Sept. 27, 2005

SAN DIEGO -

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CROSS COUNTRY SPLITS FOR TWO MEETS
*The San Diego State women's cross country team will split for two separate 5K races on Saturday. The SDSU `A' team travels to Salem, Ore., for the 31st Annual Willamette Invitational, beginning at approximately 10:10 a.m. at Bush Park.

This year will be SDSU's first-ever appearance in the Willamette meet. Making the trek north to Oregon include last week's top finishers, sophomore Lital Azulay, junior Lisa Crampton and senior Christal Cuadra, along with juniors Sarah Belger, Sara Cates and Celeste Tyson and sophomore Lisa Naucler.

Closer to home, junior Dora Sanders, sophomore Anne Vieira and freshman Amanda Maydeck are scheduled to compete in the UC Riverside Invitational, which is set for a 9:30 a.m. start at the Ag-Ops Cross Country Course. UC RIVERSIDE INVITATIONAL--THE LAST TIME
*The Aztecs' last visit to Riverside resulted in a 11th-place finish out of 14 teams at the 2003 meet. Then sophomore Jamillah Titus was SDSU's top individual finisher, coming in 67th with a time of 19:45.00. 2005 returnees Ali Baker, Sara Cates and Jackie Duncan also completed the course for the Aztecs.

2003 UC Riverside Invite Results
Final Team Results (Top 5 + SDSU): 1. UCSB, 34; 2. Track West 57; 3. CS Northridge, 108; 4. USC, 132; 5. San Jose State, 139; 11. San Diego State, 297.

5K Individual Results (2005 Returnees only):
67. Jamillah Titus (19:45.00); 78. Ali Baker (19:59.70); 86. Sara Cates (20:15.40); 102. Jackie Duncan (20:43.90).

2005 STANFORD INVITE RECAP
*Aztec sophomore Lital Azulay (Holon, Israel) placed ninth of 227 runners in 21 minutes, 54 seconds to lead the San Diego State women's cross country team to a fourth-place finish Saturday at the 32nd Annual Stanford Invitational at Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif. The host Cardinal won the 32-team women's invitational race with 31 points, followed by Chico State (136), Portland (155), the Aztecs (189) and UC Santa Barbara (193).

"Overall, I was very pleased with the results," SDSU coach Jennifer Nanista said. "We have room for improvement, but to go out run a race like we did up at Stanford, says a lot about our team."

Azulay's time of 21:54 was the fifth-fastest time ever run by a SDSU student-athlete and third-best ever at the Stanford meet. The Cardinal's Arianna Lambee won the 6,000-meter race with a 21:15 clocking. Junior Lisa Crampton was the next Aztec finisher, coming in 23rd with a time of 22:27. Senior Christal Cuadra (29th place, 22:34), sophomore Lisa Naucler (69th, 23:27) and junior Sarah Belger (73rd, 23:31) rounded out SDSU's top five.

San Diego State's fourth-place finish was its best-ever showing at the Stanford Invitational. The Aztecs' previous best came in 2002 when they placed ninth out of 33 teams.

2005 Stanford Invitational Results
(Women's Collegiate)
Final Team Results (Top 5): 1. Stanford, 31; 2. Chico State, 136; 3. Portland, 155; 4. San Diego State, 189; 5. UC Santa Barbara, 193.

Aztec Individual 6K Results:
9. Lital Azulay (21:54); 23. Lisa Crampton(22:27); 29. Christal Cuadra (22:34); 69. Lisa Naucler (23:27); 73. Sarah Belger (23:31); 76. Celeste Tyson (23:33); 99. Sara Cates (23:42).

MORE MILEAGE
*The Aztecs have added an additional meet to the 2005 schedule. On Oct. 15, SDSU will travel to Sunnyvale, Calif., for the Santa Clara Invitational at Baylands Regional Park, set to begin at 10:45 a.m.