KYLE TREMBLEY
PRIDE STAFF WRITER
Competing at the NAIA National Championships at Fort Vancouver in Washington, Cougar men’s cross-country met expectations with a 12th place finish.
Freshman Western Nelson led the way, finishing 7th to earn All-American status.
Entering the event ranked #7 in the nation, Coach Steve Scott’s squad was looking to avenge last year’s disappointing showing. In 2009, CSUSM came in to the event ranked 4th, but finished 17th at the meet.
This year’s squad, which didn’t return a single runner from last season, delivered a strong effort on that same course on Saturday. The 32-team race was won by Southern Oregon with a score of 105 points.
CSUSM posted a team total of 356 points. Combined with the women’s team’s victory at 88 points, Coach Steve Scott’s cross-country program finished third overall this year in the combined competition.
Despite being just a freshman, Western Nelson delivered a big-time performance for the Cougars. Nelson ran 25:06 on the wet and muddy course, placing 7th in the field of the NAIA’s best runners.
As expected, Brett Campfield came in second on the team. He clocked in at 26:05, finishing 44th in the field.
Armando Lara was next across for the Cougars, placing 87th at 26:44. One second later, Jonathan Alpizar finished in 89th place at 26:45. Eduardo Mariscal rounded out the team’s top-five at 27:19, good for 129th place.
Also competing were Polo Mariscal (27:22; 134th) and Josh Bollinger (28:41; 197th).
Wayland Baptist’s Kennedy Kithuka won the individual race 24:02.