Wildcats cap season with two fifth place finishes at Nationals Chavez, Handa claim top ten finishes, Lubieniecki, Rich also All-Americans

By Gary Towne, Chico State head coach Saturday, December 4, 2010

Men’s lead pack at 4.5 miles. Handa (#349) is running next to West Region Champ Marko Chesetto (#300), while teammate Isaac Chavez follows several meters behind. Eventual winner Michael Crouch (#486) is sharing the leading duties with Jeff Veiga (#468) who took third.

Highlights for the Wildcats at the 2010 NCAA Meet: * Two men in the top 10 overall, including a Freshman in the Top-5!!!! * Both teams finished as the top West Region teams at the NCAA race * Both teams earned another team berth for the region for next year’s NCAA meet (by finishing among the top-8 schools). * Senior Kara Lubieniecki tied Tori Tyler for the 4th best finish by a female ‘Cat at the NCAA meet (16th place overall) * Senior Colleen Joyce became our women’s team’s best 5th runner ever at this meet while placing 54th overall (previous best 5th runner was 75th) * Four ‘Cats earned All American Honors (Kara Lubieniecki, Shannon Rich, Isaac Chavez and Brent Handa). * The women’s team score (162) was the programs second lowest ever just 2 points off the 2005 Chico team that finished 4th overall.

LOUISVILLE, KY -- It was a snowy day in Kentucky on Saturday, but the Chico State Harriers put the weather aside and enjoyed twin fifth place NCAA finishes on the slippery surfaces of Tom Sawyer Park. For those close to the program, Saturday’s events were eerily similar to those of the 2002 championships held in Ashland, Ohio. In that year, competing athletes and coaches awoke on race morning to 4 inches of fresh snow on the ground, which created a course that was completely different than the grassy surface that they’d previewed the day before. Kentucky was Deja vu all over again, with the ‘Cats running over a flat grassy layout with a few muddy spots the day before the race, but once again finding 4 inches of the white stuff on the entire layout on race morning. Thankfully both outcomes were positive for the ‘Cats as the ’02 teams surprised the rest of the NCAA by posting two fifth place team finishes. Of course as I’d just mentioned, the ’10 ‘Cats enjoyed the same exact team result for both races as well. There were plenty of other great stories within each race that created quite a day of memories for the Chico State teams..Ok, now on to the races!!!

Brent Handa running in the lead pack nearing the 1/2 way point of the men’s race.

Men’s 10K Championship: In 1997 while at the NCAA Championships, which were held in Kenosha, WI, I learned a valuable lesson while watching West Coast teams struggle on a slippery, snowy race surface. That lesson was that it’s hard to make up ground on the field after a conservative start, in muddy conditions. In 2002 we had the opportunity to put this knowledge to use in Ashland, Ohio, and the outcome was quite favorable for both Wildcat squads as they were the first teams to finish that were NOT from cold weather climates. On Saturday we had the chance to practice this again, and the results were just as favorable. From the gun the Wildcat men put themselves well into the upper portion of the race and then locked into competition mode for the tough 6 miles of racing ahead. Leading the way from the start was RS Frosh Isaac Chavez who put himself among the top 4-5 in the first 400m of racing. Teammate Brent Handa followed several meters behind looking good among the top-20. Joey Kochlacs followed closely and all of the remaining ‘Cats ran well within the first 1/3rd of the field as they ran through the first kilometer of the ten kilometer run.

As the athletes approached at 2k a large lead pack that literally extended without a break for close to 75 runners strong rolled by. Isaac Chavez was tucked in nicely in about 15th position but only 2 seconds off the lead, and probably 3-4 seconds ahead of the 75th runner in the field. Teammate Handa followed 10-15 meters behind Chavez. Yours truly encouraged Handa to move up and work with his teammate ahead, which he did almost immediately (a good sign!). The remaining ‘Cats were in solid positions, with the only exception being Anthony Costales who unfortunately appeared to be having his first rough race of the season. With the course configured as it was, spectators had to wait until the 5k mark (or thereabouts) to see the field again. As the leaders appeared, the Chico fans were very pleased to see the familiar stride of Brent Handa running among a much smaller lead pack (perhaps 10 strong at this point). Two- time defending West Region Champ Marko Chesesetto ran beside the ultra fit Handa as the two were on the heels of eventual race winner Michael Crouch of Queens College. Isaac Chavez, running in his first NCAA championship race appeared controlled as he operated about 4-5 seconds behind the front group. The ‘Cats #3 Joey Kochlacs came by running somewhere in the 40’s overall and didn’t look especially well but was competing hard. Adrian Sherrod and Alan Campos were the next to appear from the Wildcat crew, as each looked solid and were competing in the 60’s-70’s overall. Manny Mejia followed this pair fairly closely and Anthony Costales continued to power on, as he headed out for the final 5k to the finish. My next position was near the 4.5 mile mark and as the athletes ran up the gradual hill that lead to the final loop before the eventual finish, a pack of three had barely split from the main pack. The three (who would eventually finish 1-2-3 overall) was Michael Crouch, Meshack Koyiaki (a Kenyan from Columbus State who was undefeated coming into the weekend) and Jeff Veiga of U Mass Lowell who had won the East Regional with a sizzling 30:00 10k XC time. Another elite pack of 10 athletes had formed that included some big time Pr’s (Several sub 14:00 5k guys) and Handa and Chavez looked relaxed and focused as they competed among this group. The other ‘Cats were holding their positions well as they ran by and on to the final 2k of the race. With the athletes hammering through the toughest 2k of running of their lives, I headed to the finish area and found a spot 3-400m from the actual line. It’s nice to be somewhere that you can be heard, and of course encouragement is needed badly at this spot. The previously mentiond trio who had broken away from the pack earlier appeared first, and would go on to finish in that order. Following fairly close behind were a pair of Adams State runners Brandon Birdsong and Ryan McNiff (McNiff was a Team USA member for World XC when he was a frosh at Adams). The next two athletes to appear were wearing the Chico State uniforms and Western Washington’s Jordan Welling followed just a few meters behind. Handa led the younger Chavez around the corner and to the eventual finish stretch, where the precocious frosh hit the afterburners and eventually caught the Adams pair, successfully splitting them and finishing a remarkable 5th overall!!! Handa closed well, holding off Welling (29:40 10k guy and regional runner-up) and Two Time NCAA Champ Amos Sang of Abilene Christian was next to stop the clock in 9th place. Forty four seconds expired from the clock before the next Wildcat hit the tape, but Joey Kochlacs had rallied well over the final meters to place a solid 44th overall (just behind Daniel Kirwa-28:40ish 10k PR and Jake Parisien who was 17th in this race as a frosh two years ago). Adrian Sherrod and Alan Campos hit the line 70th and 71st overall to stop the ‘Cats scoring and teammate Manny Mejia tacked some points onto many other teams scores with his 77th place finish. Although it wasn’t a great day for Anthony Costales he held on well to place 90th, becoming the team’s best 7th runner at this meet. This year the NCAA put a LOT of really cool resources into the meet that included a giant scoreboard that read unofficial results As individuals were finishing, and minutes after the competition the team scores began to pop up on the screen. The ‘Cats had ended up 5th overall, finishing behind the top 4 ranked teams entering the competition.

