Cross-Country Nationals:  Men finish 9^th, Women 13^th
11/17/07

Note:  All references to individual runner finishes refer to their place for team scoring purposes.  Those standings do not include runners who are running unattached.

In their final event of the season, the Cal State San Marcos men’s cross-country team finished 9^th and the Cougar women finished 13th at Saturday’s NAIA National Championships in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

For the men’s squad, ranked 4^th nationally, it’s the second straight year the team has entered the event ranked in the top-five and finished 9^th.  For the sixth-ranked women’s team, the 13^th place finish is ten spots better than their performance last season.

Leading the way for the Cougar men was Sergio Gonzalez.  In his final collegiate cross-country race, the senior capped his Cougar career off in style, placing 11^th with a time of 25:14.  It’s a fitting send-off for Gonzalez, who rebounded from a sub-par junior season with an outstanding 2007 campaign.

Second on the team was Sean Brosnan.  Coming to CSUSM from rival Concordia prior to the season, Brosnan battled through injuries early on, and hit his stride at the right time.  His time of 25:24 was good for 19^th place overall in the team competition.

Third on the team was Juan Mejia.  The senior, who in his two years in Cougar blue re-wrote the record books, ends his fantastic career with a disappointing 27^th place finish.  His time of 25:37 was his worst of the season.

It would be quite some time before the next Cougars crossed the finish line.  Fourth on the team was freshman Alex Guaderrama, who ran 26:49 to place 120^th.  Fifth was Tony Guadagnini, who finished 124^th with a time of 26:51.  Also competing were Patrick Fitzgerald (26:58) and Leo Elorza (27:14).

Overall, the Cougar men finished with 301 total points, 3 behind 8^th place Union (Tennessee).  Malone College (Ohio) were the runaway winners by nearly 150 points.  Azusa Pacific’s Aron Rono won the individual competition with a time of 23:52.

On the women’s side, junior Morgan Sjogren led the team on Saturday, finishing 46^th with a time of 18:47.  Sjogren has been the team’s top runner throughout the season, and gave yet another solid performance at Nationals.

A few seconds behind her was Whitney Patton.  Patton has consistently finished as the team’s #2 or #3 runner, and Nationals was no exception.  Her time of 18:53 was good for 49^th place.

Next was Jessica Sandoval.  Just a freshman, Sandoval was the team’s top performer at Regionals, and figures to be a star on the cross-country team for years to come.  In this her first trip to nationals, she placed 56^th with a time of 18:58.

Joy Leon was the team’s fourth finisher, running 19:05 to finish 67^th.  Rounding out the top 5 was Lindsey McKown, who placed 147^th and ran 20:07.  Also competing were Stephanie Cook (20:10) and Kristen Simek (20:55).

For the fifth straight season, Simon Fraser (British Columbia) won the team title, finishing with a score of 99; 46 points better than second-place Cedarville.  CSUSM finished with a total score of 365.  The individual competition was won by Jaime Canterbury of Azusa Pacific with a time of 17:10.