TURLOCK, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's track & field team took home eight medals on the final day of competition at the CCAA Championships on Saturday at Al Brenda Track at Warrior Stadium on the campus of Stanislaus State.
 
CCAA ELITE 13 AWARD
Nick Melanese was the recipient of this year's CCAA Elite 13 Award for men's track & field. The CCAA Elite 13 Award recognizes the academic and athletic achievement of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the conference championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The CCAA Elite 13 Award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the final CCAA championship site in each conference-sponsored sport.
 
This was Melanese's second CCAA Elite 13 honor after receiving the award for men's cross country in 2023. CSUSM student-athletes have now earned the honor 17 times since its inception in 2017-18.
 

TOP PERFORMANCES

• Sankalp Shastri and Nick Melanese earned silver and bronze in the 1500-meter run with times of 3:48.94 and 3:49.04, respectively. Ziggy Nacco (3:56.06) and Chas O'Bear (3:56.76) finished seventh and eighth. For its finishes, CSUSM earned 17 points.
• Braden Oberg and Mateo Saldana took silver and bronze in the 800-meter run as Oberg posted an NCAA provisional time of 1:50.49 while Saldana tallied a time of 1:51.06. Oberg's and Saldana's times were the third- and fourth-fastest in program history.
• Dre Johnson took silver in the 100-meter dash with a wind-aided NCAA provisional time of 10.42. Jason Wells finished fourth with a wind-aided NCAA provisional time of 10.47. Together Johnson and Wells earned CSUSM 12 points for the events.
• Dorian Fillmore and Sid Marshal took silver and bronze in the high jump as they tied at 1.97 meters, but Fillmore took the tiebreaker due to successfully jumping the height in fewer attempts. Marshall tied Fillmore for the eighth-best mark in program history.
• Kalathan Laiwa-McKay took bronze in the discus throw with the second-best mark in program history at 49.05 meters.
• The team of Dre Johnson, Logan Wilson, Jason Wells and Troy Thompson Jr. posted the second-best 4x100-meter relay time in program history at 41.38, finishing sixth and earning CSUSM three points.
• Gio Moya recorded the program's sixth-fastest 400-meter hurdles time at 53.21 seconds while earning the Cougars four points with a fifth-place finish.
• Johnson earned CSUSM four points in the 200-meter dash with a wind-aided time of 21.46 seconds.

 
FINAL TEAM SCORES
1. Chico State – 234.50; 2. Cal Poly Pomona – 233; 3. Cal State San Marcos – 109; 4. Stanislaus State – 100; 5. Cal Poly Humboldt – 44.50; 6. Cal State East Bay – 42; 7. Cal State LA – 41; T8. Cal State Monterey Bay – 5; T8. San Francisco State - 5
 
UP NEXT
CSUSM will have one final chance to qualify athletes for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships as it takes part in Azusa Pacifc's Franson Last Chance on May 8-10.