Women’s 6k Championship: With their race distance being 4k shorter than the men’s, a quick early start was even more important for the women on this slippery layout. The Chico women did a wonderful job of putting themselves in the mix early, and they quickly went to work from there. At the 2k mark Kara Lubieniecki had tucked herself nicely into a Top-20 position overall and looked confident and determined to make this fast start stick. Also positioned nicely were the ‘Cats 2-6 runners. Shannon Rich, Jonah Weeks and Stephanie Consiglio all ran together just inside the Top-50, with teammates Colleen Joyce and Katie Spencer following closely. The Chico women held their positions beautifully through the middle kilometers with Shannon Rich moving up into the top 40 and Joyce joining Weeks and Consiglio. As Colleen caught this pair the three worked together into the final kilometers of the run. Posted up in the same position (that I was in the men’s race), some 400m from the finish, I started counting athletes as they went by to the eventual finish. If Kara could hold on well and close quickly, she might have a chance for a Top-15 finish and the nice NCAA trophy that is accompanied by such a feat. The 15th athlete ran by about 5-6 seconds ahead of Lubieniecki who was running in a 12-person pack of her own. I had confidence that Kara could out-kick at least most of those around her, but wasn’t sure if she could bring in the 15th place gal. As it turns out, Kara would out pace all of those in her chase pack, but would fall just 2 seconds short of the 15th place spot. Still a huge improvement over her 32nd place 2010 finish and her 3rd All American honor when including her recent Track award last spring. Perhaps the most surprising performance of the day for the ‘Cats was that of Shannon Rich who enjoyed her best XC race of her life on Saturday. The Junior closed very well over the final meters and finished 37th overall to secure her first All American honor. Runners 3-4-5 for the ‘Cats were Stephanie Consiglio (51st), Jonah Weeks (53rd) and Colleen Joyce (54th), whom were separated by a scant 2 seconds! All told the ‘Cats had stopped the clock with a 52 second 1-5 while all 5 appeared to have what can be argued as their best XC races ever! Katie Spencer’s 84th place NCAA debut was a solid outing for the Junior, and put her among the top ½ of the field. The only rough outing of this day for the ‘Cats came in the form of 2 Time All West Region runner Shannon McVannel who had an unexplained 137th place outing.

The Wildcat women were out Fast! At 500m eventual champ Neely Spence (#193) is just in front of the Lady-Cats.

Shannon Rich (69) and Jonah Weeks and Stephanie Consiglio (look closely behind Rich) work together at mid race.

Usually a day with 5 in the top 55 ends with a NCAA trophy presentation, but these days the NCAA is very solid at the upper end and the ‘Cats would have to settle for a fifth place finish, despite just missing their lowest point total ever by 2 points. Coupled with the men’s fifth place finish the women were very pleased with the outcome on Saturday. In closing: I would like to thank everyone who has supported the Chico State Cross Country program, both this season and in the past. We’re very fortunate to have such a great support system and our results are definitely a byproduct of your help. This season has been another wonderful ride and we’ll have the coming holiday season to reflect and be thankful for the amazing fall that we’ve enjoyed. Have a great Holiday Season and we’ll look forward to seeing how these great XC performances will translate into track marks this spring.

The Chico Men surrounded by the “Road Trippers” who had driven to Kentucky to cheer on the ‘Cats

Fifth place Wildcat women post-race..L-R. Kara Lubieniecki, Colleen Joyce, Shannon McVannel, Stephanie Consiglio, Shannon Rich, Jonah Weeks and Katie Spencer.