SDST Cross Country team

And they're still better than the Aztec men.

carlsbad bill, who was the coach when joyce and kanuka were there? thanks.

They were horrible and insignificant a year ago and they still are. Not sure when they were even average but not in the last decade at least.

I believe the head coach at that time was Fred La Plante. He ended up marrying Monica Joyce. Im not sure if they are still married. I know La Plante went to coach the USC women's team for about 5 years in the late 80's. The last I heard he was coaching the Michigan men.

The new coach has never coached distance runners before. She is a sprints/hurdle coach. Also, the Aztec athletic department is satisfied with a mediocre distance program so don't expect anything special from them.

Carlsbad Bill wrote:

I believe the head coach at that time was Fred La Plante. He ended up marrying Monica Joyce. Im not sure if they are still married.

She wasn't married to him as of a few years ago.

I don't think this team has ever had a good distance program. They were horribly sorry last year, and I don't think much can change in the 2months this new coach has been on board.. I'm not sure what this new coach will be able to bring but I'm sure the distance program can't get any worst than what it has been in recent years.

The athletic administration at San Diego State is a joke. They have no athletic sense or awareness. They are clueless when it comes to cross country and track. The hiring of an inexperienced head coach who has never been a head coach before is a joke. Like the previous poster said, the Aztecs have not been good in the distances for 20 years. Their current distance coach is a nothing. Their previous distance coach was "Miss Average", and there is no direction there.

I agree, here in SD our administration pours money into a bumbling football program that loses to DII powerhouses like Cal Poly at home. The football games are lucky to break 10k in attendance at huge Qualcomm stadium (even when they give tix away) They cut the only program that has won a NCAA title: mens volleyball. 35k students at a DI program in SoCal and no VB? WTF?

Steve Fisher's bball program is the only bright spot in this dark hole. Come on, how expensive is it to fund an xc and minimal track program? The athletic program has no support on campus, from alums and from the San Diegans.

Any decent HS runner here in SD leaves for solid programs elsewhere. The 8th or 9th largest city in US, the best year round training weather, and the best distance program is at Mesa JC coached by Thom Hunt.

They don't have much talent to work with. FYI the head coach isn't coaching the CC team. She hired someone. It will at best be a conference level distance team unless they bring in some internationals like they did in the past. Don't forget when they had distance runners the good ones were internationals.

The team is better than last season I think, but not by much.

It is hard to place this on the current coach as she had little time to do anything prior to the season begining, and she did no recruiting for the current year (what can be done in the 4 weeks before the season starts).

Thom Hunt is a good a coach at Mesa CC, true that.

San Diego State had some very good runners returning from last year. This was suppose to be a decent season for the Aztecs but it has started poorly. I know Alma Escobar has a stress fracture and is out for the season. Their top runners from last year are not getting better and I think I know why. You can't expect to be competitive in cross country when you go out 25 seconds behind the pack. Im not saying 25 seconds behind the leaders. Im saying 25 seconds behind the pack at the mile mark. Its obvious that these girls have not trained properly to go out at a competitive pace. I dont know the new coach and his philosophy, but I strongly suspect there is too much LSD going on in that program. I have a feeling that the team hasn't trained hard enough to go out in sub 6 minutes for the first mile. Once again San Diego State proves how incompetent they are. Its a joke and this new hire is not impressive at all. I predict a last place finish at conference this year. No way do they beat UNLV this time.

You are talking like they were even average in the last few years. They have been horrible and whether or not they beat a pathetic UNLV is not significant. It really does not matter. A team can not be judged by meets in September as no one cares. If they struggle to go out hard in September, then they actually may be doing the right thing and they may actually run well in November.

You are paritally correct. The final report card on the San Diego State women's cross country team will be given in late October. But, the progress report in late September is also important because it gives us a snap shot of how things are progressing. This team is losing any tiny bit of confidence that they had. And although the wheels have not completely fallen off yet. I can see those loose screws and ball barings from afar. And it does not look good.

Its not a surprise that San Diego State is not committed to distance running. They haven't had a good program since La Plante was there years ago. The administration is incompetent. And the incompetent seem to hire their own.