Coming out of an off weekend, with conference matches less than a month away and a hometown crowd cheering it on, the San Diego State cross country team was looking to increase its confidence and receive a boost as the season winded down.
SDSU received all it needed as it finished with a third overall finish and four personal records at the Triton Classic in La Jolla on Saturday.
“We were great today, we ran so well and everyone seemed in sync,” assistant coach Jennifer Nanista said. “We just ran like we knew we could and I’m really excited for us.”
The Aztecs finished third but were the first finishing Division I team while collecting three top 25 finishers. SDSU attributes its success to its improved grouping.
“Our grouping has been something we’ve been working on and we really excelled at it today,” senior co-captain Anne Vieira said. “We had three girls finish real close up top and I know I was running in a group of about four girls and it makes racing easier.”
The Aztecs were lead by senior Kristin Glen who came in at a time of 22 minutes, 57.7 seconds, claiming 14th overall. The other two Aztecs in the top 25 were junior Darien Buc and classmate Rachel Williams. Buc finished in 23rd with a personal-best time of 23:39.8 and Williams crossed the finish line at another personal-best time of 23:42.6.
“With last week off we put a lot of time in just resting and getting ready for this event, and to finish as high as we did with so many top finishers was simply great,” Nanista said. “We needed a good finish here and we got even better than we expected and now we can carry over this confidence.”
Just missing a top 25 performance was senior Kelly Oelschlager. She grabbed 33rd place with a personal-best time of 23:59.9. Nine spots behind Oelschlager was junior Sarah Cunningham in 42nd place with the last personal-best time of 24:21.1.
“We knew this course beforehand and were able to run through it before we competed on it and that gave us an upper hand,” Vieira said. “It was also in San Diego and we had the whole track team watching us and all of our friends and family; it’s nice to hear your name cheered in the crowd.”
Sophomore classmates Michelle Martinez and Sara Beyers finished right together in 45th and 46th, only two tenths of a second in between them. Martinez finished with a time of 24:32.2 and Beyers with a time of 24:32.4. Vieira finished in 56th at 24:55.5, senior Alyssa Robinson took 60th at 24:59.5, junior Makenzie Mabry finished in 25:15 in 68th place and freshman Melissa Bunn rounded out the SDSU runners in 88th with a time of 26:08.
“Today was just what we needed and we can take this confidence into our next event,” Nanista said. “Heading into conference we’re looking really good and I’m excited to see what we can do.”
The Daily Aztec > Sports > Cross Country
CROSS COUNTRY: Aztecs set records and lead Division 1 at Triton
Published: Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Updated: Tuesday, October 14, 2008
 "Photo: Andrew Huse / Staff Photographer")
Andrew Huse / Staff Photographer
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