SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos men's and women's track & field teams will compete in three meets this weekend as it hosts the Mangrum Invitational on Friday at Mangrum Track & Field before heading to San Diego to compete in the PLNU Collegiate Invitational and the Aztec Invitational on Saturday.

Prior to the start of track events at 1 p.m. on Friday, CSUSM will honor past individual CCAA Champions Clarissa Garcia, Vahagn Isaya, Joshua Litwiller, Isaac Muanza, Natalie Rodriguez, Ndoto Strong and Devin Yarbrough with a championship ring presentation.

Cal State San Marcos Athletics would like to thank the Mangrum family for their visionary support. The CSUSM Track, established in 1999 and named in honor of the Mangrum Family for their transformational philanthropy in 1999, was the first on-campus Athletics facility in CSUSM history. Recent facility enhancements, including track resurfacing and a renovated long jump runway and pit, were made possible by the continued generosity of the Mangrum family. 

LAST MEET

• CSUSM competed in Point Loma's Ross & Sharon Irwin Invitational last Saturday.
• On the men's side, Jackson Cross tied for the ninth-best long jump mark in program history with a distance of 6.63 meters while finishing fourth out of 29. He later was the top Cougar in the 200-meter dash at 22.91.
• Jonh Saracay matched his season-best height of 1.91 meters in the high jump and finished seventh out of 17th.
• Isaac Muanza finished fifth out of 11 in the triple jump with a mark of 14.05 meters – the best in the CCAA this season. He went on to earn CCAA Field Athlete of the Week honors.
• On the women's side, Lilly McGraw had the fifth-best pole vault mark in program history at 3.29 meters. Kailey Frye improved upon her personal best with the team's ninth-best mark at 3.14 meters.
• Rachelle Zilavec had the 10th-best javelin throw in program history at 32.71 meters. She later put up a discus mark of 22.90 meters.
• In her first event since March 7, 2020, Dymon Preyor finished seventh out of 34 in the long jump with a mark of 5.18 meters.
• Mia Salinas finished second out of 47 in the 800-meter run and was the top Division II runner at 2:16.61. Her time was the fastest in the CCAA this season.

CCAA FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

• Isaac Muanza earned his second career CCAA Field Athlete of the Week honor after posting the top triple jump in the CCAA this season at the Ross & Sharon Irwin Invitational this past Saturday at Point Loma.
• Muanza posted a distance of 14.05 meters on his third attempt – his longest non-wind-aided mark in over a year.
• He won the honor last year on Feb. 28 and is the last CSUSM student-athlete to collect the award. 

COUGARS BY THE NUMBERS

• Nick Melanese is the lone Cougar to date to earn an NCAA Division II Provisional as his 800-meter time of 1:51.36 at the Beach Opener currently ranks fourth in the nation.
• Melanese also has the fifth-best 1500-meter time at 3:51.43 and leads the CCAA.
• Justice Chima's 200-meter time of 21.58 ranks eighth nationally and second iin the CCAA. His 100-meter time of 10.78 also ranks second in the conference.
• Isaac Muanza's triple jump mark of 14.05 meters leads the CCAA while his high jump mark of 1.96 meters is currently the second best in the conference.
• Morgann Wilson currently ranks fourth in CCAA in the 100-meter hurdles at 14.70. She's also third in the javelin at 38.21 meters.
• Rasha Badrani has the fourth-best 400-meter hurdles time in the conference at 1:05.22.
• Mia Salinas' 800-meter time of 2:16.61 leads the CCAA while her time of 58.10 in the 400-meter dash ranks third.
• Kalathan Laiwa-McKay has the third-best shot put mark in the conference at 14.90 meters.
• Juan Leyva ranks third in the hammer in the CCAA at 50.41 meters.

MANGRUM INVITATIONAL

• CSUSM will host its first meet since Feb. 8, 2020, when it hosted the Mangrum Preview.
• This will be the ninth Mangrum Invitational since starting in 2009.
• Including CSUSM, there will be 28 schools represented in this year's meet from all three levels of the NCAA and the CCCAA.
• Division I schools set to compete are San Jose State and UC Riverside.
• Division II schools include Alaska Anchorage, Azusa Pacific, Biola, Cal Poly Humboldt, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State LA, Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State San Marcos, Seattle Pacific, Sonoma State, Western Oregon and Western Washington.
• Division III schools include Caltech, Carleton, Chapman, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, La Verne, Middlebury, Occidental, Pomona-Pitzer, Tufts and Williams.
• Representing the CCCAA will be Cerritos, Cuyamaca and Orange Coast.
• The meet will begin with the men's discus at 10:30 a.m. and will end with the men's 10,000-meter run at 8:41 p.m.
• There will be 40 events in totals.

PLNU COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL

• CSUSM will return to Point Loma for the 15th Annual PLNU Collegiate Invitational on Saturday.
• This will be the Cougars' 13th time competing in the meet.
• Many of the same teams competing at the Mangrum Invitational will also be competing at the PLNU Collegiate Invitational.
• Field events will begin at 9 a.m. and track events will begin at 11:30 a.m.
• CSUSM will compete in 13 men's events and 11 women's events.

AZTEC INVITATIONAL

• CSUSM will have five entries in the Saturday portion of the Aztec Invitational beginning at 12:45 p.m.
• Morgann Wilson will compete in the women's 100-meter hurdles at 12:45 p.m., Ana Mercado and Emma Mills will compete in the women's 800-meter run at 3 p.m., Nick Melanese will compete in the men's 800-meter run at 3:15 p.m. and Justice Chima will compete in the men's 200-meter dash at 4:25 p.m.
• This will be the 17th time CSUSM will have entrants in the Aztec Invitational.

COUGAR OUTLOOK

• The women's track & field team will field a roster of 44 this season while the men's roster will be comprised of 35.
• The women's team returns 20 from last year's team while the men have 16.
• The women's squad will compete in four indoor meets while both teams will compete in 14 outdoor meets with the potential of competing in the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
• The men's team tallied eight All-CCAA selections and one individual CCAA Champion in Isaac Muanza (triple jump) in 2022. The team also earned four USTFCCCA All-Region honors.
• On the women's side, the Cougars tallied five All-CCAA selections and two individual champions in returner Devin Yarbrough (long jump) and outgoing senior Clarissa Garcia (800m). Yarbrough also earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors.
• Yarbrough and teammate Ana Mercado represented CSUSM at the 2022 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

THE OLSON FILE

• Head coach Torrey Olson begins his fifth 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 USTFCCCA All-West Region honors.
• 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).