Oct. 12, 2005

SAN DIEGO -

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CROSS COUNTRY HEADS TO BAY AREA FOR FINAL PRE-CONFERENCE TUNE-UP
*After a one-week hiatus, the San Diego State women's cross country team returns to action this Saturday to compete in the Santa Clara Invitational, set to begin at 9:45 a.m. at Baylands Regional Park in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Seven Aztecs are scheduled for the 5K race, including senior Christal Cuadra, juniors Sarah Belger, Sara Cates, Lisa Crampton and Celeste Tyson, along with sophomores Lital Azulay and Lisa Naucler.

Saturday's meet will be SDSU's fourth and final 5K distance of the 2005 season. The remaining three races on the schedule will all be 6Ks.

Besides the Aztecs, other teams planning to race Saturday include host school Santa Clara, San Jose State, Saint Mary's, UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton.

SDSU will have a week off to prepare for the Mountain West Conference championships , slated for Oct. 29 in Fort Collins, Colo.

AZTECS RECEIVE FIRST-EVER REGIONAL RANKING
*SDSU appeared in the cross country regional polls for the first time ever last week. The Aztecs are currently ranked No. 9 in the West Region in the latest poll released by the Women's Intercollegiate Cross Country Coaches Association (WICCCA). SDSU has recorded four straight top-five team finishes and possesses an aggregate 68-10 record against the competition thus far in 2005.

WICCCA Rankings--West Region (Week of Oct. 2)
1. Stanford, 2. Arizona State, 3. Washington, 4. Oregon, 5. UCLA, 6. Washington State, 7. Portland, 8. UC Irvine, 9. San Diego State, 10. Arizona.

2005 UCSD TRITON CLASSIC RECAP
*Select runners from the San Diego State cross country team competed Saturday at the UCSD Triton Classic on the campus of UC San Diego in La Jolla, Calif. Junior Dora Sanders (El Cajon, Calif.) was the first Aztec to cross the finish line, covering the 6,000-meter course in 25 minutes, 15 seconds to finish 76th out of 184 runners.

Also competing for SDSU were freshman Amanda Maydeck (88th - 25:33) and sophomore Anne Vieira (116th - 26:31). Senior Jackie Duncan, who ran unattached for a second consecutive week, clocked in with a time of 23:52 to finish 28th in the race, which was won by UCSD's Mimi Hodgins (21:53).

2005 UCSD Triton Classic (La Jolla, Calif.)
Women's 6K Overall Team Results (Top 5):
1. UCSD (39 pts.), 2. IPFW (61 pts.), 3. Cal Coast TC (66 pts.), 4. UCSD Alumni (154 pts.), 5. CS San Bernardino (166 pts.), SDSU - No team score.

LITAL STANDS TALL
*With just three meets as an Aztec under her belt, sophomore Lital Azulay has already distinguished herself as one of the team's top runners.

Azulay was the first SDSU runner to cross the finish line at the Aztec Invitational, the Stanford meet and the Willamette Invitational. She was also named the Mountain West Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Oct. 5, for her performance at the Willamette Invite.

Azulay has three top-nine finshes and boasts the squad's fastest 5K (17:10.50) and 6K (21:54.00) times in 2005, which also rank ninth and fifth, respectively, in school history.