Oct. 19, 2013
Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Aylin Mejia led San José State at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational on Saturday, clocking the best 6K time of her Spartan career.
Mejia completed the course at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, Calif., in 21:54.5, and was the first Spartan across the finish line by 35 seconds. She finished in 79th place overall out of 204 individuals in the invitational.
SJSU competed in both the Invitational and Open events. In the invitational, the blue and gold scored 492 points and came in 18th place. For the Open, the Spartans were seventh with a team score of 148.
Behind Mejia was Rebecca Garcia (22:31.5) in 133rd place and Lalida Maokhamphiou (22:50.5) in 156th. Alexandra Seda (23:09.6) in 173rd and Marissa Buckley (23:15.9) in 178th were the final two scorers for San José State.
"We really showed a lot of improvement today," said SJSU distance coach Brad Wick. "Aylin had a personal-best and she can take that into the big race in two weeks."
San José competes in the Mountain West (MW) Championship on November 1.
Melanie Fujiwara led the way for the Spartans in the Open race. She finished in 64th place with a time of 24:37.2. Breanna Garcia (26:07.5, 108th), Mallory Davenport (26:29.1, 118th), Joanna Reyes (27:46.1, 148th) and Diana Orozco (27:50.6, 153rd) also scored.
Loyola Marymount took first place in the invitational with 53 points. Host Santa Clara with 46 points was the winner of the Open event.
The Santa Clara Bronco Invitational marked the end of the regular season for SJSU, which will now gear up for the MW Championship in Colorado Springs, Colo., on November 1.
Invitational Team Result:
1. Loyola Marymount 53
2. UC Santa Barbara 88
3. Oregon State 92
4. Idaho 113
5. Richard 116
6. Santa Clara 236
7. Montana 238
8. Fresno State 245
9. Southern Utah 247
10. Utah Valley 261
11. San Diego 291
12. San Francisco 300
13. Idaho State 328
14. Pepperdine 351
15. New Mexico State 388
16. UC Davis 388
17. St. Mary's (CA) 443
18. San José State 492
19. Hawai'i 596
SJSU Invitational Results:
79. Aylin Mejia 21:54.5
133. Rebecca Garcia 22:31.5
156. Lalida Maokhamphiou 22:50.5
173. Alexandra Seda 23:09.6
178. Marissa Buckley 23:15.9
189. Karina Nunes 23:48.8
192. Nina Sassano 23:53.6
195. Jenay Jauregui 23:59.1
Invitational Top Individuals:
1. Grace Graham-Zamudio Loyola Marymount 20:18.1
2. Hannah Kiser Idaho 20:19.7
3. Sheree Shea Loyola Marymount 20:41.5
4. Daniella Moreno UC Santa Barbara 20:29.3
5. Carina Mendoza Unattached 20:30.4
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Open Team Results:
1. Santa Clara 46
2. Colorado 73
3. San Diego 76
4. Nevada 87
5. Pacific 91
6. Pepperdine 127
7. San José State 148
SJSU Open Results:
64. Melanie Fujiwara 24.37.2
108. Breanna Garcia 26:07.5
118. Mallory Davenport 26:29.1
148. Joanna Reyes 27:46.1
153. Diana Orozco 27:50.6
Open Top Individuals:
1. Rylee Bowen Unattached 22:15.1
2. Haley Kroll Unattached 22:20.9
3. Rebekah Studebaker Simpson (CA) 22:26.1
4. Kendall Stusgavage 22:33.0
5. Maddie Alm Colorado 22:33.3