SAN MARCOS, Calif. –  The Cal State San Marcos men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the UC Riverside Highlander Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15 on the UCR AG-OPS Course. 

LAST TIME OUT

• The men's team took 10th place while the women's squad placed 12th at the Lewis Crossover. 
• Ruben Piña was CSUSM's top runner for the second consecutive race, finishing in 27th place with a time of 24:46.3. 
• For the third time this season, Renee Laurenzana set the pace for the Cougars with a 27th-place finish in a time of 22:33.3. 

UCR HIGHLANDER INVITATIONAL

• This marks the third consecutive season CSUSM will compete in the Highlander Invite. 
• Three members of the men's team (Alex Anderson, Byaombe Mloko and Cris Carillo) and one women's runner (Lauren Allison-Aipa) will compete in the race. 
• Allison-Aipa, Mloko and Carrillo all ran the course earlier this season at the UCR Invitational on Sept. 17. 
• This marks the first time Alex Anderson will run the course this season. 

MEET THE COUGARS

• The women's team returns 13 runners while the men's team has eight returners from the 2021 squad. 
• Twenty student-athletes will be wearing Cougar Blue this season (14 women, six men). 
• In their final races of 2021, both teams finished sixth at the NCAA Division II West Regional hosted by Western Oregon. 
• Shea Vavra was CSUSM's lone representative at the 2021 NCAA Division II National Championships in Saint Leo, Florida, where he finished 116th out of 262 runners. 
• The Cougars were picked third in both the CCAA Men's & Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll.
• In the preseason edition of the 2022 NCAA Division II National Rankings, as released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA), the women were ranked 27th while the men were receiving votes (both are sixth in the West Region). 

THE OLSON FILE

• Head coach Torrey Olson begins his fifth 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).