SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The California State University San Bernardino women's cross country team opened its 2025 season by placing third at the Coyote Challenge on the CSUSB campus on Saturday morning. 

Senior Kai Marroquin (Rosemead, Calif.) was the top Coyote finisher on the morning, placing ninth overall with a 5k time of 18:37.5. It is her fastest collegiate 5k cross country time by 24 seconds.

In her first race with the Coyotes, junior Yoselin Canseco (San Bernardino, Calif.) looked sharp to place second for Cal State San Bernardino and 21st overall. She ran a time of 19:32.0, 80 seconds faster than her fastest time last season at San Bernardino Valley College.

Senior Samantha Avila (Menifee, Calif.) was the third Coyote finisher at 19:57.0 to place 28th. It marked her first time in her collegiate career breaking 20 minutes in competition, beating her previous best by 40 seconds.

In fourth for the Yotes was true freshman Julia Fernandez (Indio, Calif.) in her first collegiate race. She placed 33rd overall with a time of 20:09.7.

A batch of Coyotes finished 39th, 40th, and 41st consecutively to round out the CSUSB scorers. Junior Hailey Lynk (Banning, Calif.) ran a time of 20:32.3, with freshman Arianna Lupian (Indio, Calif.) at 20:34.9 and classmate Lily Deaton (Menifee, Calif.) running a time of 20:35.0.

After the race, the CSUSB Department of Athletics honored the Coyote seniors competing in their final home meet. Marroquin, Avila, Adileni Pacheco (Homeland, Calif.), Lidia Barrios (Perris, Calif.), Ximena Martinez (San Bernardino, Calif.), Giselle Cabrera (Norco, Calif.), and Dakota Zamarripa (Perris, Calif.) were all joined by their friends and families for the special Senior Day ceremony.

Next up for the Yotes, they will return to action next weekend for the Cougar Challenge at Cal State San Marcos. The gun goes off at 8:30 a.m.