Chico State women medal, while men take 6th in very competitive fields Montez, Silva and Scanlon come home All-Americans

Midrace finds Wildcat's Aisha Kamala CCAA rivals. Kamala ends an amazing season one place (and less than one second) from being an All-American. UCSD's Diane Dunn (425 - above far left) claimed the last spot.

By Gary Towne, Chico State head coach Saturday November 17, 2007 Joplin, Missouri -- Having just returned from the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships in Joplin, Missiouri I’m proud to announce that the Chico State Men’s and Women’s squads performed superbly once again on the national stage. The Chico women rolled to a fourth place finish, while the guys kept their 9 year streak of Top-9 finishes alive with their 6th place effort. The Wildcat Ladies were perhaps the biggest surprise of the women’s field, as no one (outside of Chico) figured them to be a threat for a Top-4 finish. Thankfully the Chico women believed in themselves and each other, and despite taking only third in the West Regionals several weeks before, the ‘Cats ran a mature and controlled race that landed them just a few points shy of a second place finish. We’ll start with the women’s race, which was run first. After running what we felt were strong races at the CCAA and West Region championships, only to take second and third place as a team, it was nice to have something to show us and the rest of the nation that these results were the product of Really good competition and not “bad days” by the Wildcat distance women. Evidence of the quality of competition in the West Region was delivered in the form of 3 teams from the West finishing among the Top-5 on Saturday.

As usual the early pace of the women’s race was fast and furious as the pack chased Kenyan Winrose Karunde of Abilene Christian. The goal of the Chico women would be to establish themselves a bit behind where they’d like to end up in the field, and spend the race moving into these hopeful positions. For Senior Sarah Montez who’s previous best finish at the NCAA meet was 45th, the goal was to finish among the Top-15 overall. Finishing among this elite group earns athletes special recognition at the post race banquet. Only two women from Chico had accomplished this goal in the history of the program. Jill Symons in 1979 (14th), and Katie Lee in 2005 (15th). Running through the mile in roughly 30th overall, Sarah was set up well for the tough racing ahead. The remaining Chico runners were also placed well among the field. Aisha Kamala ran among the top 50 overall, with Lindsay Nelson and Kayla Silva not far behind. By two miles the Chico women had collectively moved ahead in the field nicely, each passing 10+ runners. Sarah now ran in the low 20’s overall and Kamala looked strong in around 40th place. Lindsay Nelson didn’t appear to be having her best run, but was still moving through the field one runner at a time. The third mile provided the biggest swing toward the Wildcat’s eventual success and this was largely due to the huge move of Kayla Silva who seemed to come out of nowhere and was now running inside the Top-40 overall with teammate Kamala. Although she wasn’t having her best day, frosh Kara Lubieniecki performed wonderfully on Saturday keeping the pace at about 6 minutes per mile throughout, as she represented the fifth and all-important final scoring spot for the squad. With 600m remaining Sarah Montez ran in 15th overall, but was quickly passed by Janee Jones the regional champ from the South. Thankfully Sarah found a similar gear that she’d used to win a CCAA title over 1500m last Spring and she passed Jones back once they hit the final 100m finish stretch on the track. Not far behind was first year XC runner Kayla Silva. Having a substantial background on the track surface Silva wasted no time once hitting the tartan surface. The best way to describe Silva’s finish is to say that she hit the track outside the Top-40 and within 100m finished 35th. This final kick was crucial, as Silva became one of the final All Americans with this final burst. Dianne Dunn, second at the CCAA meet several weeks ago, finished next, taking the final All American spot much to the dismay of Wildcat Aisha Kamala who finished next (37th). Kamala couldn’t be too disappointed given that she’d finished 133rd in last year’s NCAA race and is perhaps the biggest improvement story for the ‘Cats in some time. Speaking of improvements, Lindsay Nelson cut 12 spots off her ’06 finish with her 46th place effort on Saturday. True frosh Kara Lubieniecki hit the tape 81st overall which made her the best #5 runner for the ‘Cats at the NCAA’s. Respectable finishes were also had by Dinora Moran and Allison Ivie who finished 103rd and 107th.   Having seen quite a few NCAA races now I was sure that our team had placed well within the top 10 overall, but didn’t think the Top-5 was much of a possibility given the teams competing and our ranking going in. As the announcer listed the results starting with 24th place and working his way slowly toward the top five, the Chico women were very nervous with each place inside the Top-10. Knowing the Top-4 teams earn the giant team trophies, everyone’s breath was held when they read the fifth place team was……. Cal State Los Angeles……. You’d have thought that there were a huge group cheering for CSLA but it was the Chico team and family members barely able to comprehend that our women had indeed finished among the Top-4. Of course Chico was listed next, only 2 points ahead of CSLA (Whew!) but surprisingly close to both Grand Valley and Seattle Pacific who’d placed 2nd and 3rd overall. A quick glance at the results told the story. After Adams States’ winning 63 point run, teams 2-6 all finished within 13 points of one another! Six points less and the Chico women finish 2nd in the nation, yet three points more and we’re no longer holding the team trophy. What an exciting finish to a great season for this women’s team.

