ran the fourth fastest 6K race in program history at the Highlander Invitational (20:44.6) which also ranks second best on the UCR Ag Ops Course.
• Samantha Wood has also been steady all season long being one of the first four Aztecs across the finish line in each of her races including the top finisher at the Roy Griak Invitational with a time of 22:31.8.
• Similarly, Maddie Heller and Eva Rethmeier have been two of the point scorers for SDSU all season long. Heller set personal bests in both the 5K and 6K this year.
• 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.
• Of the 12 student-athletes who have raced this season, eight have recorded PRs.

Mountain West Championship History
• Last year, San Diego State had their best showing at the Mountain West Championships in over a decade with their fastest team time at a conference championship meet since it became a 6K race in 2000, and matching their highest team placement since 2005.
• Since joining the Mountain West, the Aztecs’ best finish is fifth place (2000, 2005).
• Individually, they have had two all-conference runners - Marie Nilsson (4th, 2003) and Lital Azulay (5th, 2005) - in the Mountain West era. Since Azulay’s race in 2005, the highest individual finisher for the Aztecs was Marianne Hogan’s 20th place in 2010.
• Of the scheduled competitors, Maddie Heller (22:12.2) and Maddy Parrone (23:22.1) competed for SDSU at last season’s MW meet. Isabella Fauria (22:35.7) also competed in last year’s meet for New Mexico, finishing 63rd overall.