Meet: UCR Invitational
Location: Riverside, Calif.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023
Team Invite Finish: 16th out of 22 teams
Team Open Finish: 9th out of 19 teams
Team Invite Winner: Southern Utah (41 pts)
Team Open Winner: Southern Utah (60 pts)
Top CSUSM Invite Finisher: Sankalp Shastri (70th, 24:29.0)
Top CSUSM Open Finisher: Ziggy Nacco (54th, 26:15.1)
Individual Invite Winner: Unattached's Habtamu Cheney (23:35.3)
Individual Open Winner: Southern Utah's Nethaneel Taylor (24:59.6)

COURSE REPORT: At the UC Riverside Invitational, the Cal State San Marcos men's cross country team took 16th place in the 8K Invite race and ninth place in the 8K Open race on Saturday morning.
 
FINISH LINE (INVITE)

• For the second consecutive race, Sankalp Shastri was the first Cougar to cross the finish line for a 70th-place finish with a PR time of 24:49.0.
• Renton McGregor followed in 91st place with a PR time of 25:03.4.
• Right on McGregor's heels was Trevor Boaz, who took 92nd place in 25:03.8.
• Akaklty Gebru claimed 106th place with a time of 25:12.2.
• Diego Lopez and Mark De Haro took 142nd (25:37.9) and 161st (25:49.9), respectively.
• Closing out the Cougar scoring was Mathew Musa who took 177th with a time of 26:06.5.
   

FINISH LINE (OPEN)

• Ziggy Nacco was the first Cougar to reach the finish line for CSUSM in 54th place in a time of 26:15.1.
• Jayson Oliver recorded a time of 26:28.6 for 69th place while Max Miller snagged 74th place at 26:33.3.
• Braden Oberg took 77th place with a time of 26:35.1, and Cris Carrillo collected 132nd place at 27:22.8.

 
THOUGHTS FROM COACH OLSON
"We faced some great competition today. It was a solid step forward, with lots to learn from and carry into next week. I look forward to the one week turnaround to our Cougar Challenge at home next week to see if we can take another step forward as a team."

WHAT'S NEXT
CSUSM will host its annual home meet, the Cougar Challenge, on Saturday, Sept. 23. 

CSUSM MEN'S INVITE RESULTS 

70.	Sankalp Shastri	24:49.0
91.	Renton McGregor	25:03.4
92.	Trevor Boaz	25:03.8
106.	Ataklty Gebru	25:12.2
142.	Diego Lopez	25:37.9
161.	Mark De Haro	25:49.9
177.	Mathew Musa	26:06.5

CSUSM MEN'S OPEN RESULTS 

54.	Ziggy Nacco	26:15.1
69.	Jayson Oliver	26:28.6
74.	Max Miller	26:33.3
77.	Braden Oberg	26:35.1
132.	Cris Carrillo	27:22.8