Results

The Cal State San Marcos men's and women's track and field teams held their own Friday against several NCAA Division I programs at the SDSU Aztec Invitational, highlighted by a school record performance by senior Heidi Swanson.

Swanson, a 2013 NAIA Indoor All-American in the mile, put together a breakthrough performance in the 1500m, shattering Suzanne Cornell's previous school record by nearly two seconds with her mark of 4:33.86.

Competing on the same day she accepted a graduate student position in Sport and Exercise Psychology, the NAIA-Daktronics Scholar-Athlete Swanson ran a personal best by nearly four seconds and give her the third best time nationally in the event.

Also standing out on the track was hurdler Jessica Toliver, who ran a personal best 1:05.94 in the 400 hurdles, finishing seventh overall and just over a second above the NAIA "B" standard.

Toliver also helped the 4x400 team to a second place finish and a "B" standard mark with a season best 3:56.74.  Amber Rosario made a triumphant return from injury in the relay, spltting 56 seconds in the anchor leg.

On the men's side, the 4x100 team ran a season best 42.37 to place fourth overall. Kyle Johnson finished fifth in the 100 hurdle with a mark of 15.44, winning the second heat.

Justin Washington won his heat of the 800m, running 1:58.92 and setting a personal best by one-hundredth of a second. Anthony Girolamo won the open division of the 1500m run, running 4:00.72.

The performance of the day on the men's side went to Maurice Strickland, who destroyed his own school record in the decathlon with 6,924 points, beating his previous best of 6,557 over 10 events.

Strickland not only beat top decathletes from USC and Oregon, but also defeated College of Idaho's Austin Basettechea, the top returning decathlete in the NAIA. Basterrechea was second in the decathlon last season at NAIA Nationals, and also finished third in the NAIA Indoor Heptathlon this season. 

The Cougars will compete next at the Cal-Nevada Championships April 4-5 hosted by UC San Diego.