San Bernardino, CA -- I'm pleased to announce that our men's and women's teams once again earned twin CCAA crowns over the weekend. For the men's team it was the thirteenth straight title run, while the women hammered to a seventh top placing in as many years. When taking into account the past 13 years of CCAA Championship races (since 2002) the 'Cats have now won a staggering 25 of 26 CCAA Championship runs between men's and women's races.
Each year is a different challenge, and this year was certainly a new one for many of the competing 'Cats. Out of the 20 athletes that represented our team at the '13 CCAA Championships in Chico, only 8 would toe the line on Saturday in San Bernardino. If we were to repeat as Champions, many new faces would be counted on to get the job done, and thankfully they did.
Running on one of the more challenging layouts that I've witnessed in championship competition, and with temps easily in the 80's (especially during the women's run) both races would offer every competitor a nice test of pain tolerance. As one might expect, if you were having a bad day out there, it was compounded quickly by the course difficulty and heat.
With the stage set, we'll move along to the first race of the morning, the men's 8k.
Men's Championship 8K:
A very green group of Chico State harriers lined up for the men's Championship run on Saturday. Senior Johnny Sanchez was the only returnee who had been a part of the 1-6 CCAA sweep in Chico, and ironically Johnny would fail to score for the Cats in San Bernardino. Aaron Mora would also be returning after placing 9th as a freshman in the '13 run, with Senior Alex McGuirk (26th in '13) being the third and final returning link to the most recent title run. Backing up these three returnees, the 'Cats would start seven athletes who had never been a member of a conference line-up. Thankfully the youthful team ran like a group of seasoned veterans.
The early-going of the race saw the 'Cats establish themselves among the lead group, hogging many of the top-20 spots. As the race carried up the large climb beyond the mile mark, the pack began to string out a bit and the first 'Cat to lose contact with the group was senior Dillon Breen who had a rare "off" day on Saturday. The pack continued to dwindle as the men's race navigated around a 3/4 mile sun exposed and rolling outer loop twice. Leading much of these loops were Chico's Alex McGuirk and teammate Kyle Medina.
Upon completion of the outer loops, the athletes hit the now downhill stretch that they had taken to get to the outer loop with SF State's Drew Feldman seizing the lead and pressing the pace. The lead pack at this point was comprised of 5-6 'Cats, 5 Pomona runners, Feldman, and UCSD's Tanner Collins to leave the final 2 miles a battle between Chico and Pomona for the conference title.
In fact Pomona appeared to have an opening of sorts for a potential upset, with 2 time All American Johnny Sanchez falling off the pace and 24:06 guy Brandon Taylor even further back. Thankfully CCAA newbies Kyle Medina, Nick Grubiss, Barron Maizland, and Nick Valenzuela looked very strong and up to the task at hand heading into the closing miles of the race.
The final 2 miles of the run included a long downhill stretch leading to the low point of the course, followed by a concluding mile that was a tough net uphill stretch. The Wildcat men fought hard over the final 3k to seal their 13th straight title. Leading this charge was Senior Alex McGuirk, who a year ago struggled through an awful post season in cross country, finishing 26th at CCAA's and 47th at the West Regional before being pulled from the line-up. This year McGuirk ran a brilliant race, allowing Pomona's gritty Mark Huizar to lead most of the tough hills in the final mile, before breaking out his 3:50 1500m speed to take the victory in the final straight. Huizar would finish second, and the surprising SFS's Drew Feldman would take third. RS Frosh Kyle Medina would close well to finish 4th and Pomona's 2-3 runners Francisco Gomez and Jon Dominguez would finish 5th/6th. The 'Cats countered with Grubiss, Maizland and Valenzuela in 7th, 8th, 9th, thus concluding their scoring for the day. UCSD's #1 Tanner Collins would round out the top-10, while Chico's Aaron Mora would finish just 1 place behind in 11th respectively. Fifth year senior Alan Cuevas would lose a kick for the final All CCAA spot, but had fought valiantly en route to his 16th place finish. Johnny Sanchez would finish 20th, Brandon Taylor 24th and Dillon Breen concluded the 'Cats effort with his 35th place run.
All in all it was another solid day at the office for the 'Cats. There were casualties for sure.. but it was almost expected given the course and conditions. Thankfully our depth and fitness prevailed, and the streak continues. Congrats goes out to All CCAA runners Alex McGuirk (Also CCAA Athlete of the Year), Kyle Medina, Nick Grubiss, Barron Maizland, Nick Valenzuela, and Aaron Mora. It should also be noted that McGuirk also extended another streak. A Chico runner has now won each of the past 7 CCAA individual titles dating back to Scott Bauhs who won his lone CCAA title in no other place than San Bernardino, CA! Congrats Alex!
