Oct. 5, 2005

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State sophomore Lital Azulay (Holon, Israel) has been named the Mountain West Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Week, the conference office announced Wednesday. Azulay shared the award with the men's winner, Nick Wilson of Air Force.

Azulay finished third out of 138 runners at last Saturday's Willamette Invitational in Salem, Ore. She posted a career-best time of 17:10.50 in the 5K race, which ranks ninth all-time in school history and is also a conference season-best. Azulay was also the first SDSU runner to cross the finish line at the Aztec Invitational and Stanford Invitational, placing eighth and ninth, respectively. At the Stanford meet, she recorded the fifth-fastest 6K time (21:54.00) in school history.

The award is the first of Azulay's career and seventh for the Aztecs since the Mountain West Conference began in 1999. Previous SDSU honorees include Sophia Hawker (1999), Kylie Edwards (2000), Alicia Stewart (2001), Jennifer Stakiw (2002) and Marie Nilsson (twice - 2003).

Azulay's strong start has propelled SDSU to its first-ever regional ranking this week. The Aztecs are ranked No. 9 in the West Region in the latest poll released by the Women's Intercollegiate Country Coaches Association (WICCCA).

San Diego State's top-seven runners will have this weekend off before traveling to Sunnyvale, Calif. for the Santa Clara Invitational on October 15. Meanwhile, the Aztecs `B' squad will compete this Saturday at the UCSD Triton Classic starting at 8:30 a.m.