It all started on the campus of Cal State Bakersfield in 2002.  Two scrappy Chico State cross country squads 
each ran solid races to unseat the UC Davis squads who had enjoyed many years at the top of the CCAA heap.  
Since this great day the Wildcats have won 7 of the 8 CCAA championship races run, with the only loss coming 
in 2005 when UCSD upset the Chico women.  On Saturday while racing in the wooded area behind the UCSD campus, 
the Wildcats picked up two more conference titles (8 and 9) while starting their push into the 2006 post season.     
 
 
Women’s 6k:
We’ll start with the most exciting race first since the women’s race held much drama during the 6,000m of racing. 
Coming off a stinging upset at the hands of the UCSD squad at last year’s CCAA championships the Chico ladies 
were determined to bring the title back to Chico this fall.  The only problem with this scenario is that many of 
the women from last year’s squad that would go on to win the regional title, and an eventual 4th place NCAA finish,
have graduated, leaving a fairly inexperienced group to fend for this year’s title.  UCSD returned a good number 
of top runners from the ’05 squad, and Cal State LA would also be a major factor in this year’s race.  Two weeks 
ago CSLA and UCSD locked horns on the UCSD course, and the host school won by just a point.  Any of three teams c
ould win the CCAA title this year, and the eventual winner would probably be the team that could handle the 
pressure of championship racing, along with the difficulty of the very undulating terrain that is the UCSD course.
  
 
From the gun the Cal State LA squad showed that they were serious about taking their shot at the CCAA title.  
As runners flew through the mile mark CSLA’s top 5 all ran among the top 10 overall.  Karla Alburez a pre race 
favorite and high placer at many meets this season, led the charge.  Just off her heels tucked into the lead pack 
nicely were Mary Torres and Sarah Montez who each looked very comfortable despite the 5:20’s first mile split.  
From the mile mark it appeared that CSLA was definitely in control of the race, with Chico and UCSD running fairly
 even.  As the leaders made their way back towards the two mile marker Alburez had pulled Torres and Montez clear 
of the chase pack as the three battled for top spots. LA’s  2,3,4,5 runners still all ran among the top 10 but the 
Chico women had made some moves to close the gap between themselves and LA, and had moved ahead of  the host 
school. Lindsay Nelson a Chico native was moving well and now ran among the top 10 overall and  Julie Shaw also 
looked very composed as she ran past the 2 mile marker in about 15th place.  Aisha Kamala who’s been the ‘Cats #5 
for much of the season ran strong as well, perhaps just a few places outside of the top 20.  Also having a very 
impressive and well calculated effort was RS Frosh Allison Ivie who looked very strong going through 2 miles 
inside the top 30.   
 
After passing through the 2 mile marker runners dropped down a long hill to the lowest point on the course and 
from there they looped back and climbed up a very difficult series of hills that brought them back to the main 
trail.  This small .75 mile loop proved to be the deciding factor in the race.  The Wildcats went into the loop
 running strong, but still quite a few points behind the LA squad, and came out of it, almost dead even with 
their So Cal counterparts. Mary Torres appeared first as the runners finished the final climb of the difficult 
outer loop.  Just behind was Alburez, with Montez matching her strides.  Nelson had moved up into the 6th spot 
battling with UCSD’s top-two Dunn and Miller.   Julie Shaw had also done some great work in the outer area as 
she now ran on the shoulders of CSLA’s 3,4,5 runners who each looked very tired.  Aisha Kamala who’s been dealing 
with some anemia this season answered any questions to her health as she looked very strong peaking the final 
climb, as did Allison Ivie who’d also picked up 5-6 places in less than a mile of running.   Also running inside 
the top third of the field was Megan Williams the ‘Cats #7.  
 
Over the final mile more places were taken by the ‘Cats including an all-important break by Montez to get away 
from Alburez.  As the leaders entered the track stadium for the finish stretch, Wildcat fans were happy to see 
Torres and Montez running alone well ahead of the third place runner Alburez.  Torres would cross the line first, 
just one second in front of Montez. With the win Mary became the second CSUC woman to win the coference title, 
joining former teammate Jen James on this short list.  Cresting the final hill to the track stadium Lindsay Nelson
was still locked in a battle with the UCSD pair, Dunn and Miller.  Nelson broke free from Miller, but couldn’t 
quite out-kick Dunn who is an NCAA 1500m finalist.  Julie Shaw hit the track at a great pace as well, catching 
and passing a pair of CSLA runners in the final meters of the race.  Finishing 17th and 20th were Aisha Kamala 
and Allison Ivie who each enjoyed solid outings.  
 
