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CSUSM Hosts 17th-Annual Cougar Challenge This Saturday

SAN MARCOS, Calif. –  The Cal State San Marcos men's and women's cross country teams will host the 17th Annual Cougar Challenge on Saturday morning on the CSUSM campus. 


LAST TIME OUT

  • The women's squad took third place in the UC Riverside Open race.
  • Carly Schuerger took CSUSM's top spot with a PR time of 18:06.2 for seventh place.
  • The men's team split its squad, finishing 16th in the Open race and ninth in the Invite race.
  • Sankalp Shastri was CSUSM's top runner in the Invite with a 70th-place finish while Ziggy Nacco claimed 54th place in the open race. 


COUGAR CHALLENGE CLIPS

  • This marks the third consecutive year the Cougar Challenge will be run on the CSUSM Championship Course. In 2021, CSUSM hosted the CCAA Championships on the course as well. 
  • Both teams have won eight of the 15 Cougar Challenges with the first three men's races and the first two women's races not recording a team score. 
  • The men's and women's teams both finished fifth in the 2022 Cougar Challenge.
  • Renton McGregor was the men's top runner with a time of 25:06.7 for 15th place in last year's race. 
  • Setting the pace for the women in last year's race was Carly Schuerger who placed 30th with a 21.58.6 6K time. 
  • The 2023 Cougar Challenge field will consist of 18 women's and 16 men's teams - Cal State East Bay (M/F), San Diego Mesa (M/F),  Cal State Monterey Bay (M/F), Cal State San Bernardino (F), Hawai'i Pacific (M/F), UC San Diego (M/F),  Art U (M/F), Concordia University Irvine (M/F), Salt Lake CC (M/F), Whittier (M/F), Chapman (M/F), Point Loma (F), Cal State San Marcos (M/F), San Bernardino Valley (M/F), Soka (M/F), San Francisco State (M/F), Mt. SAC (M/F), UT San Antonio (M/F)

    MEET THE COUGARS

    • The women's team returns 13 runners while the men's team has 11 returners from the 2023 squad. 
    • Twenty new student-athletes will be wearing Cougar Blue this season (15 women, five men). 
    • In their final races of 2023, the men's squad finished 11th while the women's team took 13th place at the NCAA West Regional hosted by Western Oregon. 
    • In the CCAA Cross Country Preseason Coaches Polls that were released last week, both the men and women were picked to finish fourth.
    • In the preseason edition of the 2024 NCAA Division II West Regional Rankings, as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the men were ranked 10th. 


    THE OLSON FILE

    • Head coach Torrey Olson begins his seventh 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).

    Players Mentioned

    Carly Schuerger

    Redshirt Junior
    Aliso Niguel HS

    Renton McGregor

    6' 0"
    Junior

    Ziggy Nacco

    Sophomore

    Sankalp Shastri

    5' 9"
    Junior

    Players Mentioned

    Carly Schuerger

    Redshirt Junior
    Aliso Niguel HS

    Renton McGregor

    6' 0"
    Junior

    Ziggy Nacco

    Sophomore

    Sankalp Shastri

    5' 9"
    Junior