ONTARIO, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's and women's cross country teams proved once again that they belong, amassing impressive results at the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Cross Country Championships at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park on Saturday morning. Natalie Rodriguez and Raelyn Werley earned All-CCAA honors in the women's 6000m race and Vahagn Isayan picked up All-CCAA honors in the men's 8000m race, the first-ever for the CSUSM men's cross country team.

The morning was capped off with Isayan being named the CCAA Men's Newcomer of the Year and Joshua Litwiller earning CCAA Men's Freshman of the Year honors. Both honors are firsts for the Cal State San Marcos men's cross country team.
 
With the award, Rodriguez is the first CSUSM student-athlete to be a three-time All-CCAA selection, after earning the distinctions last year in both cross country and track and field (5000m). Rodriguez posted a time of 21:31.3 to secure All-CCAA honors with a fourth-place finish.
 
"Natalie ran a courageous race," said CSUSM head coach Steve Scott. "She hadn't faced competition like that all year. You can't be too upset with the result when you're racing at that level."
 
Werley collected her first All-CCAA honor after running a personal-best 21:55.7 to finish sixth overall. Lisa Flora was the next to cross the tape for the Cougars, finishing 18th overall with a time of 22:29.9. Paula Stonehouse overcame an Achilles injury during the second 2000m loop to post a time of 22:33.9 and finish 20th overall. Aholibama Velazquez came up big, running her best race of the year to finish 34th overall with a mark of 22:56.1.
 
"I'm extremely happy with the way the women ran today," Scott said. "We were hoping to finish in the top three, maybe top two, so to finish where we did is really a great result."
 
Chico State, ranked No. 9 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division II polls, took the second through sixth spots to finish first overall in team scoring with 20 points. It is the ninth consecutive CCAA championship for the Wildcats. Cal Poly Pomona finished runner-up with 76 points, while Stanislaus State took third with 116 points.
 
On the men's side, Isayan closed out his first season with the Cougars clocking a time of 25:11.4 to finish 14th overall in the men's 8000m.
 
"Vahagn put in his usual solid effort, doing what he's done all year," Scott said.
 
Litwiller finished as the top freshman in the conference, placing 17th overall with a time of 25:19.7. Seniors Easton Tackett (25:47.3) and Chris Ceja (25:50.0) closed out their final campaigns by finishing 30th and 32nd overall, respectively.
 
"It was a tough day for the men's team," Scott said. "We had four really good performances, but just weren't able to get what we needed for the final spot. Our goal all year long was to finish in the top half of the conference, so we were successful on that front."
 
Fourth-ranked Chico State won its 15th straight CCAA championship, placing five runners in the top six and finishing with 20 points. No. 5 Cal Poly Pomona finished second with 67 points and No. 12 UC San Diego placed third with 69 points.
 
As Candidacy Year Three members of the CCAA, Cal State San Marcos was not eligible to earn points for the team championship. If CSUSM was eligible for postseason, the women's team would have placed second behind Chico State with 79 points and the men would have finished fifth behind the Wildcats with 118 points.
 
WOMEN'S 6K INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(Top 5 Runners + CSUSM Runners):
1. Laura Aceves (Cal State San Bernardino) – 21:03.3
2. Karlie Garcia (Chico State) – 21:17.0
3. Sadie Gastelum (Chico State) – 21:17.9
4. Natalie Rodriguez (Cal St. San Marcos) – 21:31.3
5. Alex Burkhart (Chico State) – 21:51.0
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6. Raelyn Werley (Cal St. San Marcos) – 21:55.7 PR
18. Lisa Flora (Cal St. San Marcos) – 22:29.0
20. Paula Stonehouse (Cal St. San Marcos) – 22:33.9
34. Aholibama Velazquez (Cal St. San Marcos) – 20:56.1
43. Cristen Lane (Cal St. San Marcos) – 23:16.4
57. Alyssa Omahen (Cal St. San Marcos) – 23:37.0
73. Arianna Garcia-Swantek (Cal St. San Marcos) – 24:19.4
86. Jessica Ferguson (Cal St. San Marcos) – 24:47.8
99. Alicia Villarreal (Cal St. San Marcos) – 24:57.4
 
WOMEN'S 6K TEAM RESULTS
1. Chico State – 20 (2 3 4 5 6 7 11)
2. Cal Poly Pomona – 76 (9 12 17 18 20 21 32)
3. Stanislaus State – 116 (10 16 22 30 38 45 46)
4. UC San Diego – 124 (13 14 23 25 49 50 57)
5. Humboldt State – 143 (15 29 28 35 36 41 47)
6. Cal State San Bernardino (1 27 33 40 44 51 52)
7. Cal State East Bay – 223 (24 34 42 60 63 67 74)
8. Cal State LA – 225 (26 31 54 55 59 73 77)
9. San Francisco State – 239 (8 43 58 62 68 71 72)
10. Sonoma State – 241 (19 39 48 65 70 75 76)
11. Cal State Monterey Bay – 271 (37 53 56 61 64 66 69)
 
MEN'S 8K INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
(Top 5 Runners + CSUSM Runners):
1. William Reyes (Chico State) – 24:18.1
2. Connor Fisher (Chico State) – 24:36.1
3. Tareq Alwafai (UC San Diego) – 24:40.3
4. Falco Digiallonadro (Chico State) – 24:45.3
5. Drew Feldman (San Francisco State) – 24:48.0
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14. Vahagn Isayan (Cal St. San Marcos) – 25:11.4
17. Joshua Litwiller (Cal St. San Marcos) – 25:19.7
30. Easton Tackett (Cal St. San Marcos) – 25:47.3
32. Chris Ceja (Cal St. San Marcos) – 25:50.0
39. Phillip Dorado (Cal St. San Marcos) – 26:07.8 PR
52. Steven Terris (Cal St. San Marcos) – 26:40.0
56. Kevin Lehr (Cal St. San Marcos) – 26:49.6
61. A.J. Freund (Cal St. San Marcos) – 26:58.4
64. Justin Washington (Cal St. San Marcos) – 27:07.6
83. Casey Cruz (Cal St. San Marcos) – 29:11.0
 
MEN'S 8K TEAM RESULTS
1. Chico State – 20 (1 2 4 6 7 9 12)
2. Cal Poly Pomona – 67 (10 11 14 15 17 19 20)
3. UC San Diego – 69 (3 8 13 21 24 25 27)
4. San Francisco State – 101 (5 16 18 28 34 43 49)
5. Cal State East Bay – 159 (23 26 30 39 41 42 45)
6. Cal State Monterey Bay – 171 (22 32 36 37 44 53 54)
7. Stanislaus State – 210 (35 38 40 47 50 52 55)
8. Humboldt State – 218 (31 33 46 51 57 59 60)
9. Cal State L.A. – 252 (29 48 56 58 61 62 63)