California State University Northridge Athletics
California State University at Northridge
Big West Conference Championship
CSUN Gears Up for Big West Championship
10/30/2015 12:10:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Live Results // Big West Championship Central
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The CSUN men's and women's cross country teams look to cap an impressive 2015 season with a solid performance at the Big West Championships Saturday at UC Riverside's Ag/Ops Course.
The women's 6,000 meter run begins at 8:45 a.m. followed by the men's 8k at 9:15 a.m.
The Matador women, who have finished as high as fifth at the conference meet (2001, 2002), look to improve on last season's sixth place finish. CSUN posted 150 points at the 2014 championship and was led by junior Elizabeth Nelson who finished third which matched the best finish ever by a Matador.
Now a senior, Nelson figures to battle a challenging field of runners for the individual championship. Nelson will lead a veteran CSUN squad that also features Jocelyne Ferrufino (26th in 2014), Rachael Duriez (44th in 2014) and Kimberly Newton (54th in 2014). Freshman Katie Alvarenga has a fourth place finish at the Pepperdine Invitational in September and has run well all season. Raeanna Cortez and Rachel Naumann also look for top times in their first championship race.
"The women have had a really good season so far," said head coach Avery Anderson. "At the Big West Championships on Saturday, we're looking forward to seeing how much better we can run as a team."
Prior to Nelson's third place finish last season, the last time a CSUN women's runner finished among the top-10 at the Big West Championship was 2010 when Liilyana Morejon finished sixth in 20:41.5. Morejon and Liz Camy previously shared the honor of having the best finish for a Matador woman at the conference championship as Morejon was third in 2009 and Camy took third in 2005.
CSUN TOP-10 BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINISHES*
WOMEN
3rd - Elizabeth Nelson, 2014 (20:27.2)
3rd - Lilyana Morejon, 2009 (20:36.3)
3rd - Liz Camy, 2005 (21:15.7)
6th - Lilyana Morejon, 2010 (20:41.5)
6th - Angela Talarico, 2001 (18:32.4)
7th - Angela Talarico, 2002 (18:17.9)
9th - Jeanene Gerry, 2001 (18:48.0)
10th - Andrea Palacio, 2003 (23:21.9)
* Beginning in 2003, the championship was competed on a 6k course.
The Matador men also face the challenge of competing in a solid cross country conference. Cal Poly has had a stranglehold on the Big West winning 13 team titles with only defending champion UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis winning team titles in recent years.
Manuel Vargas, Charlie Nettle and Michael Merchan, who have each had impressive seasons for the Matadors, look to become the first CSUN male runner to crack the top-10 since CSUN joined the conference in 2001. Vargas has the Matador men's best finish this season as he was third at Pepperdine and was also in the top 20 at San Francisco.
Nettle was 60th in 19:29.2 at last season's championship followed by Vargas who was 62nd (26:59.6). Other Matador men who have competed in the Big West Championships include Luis Chavez (63rd in 2014) and Lugardo Chavez (65th in 2014).
"We're looking forward to improving our position on the men's side," said Anderson. "We've had a good fall, guys have PR'd going into the meet and our goal is to try to run ourselves into a position to qualify for regionals."
- GO MATADORS -
