SAN MARCOS, Calif. –  The Cal State San Marcos men's and women's cross country teams will travel to the Monterey Peninsula for the CCAA Championships on Saturday, Nov. 5. The Cougars will race on the newly constructed trail at Palo Corona Regional Park in Carmel. 

LAST TIME OUT

• The CSUSM men's team captured 11th place while the women's squad snagged 18th place at the NCAA Division II Pre-Nationals in University Place, Washington on Oct. 22. 
• Ruben Piña was CSUSM's top runner, placing 48th with a time of 25:05.8.
• For the first time this season, Emma Mills was CSUSM's top runner after taking 102nd place with a time of 23:21.5. 

 

RACE 6 | CCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Date	Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022
Race Start Times	Men's 8K - 9 a.m.  Women's 6K - 10 p.m.
Location	Carmel, Calif.
Course Map	Palo Corona Regional Park
Live Results	Finished Results
Live Video	CCAA Network ($)

CCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

• This marks the first time CSUSM has run the Palo Corona Regional Park course. 
• The women's race field will feature 11 of the 12 CCAA schools while the men's race will be comprised of nine conference schools.
• Stanislaus State's women won the 2021 CCAA Championship victory snapped Chico State's 12-year winning streak which dated back to 2008. 
• Chico State's men extended its conference title streak to 19 last season with eight Wildcats finishing in the top 12.
• Both Cougar teams finished in third place at the 2021 CCAA Championships which were held on the CSUSM campus. 
• Renee Laurenzana was the first Cougar to cross the line in last year's race, taking fourth out of 88 runners with a time of 21:06.8.
• Shea Vavra collected his third CCAA honor with a third-place finish in 2021 in the field of 80 runners. 
• Saturday's forecast in Carmel is mixture of sunshine and clouds with high of 60 and wins from 5-10 mph. 

MEET THE COUGARS

• The women's team returns 13 runners while the men's team has eight returners from the 2021 squad. 
• Twenty student-athletes will be wearing Cougar Blue this season (14 women, six men). 
• In their final races of 2021, both teams finished sixth at the NCAA Division II West Regional hosted by Western Oregon. 
• Shea Vavra was CSUSM's lone representative at the 2021 NCAA Division II National Championships in Saint Leo, Florida, where he finished 116th out of 262 runners. 
• The Cougars were picked third in both the CCAA Men's & Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll.
• In the preseason edition of the 2022 NCAA Division II National Rankings, as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA), the women were ranked 27th while the men were receiving votes (both are sixth in the West Region). 

THE OLSON FILE

• Head coach Torrey Olson begins his fifth season at the helm of the men's and women's cross country programs after taking over in the summer of 2018.
• 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).