SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Rasha Badrani and Nick Melanese will begin competition at the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday at Welch Stadium on the campus of Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas.
 

 
NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Badrani qualified in the 400-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 59.30 at the CCAA Track & Field Championships in early May.
• Badrani's time is the 11th fastest in the field of 20 selected to compete in the event.
• This will be Badrani's second consecutive season competing in the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Championships as she finished 18th in 2023 with a time of 1:02.02.
• Badrani's 400-meter hurdles prelim is set to begin at 5:55 p.m. (PT) on Thursday evening. Should she qualify for the final, Badrani would compete at 2:20 p.m. (PT) on Saturday.
• Melanese qualified in the 1500-meter run with a time of 3:44.80 at the Mangrum Invitational on March 22.
• Melanese's time is the 18th fastest in the 19-man field set to compete.
• This will be Melanese's second consecutive year competing in the NCAA Championships, but it will his first time competing in the 1500. He competed in the 800-meter run last season and finished 16th with a time of 3:44.80.
• Melanese is the only men's team student-athlete to ever qualify for the NCAA Championships.
• Melanese's 1500-meter prelim will start at 3:10 p.m. (PT) on Thursday afternoon. Should he qualify for the final, Melanese would compete at 12:25 p.m. (PT) on Saturday,

THE OLSON FILE

• Head coach Torrey Olson begins his sixth 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.
• 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).