Who says cross county is not a contact sport?
A bloodied Chico State men's take 3rd at Stanford, while women fifth battling D1 powers
By Gary Towne, Chico State head coach
Saturday September 29, 2012
A bloodied Johnny Sanchez at mid race after being spiked during a bad fall in the first 100m of the race. Teammate Alan Cuevas had helped to wipe the blood out of Johnny’s eyes (mid race) which he wiped off on his own bib.
Palo Alto, CA -- For years now the Stanford Invitational has been a fixture on the schedule of the Chico State Wildcat cross country teams. The Stanford meet annually attracts high caliber and large fields that prepare teams well for the NCAA competition that will conclude the season. The Chico State squads have annually taken full advantage of these opportunities, placing well among the DI laden fields. Thankfully this year was no different as the Wildcat men placed 3rd overall in the mostly DI field. The Chico women enjoyed an impressive outing as well, while bringing home a 5th place finish. Overall it was another great experience for the ‘Cats to put in the bank as they look forward to the championship meets that await.

Men’s Cardinal 8K: The men’s race was fast and furious from the start and one of our top returning men Johnny Sanchez became an early victim of the large field and difficult course. Still inside the first 100m of the course, several runners fell in front of Sanchez, who ended up falling over them. As he was getting up from the tumble, he was trampled again and fell back to the turf. Finally jumping to his feet Sanchez evaluated his situation (now well back in the field) and started to collect himself, while moving through the large field of runners ahead. Having taken a fall of his
own, teammate Alan Cuevas happened to find himself running side by side with Sanchez. The two worked together finding openings and gradually moving forward through the 300 runner field. Fairly early on Johnny went to wipe the sweat from his brow, only to find that his hand was covered in blood. During the fall Johnny had been spiked in the scalp and ran with blood running down his face and side of his head, eventually soaking through a part of his jersey. As the next mile played out, Johnny solicited the help of Cuevas in getting the blood out of his eyes so he could see more clearly. Yes, that’s teamwork, Chico Style! The early mishap took both out of real contention for scoring, but it did point out just how intense these races can be.

A nice shot of the lead pack of men in the first 1/2 of the race. If you look closely you can see 3 different ‘Cats (Isaac Chavez, Adrian Sherrod, and Dayne Gradone).  
Adrian Sherrod racing Stanford’s #6 guy Tyler Stutzman (3:40/14:04 PR’s for 15/5k). Stutzman would win this “race within the race” by 1second.
While Johnny and Alan fought to make up places from well back in the field our top 4 men were out quite well. Isaac Chavez ran just at the tail end of a lead pack composed mostly of Stanford and Adams State runners. Adrian Sherrod (our only senior in the line-up) ran just a few spots behind at the mile mark, with teammates Dayne Gradone and Alfonso Cisneros just off Sherrod’s pace. Up front the Wildcat men were placed Very well, but at least 60 athletes passed before the ‘Cats #5 and final scorer hit the mile in the form of Aaron Thomas. The SD Mesa CC transfer had run well from behind at the Portland meet several weeks ago, and today he would do the same. Picking people off one by one Thomas worked his way up with each mile eventually finishing just 11 spots behind Dayne Gradone.

In the end Stanford and Adams State were too much to handle as the Cardinal took home another trophy. Adams, the #1 ranked team in DII finished only 6 points off the Cardinal, and the Chico Wildcats snagged the third spot, by outdistancing 4th place U of San Fancisco, Santa Barbara (5th), Irvine (6th) Loyola Marymount (7th), UC Davis (8th), Southern Oregon (#1 ranked NAIA squad in nation-9th) and Santa Clara U (10th). Alan Cuevas and Johnny Sanchez finished as the ‘Cats 6/7 runners and soon after the race Johnny was treated by the meet medical staff with three staples to close up his lacerated scalp.

Ayla Granados splitting a pair of Stanford opponents in the middle stages of the race.
   
Amy Schnittger (Eventual 25th place finisher) rounding the turn 1/4mile from the finish with teammate Ayla Granados just off the pace.
Women’s Cardinal 6K: The women’s race played out in similar fashion for the Wildcats as it had for the men. Four ‘Cats covered the early stretch of the course in quick fashion, as they ran among the top 40-60 overall through the mile. The next pack of ‘Cats appeared to be running around mid pack if not a bit off (300 runners in field). Thankfully there was much running ahead, and this group did do some great running in the second half. Senior Amy Schnittger led the charge up front for the Chico women, hammering away relentlessly and working her way into the top 30 as the race wore on. Ayla Granados followed fairly closely most of the competition, but was never able to work up to her teammate ahead. Jonah Weeks had gotten out initially with Schnittger, but was giving up a few spots in the middle mile, as she dealt with some breathing issues. True frosh Anna Barcelo who was debuting in uniform, looked strong as she operated among the top 60 throughout the race.

The most impressive race for any of the ‘Cats came in the form of Sara Mikesell who seemed to be 20-30 spots further up in the field at every checkpoint. Between the mile mark and the finish Sarah had passed well over 100 runners and would hit the tape in an impressive 44th place overall. Schnittger had started the ‘Cats scoring with her 25th place effort, and was followed closely by Granados (29th). The ‘Cats scoring had concluded with the 55/56th place
runs of Jonah Weeks and Anna Barcelo who ran equal 22:11 times. Senior Paige Henker rallied over the final kilometers to finish just 14 seconds behind Weeks/Barecello and teammate Natalie Galvan stopped the clock 12 seconds off Galvan giving the ‘Cats a solid :57 second 1-7 gap.

The great grouping earned the Wildcat women an impressive 5th place finish in the 30 team field. A few impressive statistics within the race… The Chico women had placed their fifth runner across the line before every team in the field, with the only exception being host Stanford. The Lady-Cats had also taken down Loyola Marymount who had defeated us by nearly 50 points in the WCC Invite several weeks ago. It was another solid day for the ladies and certainly an experience that will pay big dividends as they head toward an eventual NCAA Championship race, that will be just as deep and talented. Please find results below:

Next up for the ‘Cats will be the Santa Clara Invitational next weekend (Oct. 13). We’ll rest 7 athletes on each side, given that the CCAA Championships are to be held the following week in San Diego. Stay Tuned, and Thanks for the support!
Sara Mikesell passed 100+ athletes en route to her eventual 44th place finish.