By Corrina Babiash-Clark 

Staff Writer 

The CSUSM men’s and women’s cross country teams managed impressive team finishes of 13th and 8th place, respectively, at the NAIA National Championships held in Kansas on Nov. 23.

With temperatures in the mid 20s, dropping to mid-teens with the wind chill, the CSUSM men’s and women’s cross country teams faced a tough challenge mentally and physically.

“You just can’t train for extreme cold when it is 70 degrees,” cross country coach, Steven Scott, said. “Under the horrible conditions, I felt both teams did real well.”

Western Nelson’s fourth All-American Award at last weekend’s NAIA cross country national championships makes him the only athlete in CSUSM’s history to have been honored as an All-American in all four seasons of a sport.

“Before the race started it wasn’t fun being there in the cold weather. During the race, it was all I could think about. But thankfully it was cold enough that I wasn’t able to feel any of my body parts which made it much easier for me to ignore all the pain in my legs,” Nelson said.

For other CSUSM runners, the experience was bittersweet. Despite impressive performances in less than desirable conditions, Steven Ing, Heidi Swanson and Kate Bouvatte fell just shy of the coveted All-American Award.

With this season coming to a close, CSUSM cross country is looking toward the future with high hopes as many of their top runners will be returning next year.