Results
CSUSM Events Schedule

GULF SHORES, Ala. – The Cal State San Marcos men's and women's track & field teams wrapped up the first of three days at the NAIA National Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium.

Calah Ayer and Kate Bouvatte earned NAIA All-America honors on the women's side, while the men's team saw Deng Akuien qualify for the 3,000m steeplechase final.

Maurice Strickland made headlines in the men's decathlon by running 48:00 in the 400m, a new championship record. His mark bested the previous record of 48.14, set by Jim Wooding of Indiana (Pa.) in 1977.

Ayer became the first CSUSM student-athlete to be named All-America at the meet. Her vault of 3.70m in the pole vault was not only a personal-best; it broke her own school record of 3.65m at April 20's Soka Invitational. It was good enough for a sixth-place finish and three points toward the CSUSM team score. She is the first CSUSM student-athlete to be named All-America in the pole vault in program history.

Bouvatte, who came into the race with the second-fastest time in the country, finished third with a time of 36:27.44 in the 10,000m final. In addition, she earned her second All-America honor this year; Bouvatte placed fifth at the NAIA Indoor National Championships in the 3,000m.

As a team, the Cougars have nine total points and sit in eighth place after day one. British Columbia leads the women's competition with 23 total points.

The top eight finishers in each final earn All-America honors. In addition, team points are awarded with a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring format; for first place, one receives 10 points for their team, a second-place finish is worth eight points, a third-place finish is worth six, and so forth.

Akuien advanced to Friday's steeple final with a time of 9:20.03. Akuien automatically qualified with a fourth-place finish in his heat, clearly the faster race.

Akuien has reason to be optimistic about today's performance. His personal best in the event, 9:14.70, is nearly four seconds faster than the quickest time posted today – 9:18.31 by Stephen Broadhurst of Oklahoma City. Racers typically hold their strongest performances for the final, so times are likely to drop. The winning time in 2013 was 8:55.16 by Isaac Updike of Eastern Oregon.

Strickland currently sits in fifth place in the 10-event decathlon with 3,621 points, having competed in five events Thursday with five more to go on Friday. Strickland excelled in the track events, posting the fastest time in the 400m (48.00) and second-best mark in the 100m (11.26). Strickland has the 110h, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1500m tomorrow. He earned All-America status in 2013 for an eighth-place finish in the decathlon.

The men's team did not score on Thursday, but only had one competitor racing in a final. Western Nelson, CSUSM's record holder in the event, finished 10^th in the 10,000m final with a time of 32:10.71.

Kelly Skvarna is in 15^th place in the women's seven-event heptathlon with 2,411 points. She also competed in the javelin throw, coming in 17^th place with a toss of 35.61m.

Heidi Swanson, the CSUSM record holder in the 1500m, narrowly missed qualifying for Friday's finals with a time 4:45.15. Her time was 13^th-best in the event, but only the top 12 marks moved on.  

The women's 4x800m relay team narrowly missed out on qualifying for the final, posting the ninth-fastest time, 9:17.95.

Damon Moore's time of 53.87 in the 400m hurdles was his second-fastest time of the season, but his time ranked 10^th in the event and he will miss Friday's final.

Zachary Laurenzana ran 3:56.94 in the men's 1500m, the 21^st-fastest time in the event.

Ayded Reyes placed 10^th in her heat in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 12:12.88.

The women's 4x100m relay team put forth the 18^th fastest time of the day with a 47.83.

Skvarna, Strickland and high jumper Greg Talley are the only Cougars competing in finals on Friday. Talley's leap of 2.06m is the 11^th-best mark in the NAIA this season.

Steven Ing and Nelson will run the 5000m prelims, as will Bouvatte.  The men and women will have squads running in the 4x400m relays.

Amber Rosario and Brittany Hollie will be in action in the 100m hurdle prelims.

Ciera Stauffer, Lauren Cortez and Daniel Ybarra will run in the marathon final to start Saturday morning.