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Men's Cross Country

Vavra Competes at NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country Championships

SAN MARCOS, Calif. –  After placing second at the West Regional two weeks ago, Shea Vavra punched his ticket to represent Cal State San Marcos at the NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 20 on The Abby Course in Saint Leo, Florida. 

RACE 8 | NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
DateSaturday, Nov. 20, 2021
Race Start TimesMen's 10K  - 6:45 a.m. (PST)
LocationSaint Leo, Florida
Course The Abby Course (MAP)
Live ScoringLeonetiming.com
Live VideoNCAA.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS BREAKDOWN

  • Saint Leo University will host the NCAA National Championships for the second time in six years. In 2016, Adam State (54) defeated Grand Valley State (79) to win its 12th national championship trophy and will enter Saturday's race with 13 national titles.
  • Vavra, along with the rest of the CSUSM men's team, qualified for the 2019 National Championships, finishing 12th out of 34 teams. Joshua Litwiller was CSUSM's top runner in 2019, taking 17th place and earning All-American honors.
  • Vavra finished three places short of earning All-American honors, clocking a time of 30:54.1 to secure a 43rd-place finish.
  • Chico State, Cal Poly Pomona and Fresno Pacific are the three teams competing from the West Region in Florida on Saturday.
  • Joining Vavra from the West Region as individual runners are Azusa Pacific's Joshua Velasco, Stanislaus State's Jose Garcia and Cole Nash of Alaska Anchorage.
  • In 2019, Colorado School of Mines won its second national crown in the last seven years after posting the team's lowest score ever at a national meet to defeat favorite and reigning champion Adams State
  • Thirty-four teams were selected to participate in each championship. The top three, seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of the eight regions, for a total of 24 teams. Ten additional teams were selected at-large. A minimum of 24 additional individuals were selected to participate in each championship through an automatic qualifier and at-large selection process. 
  • This will be the 61st men's champion crowned in NCAA Division II history. 
  • The top 40 runners will be recognized as an All-American honoree. 

 

COUGAR OUTLOOK

  • The Cougars return five runners from the 2019 season.
  • Ten runners will be donning Cougar Blue for the first time this season with Alex Anderson and Dylan Brown being the lone true freshmen.
  • The Cougars made their inaugural appearance at the NCAA Division II National Championships in 2019, taking home 12th place.
  • CSUSM placed second at the 2019 CCAA Championships and third at the NCAA West Regional.
  • The Cougars were picked third in the CCAA Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll.

 

 

 

Shea Vavra

THE OLSEN FILE

  • Head coach Torrey Olson begins his fourth season at the helm of the men's and women's track & field programs after taking over in the summer of 2018.
  • In his first two seasons at the helm of the men's and women's cross country programs, the men's team claimed second in back-to-back appearances of the CCAA Championships while the women earned third and sixth.
  • Olson came to CSUSM after spending three seasons as the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country at the Academy of Art University where his teams earned 50-plus All-American honors.
  • Olson served as the head cross country coach the previous three years at Academy of Art.
  • In addition to the Academy of Art, Olson has also worked with the University of San Francisco and Pomona-Pitzer College.
  • A graduate of Pomona College in 2009, Olson also holds an MFA from St. Mary's College (2012).