SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's and women's track & field teams will begin their outdoor season at the Kamaka Open hosted by Mt. San Antonio College on Thursday through Saturday at Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut.
 
LAST OUTDOOR SEASON

• Last season, the men's team ended the year with 24 top-10 program marks, including four school records.
• Nick Melanase qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championship for the second time, finishing 19th in the 1500-meter run.
• Kalathan Laiwa-McKay earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the shot put while Melanese earned them in the 1500-meter run.
• Laiwa-McKay repeated as the CCAA Champion in the shot put while Renton McGregor won it 800-meter run and Sankalp Shastri won it in the 1500-meter run.
• Laiwa-McKay, McGregor, Shastri earned All-CCAA honors along with Amaree Berry and Dre Johnson.
• On the women's side, the team ended the season with 28 top-10 program marks, including seven school records.
• Rasha Badrani qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400-meter hurdles and went on to earn USTFCCCA All-America first-team honors with a seventh-place finish.
• Badrani earned All-Region honors in the 400-meter hurdles while Lilly McGraw earned them in the pole vault and Devin Yarbrough earned them in the long jump.
• Both Badrani and McGraw won the CCAA Championship in those events and were joined on the All-CCAA team by Trinity Barr, Jordyn Brooks, Orchid Concha, Isabel Ortiz, Mia Salinas, Yarbrough and Rachelle Zilavec.
• Both the men's and women's teams finished fifth at the CCAA Championships.

 
KAMAKA OPEN

• This will be CSUSM's second time competing in the Kamaka Open.
• The Cougars will be sending 19 men and 28 women to the meet.
• Field events will begin at 11 a.m. while track event will begin at noon.

THE OLSON FILE

• Head coach Torrey Olson begins his seventh season at the helm of the men's and women's track & field programs after taking over in the summer of 2018.
• In 2019, Olson's men's and women's squads tallied three individual CCAA Championships for outdoor competition while the men's team earned five USTFCCCA All-West Region selections.
• In 2022, Olson guided both teams to a combined three individual CCAA Championships, 13 All-CCAA selections and five outdoor and three indoor USTFCCCA All-West Region honors.
• In 2023, the Cougars earned a combined five individual CCAA Championships, 19 All-CCAA selections, six outdoor and three indoor USTFCCCA All-West Region honorees under Olson's leadership.
• In 2024, CSUSM had a combined five individual CCAA Champions, 16 All-CCAA selections and five outdoor USTFCCCA All-West Region honorees.
• 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 for 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).