California State University, Monterey Bay issued the following announcement on Oct. 23.
Both teams place seventh; Brooke Roy named Elite 13 Award winner
The Cal State Monterey Bay cross country teams enjoyed impressive performances, highlighted by the women tying their best team finish ever at the CCAA Cross Country
Championship Meet Saturday on the Cal State San Marcos campus course.
Led by Top 40 finishes from freshman Natalie Harper (Cosumnes Oaks HS) and junior Brooke Roy (Camus [Wash.] HS), the Otter women placed seventh, matching the 2015
Otters for the best team finish in program history. The men also finish seventh, matching their best performance since finishing sixth in 2015.
Harper was CSUMB's top finisher, placing 30th overall with a 6K PR of 22:21.9. She also smashed her course PR by more than a minute from the 23:37.8 she ran here on Sept. 25.
Roy finished 10 seconds back in 37th at 22:31.4, a nearly 17–second improvement on her course PR.
Junior Hannah Marin (Lancaster/Paraclete HS) was the third Otter to finish in the top half of the 88–runner field, placing 40th with a PR of 22:37.4. Freshman Mackenzie Caprino
(Salem, Ore./South Salem HS) also PRed but just miss making it four Otters in the upper echelon by finishing 48th in 23:00.9.
Freshmen Kim Tovar (Clovis HS) (23:27.2) and Sierra Shaver (Irvine/Woodbridge HS) (23:47.3) also set personal records to close out CSUMB's team scoreline.
Junior Nathan Garcia (El Centro/Southwest HS) once again led the way for the Otter men, placing 28th overall in season–best 25:45.0. It marked the third consecutive CCAA
Championship meet in which Garcia was CSUMB's top finisher. It also marked the best finish by an Otter since Connor Henderson placed 27th in 2016.
Sophomore Ryan Bradley (Sacramento/Sheldon HS) joined Garcia in the top half of the 80–runner men's field by placing 39th in 26:03.2. That time was less than three second off
his 8K PR set at Baylands Park in 2019.
Connor Farrow (Modesto/Beyer HS) took nearly a full minute of his personal best on the CSUSM campus course to finish 55th in 26:27.6. He was followed closely by freshman
Maxwell Eickle (Pasadena HS) and Jaime Gonzalez (Somis/Camarillo HS), who finished 56th and 57th respectively.
"I am so happy for both Otter teams," says CSUMB Head Coach Greg Rhines. "There were so many lifetime and season bests today. When it was needed most, the Otters rose up
and performed very well. That's what matters most."
In addition to the performances on the course, the Otters earned accolades off it as Roy was named the CCAA Elite 13 Winner as the top female scholar–athlete competing at this
year's championship. It marked the third consecutive CCAA Cross Country Championship in which an Otter earned the award. Marin was the winner in 2019 while Logan Phillips
won it for the Otter men in 2018.
Next up for the Otters is a week off to train followed by a trip to Monmouth, Oregon for the NCAA Division II West Region Championship Meet at Ash Creek Preserve.
Original source can be found here.
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