Dear Wildcat Harrier Fans, Through the years the men’s and women’s cross country teams at Chico have found a way to match one another with solid performances. In 2003 both squads finished the season 5th at the NCAA Championships. 2003, ’04, ’& ‘05 all brought team titles for both squads at the popular Willamette Invitational. In 2005 both squads dominated the Irvine invitational to open the season, then each team finished 2nd in the Invitational races at the Stanford Invit (both behind host Stanford). The parallels between the two squads are great, and Saturday brought another chapter to this book of success as each team captured team titles at the Chico Invitational, both scoring near perfect 16 points. With the regional championships to be hosted by the Wildcats (for the first time in the history of the program), several squads from the west region were interested in checking out the layout of the newly designed and constructed Oroville North Forebay XC course. Participating teams were Humboldt State, Stanislaus, S.F. State, and the host Chico. Seattle Pacific sent 4 of their top athletes down to check out the layout, but because they lacked the fifth and final scorer they weren’t included in the team scoring. Men’s 6.03 mile: The men’s course was a 4 loop 1.5 mile circuit that toured a good portion of the north forebay aquatic area. With one pretty substantial climb per loop, the course was very challenging and required good fitness, toughness, and energy management. Because the ‘Cats have a high powered race scheduled next weekend (Sundodger Invit-Seattle, WA) top runners from the team were instructed to keep the pace modest in the early-going so as to not tire their legs too much for the coming weeks, and the long season ahead (especially since the course was nearly 10k in length). The plan worked well as Scott Bauhs, Charlie Serrano, Antonio Miramontes and Beau Bettinger cruised the early loops, while towing a few top runners from Humboldt, Stanislaus and SF State. Also enjoying the view from the front was surprise RS Frosh T homas Whitcomb who came to Chico last year from San Pasqual HS in San Diego. Whitcomb, not a household name in SD running circles, had done his homework this summer and today was the day to put these miles to the test. Just off this group was a host of other ‘Cats including Tim Tollefson and Angel Marquez who looked strong and ready to roll up some of the opposition over the final loops. Somwhere over the final circuit Senior Antonio Miramontes decided that he’d spent enough time “cruising” as he switched gears and made a drive to the line. Serrano, Bauhs, and Bettinger covered the move initially, which in turn dropped the remaining chasers from other squads, including Josh Babiak a returning All American from SF State. The new Oroville layout offers many spectacular views as the athletes snake up and down the hillside that dumps into the forebay, but no view matches one of 7 Chico uniforms flying down the hillside toward the finish with only 2 opponents mixed within the group. In what was a very fitting win, perhaps the most modest and hardest working individual on the team Antonio Miramontes would take the win today. Bauhs, Serrano and Bettinger followed each finishing within a second of one another (Bauhs wearing training shoes). Junior Tim Tollefson, another great story of hard work and self made success, took the 6th spot behind Babiak (SF State) ending the ‘Cats scoring before Humboldt or Stanislaus’ top runners had finished. Thomas Whitcomb would finish just 2 seconds behind Humboldt #1 Jimmy Elam in 8th and Angel Marquez would take 9th. Also enjoying very solid efforts were Nick Clinton (12th) and true frosh red shirt Julio Jimenez. All toll Wildcat harriers (red shirting frosh included) took 20 of the top 28 places in the field. A very good start to the season for the #3 ranked (NCAA) ‘Cats! Women’s 3.9 mile: The women’s 3 loop course shared most of the same terrain as the men’s, minus a flat ¼ mile stretch that the men took through the picnic area. The 6k+ layout would definitely challenge everyone racing with it’s tough hills and somewhat loose footing. With only 1 woman competing today from the 7 that placed 4th in the NCAA championships last Fall, there was a lot of anticipation as to how this new group of ‘Cats would fare. All of these questions were answered within the first 15 minutes of the race as the Wildcats took control of the race on the opening circuit and never let go. Senior Mary Torres who red shirted last fall after giving birth to son Michael (at 14 months he’s our youngest Wildcat) showed no signs of rust from the layoff. Torres pulled teammates Sarah Montes, and Lindsey Nelson away from the field and the three ran solo for the final 2 laps. Perhaps the biggest and most pleasant surprise of the day was the performance of Dinora Moran. Moran transferred from El Camino JC in ’05 and was the ‘Cats #12 runner on a deep and talented squad. Today she ran the opening kilometers with a trio of Seattle Pacific runners and Stanislaus’ Erin Frier. Two of the SPU runners had ended their track seasons at the NCAA meet, while Frier was coming off a convincing win at the Stanislaus Invit the week before. Moran was in good company but she seemed very confident with her placement in the field, and proved this with a strong surge away from these women over the final circuit. Much the same as the men had only minutes before, the women charged down the final hill occupying the top 4 spots. Torres hit the tape 10 seconds ahead of Montez and 15 seconds ahead of Nelson. Moran finished her finest XC race to date 4th and only 38 seconds off the pace. Another great story was the 9th place finish of Aisha Kamala who a year ago would have been hard pressed to finish among the top 15-20 ‘Cats. After a summer of great training with teammates in Truckee, CA, Kamala busted out in a big way while serving as the final scorer for the Wildcats today. Her finish time of 25:16 gave the ‘Cats a solid :50 1-5 gap and secured the victory. Megan Williams (18th) and Kellie Stephens (23rd) closed out the top 7 for the Wildcats. Of the red shirting frosh Ariana Nicewonger (Los Gatos HS alum) was a pleasant surprise w/ her 13th place effort. The ‘Cats return to action next Saturday in Seattle, WA at the Sundodger Invit (Hosted by University of Washington). The Wildcat men have been accepted into the DI race, which will allow our top 7 to compete against top DI teams from the West Coast. We’ll run a second group of men into the “Open” race to compete against top DII, III, and NAIA competition. This will provide our “B” team guys the opportunity to weigh themselves against nationally ranked DII teams like Alaska Anchorage and Western Washington. Watch for the guys to aim for two top placings as the ‘Cats hope to use this as an opportunity to highlight their depth of talent. The women will compete in the “open” field while Julie Shaw (All West Region ’05) and Allison Ivie join the fold. The women will have their hands full w/ #1 NAIA ranked Simon Frasier.