2007 Women’s Cross-Country Season Review:  Building Towards 2008
12/4/07

There are two ways to look at the season of the 2007 Cal State San Marcos women’s cross-country team.

The first is to focus on the finish.  Ranked sixth in the nation heading in to Nationals, the hard-charging Cougars appeared to be a lock to finish in the top-10.  But the team did not run its best race, finishing a disappointing 13^th.  No Cougar athletes earned All-American status.

While the performance at Nationals was a sour ending to an otherwise sweet season, Coach Steve Scott and his team are taking solace in the fact that they’ll have a chance to avenge it in 2008.  Everyone will, in fact, because the 2007 CSUSM women’s cross-country team featured not one senior.

“[2008] will be our best chance to do well on the women’s side since 2003,” noted Coach Scott.  “We have the talent to match or even exceed that third place finish.”

And that’s the other way to look at the 2007 season:  as a stepping stone to what should be an excellent 2008. 

That’s not to diminish the team’s accomplishments this year, however.  Despite losing Bonghabih Shey and Olympia Olguin, its top two runners from last season, the young Cougar squad did not miss a beat.  CSUSM finished in the top-10 of each of its four “regular season” events, capped off by a second place finish at the Vanguard Invitational.  CSUSM also won the Cougar Challenge 5k, the first cross-country race ever hosted by Cal State San Marcos.

Even with those strong performances, it was unclear how the team would fare at Regionals.  Though the Cougars entered ranked 11^th in the nation, three teams in the region were ranked higher, and two more were in the top-25.  If CSUSM faltered, missing Nationals was not out of the question.

But the Cougars rose to the challenge.  CSUSM finished second in the region, behind only Azusa Pacific, securing their spot at Nationals and vaulting them to the #6 ranking that they carried in to the event.  It was a glimpse of what Coach Scott’s young team was capable of.

Throughout the year, the Cougar squad led by Morgan Sjogren.  The junior emerged as the squad’s #1 runner from the very start of the season, finishing as the team’s top runner at its first five meets.  Sjogren met her pre-season goal of breaking the 18-minute mark, posting a time of 17:49.50 at Riverside.  She finished second at both the Vanguard Invitational and Cougar Challenge.  At Regionals, Sjogren placed 14^th, helping CSUSM to its second place finish.  While Sjogren didn’t run her best race at Nationals, placing 46^th, the experience from that event and the season as a whole will undoubtedly help her in leading the team next year.

Fellow junior Whitney Patton posted a solid season for the Cougars, as well.  A fixture in the team’s top-three runners for the last couple seasons, Patton nearly joined Sjogren in breaking the 18-minute mark, running 18:04 at Riverside.  Patton saved her best finish of the season for Regionals, where she took 9^th place with a time of 18:18.  At Nationals, the junior finished 49^th, just five seconds behind Sjogren.

Throughout the season, the team got a huge boost from newcomer Jessica Sandoval.  The freshman not only finished as one of the squad’s top-three runners in every race, but actually led the team to its strong showing at Regionals.  At that event, Sandoval placed a career-best 8^th with a time of 18:17.  While her 56^th place finish and time of 18:58 at Nationals weren’t Sandoval’s best, they were certainly understandable given that it was her first Nationals appearance.

In fact, the only Cougar to run up to her potential at Nationals, according to Coach Scott, was Joy Leon.  At that event, the sophomore gave CSUSM a much-needed solid performance, placing 67^th with a time of 19:05.  Leon also ran well at Regionals, placing 17^th.  Leon’s ability to handle the pressure of big races certainly bodes well for the rest of her Cougar career.

Also contributing to the team were freshman Stephanie Cook and sophomore Lindsey McKown, who finished in the team’s top-five at numerous events, and who represented the University at Nationals.  Sophomores Kristen Simek and Mallory Bawkey also competed for the Cougars.

Looking towards next season, with all his runners expected back, Coach Steve Scott has already set expectations high.

“I can’t imagine a situation in which Morgan [Sjogren], Whitney [Patton], and Jessica [Sandoval] aren’t All-Americans,” commented Scott.  “We have no reason to fall short.”