Paige Henker runs with the big girls to lead Cat's B Team Men's skeleton crew manages a distant fourth at Golden Gate Park

By Gary Towne, Chico State head coach Friday, October 9, 2009

Paige Henker leading Santa Cruz’ standout McKayla Murphy at mid race.

San Francisco, CA -- On Friday October 9 the Chico State Wildcat harriers fielded teams at the annual San Francisco State Invitational. Given that many of the top runners from each squad had raced in both of the previous weekends' meets (Stanford-10, Willamette-Everyone) it was decided that all of those who ran the Stanford meet several weeks ago would rest this week, while allowing a different group of athletes the opportunity to score for the team. In the past a similar tactic has been employed at the SF meet, which has been a very motivational forum for developing athletes who at times can feel buried in the 'Cats deep line-ups. Given that SF State will be hosting this year's Regional championships on the same layout next month (Nov. 7 to be exact) a number of top teams from the West Region were present, to get a feel for how the course runs. Now on to the recaps and results: Women's 6,000m: The women's field was actually quite full of talented runners. Seattle Pacific had brought their top-2 runners Jessica Pixler (8 time NCAA champ!) and Jane Larson (16:50 5k PR/Muti-Time All American). Fifth ranked (NCAA) Alaska Anchorage brought a stacked women's team south to view the layout that they hope will produce a regional team title next month. Also sending A teams to the line were Western Oregon, Humboldt, SF State,

Stanislaus, Santa Cruz, and DI-San Jose State. While resting 10 women who represented the 'Cats at both the Stanford and Willamette meets the previous two weeks, the 'Cats still managed a strong second place team finish on Friday. I've mentioned in previous notes that this is by far the deepest women's squad that we've had in Chico, and Friday was definite proof of this. Leading the way was the Chico HS duo of Paige Henker and Michelle Johnson who are both RS Frosh on the 'Cats roster. Henker's run on Friday was by far her most amazing performance to date. Running the entire race sandwiched between Santa Cruz' #1 McKayla Murphy (Low 17's for track 5k) and Humboldt's #1 Megan Rolland (10:42-Steeple, 17:33-5k PR's) Paige showed that her 18:32 breakout on the Willamette layout a week ago was indeed a true indication of fitness. On Friday Paige clocked a huge 6k pr of 22:32 which was an amazing 2:40 faster than she's clocked on the same layout a year ago! HS and current Wildcat teammate Michelle Johnson shared a strong performance as well, while finishing 17th overall just two seconds behind Western Oregon's #1 Janelle Everetts. Jessica Nelson, Julie Platero and Brooke Bergesen all finished among the Top-31, helping to ensure the solid team finish. Men's 8,000m: I wish that our men's results would have reflected the same depth that our women are enjoying, but a few injuries and illnesses left us with a Spartan crew on Friday. The Chico men started with 6 runners, but RS Frosh Adrian Sherrod who's had the flu this week dropped out after a lackluster initial 2 miles. With 5 now on the course, I knew our chances weren't great when teammate Donald Truesdell looked as though he wanted to drop out around the half-way point as well. Thankfully Truesdell stuck with the race and helped his teammates at least enjoy a team placing. Leading the 'Cats from the front the entire race was Alex Sharpe a senior from South Lake Tahoe, CA. "Tahoe-Alex" as the team refers to him as, enjoyed a solid outing from start to finish running among the lead pack, and hanging on a bit down the stretch for an eventual 12th place finish. Red Shirting frosh Isaac Chavez also looked quite good today as he enjoyed his best 8k performance to date. Chavez ran among the lead pack early on, and moved from 10th position at the mile mark to an eventual 5th place finishing spot. Kodiak, AK native Miles Dunbar who races with a lot of passion each time out, hammered the entire race to an eventual 21st place finish (26:22) and teammate Julio Jimenez enjoyed his best outing of the year as well in finishing 25th. Josh Linen who's missed almost all of our fall workouts due to a frustrating injury ran hard but had little gas in the tank for the challenging 8k layout that he was up against. The 14:45-5k guy held on for a 26:50 finish (38th overall) and Donald Truesdell closed out the scoring with his 58th place effort. Admittedly not a great day for this group of guys, given their potential, but then

again there was little room for error given the small # of finishers for the Wildcat men today. Closing Notes: With most of our top athletes making the trip down to SF to do some tempo work on the course (while also cheering on their teammates), we feel as though the Regional preview was a success. As mentioned earlier, the race itself was a great opportunity for younger developing athletes to score for the team while also seeing how they stack up against some of the region's best. The women's Top-7 even enjoyed free Adidas spike bags due to their second place team effort! Alaska Anchorage's women appear to be a definite threat for Chico's regional title hopes. The Seawolves ran well from the front, taking 3,4,5,6, and 7th place finish spots overall. Mark your calendars now for the showdown to come on November 7 in Golden Gate Park! Next up for the 'Cats will be the CCAA Championships which are to be hosted by Humboldt State on October 24. Two weeks later the 'Cats will toe the line in SF again in an attempt to defend their regional titles and hopefully qualify for the NCAA's to be held in Indiana. Stay tuned and thanks for the continued support!

Alex Sharp among the leaders at 1400m

Jessica Nelson turning the final corner to the finish.

Miles Dunbar (57) putting the hurt on the pack, teammate Adrian Sherrod (63) runs to his left.