SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's cross country team made its 2014 debut in the top 10 of the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Top 25 Poll announced Wednesday.
"There is a lot of good teams out there and this is an appropriate ranking for us right now," said head coach
Steve Scott. "We have more depth and lots of potential this year."
CSUSM ranks No. 9 after finishing 13th at the 2013 NAIA Cross Country National Championship held in Lewiston, Kansas on Nov. 23. The Cougars collected 418 votes.
Reigning national champion Oklahoma City leads the poll after receiving 591 points and amassing 20 of the 21 first-place votes. Southern Oregon received 569 points and one first-place vote. The rest of the top 5 rankings include No. 3 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) (550 points), followed by Aquinas (Mich.) in fourth (525) and St. Francis (Ill.) in fifth position (505). Fellow conference member British Columbia ranks No. 6 after finishing eighth at the national championship.
The Cougars return a solid group of runners including 2013 A.I.I. Champion
Steven Ing,
Caesar Castillo and
Easton Tackett. Also returning for CSUSM is
Zach Laurenzana who started 2013 strong before having a season ending injury after the second race of the year.
CSUSM has already competed this season, defeating Vanguard by one point in a dual race on Aug. 18 in Mammoth Lakes. The Cougars next hit the trails on Sept. 13 when they race in the UC Riverside Invitational.
