Santa Clara, CA -- On Saturday the Chico State harriers took to the flat fast paths of Santa Clara's Baylands Park at Santa Clara's Bronco Invitational against a good number of Division I opponents, a few DII regional foes, and both squads enjoyed promising results. The 'Cats men would tie for fourth overall behind only Oklahoma State, Stanford and Cal Poly, while the women placed 8th behind 6 DI's and the top ranked NAIA team in the country. Overall, we were pleased with the results, and now our sights move toward the championship season ahead.

Before moving to the race by race summaries it should be noted that the 'Cats ran squads in 4 different races on Saturday. Given that race officials only allow 10 athletes maximum in the Invitational races, we ran 8-9 uniformed athletes in these sections, and placed the remainder of our roster (including most red shirts) in the Open races. Now onward to the races.

Men's Invitational 8K: The men's field at Santa Clara was once again a very solid collection of fast runners. With a combination of top DI programs like Oklahoma State, Stanford Cal Poly SLO, entered, the 'Cats would have plenty of competition to help prepare for the championship segment of the season ahead.

From the gun an orange sea of Oklahoma State jerseys could be seen at or near the front of the lead pack. Chico's Kyle Medina, Alex McGuirk, Aaron Mora, and red shirting 'Cat Will Reyes all tucked into a large group in the early going.

As the race heated up the pack strung out and Will Reyes (just as he had at the Willamette meet several weeks ago) trailed 2 leaders at mid race. Medina and McGuirk gave up a number of spots in the middle kilometers of the race, before eventually moving back up closer to the top finishers. Lost in the back and forth movements of some of our top runners in uniform was the steady movement forward by Steven Martinez (a red shirting junior transfer from San Diego Mesa College). Martinez ran through the mile outside the Top-30 overall, but by four miles had caught roommate/teammate Reyes and now the two worked together just inside the Top-10 overall.

Although their races varied from person to person the 'Cats pulled things together nicely by the finish, and came home with a solid result. Leading the charge were our two red shirts Steven Martinez and Will Reyes who crossed the line 7th and 8th in 23:53 and 23:57 respectively. Of course the two red shirts weren't scoring for the 'Cats, so it was Alex McGuirk's 24:04 21st place run that started the points tally for Chico. RS Frosh Kyle Medina would rally over the final kilometer to finish 26th in 24:13. RS Soph Aaron Mora would cross the finish 43rd (24:26), while Johnny Sanchez, Dillon Breen and Barron Maizland would follow within the next 10 seconds. A 32 second 1-6 gap sealed a Top-5 finish for the 'Cats and gave them a nice team average of 24:22, which stacks up nicely against what past Wildcat teams have achieved on the same course. (Note: The 'Cats rested Stanford Invite top finisher Brandon Taylor for precautionary reasons this week.)

Women's Invite 6K: The Chico women would be up against a host of Division I schools, just as we had been at the Stanford Invite earlier in the season. One of our goals was to learn from the Stanford experience and get out well, while also maintaining our composure in the large and talented field.

From the start the women positioned themselves better than we had in Palo Alto, and despite hearing some fast splits at the mile mark, the Chico women looked poised and ready for the race ahead. Leading the charge as she has this year to date was Quetta Peinado. Sadie Gastelum was also out relatively well, and the Chico pack followed closely as no more than 10 seconds separated Quetta from our 9th runner at the mile.

The Chico women went to work well in the middle kilo's of the race and made up some places that are usually lost to some of the overzealous starters from other teams. Collectively the 'Cats ran very well from 2k to 5k, but seemed to hit a bit of a wall in the final kilometer which will be a working point as we look to the races ahead.

Quetta Peinado would start the 'Cats scoring with her 39th place finish (21:29), and true frosh Camila Turati would cross the line just 7 seconds behind with her 21:36 6k PR. Sadie Gastelum continued her consistent performances with her 21:41 clocking (53rd overall), and Bekah Bahra followed closely at 21:44. Bailey Henshaw closed out the 'Cats scoring with a 21:54 final time (73rd place). Insurance came in the form of 6,7,8 runners Lora James, McCall Habermehl, and Olivia Watt who each would finish within the next 15 second window. True frosh Alex Burkhart struggled through a mid race side stitch but still managed to finish with a commendable 22:28 debut effort for 6k.