With five CSLA runners having finished well before the Wildcat’s fifth, there were anxious moments while everyone 
awaited the final announcement of the score. Thankfully the late-race displacement of the 2,3,4,5 CSLA runners 
had given the Lady ‘Cats their fourth title in five years.  The final tally had Chico winning with 34 points, to 
CSLA’s 46 and UCSD’s 63. 
 
It should be noted that UCSD ran without All American Emily McGregor on Saturday.  With her in their line-up the 
scores would have been even tighter between the top 3.  Seattle Pacific dominated the GNAC conference this weekend,
which will create a very interesting showdown in Oroville on November 4th when Chico hosts the West Region 
Championships. 

Alumni Update: Before I start on the Men’s race I want to update everyone on the progress made by Katie Lee who 
was a part of last year’s women’s cross country squad.  This weekend Katie ran the Chicago Marathon and narrowly 
missed the Olympic Trials standard of 2:47.00.  Katie’s 2:47:46  was a huge PR and is an average of around 6:24 
per mile.  Congrats to Katie and good luck as she shoots for that Olympic Trials standard in the coming months!!!   

Men’s 8k.  

The week before CCAA’s it was decided that Scott Bauhs would sit the CCAA meet out while allowing a Plantar 
Fascia problem to hopefully subside a bit.  With the deepest team perhaps in all of DII, the resting of Bauhs 
would most likely not affect the team outcome.  Unfortunately in the two weeks between the San Francisco Invit 
and CCAA’s several ‘Cats picked up injuries and/or sickness, which created a much more “watered down” line-up 
on Saturday.  Normal #4-5 runner Beau Bettinger came down with an Achilles problem after our course run-through 
on Thursday.  Sophomore Angel Marquez had run only 4-5 days in the previous two weeks due to a sore muscle near 
his tibia.  Add a sick Rory Kuykendall, and Nick Clinton, and you have a line-up that wasn’t near as strong as 
it would appear on paper.  Thankfully, those who were healthy on Saturday performed well and the men were able 
to take home their fifth straight win .  
 
The men’s race started somewhat slowly from the front.  With strict instructions Not to lead before the half-way 
point, the top Chico guys bided their time in the pack allowing others to create the pace. Other teams’ runners 
seemed hesitant to press the pace in the early stages as well.  Soon after the large pack passed the two mile 
marker, Charlie Serrano and Antonio Miramontes assumed the lead and the race for the title began.  The two 
separated from the field and quickly built a 30-40m lead.    Near the halfway point Rory Kuykendall (7th in CCAA 
in ’05) became another Chico casualty as he pulled off the course with sickness.  Kyle Ivie was now running among 
the top 10 overall and was moving up nicely.  Also looking strong were Tim Tollefson and Michael Wickman.  As the 
race developed Serrano and Miramontes continued to press and separate, while Ivie made a late move to pass SF 
State’s Josh Babiak to move into third overall.  As the leaders entered the track stadium for their 300m finish 
stretch on the oval Serrano enjoyed his first CCAA title. Teammate and summer training partner Antonio Miramontes 
looked strong finishing, as did Kyle Ivie, who’s third place run gave the ‘Cats their second 1-2-3 finish in a row.  
Michael Wickman a RS frosh who earned two All CCAA finishes in the 800 and 1500m events on the same UCSD track 
last spring, ran a very quick final 300m, passing several runners while also catching teammate Tim Tollefson at 
the line.  The ‘Cats scoring was now complete having placed 5 inside the top 9 overall. Bettinger who had placed 
no worse than 6th in his three previous CCAA races, struggled home in 13th today having to deal with the Achilles 
inflammation. With several runners finishing well back in the pack, injuries and sickness had definitely taken 
their toll on the ‘Cats, but thankfully the team depth proved enough to gain another CCAA victory.