The Cougars Online -- Cal State San Marcos Athletics

Cougar Men Win Vanguard Invitational; Women Place 2nd
10/6/2007

For the fourth time in the last five years, the Cal State San Marcos men took home the title at the Vanguard Invitational. The women nearly made it a sweep for the day, settling for a close second.

It was a strong team effort for a Cougar men’s squad that lost #2 runner Mike Crouch to injury last week. All seven CSUSM runners finished in the top half of the 52-runner field, which featured teams from fellow NAIA schools such as Master’s College, Biola, and Fresno Pacific.

Leading the way for the Cougars was not, for once, Juan Mejia. After finishing as the squad’s top runner in every race since he joined the team last season, Mejia took a backseat to fellow senior Sergio Gonzalez. Gonzalez placed 7^th, running the 8k in 25:43.

Of course, Mejia wasn’t far behind. He took 8^th with a time of 25:51.

Joining them in helping the squad to victory were Alex Guadarama (15^th, 26:14), Patrick Fitzgerald (16^th, 26:16), and Kyle Fox (20^th, 26:30). Also competing were Leo Elorza (23^rd, 26:40) and Tony Guadagnini (24^th, 26:51). It will be up to these runners to step up and fill the void left by Crouch in the team’s lineup.

Biola’s Brian Ball won the men’s individual competition, but the Cougars cruised to a team victory. Master’s College finished second, and Fresno Pacific took third.

On the women’s side, the team has ran very well so far this season, and Saturday was no exception. Team leader Morgan Sjogren missed getting her first individual title by just six seconds, finishing in second place with a time of 18:13.

She was one of three Cougar women to finish in the top-10 in the 5k race. Freshman Jessica Sandoval continued her impressive rookie season with a 5^th place finish, running 18:29. And Whitney Patton wasn’t far behind, placing 7^th with a time of 18:35.

Also competing for the team were Joy Leon (13^th, 19:00), Stephanie Cook (19^th, 19:20), Lindsey McKown (29^th, 19:46), Mallory Bawkey (30^th, 19:49), Sin Carrano (33^rd, 19:57), Suzanne Serimenti (36^th, 20:06), and Monika Valenzuela (46^th, 20:50).

The effort was nearly enough for a victory; but Biola, led by individual competition winner Kristin Schmidt, edged out CSUSM by a narrow margin.

Next up for the teams is a special competition: The Cougar Challenge! It will be the first-ever cross-country race hosted by Cal State San Marcos, and all fans are welcome to come out to catch the action on October 20^th. The women’s race begins at 9:00 AM, and the men will start at 9:45 AM.