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SDSU Women's Cross Country 2005 Season In Review
Azulay spurs Aztecs' revival, earns first-team all-MWC honors
Jan. 10, 2006 SAN DIEGO - Complete Release in PDF Format Bolstered by a crop of talented newcomers, the San Diego State women's cross country team fashioned one of its best seasons ever in 2005. Fielding perhaps its deepest squad in recent years, several individual and team milestones were reached during a memorable campaign in which Aztec runners repeatedly established career-best times, propelling SDSU to its first-ever appearance in the regional polls. "We had a tremendous season," SDSU assistant coach Jennifer Nanista said. "We never once backed off during any meet this year. We went up against some tough competition and we now know that we can run with some of the best teams in the country." The Aztecs' first team title in two years was among the many highlights for the scarlet and black in 2005. SDSU captured the Santa Clara Invitational and finished no worse than seventh place in its six other scoring meets. The strong performances did not go unnoticed as the Aztecs were ranked as high as eighth in the west region according to the Women's Intercollegiate Collegiate Cross Country Coaches Association (WICCCA). The year culminated with the Aztecs' best-ever showing at a regional meet as SDSU placed seventh out of 30 teams at the NCAA West Regional championships. Individually, Lital Azulay quickly established herself as one of the elite runners in school history. In her first cross country season on the Mesa, the sophomore transfer from Coastal Carolina was SDSU's top finisher in all six races she ran, including an individual title at the Santa Clara Invitational. She posted three of the school's top-10 fastest times in the 6K distance and two of the school's top-10 times in the 5K. For her efforts, Azulay was named Mountain West Conference Runner of the Week on two occasions, becoming just the second Aztec, along with Marie Nilsson, to win the award twice in the same season. At the MWC championships, Azulay earned first-team all-conference honors, becoming just the second SDSU runner other than Nilsson to receive first-team accolades. The Holon, Israel, native capped off the year at the NCAA regional meet by recording the school's second-fastest 6K mark (21:05.80), garnering all-region honors with her top-25 finish. Azulay was not the only star in the Aztecs' constellation. After finishing as the team's top runner at the Fullerton Season Opener, junior Lisa Crampton cemented herself as the team's No. 2 runner, trailing only Azulay in five of the next six races. The transfer from Belmont University finished second overall at the Santa Clara Invite and recorded career bests at the Willamette Invitational (5K - 17:32.60) and NCAA West Regional (6K - 21:32.30), with the latter ranking fourth on the school's all-time list. Senior Christal Cuadra made her final cross country race as an Aztec a memorable one, setting a 6K career best (21:50.90) at the NCAA regional meet which ranked as the sixth-fastest time in school history. Cuadra was also the team's second finisher at the Aztec Invitational. Sophomore Lisa Naucler and junior Sarah Belger were another pair of newcomers who enjoyed a productive season. Naucler posted two of the team's top-10 5K times of 2005 and finished in the top five on the team in six of seven races, while Belger was the squad's No. 3 finisher at the MWC meet.
SDSU also received steady performances from juniors Celeste Tyson and Sara Cates. Tyson logged career bests in both the 5K (18:28.33) and 6K (22:20.60) at the Santa Clara Invite and NCAA regional meet, respectively. Cates, meanwhile, recorded a career-best mark of 23:15.10 at the MWC championships, a two-minute improvement from the same meet in 2004.
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