Sacramento, CA -- I'm pleased to announce that the Chico State cross country squads enjoyed a very productive weekend of racing in Sacramento on Saturday. Competing at the Capital Cross Country Challenge/DI West Regional Preview meet, the men came home with a lopsided victory over eleven Division I schools and a number of DII's, while the women would take 5th out of 15+ teams in attendance. Both squads showed good poise and toughness while running in the DI heavy fields, which should serve them well as they approach the post season races ahead.

Men's 8k:: In reading through Sac State's meet preview on their Athletics website, 12-13 schools were mentioned as participating on Saturday, but there was at least one glaring omission, there was no mention of Chico State. With a bit of a chip on their shoulders the Chico men toed the line looking for the team win. They also knew that they would need to beat a strong Arizona State squad in order to take the team title.

From the start the Wildcat men established themselves among the lead groups. Having studied the course maps and the grassy relatively flat golf course loops, the men looked controlled and well positioned as they sailed through the first mile a touch over 4 minutes and 40 seconds. Will Reyes and teammate Steven Martinez had established a small gap between themselves and the lead chase group, that held at least 5 additional 'Cats and several Arizona State athletes. As Martinez gradually fell back to the group, AZ State's CJ Albertson (15:01 @ Clovis XC in HS while running for Buchannon HS) surged ahead to join Reyes. The two ran stride for stride for the middle stages of the race before Reyes surged to take a decisive lead.

As the race moved into the final 2k the top Chico men did a masterful job of working with one another as they ran among the top-15 of the race. Junior Kyle Medina separated from his mates at around 6k and began making up some real-estate on Albertson who was operating in No-man's land for awhile after being dropped by Reyes. As Reyes chased the lead cart to an eventual win, Medina (a 3:41 1500m guy) drew even with the top Sun Devil with about a kilometer to go. The two ran stride for stride for approximately 400-600m before Medina switched gears and gapped the tiring Albertson. Reyes would stop the clock with a swift 23:29 time, and Medina would follow in second, some 16 seconds behind. Three athletes from various teams would take spots 4,5,6, and then the 'Cats final scorers would flood through the finish within 5 ticks of the clock. Sixth man Aaron Mora beat every other team's #2 on the day while taking 11th overall. Chico's 7,8,9,10 runners would beat the final scorer from all teams except runner-up Arizona State. As mentioned earlier, this was a very lopsided affair and a nice affirmation to the quality and depth of the 'Cats 2016 roster.

Several 'Cats who had breakout efforts on the day were RS Frosh Anuare Magana who finished in mid pack 3 weeks earlier in the Humboldt Invite. Today he would finish as the 'Cats 10th runner and 42nd overall out of 173 finishers. Also, Chris Kigar (who didn't even make the 'Cats travel squad to Humboldt) ran a very strong race, while placing 44th overall (24:53). Red shirting true frosh Wyatt Baxter also enjoyed a strong effort posting a 25:06 final time.

Women's 6k: : Going into Saturday's race the Wildcats knew that they would really need to race well collectively to be competitive in the assembled field. Sitting the race out for precautionary reasons were track All American Karlie Garcia and 2 time NCAA scorer Haley Kroll. Add that two of our top returners McCall Habermehl (2 X CCAA Champ) and Kayden Carpenter were running their first race since track season after injury plagued early seasons. If we were to hold off Cal Baptist (Ranked #2 in the West region-behind us) and in order to run competitively with the DI's present, we'd need some stepped up performances by some of our supporting runners. Thankfully we would indeed receive some big races from several up and comers, which would help our chances on the day.

As the race was underway, Junior Alex Burkhart spearheaded the entire field through a swift early start stretch. Unfortunately for Burkhart she was a bit under the weather on the day and would pay a bit of a price for the early pace. Teammate Sadie Gastelum who's returned to good health after early season sickness limited her effectiveness at Humboldt, positioned herself among the top 25-30 going into the mile. Camila Turati followed not far behind Gastelum and a good portion of the 'Cats all went through the first kilometer among the top quarter to third of the field.

Sadie Gastelum started her trademark charge through the field as the race progressed, and frosh Nora Pizzella positioned herself well not far behind. Also looking quite strong was Hannah Dorman who has endured countless ankle rolls over the past several months, but has finally put together some consistent weeks of running. McCall Habermehl was racing strong, but a bit further back in the field than what she is accustomed to in recent years.

As the race transitioned into the final kilometer Sadie Gastelum had moved her way to the heels of a 5-6 woman chase group that had been trailing ASU Senior Chelsea Totten-Albertson the entire run. Sadie would eventually lose a sprint for third place, but would hang on nicely for a 6th place and sub 21 minute run! The under the weather Burkhart had not looked well the entire race, but still held on nicely for a 27th place finish. Next in was Nora Pizzella who had enjoyed her best outing to date, finishing 38th. Hannah Dorman slid through the finish just a few seconds back in a new PR of 21:38. Rounding out the scoring for the 'Cats was Camila Turati who struggled home in 53rd place, after a fast start. McCall Habbermehl would finish several seconds behind Turati in what was a much needed rust buster effort. Not far back from Habermehl was Kayden Carpenter who was also returning to racing for the first time since the track season.

As the results were tallied the numbers were bitter sweet. The Chico women had taken 5th overall in a primarily DI field beating UC Davis, Sac State, and a number of other local rivals. but only 14 points had separated them from a 2nd place finish, and regional rival Cal Baptist had taken third overall.

Considering the circumstances, the 'Cats would be happy with the outing. As Habermehl and Carpenter return to true race fitness, and Karlie Garcia and Haley Kroll re-enter the fray, we should have a very tough squad to beat. We'll likely fall in this week's regional and national rankings, but November racing is where it ultimately matters.

Next up for the 'Cats: is the Triton Invitational in San Diego on Saturday Oct. 8. Stay tuned!