A successful return to Willamette, Chico State women victorious
Men lose duel with Oregon but well ahead of everyone else

Saturday, October 4, 2014
Comments & photos by Gary Towne/Chico State Cross Country Coach

Salem, OR -- It has been a few years since the 'Cats have ventured north to the Willamette/Charles Bowles Invitational (2011 to be exact), but after a few year hiatus we ventured back to the Salem, Oregon campus where so many great memories have been enjoyed by Wildcat harriers. Both squads would continue our streak of success at Bush Park this past Saturday, as the Wildcat women brought home another team title, while the men lost what in essence turned into a Chico/Oregon dual at the front of the meet. Overall it was another fine performance for both squads who were competing for only the second time this season.

Men's 8K (Cardinal): Going into Saturday's race the Wildcat men knew that Oregon was planning to run a mix of their A and B teams. Given the depth of talent that the Ducks enjoy, it would be very difficult to upend the Top-3 ranked DI team in the country, even if they were resting NCAA Champ Edward Cheserek, and a few other top guns. Here's a quick list of a few of Oregon's entrants and their PR's.

Jeremy Elkaim (13:39/3:59 PR's for 5k/Mile)
Tanguy Pepiot (8:38 Steeple, 58th at DI NCAA's-XC in '13)
Cole Watson (8:06/3:48/4:06 for 3k/15/Mile)
Matt Jablonski (8:10/14:24 3k/5k PR's, and 11th at Dillinger XC meet '14)
Bryan Fernandez (14:34 @ Mt Sac in HS, 15:09 @ CA State XC)
Chris Brewer (8:02-3k, 3:44-1500)

Add Oregon Red Shirts: Blake Haney (3:44-1500 in HS), and John Gregorek (3:42 1500m PR from Columbia) a grad student @ Oregon who has 1 last track season left.

This was what the 'Cats men were up against at the front, but despite being outmatched on paper, the Chico men mixed it up well with the Ducks from the start. At the mile mark the lead pack was down to 16, and counting our two top redshirting JC transfers (Will Reyes and Steven Martinez) the 'Cats had about one half of this elite pack's occupants.

As the race evolved through the middle miles, the Oregon Ducks established themselves as a force at the front, squeezing most of their competition off as the kilometers wore on. Only red shirting Chico athlete Will Reyes (A recent JC transfer from ARC) was able to stick with the hot pace at the front. As the 'Cats re-grouped behind the leaders, steeple All American Alex McGuirk, who'd gotten out very conservatively, caught a chase pack that included Aaron Mora, Brandon Taylor, and Kyle Medina. This group worked well together as they further separated themselves from those behind.

With a mile to go the race for the individual title had boiled down to three red shirts.. Two from Oregon (Haney and Gregorek), and Reyes from Chico. Knowing that he doesn't have the sharpest closing speed Reyes took the lead and pushed hard from ½ mile out, but Haney and Gregorek responded and held positions on his heels until the trio hit the track with 200m to go. The race on the track was no contest as the two Oregon milers swung around Reyes and rolled to a 1-2 finish. Reyes would finish well, while opening his season with a very impressive 23:54 final time. The next four athletes to hit the finish were all wearing Oregon Jerseys. The 'Cats first uniformed finisher Alex McGuirk finished just 1 second behind Oregon's #4, starting the 'Cats scoring at 8th overall. Oregon's #5 Bryan Fernandez would hit the line next, concluding the Ducks' decisive win. The 'Cats Aaron Mora, Steven Martinez (Unnat-Chico), and Brandon Taylor would take places 10-13 respectively. Barron Maizland would end the 'Cats scoring with his 15th place run in 24:53.

As mentioned previously, the men's race was very much a Chico/Oregon dual meet at the front. All of the Top-18 finishers either hailed from Chico or Eugene, as the 'Cats took 10 of these places, while the Ducks enjoyed 8.

Women's 5K (Cardinal): After a sub-par outing to open the season at Stanford last week, the women went into Saturday's run with something to prove to themselves. In Palo Alto the Chico women allowed the race to get away from them early, and valuable positions were never gained back in most cases. This week the 'Cats were ready from the start as the majority of our top women ran among the Top-20 as they hit the mile in the 5:40's.

Although the aggressive start may have caught up with a few in the later kilometers, the 'Cats did a masterful job of racing well through the heart of the race. In the pre- race meeting the evening before, yours truly predicted that the home team Willamette Bearcats would most likely be our toughest competition and this was indeed to be the case. Running inspired the Bearcats had 3 in front of Quetta Peinado (our #1) for almost the entire race.

Leading the race from start to finish was 'Cats alum/multi-time All American and current assistant coach Ayla Granados. Ayla would eventually take the overall title by nearly 20 seconds in 17:37 respectively. Willamette 1-2 runners would take 3rd and 5th, giving them a solid early lead in the team scoring, but Chico's Peinado would catch and pass the Bearcats' #3 in the final 40m. Peinado's 6th place finish would start the 'Cats scoring, while also opening a floodgate for Chico runners. True frosh Camila Turati would finish 9th, with teammate Sadie Gastelum taking 10th. Bailey Henshaw would place 11th, and Lora James, Alex Burkhart (true frosh!), Olivia Watt, and Bekah Bahra, would place 14,15,16, and 17th respectively. With 8 'Cats already across the line Willamette would finish their 4th at 19th, and their fifth would finish just a few places in arrears of the 'Cats #9 McCall Habermehl.

As the team scores were tallied the Wildcat women had indeed claimed yet another Willamette team title on the strength of a very tight team pack. A week ago our women's gap between 1-3 was a whopping 60 seconds. Today only 26 seconds separated our Top-9 finishers. Our aim now will be to continue to develop race specific fitness that will move this tight pack closer to the front, as we move closer to the championship season ahead.

Next Up: The 'Cats will take a much needed weekend off of racing this week, before turning attention to the Santa Clara Invite. They will then have two weekends off racing, before defending their CCAA team titles in San Bernardino on November 8th.