September 27, 2013

Mejia Clocks Top Time For Spartans At Stanford Invitational

Sept. 28, 2013

Stanford, Calif. -- Aylin Mejia was the first to cross the finish line for the San JosÃ© State women's cross country team that came in 13th place out of 15 teams at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday.

Mejia finished the 6K course on the Stanford Golf Course in 23:12 and came in 62nd out of 222 to lead SJSU. Rebecca Garcia who had led the Spartans in the previous two races finished 20 seconds behind Mejia in 82nd place.

"Aylin had a solid performance today," said Spartan assistant coach and distance specialist Brad Wick. "She did a good job leading the women's team today."

Freshman Nina Sassano came in 155th place with a time of 24:35. Marissa Buckley (25:14) came in 177th and Jenay Jauregui (25:14) came in 178th to round out the scorers for San JosÃ© State. It was Jauregui's first race in a Spartan uniform.

Also competing for SJSU: Alexandra Seda (25:35, 188th), and Lalida Maokhamphiou (29:18, 213th).

"Each race the team is learning and fine-tuning for the next competition," said Wick. "We'll take advantage of a long training block in the coming weeks."

Stanford took first place as a team, led by Jessica Tonn and Aisling Cuffe who were the top-two individuals in the event.

San JosÃ© State's next race is the San Francisco State Invitational on October 11. The race takes place inside Golden Gate Park where the Spartans opened up the 2013 season at the USF Invitational at the end of August.

Team Results:

1. Stanford 33

2. Sacramento State 83

3. Loyola Marymount 103

4. Utah 110

5. North Dakota State 169

6. San Francisco 178

7. San Diego 205

8. Santa Clara 205

9. Fresno State 225

10. Pepperdine 249

11. Saint Mary's (CA) 273