Men’s 10k: Having just witnessed such an emotional ending to the women’s race, the focus quickly turned to the challenge that lie ahead for a very young men’s squad. With only 1 athlete returning from last year’s NCAA squad (Tim Tollefson-75th) and six “newbies” the ‘Cats would have their work cut out for them today. Temperatures had also climbed somewhat dramatically considering the 40’s-50 degree temps of the days leading up to the race. At race-time temps seemed to be around 75 degrees, which felt warmer than it should have. In any event, the rising temps didn’t seem to slow the early pace as a pack formed mostly of Kenyan runners cruised through the mile in 4:30 with a steady stream of athletes soon to follow. The Chico men placed themselves well among the 185 runner field with everyone comfortably inside of the upper ½ of the race. Tim Tollefson led the ‘Cats at this point running near 30th overall at the mile. Jordan Page was the ‘Cats sixth to hit the mile (4:52) looking comfortable and full of run. By the third mile it became apparent that a few of the Chico men weren’t feeling too hot. Soph. Michael Wickman showed the pain that heat, and a quick early pace can produce when introduced to one another. He was holding on, but not looking real well in doing so. Also appearing to be suffering was Frosh Manny Mejia who was still running inside the ‘Cats scoring five. With one full loop of the circuit representing the initial 5k and first half of the course, the Chico men appeared to be on the ropes a bit as they approached the second lap. Tollefson began to slide in the fourth mile, losing a few spots, but RS Frosh Brendan Scanlon appeared to be having an amazing run. Looking very controlled yet running among some bigger names in the field Scanlon soon found himself alongside teammate Tollefson. Continuing this forward momentum Brendan soon found himself inside the Top-25 of the field. Also moving up nicely was Angel Marquez and Jordan Page who were both running steady strong races in the upper third of the field. With 600m remaining it was very exciting to see Scanlon still rolling among the top group. Although he’d lose a kick on the track to Harding’s James Cheruiyot, Brendan would cross the finish 20th overall and just ahead of several notable’s from other teams. Paul Jellema of Southern Indiana (14:teens/29:30’s 5k/10k Pr’s) would hit the tape next, followed by Adams’ Ryan McNiff a member of last Fall’s USA Junior XC team. Without a doubt Scanlon was in good company at the finish. The Chico men packed 2,3,4, 5 runners in fairly quickly at 47th, 48th, 54th, and 62nd ensuring another solid team placing. Knowing that it would have taken somewhat of a miracle to crack into the Top-4 given the talent of the Abilene, Adams, Western and Grand Valley teams this year, the Wildcat fans were definitely pleased to hear the 6th place finish announced over the loudspeaker soon after the conclusion of the race.

Brendan Scanlon picks a good time to have his best race of the season running a very strong second half of the race to end up the Wildcat's top runner in the men's race, and an All-American to boot!

Midrace finds Manny Mejia (39) keeping pace with teammate Angel Marquez (38). Marquez ended up the third and Mejia the fifth scorer on the Chico State's 6th place team.

Smiles all around as the Chico State women pull off the upset, in beating Cal State LA at nationals after losing to them at conference and regionals.

The Wildcat women, all decked out, accept their hard earned trophy. It's what you have to do to get coach Towne in a tie.