ONTARIO, Calif. – Natalie Rodriguez claimed her first collegiate victory as the women's and men's cross country teams opened the season with stellar performances at the Cal Poly Pomona CCAA Preview in Guasti Regional Park on Friday morning. The women's team finished second in the 4,000-meter race and men placed third in the 6,000-meter race, with Raelyn Werley and Vahagn Isayan taking second in the women's and men's races, respectively.

The women's team finished in second with 39 points, nine points behind UC San Diego, while the men's team claimed third with 64 points, one point behind the Tritons. Ninth-ranked Cal Poly Pomona won the men's race with 23 points.

Rodriguez set the pace early in the women's race and finished strong to post the best 4K mark in CSUSM history with a time of 14:11.5. Her time topped the previous record of 14:43.0 set by Lena Cox in 2001. Werley also bested Cox's mark, setting a PR of 14:25.5 to claim second.

Paula Stonehouse also finished in the top 10 for the Cougars, posting a time of 15:03.3 to finish eighth. Lisa Flora (15:16.9) and Cristen Lane (15:30.9) placed 11th and 17th, respectively, to round out the scoring for the Cougars.

On the men's side, newcomer Isayan made a big impression in his first race as a Cougar, running with the front pack throughout the race and finishing just 0.1 second behind the winner, Cal Poly Pomona All-American Mark Huizar, with a mark of 18:37.4.

Four other Cougars joined Isayan in the top 25, with Enrique Ramirez finishing 12th with a time of 19:13.3. Justin Washington (19:19.6) and freshman Joshua Litwiller (19:23.1) grabbed 15th and 16th, respectively. Steven Terris (19:30.0) finished 21st overall and collected 19 points to complete the scoring for CSUSM.

The CCP CCAA Preview provided the Cougars an opportunity to run on the same course that will used for the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 22.

Next on the slate for CSUSM is the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 17.

WOMEN'S 4K TEAM RESULTS
1. UC San Diego 30 - (3 4 6 7 10 13 24)
2. Cal St. San Marcos - 39 (1 2 8 11 17 19 23)
3. Cal Poly Pomona - 63 (5 9 15 16 18 20 22)
4. Cal St. Monterey Bay - 107 (12 14 26 27 28 29 30)
5. Cal St. Los Angeles - 142 (21 25 31 32 33 34 35)

WOMEN'S 4K INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(Top 5 Runners + CSUSM Runners):
1. Natalie Rodriguez (Cal St. San Marcos) - 14:11.5
2. Raelyn Werley (Cal St. San Marcos) - 14:25.5
3. Karina Carstens (UC San Diego) - 14:32.3
4. Ella Verhees (UC San Diego) - 14:39.3
5. Calene Morris (Cal Poly Pomona) - 14:42.0
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8. Paula Stonehouse (Cal St. San Marcos) - 15:03.3
11. Lisa Flora (Cal St. San Marcos) - 15:16.9
17. Cristen Lane (Cal St. San Marcos) - 15:30.9
19. Alyssa Omahen (Cal St. San Marcos) - 15:34.6
25. Jessica Ferguson (Cal St. San Marcos) - 15:55.2
33. Shelby Eberwein (Cal St. San Marcos) - 16:10.5
35. Rachel Brady (Cal St. San Marcos) - 16:11.1
36. Alicia Villarreal (Cal St. San Marcos) - 16:11.6
37. Mandy Solorio (Cal St. San Marcos) - 16:13.0
41. Arianna Garcia-Swantek (Cal St. San Marcos) - 16:20.2
44. Jocelyn Veyna (Cal St. San Marcos) - 16:39.4
47. Dezirae Soria (Cal St. San Marcos) - 17:05.0
50. Bridget Cassidy (Cal St. San Marcos) - 17:15.7
52. Sierra Valenzuela (Cal St. San Marcos) - 17:24.6
 
MEN'S 6K TEAM RESULTS
1. Cal Poly Pomona - 23 (1 3 4 5 10 13 14)
2. UC San Diego - 63 (8 9 11 17 18 20 23)
3. Cal St. San Marcos - 64 (2 12 15 16 19 22 24)
4. San Bernardino Valley - 93 (6 7 21 29 30 32 34)
5. Cal St. Monterey Bay - 137 (25 26 27 28 31 33 35)

MEN'S 6K INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(Top 5 Runners + CSUSM Runners):
1. Mark Huizar (Cal Poly Pomona) - 18:37.3
2. Vahagn Isayan (Cal St. San Marcos) - 18:37.4
3. Ruben Dominguez (Cal Poly Pomona) - 18:44.4
4. Christian Rodriguez (Cal Poly Pomona) - 18:45.2
5. Grant Stromberg (Cal Poly Pomona) - 18:52.1
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12. Enrique Ramirez (Cal St. San Marcos) - 19:13.3
15. Justin Washington (Cal St. San Marcos) - 19:19.6
16. Joshua Litwiller (Cal St. San Marcos) - 19:23.1
21. Steven Terris (Cal St. San Marcos) - 19:30.0
26. Chris Ceja (Cal St. San Marcos) - 19:45.2
28. Kevin Lehr (Cal St. San Marcos) - 19:46.6
30. Phillip Dorado (Cal St. San Marcos) - 19:46.9
31. Joe Gonzalez (Cal St. San Marcos) - 19:48.3
41. Joseph Rosales (Cal St. San Marcos) - 20:13.1
49. A.J. Freund (Cal St. San Marcos) - 20:26.8
51. Casey Cruz (Cal St. San Marcos) - 20:34.4
54. Kyle Rossman (Cal St. San Marcos) - 20:39.8