California State University, Monterey Bay Women's Cross Country

Greg Rhines enters his 16th season at the helm of the Cal State Monterey Bay men’s and women’s cross country programs. He also returns to lead the men's and women’s track team after founding the women's program in 2015 and the men's side in 2024. All four programs are on the rise entering the 2024–25 academic year   Otter harriers have continually improved in all aspects of the sport, including team average time, team score, individual placings and individual times under Rhines’ tutalege. Every individual school (both men’s and women’s) has been broken multiple times since the 2010 season by a handful of different runners.   The men’s team has seen its five highest individual and team  finishes at the CCAA championship occur under Rhines. Other notable accomplishments include Connor Henderson earning the 2013 CCAA Freshman of the Year Award and Ben Garland earning All-Academic honors from the USTFCCCA. Garland led the men to a the USTFCCCA Team Academic Award as well in 2014. Most recently, Logan Phillips earned the CCAA Champion Scholar Award for having the highest GPA amongst all CCAA Championship competitors in 2018.   On the women’s side, all five of CSUMB’s top finishes at the CCAA meet have come with Rhines at the helm. Hannah Bell, CSUMB’s Female Athlete of the Year for 2015–16, led the way to the last four. A 3–time NCAA qualifier (twice in track, once in cross country), Bell became the first Otter harrier to earn All-CCAA honors. She doubled that effort with a repeat performance at the 2014 CCAA Championship meet, where she placed fourth. Like Garland on the men’s side, Bell earned USTFCCCA All-Academic honors while leading the Otter women to a USTFCCCA Team Academic Award in 2014. Most recently, Brooke Roy earned CCAA Freshman of the Year recognition in 2018.   With Bell again the leading the way, the Otter track program made a splash in its debutante season. Bell not only earned All-CCAA recognition in the 1500 as a junior, she also qualified for the the NCAA Division II National Championship Meet in the event in her first two track seasons. In 2019, Nia Howard (Javelin) and Roy (Steeplechase) joined Bell as Otters earning All–CCAA accolades in track and field   More than just enjoying athletic success, the Otters have achieved highly in the classroom as well under Rhines. Since 2011, the women’s cross country team has twice had the highest cumulative GPA of all teams at CSUMB. The men’s team has won this honor two times as well. Haley Tharpe earned the CSUMB Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2012, leading more than 100 cross country/track All-CCAA Academic Award winner in the past five seasons.       

An Otter student-athlete for the cross country program from 2011-16, Jacob Bermel joined Head Coach Greg Rhines' staff in the 2017-18 academic year. Under his and Coach Rhines tutelage, the Otters have rewritten the program record books for both track and cross country. In his time with the program, the Otters men's cross country program has been ranked as high as 21st in the western region, while the women's program has made it as high as 13th. Bermel had a hand in coaching 2018 CCAA Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Year Brooke Roy, who placed 22nd out of 122 runners at her first CCAA Cross Country Championship meet. The programs have also seen great academic success in Bermel's presence, with 48 CCAA All-Academic team members.  Bermel competed in 13 cross country races in his time as a student-athlete with CSUMB.