CROSS COUNTRY: SDSU comes up short in conference championships

Home field advantage is one of the most coveted things in sports.

Sleeping in their own beds and competing for their home crowd can give any group of players a huge boost, especially in a championship event.

But when the team can’t get it done at home, the loss is even more disappointing.

That was the case for the San Diego State cross country team at the Mountain West Conference Championships last Saturday at Mission Bay Park in San Diego.  Even with the home field advantage SDSU could not keep up as the Aztecs went on to finish in ninth place.

“We didn’t show up today; we were nowhere near where we could have been today,” assistant coach Jennifer Nanista said. “Our finish totally misrepresented SDSU. We could not hit our stride, we couldn’t keep up under the pressure.”

The Aztecs were led by senior co-captain Kristin Glen, making it four straight meets in which the leader has been the first finisher for SDSU. Glen finished the 6K with a time of 23 minutes, 23 seconds, good enough for 42nd place.

“Kristin (Glen) has been everything this team has needed and more this season,” Nanista said. “She has been the consistent force driving this team and has given all she could to this team.”

The next runner to finish was sophomore Michelle Martinez grabbing 51st place with a time of 23:52. Finishing 10 seconds behind Martinez was junior Darien Buc in 55th with a time of 24:02

Continuing the Aztecs’ run of setting personal-best records were sophomore Sara Beyers and junior Sara Cunningham.  Beyers completed the course in 24:04 in 56th place while Cunningham clocked in at 24:19 in 59th place.

“We had a lot of pressure coming into this meet and maybe we put a little too much on ourselves,” Nanista said. “Being in front of the home crowd and at conference left us a little more anxious and hindered our confidence. I think we held us back today.”

Junior Rachel Williams finished in 61st with a time of 24:37 while senior co-captain Anne Vieira grabbed 66th with a time of 25:13. Sophomore Andrea Norton took 70th with a time of 25:27 and rounding out SDSU in 72nd was senior Kelly Oelschlager, with a time of 26:21.

“Our performance was way below our expectations and we wish we could get another chance,” Nanista said. “We weren’t stellar with our times and know that we have another chance to redeem ourselves.”

The Aztecs will be competing in the NCAA West Regional Championships in Palo Alto on Nov. 15, and Nanista is hoping the team can forget this finish and step it up at regionals.

“We did not represent San Diego State well at all and were looking to come out strong at Stanford,” Nanista said, “We’ve run this course before and hopefully we can be a little more relaxed and come out of Palo Alto with a great finish.”

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