As the race developed, things certainly looked exactly as we’d talked of the evening before in our pre-race meeting. Purple and Maroon uniforms were scattered throughout the top 25, and the team score looked extremely tight throughout. Teammates Isaac Chavez, Anthony Costales, and Johnny Sanchez ran among the top pack which stayed together for the initial 3 miles (covered in a conservative 14:50). Just a few strides back were ‘Cats Joey Kochlacs and Dayne Gradone who looked great, but battled with Portland runners the entire run.
If the race were scored at 3 miles the Pilots would have taken home the crown, with three running among the top-4, but the ‘Cats were well positioned and a shift of only a few seconds could swing the balance of the race. Over the final kilometers the momentum would shift as the ‘Cats five who ran among the top 12 throughout managed to shake Portland’s #5. Meanwhile the ‘Cats 6-7 runners Joseph Rivera and Alfonso Cisneros stormed through the final 2 miles after a conservative start. Rivera and Cisneros’ pass of Portland’s Connor Whan (Portland’s eventual #5) proved to be invaluable, tacking a much needed two points to the Pilots score.
As the leaders hit the track for the 150m tartan finishing stretch, tension was high, as each point was valuable in the chase for the team title. After Northwest Nazarene’s Barak Watson hit the tape first overall the Portland/Chico dual began. Portland’s Matt Frerker had a 2 stride advantage over Chavez with 100m remaining, but Isaac closed extremely hard over the final straight. Hitting the finish and out-leaning his Portland opponent wasn’t enough on this day as the Chip timing system later determined that Frerker’s foot (which held the valuable computer chip) crossed just .02 seconds before Isaac’s…. Back to the race. Chico’s latest Freshman sensation Johnny Sanchez finished a beautifully crafted race with a nice sprint to hold off Portland’s 2,3,4 guys. Sanchez’ margin of victory in this sprint was no more than .21 seconds!!! This race was TIGHT! Teammate Anthony Costales looked as though he’d won the battle for 7th with Portlands’s Cody Wells, but just as Chavez had faced earlier.. the chip had Wells crossing just .02 ahead. The Pilots had won two sprint finishes against us by a combined .04 seconds in a race that would eventually result in a TIE! Portland now had 4 across in the top-7 and the ‘Cats had 3 across in the top-8. Joey Kochlacs and Dayne Gradone scooped up places 10 and 12 with the scrappy Soph from Watsonville (Gradone) stopping the ‘Cats scoring at 24:37. Twenty seconds elapsed on the clock before Portland’s #5 Connor Whan would hit the tape.. and in that time ‘Cats #6-7 runners-Rivera and Cisneros had crossed the line. Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, not enough numbers from other teams had taken up those 20 seconds between each team’s #5, which gave the Pilots some hope in the tight battle for the team title.
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