SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos cross country teams made great strides at The Master's College Mustang Challenge on Saturday, with the men winning the Open Division and placing third overall and the women finishing sixth overall. Trent Warren and Steven Terris both finished in the top-10 for the men's squad, which was the top NCAA Division II team in the field. 
 
"I'm really impressed with how the men performed, finishing behind (NCAA) Division I teams UCLA and Loyola Marymount," said head coach Steve Scott. "The women are showing good team tactics with tight groupings."
 
Warren (25:28.32) finished seventh overall to lead the men's squad to the Open Division win as the top non-NCAA Division I squad. With 70 points, the men finished with a third place overall result in the men's 8,000-meter race, one point behind runner-up Loyola Marymount. UCLA, ranked No. 13 in NCAA Division I, took top honors with 38 points.
 
Terris finished 10th overall with a time of 25:35.91, while Caesar Castillo also finished in the top-15, finishing 12th overall with a time of 25:39.09. Enrique Ramirez (26:02.41) has suffered through a stomach ailment the past week, but still managed a time of 26:02.41 to place 21st overall. Michael Waltrip rounded out the scoring for the Cougars with a 28th place finish and time of 26:09.86.
 
"Trent, Caesar and Steven were truly fantastic and Enrique ran great considering (his illness)," Scott said. "This was a much harder course than last week, so maintaining their times is impressive."
 
The women's squad scored 168 points to finish third in the Open Division and sixth overall. Loyola Marymount won the 5,000-meter event with 36 points. UCLA placed second with 94 points and former NAIA rival Boila finished third and won the Open Division with 119 points.
 
Arianna Garcia-Swantek paced the women's team with a 31st place finish and time of 18:37.52. Alyssa Omahen (18:37.90) finished 33rd and freshmen Shelby Eberwein (18:38.47) and Rachel Brady (18:38.78) followed closely behind to place 34th and 35th, respectively. Salena Gallardo completed the scoring for the Cougars, finishing in 40th with a time of 18:45.06.
 
"I'm really happy with the (women's) grouping, but to be competitive in the CCAA we need to move up 15 to 20 seconds," Scott stated.
 
Next on the docket for CSUSM is the Pomona-Pitzer Cross Country Invite on Saturday, Oct. 3 in Claremont, Calif. The women will be looking to win the 6,000-meter event for the sixth consecutive year, while the men will look to improve upon last year's runner-up result.
 
MEN'S 8K TEAM SCORES:
1. UCLA – 38
2. Loyola Marymount – 69
3. Cal State San Marcos – 70
4. Cal St. Fullerton – 136
5. Grand Canyon – 170
6. Cal Baptist – 193
7. Pomona-Pitzer – 200
8. The Master's College – 219
9. Westmont – 233
10. Occidental – 285
11. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) – 292
12. Biola – 299
13. Redlands – 361
14. Cal Lutheran – 406
15. UC Irvine – 418
16. Caltech – 422
17. CSU Channel Islands – 565
18. Dominican (Calif.) – 575
 
MEN'S 8K INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(Top 5 of 217 Runners + CSUSM Scored Runners):
1. Myles Smith (UCLA) – 25:00.68
2. Colin Burke (Unattached) – 25:14.44
3. John Fowler (Pomona-Pitzer) – 25:17.33
4. Jackson Marshall (UCLA) – 25:18.19
5. Samuel Proctor (Grand Canyon) – 25:22.93
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7. Trent Warren (CSUSM) – 25:28.32
10. Steven Terris (CSUSM) – 25:35.91
12. Caesar Castillo (CSUSM) – 25:39.09
21. Enrique Ramirez (CSUSM) – 26:02.41
28. Michael Waltrip (CSUSM) – 26:09.86
(38) Alex Gronotte (CSUSM) – 26:20.10
(50) Justin Washington (CSUSM) – 26:40.40

WOMEN'S 5K TEAM SCORES:
1. Loyola Marymount – 36
2. UCLA – 94
3. Biola – 119
4. The Master's – 125
5. Grand Canyon – 155
6. Cal State San Marcos – 168
7. Cal St. Fullerton – 213
8. Westmont – 217
9. Whatcom Tesseract – 233
10. UC Irvine – 269
11. Cal Baptist – 326
12. Redlands – 334
13. Occidental – 363
14. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) – 455
15. Dominican (Calif.) – 455
16. Cal St. Bakersfield – 460
17. Cal Lutheran – 480
18. Pomona-Pitzer – 492
19. Caltech – 590
20. CSU Channel Islands – 630

WOMEN'S 5K INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(Top 5 Runners of 226 + CSUSM Scored Runners):
1. Danielle Shanahan (Loyola Marymount) – 17:23.18
2. Karis Franklin (The Master's College) – 17:27.05
3. Kelli Sugimoto (Loyola Marymount) – 17:29.58
4. Kellian Hunt (Biola) – 17:30.58
5. Anika Gasner (Biola) – 17:32.53
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31. Arianna Garcia-Swantek (CSUSM) – 18:37.52
33. Alyssa Omahen (CSUSM) – 18:37.90
34. Shelby Eberwein (CSUSM) – 18:38.47
35. Rachel Brady (CSUSM) – 18:38.78
40. Salena Gallardo (CSUSM) – 18:45.06
(41) Cristen Lane (CSUSM) – 18:46.61
(45) Bailey Smith (CSUSM) – 18:50.27