SAN MARCOS, Calif. –  The Cal State San Marcos men's and women's cross country teams will head up to Monmouth, Oregon, to run in steady rain with temperatures in the 50s and winds between 10-15 mph for the 2023 NCAA Division II West Regional on Saturday, Nov. 4. 

LAST TIME OUT

• The women's squad moved up from their 2022 finish to place fourth with 134 points while the men's team placed fifth with 130 points at the CCAA Championships on Oct. 21 in Fremont.
• Renton McGregor captured his first All-CCAA accolade by finishing in 15th place after crossing the finish line at 25:27.4 in the 8K race.  
• Carly Schuerger narrowly missed out on earning All-CCAA honors with a 16th-place finish with a 6K time of 22:00.9. 

 
NCAA WEST REGIONAL BREAKDOWN

• Western Oregon will host the NCAA West Regional for the fifth time since 2015.
• In 2021, both teams finished in sixth place with the men's field of 21 teams and women's field of 24 teams. 
• Shea Vavra was the 2021 NCAA Division II West Regional Runner-Up and punched his ticket to the NCAA Division II National Championships. 
• Chico State is the reigning West Regional Men's Cross Country Champion while Stanislaus State won its first-ever NCAA West Regional Women's Cross Country Champion last year. 
• At the 2022 West Regional, the men's team placed ninth while the women's team took 14th. 
• A total of 34 teams from around the country will get the chance to compete for the national cross country crown on Saturday, Nov. 18 at Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, Missouri. 
• The top three teams in each of the eight regional championships held throughout the nation Saturday will earn automatic bids to the finals, with ten additional teams selected as at-large bids by the NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country Committee. There is no limit to the number of at-large teams that may be selected from any given region.
• After the 34 selected teams have been determined, a minimum of 24 additional individuals are selected to compete at the NCAA Championships. The top two individuals who are not part of a qualifying team will automatically advance to the championship, while all individuals who finish in the top five at the regional meets and are not part of a qualifying team will automatically advance. Eight individual runners will be selected at-large, with no limit to the number of at-large individuals that may be chosen from the same region.
• The top 25 runners will be recognized as an All-West Region honoree. 

MEET THE COUGARS

• The women's team returns 13 runners while the men's team has eight returners from the 2022 squad. 
• Twenty student-athletes will be wearing Cougar Blue this season (11 women, nine men). 
• In their final races of 2022, the men's squad finished ninth while the women's team took 14th place at the NCAA West Regional hosted by Montana State Billings. 
• In the CCAA Cross Country Preseason Coaches Polls that were released earlier this season, the men were selected to finish third while the women were picked to finish fifth.

THE OLSON FILE

• Head coach Torrey Olson begins his sixth 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).