Story amended to reflect updated results.

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos women's cross country team won The Master's University Mustang Challenge on Saturday morning, with Natalie Rodriguez taking the top spot among collegiate runners in the 5000m race. The men's squad placed third overall, with Vahagn Isayan finishing first among NCAA Division II runners.

The women's team topped Point Loma, currently ranked No. 7 in the USTFCCCA West Region polls, and UC Irvine to finish first, while the men's team finished behind NCAA Division I teams from UC Irvine and UCLA.

"For the women's team to beat Point Loma, a solid Division II team, as well as my alma mater (UC Irvine), it shows that we are in a good position," said head coach Steve Scott.

In all, the women's squad collected 50 points, besting Point Loma by 21 points. The men's team scored 73 points, 15 points behind runner-up UCLA. UC Irvine won the men's race with 35 points.

Rodriguez's time of 17:53.3 was good for second overall and is the fastest time a Cougar has posted at the Mustang Challenge, besting Ayded Reyes' time of 18:00.2 in 2013. It is Rodriguez's third top two finish of the season.

Raelyn Werley (18:04.3) and Paula Stonehouse (18:26.4) were the next to cross the tape for CSUSM, finishing seventh and 10th overall, respectively. Werley and Stonehouse each placed in the top ten for the third time this season. Cristen Lane (18:50.7) and Lisa Flora (18:54.5) placed 18th and 24th overall, respectively, to round out the scoring for the Cougars.

"Raelyn came up big again and Paula was fabulous," Scott said. "Cristen had the race of the day with a huge performance after missing last week's race."

Alyssa Omahen (19:00.6) finished 29th overall and Jessica Ferguson ran a personal-best 19:43.9 to finish 59th overall.

On the men's side, Isayan finished sixth overall with a time of 25:15.7, the best placing for a Cougar at the event. Isayan has finished in the top 10 in all four races this season.

"The men's team had a good showing, finishing behind a couple Division I teams, and Vahagn ran a very good race," Scott said.

Justin Washington (25:56.6) and Joshua Litwiller (25:57.3) were neck and neck for the next spots, with Washington placing 18th overall and Litwiller 19th overall. Kevin Lehr (26:01.7) and Chris Ceja (26:04.9) finished 23rd and 25th overall, respectively, to wrap up the scoring for CSUSM. Steven Terris (26:17.6) took 30th overall and Easton Tackett (26:17.6) placed 31st overall.

"Justin ran great and Josh ran extremely well, coming off of a 104 degree fever last week," Scott said. "Chris ran a career-best, which is what we need from fifth and sixth runners to get where we want to be."

The Cougars are back in action on Saturday, Oct. 15 as host for the 9th Annual Cougar Challenge at Mangrum Track.

WOMEN'S 5K TEAM RESULTS
1. Cal St. San Marcos - 50 (1 6 9 15 19 24 48)
2. Point Loma - 71 (2 10 11 22 26 53 58)
3. UC Irvine - 83 (4 14 17 23 25 31 34)
4. The Master's - 111 (3 8 28 32 40 55 59)
5. Whatcom Tesseract - 123 (5 7 13 30 68 71)
6. Westmont - 152 (16 20 37 38 41 44 50)
7. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) - 191 (12 35 43 49 52 57 63)
8. Arizona Christian - 201 (21 33 36 42 69 75)
9. Cal State L.A. - 237 (27 46 47 51 66 78)
10. Santa Ana College - 274 (29 54 56 65 70)
11. Cal St. Bakersfield - 276 (18 45 67 72 74 76)
12. Western New Mexico - 286 (39 60 61 62 64)
13. CSU Channel Islands - 390 (73 77 79 80 81)

WOMEN'S 5K INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(Top 5 Runners + CSUSM Runners):
1. Danielle Shanahan (Unattached) - 17:21.3
2. Natalie Rodriguez (Cal St. San Marcos) - 17:53.3
3. Hannah Benoit-Bucher (Point Loma) - 17:57.9
4. Morgan Pedrick (The Master's University) - 17:58.1
5. Anastasia Karnaze (UC Irvine) - 17:58.5
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7. Raelyn Werley (Cal St. San Marcos) - 18:04.3
10. Paula Stonehouse (Cal St. San Marcos) - 18:26.4
18. Cristen Lane (Cal St. San Marcos) - 18:50.7
24. Lisa Flora (Cal St. San Marcos) - 18:54.5
29. Alyssa Omahen (Cal St. San Marcos) - 19:00.6
59. Jessica Ferguson (Cal St. San Marcos) - 19:43.9
62. Shelby Eberwein (Cal St. San Marcos) - 19:51.7
64. Alicia Villarreal (Cal St. San Marcos) - 19:55.5
79. Arianna Garcia-Swantek (Cal St. San Marcos) - 20:32.5
80. Aholibama Velazquez (Cal St. San Marcos) - 20:32.6
86. Jocelyn Veyna (Cal St. San Marcos) - 20:44.2
88. Bridget Cassidy (Cal St. San Marcos) - 20:53.6
94. Dezirae Soria (Cal St. San Marcos) - 21:01.3
102. Sierra Valenzuela (Cal St. San Marcos) - 21:28.5

MEN'S 8K TEAM RESULTS
1. UC Irvine - 35 (1 3 8 11 12 17 20)
2. UCLA - 58 (2 5 7 10 34)
3. Cal St. San Marcos - 73 (4 14 15 19 21 25 26)
4. Westmont - 120 (18 22 23 24 33 37 40)
5. The Master's - 123 (9 13 28 35 38 41 46)
6. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) - 130 (6 27 29 32 36 39 43)
7. Santa Ana College - 163 (16 30 31 42 44 47 48)
8. Whatcom Tesseract - 252 (45 49 51 52 55)
9. CSU Channel Islands - 270 (50 53 54 56 57 58)

MEN'S 8K INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(Top 5 Runners + CSUSM Runners):
1. Garrett Reynolds (Unattached) - 24:47.3
2. Isaiah Thompson (UC Irvine) - 24:59.6
3. George Gleason (UCLA) - 25:01.3
4. Carter Blunt (Unattached) - 25:06.7
5. Izzak Mireles (UC Irvine) - 25:12.4
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6. Vahagn Isayan (Cal St. San Marcos) - 25:15.7
18. Justin Washington (Cal St. San Marcos) - 25:56.6
19. Joshua Litwiller (Cal St. San Marcos) - 25:57.3
23. Kevin Lehr (Cal St. San Marcos) - 26:01.7
25. Chris Ceja (Cal St. San Marcos) - 26:04.9
30. Steven Terris (Cal St. San Marcos) - 26:17.6
31. Easton Tackett (Cal St. San Marcos) - 26:19.0
32. Phillip Dorado (Cal St. San Marcos) - 26:21.2
37. Joe Gonzalez (Cal St. San Marcos) - 26:29.7
49. A.J. Freund (Cal St. San Marcos) - 26:52.4
52. Casey Cruz (Cal St. San Marcos) - 26:55.1
53. Kyle Rossman (Cal St. San Marcos) - 26:59.1