Occidental Distance Carnival Results
San Diego Collegiate Challenge Results

SAN DIEGO, Calif.—The Cal State San Marcos men's and women's track and field teams enjoyed a strong weekend of competition, recording several strong marks Friday evening at the Occidental Distance Carnival and Saturday afternoon at the San Diego Collegiate Challenge hosted by UC San Diego.

OCCIDENTAL
The Cougars had several runners hit NAIA qualifying standards Friday and put up high level performances for this point in the season.

On the women's side, Heidi Swanson bounced back from the flu and from competing in two races at the NAIA Indoor National Track and Field Championships to post a NAIA leading time in the 800m, running 2:15.00 and hitting the NAIA "B" standard. The senior was just .5 seconds away from the "A" mark that would automatically qualify her for the NAIA Outdoor National Championships in May.

Teammates Michelle Cruz (2:16.48) and Charlotte Kuzminsky (2:18.72) also posted strong early season times but just missed hitting the "B" standard. Still, with the talent and depth in the event, the Cougars at this point look to be a threat to post a strong 4x800 relay team at nationals.

In the 1500m, freshmen Cristen Lane and Salena Gallardo ran 4:53.70 and 4:55.49 and currently rank eighth and ninth in the NAIA in the event after week one of the outdoor season. Fellow freshmen Raelyn Werley and Anahi Soriano also rank fifth and sixth in the 5000m after their times of 18:17.07 and 18:25.21.

Returning NAIA All-American Ayded Reyes, who finished seventh in the 3000m Steeplechase at last year's national championships, put up an "A" standard time of 11:17.58 in the event.  The senior from San Diego will have the opportunity to once again contend for a title at nationals at the end of the season.

The Cougars latest NAIA All-American Kate Bouvatte also put up a national leading "A" standard mark in the 10,000m just one week after placing sixth in the 3000m at the Indoor National Championships.

For the men, Steven Ing and Western Nelson both ran well under the "A" standard in the 5000m, running 14:36.20 and 14:40.15 to clinch their tickets to nationals in the event.

Deng Akuien nearly hit the "B" standard in the steeplechase with a personal best of 9:32.33 in the 3000m steeplechase.

SAN DIEGO COLLEGIATE
Competing with partial squads for both the men's and women's teams, the men placed fourth overall out of five schools in the team competition, while the women finished fifth out of eight.

Individual standouts on the women's side include performances by pole vaulter Calah Ayer (3.22m) and high jumper Melissa Olmos (1.58m). Each currently sits at third in the NAIA after one week of outdoor competition.

The CSUSM men's 4x100m relay won their race with a time of 42.61, narrowly defeating host UCSD (42.88).

Junior Damon Moore won the 400m hurdle competition with a personal best of 54.57, leaving him just .07 behind the NAIA "B" standard. He is, however, the fastest in the NAIA in the event thus far in 2014.

High jumper Greg Talley finished second overall Saturday with his leap of 1.93m, and is 10 centimeters away from hitting the "B" standard. Talley and Maurice Strickland, who cleared 4.55m in the pole vault, are ranked fourth in the NAIA currently.

The Cougars will have a week to train before competing again next at the Point Loma Invitational next Saturday, March 22.