ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT
Aztecs ready to play in MW elevation with beetroot juice again
Utah State enters Thursday night’s game against visiting San Diego State having won eight straight.
The Aztecs put their own win streak on the line, too. Six straight with beetroot juice.
Athletic Trainer Sergio Ibarra began brewing the dark red concoction and giving it to the players in 4ounce doses a few days before a December game at Colorado State last season. They were understandably skeptical, particularly when told it might, uh, give their urine a reddish tint.
Then the Aztecs outscored the Rams 19-2 over the final seven minutes at 5,023 feet and won 79-57. Stigmatized, no longer.
They won their next five games at altitude — Utah State, Wyoming, New Mexico, Air Force and Nevada — by an average of 15.8 points, outscoring opponents in the second half of each. It was the first time in Mountain West history a sea-level team had gone undefeated above 4,500 feet.
“I wouldn’t say it’s the best taste in the world, but it definitely does the trick,” senior Matt Mitchell said Monday, holding up a plastic water bottle with his morning dose of beetroot juice. “So I’m sucking it up.”
Anecdotally, endurance athletes who compete in ele