Chico State runs on familar ground, sweeping the Willamette Invite Wickman outkicks Elam for win, while Lubieniecki leads the women

By Gary Towne, Chico State head coach Saturday, October 3, 2009

Wickman (502) and Elam (491) keeping the pace honest late in the race over Bronco's Sawyer Bosch, Jeff Howard.

SALEM, OREGON -- There is nothing quite like working on a paper or assignment, only to watch it disappear into cyberspace with the click of a mouse or the flash of a computer screen. This is the story behind this week's update as I had worked hard yesterday and had a mostly complete version of this weekend's meet written and stored within my e mail drafts. This morning I opened my email to finish the project, only to watch it disappear before my eyes as I attempted to open the document. In any event I won't let this cyber glitch dampen my spirits toward sharing the weekend's action, but I may have to be a bit more brief than usual given the lack of time I have to work with. OK, on to a great weekend of racing... The Cat's took their flats on the road this week and headed North to Salem, Oregon where they competed in the always-competitive Willamette Invitational. After a ho-hum performance in Palo Alto the week previous it was great to see the squads rebound and run quite well over the swift Willamette layout. Both squads would claim team titles in Salem, and each would showcase the depth of the team. The Willamette Course has remained nearly unchanged through the years, so it's a layout that offers a good indication of current fitness and how we stack up against former 'Cats who have run the same layout in years past.

Men's 8K: Since the men ran first we'll start with them. After a conservative start at Stanford, the men's team did a much better job of placing themselves among the leaders from the gun on Saturday. Through the mile mark (reached in 4:50) Jimmy Elam, Beau Rogers and Michael Wickman looked solid running at the tail end of a large lead pack. Thomas Whitcomb had come to play today running on the heels of the front trio. Alex Sharp followed closely as well, and Alan Campos, Tim Cannon and Joey Kochlacs all hit the mile under the 5 minute mark. From the mile mark it appeared that the 'Cat men would have a good race on their hands with Boise State, the #2 team in the WAC a year ago. The Broncos had five men running among the top 10 in the first mile and with WAC indoor 3k champ Sawyer Bosch leading the way, it looked like this would be a great race for the title. Through the middle miles the lead pack dwindled and by the fourth mile Chico's Wickman and Elam were leading a four man pack with Boise's Bosh and Jeff Howard unwilling to let the Chico pair run away with the 1-2 finish. With the finish stretch being a 200m on the track the final outcome of this race was pretty much sealed when Michael Wickman looked comfortable with the leaders at the 4 mile mark. With 1:49/3:43 PR's to his credit, Wickman dropped a sub 30 final 200m to easily claim the individual title. More surprising though was the impressive wheels displayed by teammate Elam who rallied to outkick Bosch in the final 100m giving Chico a 1-2 finish. Boise State would take 3rd, 4th and 7th places overall, keeping the team chase interesting. Beau Gradone-Rogers rallied over the final 50m to catch and

Team Captain Thomas Whitcomb enjoying his best XC race to date!

pass Boise's #4 Scott Foley. Now the 'Cats would put #'s 4,5,6,7 and 8 across the line before Boise's 5th and final scorer. This depth proved to be too much for the Broncos as the 'Cats would win the team title by 7 points after all was scored. Impressive times and finishes were recorded by a number of 'Cats today. Thomas Whitcomb finished 16th overall with a 24:47 PR, Alan Campos was 17th in 24:50, and Joey Kochlacs and Alex Sharp each dipped under 25 minutes as well respectively. Adrian Sherrod running in his first race of the year stopped the clock in 25:20 and teammate Miles Dunbar ran to a 2 min improvement over his '08 run with a nice 25:23 finish time (38th overall). All in all, this was a very nice run for the Wildcat men, especially on the heels of a rough outing in Palo Alto a week earlier. During a later "Gold Race" that featured NAIA, Club, JC and unnatached athletes, Wildcat Red shirts logged some very impressive finishes as well. Anthony Solis finished 7th overall with a 24:19, and Fullerton transfer Brent Handa PR'd with a swift 24:22 outing. Also cracking the 25 minute mark was true frosh Dayne Gradone who has quite a future ahead of him in the sport.

Women's 5K: The men had Boise State to contend with and the women would have their own test in the form of South Dakota's Augustana College. Augie had beaten the 'Cats while placing 5th at the 2008 NCAA championships, and have picked up some fast recruits from Norway and Sweden since. The #1 goal for the women today was to collectively enjoy a better start than they had at Stanford the week before. In the Stanford race the 'Cats #5 ran in 140th place at the mile mark. Today the women would race much more aggressively from the gun, and the product was one of beauty. After a fast but controlled opening kilometer of racing, the 'Cats took aim at athletes ahead of them, and began moving through the field. Alia Gray, Kara Lubieniecki, Tori Tyler and Julie Shaw had a plan of working together during the first half of today's race. The quartet did just that, settling among the back of the lead pack, biding their time for the later stages of the race. A little under halfway through, Tori became a bit impatient and started to chase race leader Teegan Schoch of The University of Idaho. Boise's Shannon Porter joined Tyler but would eventually fade over the final mile. A half mile out, Schoch had an insurmountable lead but the 'Cats now ran in 2,3,4 overall as Tyler was caught by Lubieniecki, Gray with all fairly well clear of the closest chasers. For those familiar with the Wildcat's past performances at Willamette this trio looked quite similar to Wildcat All Americans Katie Lee, Jen James, and Missy Lendl who once went 1,2,3 at this meet. Schoch would indeed hit the tape first, and the Chico trio would crowd the next three places, finishing with a nice 2 second gap between. Senior Julie Shaw who's still rounding into shape, held on well over the final mile to finish 14th overall in 18:09. Colleen Joyce's 21st place (18:18) represented the final scoring runner for the 'Cats. Given that Joyce had beaten Augustana's #3 to the line, the team battle was over and done well before the South Dakota team's #5 had crossed the line. The most impressive thing about the 'Cats performance today wasn't so much the run at the front as much as the amazing depth displayed. Even with All American Shannon McVannel red shirting (along with all of our true frosh) the Wildcat women managed to put 9 finishers across the line before the second place team's #3! Paige Henker the 'Cats #10 today ran

the women's pack Getting Out!

Senior Julie Shaw putting the hurt on an Augustana runner

20:38 a year ago at Willamette recorded a HUGE PR of 18:32, finishing only a second behind Augie's final scorer. During a later Gold Race that included NAIA, JC , Club and Unnatached runners, red shirting Chico runners Shannon McVannel and Olivia Guadiana recorded times of 17:59 and 18:18, giving the 'Cats 17-Sub 19 minute runs on the same day! A very impressive effort for the Wildcat women! Next up for the 'Cats: Friday October 9 -SF State Invitational 4:00pm-Women's 6k start 4:45pm Men's Start. The 'Cats will rest 10 men and 9 women, but will run their remaining teams.

Willamette Invitational Women's Team Champions!

Willamette Invitational Men's Team Champions!