finished with a 12th place effort with Swanson and Mikesell following in 37th and 39th respectively.younger teammates on Saturday.
From the gun McVannel and top frosh recruit Olivia Guadiana (Ventura HS) joined the lead pack as the course circled the large field area and eventually out and into the hilly section of the course. Brittany Balcom (Ramona HS) followed somewhat closely, running among the top 15-20 overall throughout. Hayley Swanson (Granada HS-Livermore) and Sara Mikesell (Brett Harte HS) also ran among the top third of the field. 114 Runners Finished the Open 5k
Women's Seeded 5K:
In the pre-race meeting the evening before the race the women were made aware that Cal Poly SLO would in all likelihood provide the most competition for the title on Saturday morning. Given that the 'Cats had left two time All American Tori Tyler at home to rest an ailing shin, they would have to rely on the depth of the squad to match up with the formidable DI opponent.
The women did a wonderful job of executing, with Kara Lubieniecki and Alia Gray putting themselves among the top 10-15 early while a solid pack of 'Cats followed among the top quarter of the field. As the race sorted out, it became evident that it was indeed going to be a battle between the 'Cats and the Mustangs for the title. SLO's true frosh Kayleigh Tyerman (4:29-1500m HS PR! From Crater, OR) looked great, running among the top 3-5 throughout. Kara Lubieniecki (the 'Cats #1) followed, running between packs for much of the race. Alia Gray ran behind SLO's 2-3 runners at 2 miles, but put both of them behind her by the finish line. Slo's #3 Bridie McCarey and #4 Noelle Garcia finished just seconds ahead of the 'Cats #3 Shannon Rich who enjoyed her best cross country race to date on Saturday. With their #1 finishing 5 places up on our top runner and 4th runner beating our #3 to the line, the odds were stacked against the 'Cat for the win today. Senior Julie Shaw crossed the line 21st overall and teammate Jonah Weeks 27th place effort made the 'Cats the first team to put their scoring 5 across the line. Unfortunately SLO's #5 Brianna Morris was only 2 places behind Weeks, which sealed the deal for the Mustangs. The Wildcats depth of women this year is well beyond any year previous and it showed on Saturday as Samantha Racine, Alyssa Flores and Amy Schnittger all crossed the line before SLO's #6 hit the finish.
Overall it was a nice effort for the Chico State women's team who had fought hard to earn a top finish. The 'Cats 84 point total was only 10 behind SLO's and well ahead of the 121 points that third place San Marcos totaled.
Enjoying their best cross country races ever in my estimation were Sophomore Shannon Rich who nearly Pr'd for the 5k distance (including her track PR) and Alyssa Flores who did PR for the 5k distance! RS Frosh Megan Myer also was impressive with her 19:04-51st place effort.
Men's 8K:
From studying the list of teams entered and knowing that Cal Poly SLO had left several of their top 7 runners at home for the weekend it was apparent that the 'Cats would be heavy favorites to take home the title on Saturday. Top runners were instructed to run conservatively early in the race, running something close to tempo effort for the initial 2-3 miles before really racing.
Having watched the race unfold myself I can say that this tactic was indeed employed, and it was done quite effectively. While many athletes attacked the early sections of the deceivingly challenging layout with a bit too much zeal, the 'Cats sat among the top quarter of the field, waiting for their time to move forward. No one moved forward more over the final 2 miles than teammates Jimmy Elam and Beau Gradone-Rogers. Between the third and fourth miles Elam appeared to have passed nearly 20 runners and he was now running in third overall just a few strides behind Southwestern's Dahir Mohamed. Following Jimmy from behind but never
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