Chico State men smoke the competition while adding quality to the field
Women, despite their ranks depleted by injury, rally late to also end victorious

Saturday, September 10, 2016
Comments & photos by Gary Towne/Chico State Cross Country Coach

Arcata, CA -- Every 4-5 years the Chico State Cross Country teams head to the redwoods of Humboldt County to open their season at the Humboldt Invitational. The trip provides athletes a glimpse into the beautiful north cost, and the invitational acts as a nice low-key competition against a variety of teams. Just as we had in 2011, the 2016 version of 'Cats took home a pair of team victories. A post race dinner at the Samoa Cookhouse (a local iconic eatery) and a Sunday long run on the gorgeous Tall Trees trail capped a perfect weekend. Please read below for brief descriptions of each race.

Men's 8k:: The Patrick's Point course was an interesting mix of paved campground roads coupled with very narrow single track trails that included a log jump and a 2ft drop that the men covered twice. Athletes traversed nearly a mile on paved road before the course dove into a single track section that would allow for little movement. The early narrow stretch warranted a quick early start for positioning because there would be little movement on the dirt paths. Wanting to capture some photos along the trail sections, yours truly skipped the start in order to be in position near the mile mark. As the leaders approached and passed, maroon jerseys flooded by the view of my camera lens and it was clear that Chico had a commanding lead.

As the race progressed the Chico pack separated into groups that worked well together, actually talking to one another as they negotiated the sometimes dicey footing on the narrow trail sections. At mid race defending CCAA Champion Will Reyes used one of the paved downhill sections to separate himself from his teammates as he would sail comfortably to an eventual victory. As he had a year earlier in our season opener Falco DiGiallonardo would chase Reyes for the better part of a mile, but this time he would become re-absorbed by a group of teammates (Connor Fisher, Kyle Medina, Arturo Arevalo, Aaron Mora and Steven Martinez).

Reyes would find the finish first with a swift 24:18 clocking over the measured 8k layout. Connor Fisher would finish strong for second in 24:39. Kyle Medina would close out the 'Cats scoring just five seconds behind Fisher. Not content with a 1-5 sweep, the Chico men piled their 6-10 runners across the line in the next 5 positions with '15 CCAA 7th placer Arturo Arevalo leading the way. All told and counting 2 red shirting Chico runners and recent alum Brandon Taylor the 'Cats would account for all of the top-17 places in the 83 man field. Several solid performances that were a bit buried in the ten man sweep ahead were the 11th place run of Derek Morton who's making some nice progress in his sophomore campaign. RS Frosh Zachary Chamberlain (Paso Robles HS) enjoyed a very nice uniformed debut while placing 14th overall (25:13). Just one second behind Chamberlain was red shirting true frosh Wyatt Baxter who would finish 15th on the day. Overall Saturday confirmed the depth of the Wildcat line-up and gave the Chico men some nice momentum to carry with them through the regular season.

Women's 6k: : The Chico women knew that replicating the men's performance would be nearly impossible as almost every team in the field had several standout athletes entered. Host Humboldt had 2014 CCAA XC Champ Kori Gilley (4:24/10:17 15/Steeple PR's) leading the way, and Seattle Pacific had Mary Charleson (4:30/16:49 track PR's) entered as well. Of course there were a number of other accomplished athletes among the field, so the women's run would be a bit more interesting at the front than the men's might have been for the casual fan.

From the gun the Humboldt pair of Gilley and Tatiana Gillick led the charge as the pack flew through the single track section to the mile mark. A mile into the run Seattle Pacific probably had the early advantage over the 'Cats, as Alex Burkhart was Chico's lone runner operating in the top-10 in the early going. Thankfully there was still 2.75 miles of racing left and the 'Cats took advantage of every meter of this stretch. Chico's All American duo of Karlie Garcia and Sadie Gastelum were both dealing with residual sicknesses from the week leading into the race and neither was at full strength. After conservative starts by each, the pair moved up methodically in the final 2/3 of the race.

As the race evolved Seattle Pacific's Mary Charleson and Sarah McDonald pulled clear of the field along with Sonoma's Analicia Garcia. While the trio fought to see who would take the individual title Chico's pack did a wonderful job of working through the field in search of the team title.

By the finish Karlie Garcia caught and passed teammate Alex Burkhart in the finishing stretch. The pair would take fourth and fifth respectively, while teammate Sadie Gastelum would make the 'Cats the first team with three across the line. Humboldt would send their top-3 across in the next three slots, while Seattle Pacific's 3rd would finish next in 11th. The top three teams now had three athletes through the finish, with Seattle and Chico tied with 15 points each if you scored three. Thankfully five is the magic number though, and the 'Cats 4-5 would cross the finish in 12th and 13th place as Camila Turati and Haley Kroll would seal the team victory. Humboldt would put their fourth across the line next and then Chico's 6/7 Danielle Oden and true frosh Nora Pizzella would add points to every team's point total. RS frosh Desirae Jones (making her uniformed debut) would give the 'Cats 8 finishers before Seattle's final scorer would hit the line.

Considering the sickness that had hampered the team's training through the week and the fact that the 'Cats ran without defending CCAA champ McCall Habermehl, and teammates Kayden Carpenter and Nicole Anthony, Saturday's result was very promising. With some improved health and fitness, the 2016 'Cats appear to be capable of some very impressive performances as the season progresses.

Next up: The Chico Harriers will now focus attention on getting healthy and training as we now approach consecutive weekends without races before returning to action on Oct. 1 in Sacramento at the Capital Cross Challenge.