All in all it was another solid race for the 'Cats. Although the women lacked the low sticks of other top teams, a tight pack helped the Chico women to another impressive team performance. The main goal as this group approaches the championship segment ahead will be moving the pack forward in the fields, while keeping the group just as tight between 1 and 7.

Men's Open Race: The men's open race brought a mix of optimism and frustration. Optimism came in the form of some nice runs from both uniformed athletes, and some of our red shirting freshmen. Frustration came in the form of 6 men starting the race, and only 4 finishing. With our four finishers placing among the top 5 uniformed athletes to cross the line it was disappointing Not to come home with the team victory in this race.

In any event, we'll focus on the positives, which thankfully were plenty. Race organizers placed a handful of talented Stanford redshirting frosh in the Open race, along with a number of other men that were certainly capable of running under the 25 minute threshold. For the first 2.5 miles of the race a lead pack of around 12-15 guys operated together, hovering around 5 minute per mile pace. It was obvious that the Stanford guys were instructed Not to force the lead, which worked out well for our younger guys. Wildcat teammates Nick Valenzuela, Nick Spector, Omar Pulido and Geoff Hull all ran among this lead group, until the pace and some surging started splitting the pack. Over the second half of the course it was Valenzuela who held closest to the surging Stanford boys at the front.

While the boys from Palo Alto split from the field and ran to eventual 1,2,3 finishes in the 24:30's, Chico's Valenzuela fought hard to pass a few tiring athletes over the final mile and closed well to record a 24:58 pr. Senior Geoff Hull would just miss breaking the 25 minute barrier with his 25:04 run while placing 7th overall. Omar Pulido sliced considerable time off his PR as he recorded a 25:18 mark, which brought him through the line 12th. Nicholas Spector finished the 'Cats four man team with a 15th place 25:29 run.

Red shirting frosh from Chico also recorded some nice marks while running unattached in this race. Here's a list of the youngsters and their times:

14. Marcus Montalvo 25:21 16. Steven Velarde 25:33 21. Victor Bennett 25:48 30. Arturo Arevalo 26:09 36. Eddie King 26:22 44. Cameron Ashbaugh 26:28 65. Ryan Ortiz 26:48 80. Derek Morton 27:05 103. Zachary Price 27:33

Women's Open 6k: The final race of the morning was the women's open event. By the start of this run temps had begun to heat up a bit, so conditions weren't quite as ideal as they had been for the Invitational race earlier in the morning. Thankfully the small contingent of Chico women that was in essence our B squad would run away with the team title in this race, defeating 16 teams in the process!

By 1.5 miles into the run four 'Cats ran stride for stride through the series of rolling hills that cut diagonally through the middle of the standard main loop of the course. True frosh Danielle Oden, RS frosh Hannah Dorman, and true sophs Jacquie Taylor and Madison Grenier ran as a mini pack among the top-20 overall.

Predictably the second half of the race brought a fair amount of separation as the conditions and difficulty of the race in general took their toll. Hannah Dorman made a strong push through 2 miles and made her way through a number of runners. A gritty Oden pressed to keep her teammate close, while Taylor and Grenier fell from the pace.

With potential CCAA roster implications on the line Dorman and Oden hit the final grass straightaway almost in a dead heat. Oden would find the tape first, running to a 22:57 mark. Dorman would finish just a tick behind in 22:58. Jacquie Adams would be the next 'Cat to cross the line, 24th overall respectively. Teammates Madison Grenier and Ashley Simon would complete the scoring, eventually sealing the team title with their 42nd and 53rd place efforts. A pair of red shirting frosh also performed well in Saturday's open race. Here are their results: 22. Nicole Anthony 23:21 37. Yajaira Zarate 23:41 Also Running this weekend:

Senior Aaron Thomas (2014 CCAA XC Individual Champ) has exhausted his XC eligibility in 4 years, but has 1 more track season to run. He is spending the fall increasing workloads a bit, while enjoying a mix of XC and road races. This weekend he finished 6th in the Humboldt Redwoods 1/2 Marathon in an impressive 1:08.04 mark (5:11ish pace per mile). Aaron will now set his fall sights on the upcoming California International Marathon, before taking a break and gearing up for his final track season.

Next up for the 'Cats will be the CCAA Championships to be hosted by Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday November 8th. Another group of Chico harriers will make the trek south to Davis to contest the Doc Adams Invitational on the same morning. Stay tuned as the Wildcats attempt to garner their 13th and 7th straight CCAA crowns.