Cayla Seligman joined the Portland State cross country and track & field coaching staff after competing for the Vikings as a grad transfer from 2019-21. She’ll enter her first year on the coaching staff during the Vikings’ 2021-22 season.
Seligman's first taste of coaching came during the 2021 cross country season, and it was a heck of a first taste as the Vikings took a huge leap forward over the course of the season. For the first time in program history, the Vikings had representation at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. Katie Camarena inserted some Viking green into the national meet after placing fifth at the NCAA West Regional, and finished 70th overall out of 250 of the best runners in the country.
Camarena’s appearance at nationals tied the bow around a season that included the:
- Best men’s team finish at NCAA West Regional (8th)
- Best women’s team finish at NCAA West Regional (11th, tied)
- Best women’s team finish at Big Sky Championships (3rd)
- Best individual finishes for a Viking woman at the Big Sky (3rd), NCAA West Regional (5th) and NCAA D1 National meets (70th, Katie Camarena every time)
- Best individual finish for a Viking man at the Big Sky Championships (14th, tied, by Jordan MacIntosh)
- First Top 10 regional ranking in USTFCCCA West Region (men ranked ninth on Oct. 18)
The Viking men’s eighth-place finish at the NCAA West Regional halved their previous best finish of 16th. Additionally, the Viking women’s third-place finish at conference beat their previous best finish by two spots.
The Viking women’s entire top five finished among the first 30 runners at the Big Sky meet, as depth was a theme throughout the season. The Vikings had never placed more than three runners in the top 30 before the 2021 meet, let alone five. The Vikings accomplished a similar feat at the NCAA West Regional where both teams placed their entire top five among the first 100 finishers. The men nearly placed their entire top five among the first 75 finishers, missing out by only two spots, while the women were one spot away from putting six runners in the top 100 of their race.
The highlight of the 2021 cross country season remained Camarena’s accomplishments, however. A transfer from UC Santa Barbara, Camarena made a quick impact in her time on the Park Blocks, as she would either set or become the Vikings’:
- First national cross country qualifier in Division I program history
- First USTFCCCA All-Region honoree in cross country
- Best individual finish at Big Sky Championships (4th)
- Best individual finish at NCAA West Regional (5th)
- 4k school record (at Viking Rust Buster, Sept. 3)
- 5k school record (at Big Sky Championships, Oct. 29)
- 6k school record (at Santa Clara Bronco Invitational, Oct. 16)
Seligman brought a wealth of racing experience into her new role as a coach. Seligman qualified for the NCAA West Prelims in the 5,000 meters while at Colorado in 2016, the same year she placed fourth in the event at the Pac-12 Outdoor Championships. At Portland State, Seligman led the Vikings with a 16th overall finish at the 2021 Big Sky Cross Country Winter Championships.
Seligman also entered the all-time top 10 at Portland State in the 5k and 10k during the 2021 outdoor season. Seligman moved up to sixth all-time in the 10k while finishing in 35:09.71 at the Hayward Premiere. She then moved up to third all-time in the 5k with her finish in 16:38.83 at the Oregon Relays. Seligman capped her collegiate career by scoring for the Vikings with a seventh-place finish in the 5k, battling over 4,000 feet of elevation and a deep field at the 2021 Big Sky Outdoor Championships.
Off the track, Seligman completed an internship with the student-athlete support services department within Portland State Athletics during fall term 2020. Seligman was also part of the Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Committee at Colorado from 2017-19. She was one of eight out of 500 student-athletes selected to the committee, and received recognition for the ideas and initiatives she offered to the group.
A native of Issaquah, Wash., Seligman completed a Master’s of Science in Education Leadership and Policy from Portland State in June 2021. Seligman graduated from Colorado in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing.
