SDSU CROSS COUNTRY RETURNS TO BAY AREA FOR NCAA REGIONAL MEET
* The San Diego State women's cross country team will head back to the Bay Area on Saturday to compete in the 2005 NCAA West Regional championships in Palo Alto, Calif., set to begin at 12:15 p.m. at Stanford Golf Course.
Earlier this season, the 6,000-meter course was also the site of the Stanford Invitational in which the Aztecs finished fourth out of 32 teams.
The Aztecs will leave all but one of their Mountain West Conference opponents behind for this week's meet. SDSU and UNLV will both compete in the NCAA West Regional, while TCU heads to Waco, Texas, for the South Central Regional (host - Baylor). The remaining six MWC schools travel to Provo, Utah, for the Mountain Regional meet (host - Brigham Young).
The NCAA West Region is made up of schools from Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. SDSU's competition includes five of the country's top 30 teams, highlighted by No. 2 Stanford.
Bids to this season's national meet, scheduled for Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind., will be on the line at the district meets. The top two teams from each of the nine district meets will automatically advance. The next four indviduals who are not on one of the two teams will also be invited.
On Sunday, Nov. 13, 13 teams will be selected to receive at-large bids, while two additional individuals will also be chosen to compete at the national meet based on various critieria.
The last Aztec to qualify for the NCAA meet was Sophia Hawker, who earned an at-large individual bid in 1999. Hawker finished 24th out of 196 runners at the regional meet that year, which was held in Troutdale, Ore.
SDSU has only qualified once as a team for the national championships (1981 - 7th).
Below is a rundown of the Aztecs in the past six NCAA regional meets:
Year Team Finish Top Aztec Finisher (Time)
2004 NTS 55. Christal Cuadra (23:03.00)
2003 15th (415 pts.) 22. Marie Nilsson (21:04.00)*
2002 18th (478 pts.) 71. Jamillah Titus (23:31.00)
2001 NTS 61. Jennifer Stakiw (23:35.30)
2000 16th (492 pts.) 75. Kylie Edwards (22:34.00)
1999 18th (435 pts.) 24. Sophia Hawker (17:57.00)^
^ - 5K race (all others 6K)
* - SDSU school record
REWIND: 2005 MWC CHAMPIONSHIPS
* The San Diego State women's cross country team recorded its best finish in five years, placing fifth overall (134 points) at the 2005 Mountain West Conference championships, held Oct 29, at Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins, Colo. Eighth-ranked Brigham Young won the 6K race with 23 points, easily outdistancing runner-up New Mexico (74 pts.)
"I was pleased with the way we raced today," SDSU coach Jennifer Nanista said. "The effort was certainly there and I couldn't be happier for our runners. We had some excellent times, so I think we'll be in good shape heading into regionals."
Sophomore Lital Azulay recorded the best-ever 6K time by an Aztec at the MWC championships, coming in fifth out of 66 runners in 21 minutes, 14.20 seconds, eclipsing Marie Nilsson's 21:53 clocking set at the 2003 meet. As a result of her finish, Azulay becomes only the second SDSU runner along with Nilsson to ever earn first-team all-MWC honors. Her 21:14 effort is also a career-best and ranks second all-time in school history.
Azulay was helped by junior Lisa Crampton (Livermore, Calif.), who came in 21st overall with a personal-best time of 22:05.40. Crampton's mark was also good enough for eighth place all-time in school history. Fellow classmates Sarah Belger (33rd - 22:37.10) and Sara Cates (42nd - 23:15.10) also logged career bests for the Aztecs. Rounding out the SDSU contingent was senior Christal Cuadra (44th - 23:19.40), sophomore Lisa Naucler (49th - 23:36.00) and junior Celeste Tyson (54th - 23:57.60).
BYU's Heidi Magill claimed the individual title with a winning effort of 20:42.40. She was followed by teammate Chelsea Smith-McKell (20:59.20), who helped the Cougars win their seventh straight MWC title in as many chances.
2005 MWC Championships--Fort Collins, Colo.
(Women's 6K Results)
Final Team Standings : 1. Brigham Young, 23; 2. New Mexico, 74; 3. Colorado State, 75; 4. Wyoming, 121; 5. San Diego State, 134; 6. Air Force, 138; 7. Utah, 189; 8. TCU, 192; 9. UNLV, 274.
Aztec Individual Results:
5. Lital Azulay (21:14.20); 21. Lisa Crampton (22:05.40); 33. Sarah Belger (22:37.10); 42. Sara Cates (23:15.10); 44. Christal Cuadra (23:19.40); 49. Lisa Naucler (23:36.00); 54. Celeste Tyson (23:57.60).
FLASHBACK: 2004 NCAA REGIONALS
* A year ago, junior Christal Cuadra took 55th out of 199 runners to lead the San Diego State women's cross country team at the NCAA West Regional meet, held at Woodward Park in Fresno, Calif. The Aztecs had only four runners compete and did not post a team score. Top-ranked Stanford won the meet with 29 points, followed by No. 7 Arizona State (45) and No. 17 UC Santa Barbara (92).
Cuadra, a second-team all-Mountain West Conference performer, ran a 22-second personal-best 6K time of 22:00. Her 55th-place finish was a 15-spot improvement from the previous season.
"Christal ran great," SDSU coach Jennifer Nanista said. "She went out hard and stayed in good position throughout the race. She gained a lot of confidence and now knows she can run with the best."
Also completing the course for the Aztecs were sophomores Christian Fairing (138th - 23:29), Sara Cates (168th, 24:09) and Ali Baker (179th, 24:38).
