As the summertime comes to an end and the fall approaches, another year of SDSU athletics prepares to take place on the Mesa. The Aztecs seek to add to their conference-leading 96 Mountain West titles.
The fall of 2023 ended in a variety of ways for SDSU sports teams. With some results sparking changes coming in the form of new coaching staffs and accomplished transfers arriving to represent the Scarlet and Black in the climb to the top of the conference.
Women’s soccer had themselves a year to be proud of, achieving a record of 14-3-3 (9-1-1 MW) putting them en route to capturing their seventh MW regular season championship. The playoffs held a different fate for SDSU, falling to Colorado State in the semi-finals by one penalty kick, ending their season.
The team looks to repeat their 2023 success and finish the job, with the return of three 2023 first-team all-MW players including seniors Alexa Madueno and Olivia Sekimoto, followed by junior Alexys Ocampo. Also returning for the 2024 season are both of the 2023 second-team all-MW selections for SDSU including senior Emma Gaines-Ramos and junior Grace Goins. The MW leader in points/game in 2023, senior Denise Castro, will also take the field for the Scarlet and Black this fall. Castro was also named the 2023 MW Offensive Player of the Year, earning herself a second-straight first-team all-MW spot alongside the Player of the Year honor.
For the men’s soccer team, the 2023 season was a tale of two halves. They began the season with a 6-0-1 record, then proceeded to finish the season with a 0-7-4 record, setting their 2023 regular season record at 6-7-5 (0-7-3 PAC-12).
Men’s soccer would reload in the offseason, adding Andre Puente, a graduate transfer from Long Island University. Puente was one of 16 players named as a NCAA Division 1 Defender to watch in the 2024 season. SDSU also returns junior Austin Brummett, their 2023 leader in goals and points. Brummett finished in the top-5 in goals (7) for the PAC-12 in the 2023 season. He also played in all 18 games, tallying 1,069 total minutes on the year for the Scarlet and Black.
Men’s soccer has a new conference ahead of them in 2024, with the PAC-12 coming to an end, the Aztecs moved to the Western Athletic Conference. They will enter a conference whose top slot belongs to California Baptist University and had yet to lose a WAC postseason match (5-0) winning back-to-back WAC titles in 2022 and 2023.
SDSU Women’s volleyball sets out to have a bounce-back season in 2024, finishing the 2023 season 9-20 (4-14 MW). The Aztecs return their 2023 All-Mountain West selection junior, Taylor Underwood. In her sophomore season, Underwood placed sixth in the conference in kills (3.38) and points (3.88) per set, while also ranking sixth in the conference in services per set (0.35).
Looking to flip the script in 2024, the Scarlet and Black acquired six transfers in the off-season. Of these transfers, the Aztecs added a two-time state Gatorade Player of the Year in graduate student Shea Rubright. Rubright was ranked as the no.12 recruit nationally as a senior in high school, beginning her collegiate career at Minnesota before transferring to Washington State.
Women’s volleyball has its sights set on the 2024 Mountain West Championships, being held at the University of Nevada Las Vegas beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
The San Diego State cross country team will be racing in seven meets including the Mountain West Championships and NCAA West Regionals. They opened their season at Cal State Fullerton at the opening Mark Covert Classic on Saturday, August 31. The team will continue for a two-meet weekend split up between the Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota on Friday, Sept. 20, and the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday, Sep. 21.
The postseason for the Scarlet and Black will begin in November with the Mountain West Championships on Friday, Nov. 1. The conference championship 6k race for the 2024 season will take place in Colorado Springs, Colo. Washington State will host the NCAA West Regionals in Pullman, Washington on Friday, Nov. 15.
The Scarlet and Black’s 2023 campaign was one of their best seasons in recent years as they posted two of the three best team times for any 6k meet in program history. San Diego State also had their best MW Championships finish in over a decade, and best NCAA West Regional finish in almost two full decades. The team concluded their season with a 21st-place finish during the West Regionals, their highest placement at an NCAA regional meet since 2005 when they finished seventh. SDSU’s overall team time of 1:47:38 was also a new program-best at the NCAA West Regionals since the race was a 6k in 2000. The team’s time was ranked the third-fastest 6k run in school history.
After former Head coach Brady Hoke took the Aztecs to a 4-8 season, the San Diego State football team is looking to make strides this season after hiring the 19th Head coach in the football program’s history. Lewis, 37, had previously served as head coach at Kent State from 2018-22 before spending 2023 as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Colorado State under head coach Deion Sanders. A flurry of new staff hires was made soon after including Eric Schmidt as defensive coordinator, Lanear Sampson as wide receivers coach and David Lose as the defensive line coach.
Quarterback Danny O’Neil is expected to lead the offense out on the field as the starting quarterback for the season. O’Neil is a freshman and will have plenty of responsibility as the Aztecs’ signal caller during the season.
The Aztecs will play six of their 12 games in 2024 at SnapDragon Stadium. Seven of SDSU’s 11 FBS opponents made a bowl game a year ago. After a two week homestand, San Diego State will play at California on Sept. 14. The Aztecs will then travel to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, for a game against Central Michigan. Conference play will begin on Oct. 5 at home against Hawai’i, and will stretch up to their regular season finale on Nov. 30 against Air Force at SnapDragon Stadium.
Several players have been added to watch lists, recognizing potential players to keep an eye on throughout the season. Senior running back Kenan Christon was named to the preseason Paul Hornung Watch List, rewarding the most versatile high-level performer in college football. Christon is one of 48 players on the watch list. He’s also been named an all-Mountain West second-team preseason selection. The nation’s leading active rusher, Marquez Cooper, was also named to the Maxwell Award’s initial watch list for the 2024 season.
