On Friday, Cal State San Marcos track & field competed at the massive Occidental Distance Carnival, hosted by Occidental College.   The Cougars had plenty of runners meet the qualifying marks for the May's NAIA National Championships.

A pair of distance runners qualified for Nationals, as both Suzanne Cornwell and Jessica Sandoval easily met the “A” qualifying standard in the 5,000-meter run.  Cornwell ran 17:21.86 to place 4^th, and Sandoval ran 17:31.61 to take 7^th.

Western Nelson met the “B” qualifying standard in the men's 5,000-meter, placing 8^th at 14:51.39.

Daniel Lyon earned the “B” standard in the steeplechase, posting a time of 9:25.04 to take 6^th place.

Heidi Swanson narrowly missed posting a qualifying mark for Nationals in the 1,500-meter, running 4:43.59 to place 10^th.  Same on the men's side for Lenny Santana, who ran 3:59.52 to take 13^th.

Josh Bollinger was just a second off the “B” mark in the 10,000-meter run, placing 10^th at 32.16.77.

Michelle Cruz finished 3^rd in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:18.59.