COUGAR CHALLENGE RESULTS
The Cougar 5K/8K Challenge took place today on the campus of California State University San Marcos. While the meet consists of one 5K run and one 8K run, each are actually two races:the collegiate competition, and the Dirt Dawg series competition. Below you will find results for all four competitions:
Women's 5K
COLLEGIATE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
COLLEGIATE TEAM RESULTS
Overall Individual Results
Dirt Dawg Series Age Group Results
Men's 8K
COLLEGIATE INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
COLLEGIATE TEAM RESULTS
Overall Individual Results
Dirt Dawg Series Age Group Results
CSUSM's #2 ranked women's cross country team and #4 ranked men's cross country team put on a show for the home fans Saturday at the 4
th annual Cougar Challenge, running on campus against a mix of NCAA and NAIA schools from several states.
The women's race opened the event, and the Cougar women took control of the race from the opening gun. Competing in a ten-team field highlighted by an always competitive Cal Baptist team that is now a member of the NCAA, and 13
th ranked St. Xavier from Illinois, the front pack of the race was consistently painted with Cougar Blue.
The two-time defending National Champions took 8 out of the top 9 spots en route to an impressive victory, scoring 17 points, only two away from a perfect score. Cal Baptist placed 2
nd with 57 points, and St. Xavier took 3
rd with 82.
Senior standout
Suzanne Cornwell led the way once again for the Cougars, holding back in the bottom half of the top-10 for the first of two loops, before making a strong move in the second half to post a commanding victory. Cornwell's time of 17 minutes, 22 seconds is the 3
rd fastest time ever run by a Cougar on their home course, and the 5
th fastest mark in program history.
Also up front once again for CSUSM was sophomore
Chelsey Cortez, who has made a huge leap into the upper echelon of NAIA runners this fall. Cortez finished 2
nd with a time of 17:33, which is the tied for the 6
th fastest mark on CSUSM's home course, and makes her the 9
th fastest performer in school history.
Two-time All-American
Cady Villareal placed third for the Cougars, running 17:55, and 2010 track and field All-Americans Carol Schrever (5
th, 18:03) and
Michelle Cruz (6
th, 18:05) filled out the scorers for CSUSM.
Cassidy Reich,
Kelly Thompson, and
Heidi Swanson (7
th, 8
th, 9
th) all received awards as well for finishing in the top 10.
On the men's side, the Cougars knew they were in for a tough test after narrowly defeating Cal Baptist earlier this season at the UC Riverside Invitational. Running this time without All-American
Danny Lyon, the Cougars came close but were not quite able to come away with the victory, finishing 2
nd in the field of 8 teams with 34 points, just a tad behind Cal Baptist's 31. Riverside CC took 3
rd with 79 points.
On the individual side, sophomore Western Nelson looked as brilliant as ever, sitting in front the entire time before eventually winning the men's race in 25 minutes, 3 seconds. This is Nelson's first individual win of the season, and the 2
nd in his Cougar career, winning the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational last year.
Senior
Armando Lara came through with another clutch performance for the Cougars, running a personal best 25:15, which makes him the 13
th best performer in school history. Sophomores
Ryan Jensen and
Ismael Rodriguez have also made huge strides this fall, and continued their stretch of good results, running 25:44 and 25:57 to place 6
th and 9
th, respectively. Rounding out the top 5 for the Cougars was
Zach Barber, a freshman from Poway High School who had a breakout race in his home debut, placing 15
th in 26 minutes, 5 seconds.
The Cougars will compete next at the Cal State Fullerton Invitational this Friday, before coming back to San Marcos for the A.I.I. Conference Championships November 5
th.