Women's Championship 6K:
On paper the CCAA race had the potential to be a doozy between UCSD's women, and the Chico ladies. A year ago the Tritons nearly upset the 'Cats at their own invitational, and the 'Cats had graduated CCAA #1/2 runners Ayla Granados, and Sara Mikesell, while the Tritons returned the bulk of their '13 squad, while adding RS Frosh Corinne Hinkle (their '14 #1 most of the season). Add the fact that the 'Cats would be running without Jess Varela (7th at CCAA's in '13), and Haley Kroll (13th at CCAA's in '13), and you had the makings of a potential upset.. at least on paper.
Races, however, are not run on paper. The athletes have to hit the hot and dusty (& sometimes even muddy or icy) trails to prove who the best truly is and the '14 'Cats took aim at a race that would hopefully result in victory.
From the gun most of the Chico women put themselves in solid positions. They weren't right at the front as the men had run, but they were positioned such that as the race developed, they would be close enough to the key competitors to get the job done.
As the women ran up the same tough hill as the men to the first outer loop, Quetta Peinado and true frosh Camila Turati ran shoulder to shoulder off the heels of the leaders. Olivia Watt followed closely, as did Alex Burkhart, Bekah Bahra, Sadie Gastelum, and McCall Habermehl.
The lead pack, after their single circuit of the outer loop, had separated from Peinado and Turati, but the pair still looked strong coming down the hill heading back toward the lower point of the course. As the 'Cats passed yours truly heading toward the second half of the run things looked very good for us, as compared to UCSD, who appeared to be scuffling a bit at the edges. Things weren't perfect for the 'Cats though, as three of our athletes Lora James, Bailey Henshaw, and Jacquie Taylor all appeared to be having tough outings as each ran well off the pace of the lead groups.
The women would have a mile plus of hard running before they would come to view once again with a half mile to go. Much to our surprise and enjoyment Quetta had re-joined the lead pack, which was now about 6 strong and with a number of top runners following closely behind. With some tough climbing ahead of them still to the finish this would be an interesting final stretch. With representation from 5-6 different schools at the front, the 'Cats looked good for the title still. Camila Turati was the next Cat following in 10th position next to UCSD's #2 (CCAA 10k champ Paige Hughes). Olivia Watt ran in 13th position with ½ mile to go, but the heat was obviously taking a toll as she looked a bit spent as she headed into the next set of hills. Sadie Gastelum looked strong just off Watt's heels in 14th, and two more 'Cats occupied 15th and 16th places in Bekah Bahra and Alex Burkhart. McCall Habermehl the 'Cats 7th runner was now in 19th and appeared full of steam heading into the final stretch.
The women held their own quite well over the final stretch of the course as Quetta would start the scoring with her 6th place CCAA debut run. True Frosh Camila Turati would finish just two clicks of the watch and 3 places behind in 9th respectively. Bekah Bahra stormed the final ½ mile moving from 16th to 10th, and true frosh Alex Burkhart also took some names in the final mile as she finished 12th . Sadie Gastelum would conclude the 'Cats scoring (only 11 seconds after it had begun!) with her 14th place finish. McCall Habermehl (16th) and Olivia Watt (17th) would beat every other team's #3 to the line, which added more points to the scores of the competition.
As the dust had settled the Wildcat women were able to enjoy the fact that what could have been a very close race on paper, actually ended up being a runaway victory. Five 'Cats had earned All CCAA honors by virtue of their Top-15 placements and four of these five would receive this honor for the first time. Congrats to Quetta Peinado, Camila Turati (Also voted CCAA Frosh of the Year!), Bekah Bahra, Alex Burkhart, and Sadie Gastelum for earning All CCAA honors.
Next Up: The 'Cats now turn their attention to the upcoming NCAA West Regional to be held in Billings, Montana on November 22nd. The main purpose of the regional is to select the NCAA Championship field and each team will need to place among the Top-6, to secure their spots on the line in Louisville, KY. The 'Cats men will be tested in a big way but Alaska Anchorage who has re-stocked with some talented Kenyans, while also bringing in some talented recruits from CA and Germany. Chico will go in as the favorites for the regional title on paper, But I can honestly say that Alaska should probably be ranked at least equally to the 'Cats going into the regional. The Chico women will enter the regional ranked first, but without a real low stick contender, we'll Have to keep our tight pack, to ensure a team title. Stay tuned!
