| Wildcats repeat at conference, Chavez wins men's race The Chico State men & women dominate their races in misty San Diego |
| By Gary Towne, Chico State head coach Saturday October 20, 2012 |
|||
|
San Diego, CA -- It was another banner day for the Chico State Men’s and Women’s cross country teams as each ran their way to CCAA team titles on the challenging UCSD campus course on Saturday. For the men, it was their eleventh straight title, dating back to 2002, and for the women it was their fifth straight title and 9th in the past 11 years. All told Chico State teams have won 20 of the past 22 CCAA championship races. Leading the men was Isaac Chavez who won his first CCAA title after finishing second behind teammates the past two seasons. Chavez becomes the fifth Wildcat to win the individual title in a row. Walk-on athlete Alfonso Cisneros finished 2nd overall winning a remarkable sprint to the finish over Humboldt’s Austin Huff (29:30’s 10k credentials) and a surprising Bruk Aseffa of SF State. The women were led by the 3-4 finish of Ayla Granados (jr) and Sara Mikesell (Jr) who trailed only returning All Americans Bridget Berg (Hum) and Tiffany Dinh (Pomona). With Top-15 earning All CCAA honors in each race, no less than 15 of the 20 competing ‘Cats earned the coveted honor. Now on to the races…
Men’s 8K Championship: With plenty of hilly running in front of them, the men’s pack was content to travel at a descent yet not overly aggressive |
||
| pace in the early going of the men’s race. Most of the ‘Cats line-up worked among the top 10-15 runners through the initial 2 miles of the race. Top runners from other teams that were working among the front of the field included Stanislaus’ senior Dawson Vorderbruegge (3:48-1500m PR), Humboldt’s Austin Huff (29:37-10k PR) and Jantzen Oshier (Foot Locker finalists and 4:00 1600m guy in HS), Pomona’s Ryan Carrell (5th in CCAA past 2 years), and SF State’s surprise runner Bruk Assefa who is an Ethiopian born athlete with modest credentials going into Saturday’s run. With this many studs among the field it was doubtful that the ‘Cats would enjoy another 16 point day as they had the previous two years, but this didn’t deter the Chico men from giving it a good shot.
|
|
|
|
As the field lapped through the challenging back area in the middle miles, the lead pack shed athletes one by one, eventually leaving only Chico’s Isaac Chavez, Aaron Thomas, Alfonso Cisneros, and Adrian Sherrod (Defending CCAA Champ), along with SF State’s Bruk Assefa, Dawson Vorderbruegge, and Humboldt’s Austin Huff. Smaller packs trailed behind and the ‘Cats had the majority of their 10 man roster running in the top 15 spots through the tougher stages of the run.
Knowing his competition well Chavez waited until he hit the track (both races finish w/ a 150m stretch on the track) to show a gear that no one else could match. The 28:49 10k track guy blew around the final bend leaving no question as to who the CCAA’s fastest man is this year. The race for second was a doozy though, as Huff, Assefa and Chico’s Cisneros raced around the turn together. The announcer called Assefa as the initial runner-up, but the camera would pick up Cisneros for 2nd, followed by Assefa (with the same time to the tenth!) and Huff, just a tenth of a second behind. Aaron Thomas a San Diego Mesa alum making his CCAA debut for the ‘Cats would finish 5th, while Vorderbruegge, Sherrod, Dayne Gradone, Carrell, and Osier would round out the Top-10. The ‘Cats would put the next 4 athletes across the line with Jeremy Brummitt, Johnny Sanchez, Phil Graber and Alan Cuevas hitting the tape just before UCSD’s #1 Tanner Collins who would grab the final All CCAA award. With 9 across the line before every team’s #2 (except for Humboldt) the ‘Cats would easily claim CCAA title #11 while garnering some solid championship racing experience. |
|
|
| Women’s 6K Championship: Only 4 of the ‘Cats 2012 CCAA line-up were involved with the 2011 CCAA win in Santa Rosa. Any lack of experience was washed away by the prevailing San Diego mist, as the Chico women ran like a veteran crew through the narrow trails of the UCSD course. Early on, Stanislaus State hammered out to a quick early pace and as the pack raced by yours truly at 1.7 miles, the Warriors had a definite lead in the team race, with their entire Top-5 running together among the top-12 overall. Knowing the difficult terrain ahead, and exactly how much running was yet to be had, the ‘Cats moved through the tiring Stanislaus squad through the middle and late kilometers. In fact the Chico crew would put nearly 50 points on the Warriors over the final 3k. |
|
A big key to the ‘Cats consistency through the years has been the development from within the program. On Saturday the poster-athlete for this was Sara Mikesell. A year ago Sara had made a huge jump in making the ‘Cats CCAA roster, and ran to a solid 22nd place performance as the team’s #8 performer. A year later Sara has enjoyed a season running within the ‘Cats scoring 5, and on Saturday took a huge step forward. The Junior from Bret Hart High ran through the half way point of the race outside the top 10, but gradually caught and passed tiring runners ahead. By 4k Sara had caught teammate Amy Schnittger (track All American) and the two worked together for some time before Mikesell continued forward eventually catching and working with Ayla Granados. Granados ran the final ½ mile as fast as anyone in the race, but may have left a bit too much in the tank while placing an eventual third overall.
Mikesell would cross the line 6 seconds before CSLA’s track All American Lisa Ohberg (4:25/16:50’s track credentials).
Amy Schnittger would finish next, and Stanislaus’ 10:35 steepler Courtney Anderson would take 7th. Next across the line was Chico’s RS frosh Bekah Bahra who took full advantage of her CCAA championship opportunity while finishing 8th overall. Jonah Weeks would represent the ‘Cats final scorer finishing in 14th just behind Humboldt’s top ’12 recruit (2011 JC State XC runner up) Devon Kelsey. 2012 CCAA 10k Champion, Jessica Varela would finish next, giving the ‘Cats 6 All CCAA runners. Natalie Galvan, Paige Henker and Anna Barcelo would take places 18, 19, 20 respectively. Another great effort for the Wildcat women who will now take aim at the NCAA regional championships to be held in two weeks in Hawaii, and then a hopeful run at the NCAA championships in Joplin, MO. Please find results below: Next up for the ‘Cats will be the NCAA West Region Championships to be held in Hawaii on Saturday Nov. 3. The top 5 men’s and women’s teams will advance to the NCAA championships in Joplin MO. Thanks to all for reading and for your continued support. |
|
