the most recent DII NCAA Championships for the 5,000m event (16:50ish PR) battled Theisen step for step as the two ran well clear of the remaining field. Chico's Katie Spencer who'd been dealing with a nagging hip problem for much of the previous three weeks didn't appear to be favoring the injury as she worked her way into the Top-5-6 by the mile mark. Also moving well through the field was fellow RS frosh Shannon Rich who has steadily improved as the season has progressed. Jessica Nelson also looked quite strong running inside of the top 15-20 early on.
Friday's course was a sneak preview of the layout that SF State plans to use for next year's NCAA West Regional race. The layout was very spectator friendly and offered a great layout for the athletes to test themselves against a variety of terrain and obstacles. One of those obstacles on Friday was the prevailing winds that had swept over the Northern California area. Each time the athletes started the long downhill stretch along JFK drive the winds would press against them, minimizing the benefits of the usually quick portion of the course.
As the Chico women headed out for their final 2k loop the battle for the team supremacy seemed to be quite close. St Thomas had athletes running in first and third but their fifth was some distance behind. San Jose State had started Very fast and in a huge group, but the middle miles had taken their toll, and now Chico appeared to be breaking up their pack nicely. With about a mile remaining Katie Spencer ran in 5th overall, with Shannon Rich just behind in 6th. Jessica Nelson had also moved into the Top-10 and #4 runner Jamie Humphreys was some distance back but had definitely moved up through the middle miles of the course. With two San Jose State runners working together 15 meters ahead of Humphreys she was encouraged by yours truly to take a shot at beating the two SJ State athletes. Having not been in a scoring position for a team since HS Jamie appeared to be excited for the chance to help the team win. Running about 10-15 places back was the 'Cats fifth and all-important final scorer RS Frosh Jessica Brieno. Jessica, running neck and neck with St Thomas' #5 was doing all she could to help the team effort as well.
As the athletes made the final turn to the 150m stretch to the finish Theisen had won the battle with Bretan for the individual honors. Finishing third was St Thomas' #2 which would make defeating the Minnesota crew quite difficult given the combined 4 points between their top 2 runners. Chico's Katie Spencer rounded the final turn and hit the jets as she blew by USF's Sophia Ditty. Teammate Shannon Rich also finished well finishing only two ticks of the clock behind Ditty in 6th overall. Only four spots behind Rich was Jessica Nelson who has to be considered the best 11th runner in DII this year!!! San Jose State #1 barely squeaked by Nelson at the line but the 'Cats seemed to have the edge over the Spartans given the low scores posted by Spencer/Rich and Nelson. St Thomas' 3-4 finished in the two places behind Nelson, which almost secured victory for the well traveled team. The next 'Cat to round the corner was Jamie Humphreys and yes running behind her were both of the SJ State women who she'd set her sights on in that last mile. Brieno closed the scoring with her 28th place finish while enjoying her best run of the season. Alyssa Flores, Brooke Bergesen, Ondi Foster and Lauren Harvey all finished among the top-50 overall giving the 'Cats much to be proud of on this day.
Given their strong front running St Thomas did indeed collect the win in the team competition. Chico did however finish second beating a talent rich San Jose State team as well as a host of other scoring squads.
Men's 8k:
The Chico State men's group would have it's hands full with the Kenyan led San Francisco Academy of the Arts team which just came into existence this fall. The Arts took 10th at the Stanford Invit and are led by standout Edward Kibet Taragon who finished 14th overall at the Stanford Invitational. With our top guys resting this weekend in San Francisco it would be a test for the competing Chico crew to match up with the firepower of the Arts program up front. Our best hope would be to capitalize on their lack of depth and to put our 7 in front of their fifth and hope the result would give us our third Gator Invit title in three years.
From the start the Arts team took control of the race with Five Kenyan athletes running among the Top 6 at the 1/2 mile mark on the polo field. At the mile Taragon
|
