By Luke Henry Thomas, October 13, 2026
The Cal Poly Pomona cross-country team competed in extreme heat at the California State University, San Marcos Cougar Challenge Oct. 3, finishing sixth and ninth, while the NCAA Pre-Nationals squad took the weekend off to rest before their competition.
The annual races at the Mangrum Track and Field Complex began an hour earlier than previous years due to the weather, with the men’s race starting at 7:30 a.m. By the end of the women’s race at 9 a.m., the temperature in San Marcos had already reached 94 degrees.
“It got very hot very quickly,” head coach Chris Bradford said. “Everybody, guys and girls, had to run in very difficult conditions. I thought they really challenged themselves and ran tough, but it was definitely a tough race.”
Freshman Daniel Cheyer led the Broncos in the men’s 8,000-meter, placing 17th overall with a time of 25:16.7. This performance beat his former best set at the University of California, Riverside Invitational earlier this season by half a second.
The top three Broncos were rounded out by redshirt sophomore Derek Ynfante in 24th place at 25:30.6 and sophomore Trajan Cephas in 49th at 26:30.9. The Broncos placed sixth out of 12 schools with 163 points.
“I had a lot of determination today,” Cheyer said. “It was a hard race, and I just didn’t give up. I want to do that in the future as well, when it starts to hurt that I’m going to keep going anyway.”
On the women’s side, sophomore Jubilee Cisneros placed first for the Broncos and 32nd overall with a time of 22:32.2, setting a new 6,000-meter personal best by nearly 30 seconds.
Cisneros was followed by sophomore Ava Holtzen in 34th at 22:40.4 and sophomore Natalie Conde in 49th at 23:07.1. The women placed ninth out of 10 teams with 194 points.
“Jubilee Cisneros came out and really put herself in a good position during the race,” Bradford said. “Ava Holtzen as well. Both of them put themselves up there early in the race, and I think that helped lead them to good performances late.”
The Broncos who raced in the NCAA Pre-Nationals last weekend Oct. 11, including sixth-year graduate student Ricardo Vargas and redshirt junior Miranda Palacios, did not compete at the Cougar Challenge to rest before their competition.
According to Bradford, the CSUSM race gave an opportunity for the rest of the athletes to compete. Additionally, several of the Broncos who raced at the Cougar Challenge have shown opportunities to make the CPP’s conference or regional team.
Despite not competing, the pre-national runners still came south to CSUSM to cheer on their fellow athletes.
“We have to embrace the idea of family this season,” said sophomore Mason Colwell, who finished with a time of 28:49.3 in the men’s race. “That was evident in the way our top guys who were not racing this race still came down to Cal State San Marcos and supported us. I feel like that atmosphere is what was able to carry us through today.”
The Broncos will compete at Kellogg Stadium next at the Cal Poly Pomona Invitational Oct. 24.
Feature image courtesy of CPP Athletics
