Riverside, CA -- The Chico State men's and women's cross country squads began their 2017 seasons at the Division I heavy UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday with promising results. The men would finish 2nd overall behind DI (16th ranked) Southern Utah, while the women would finish 12th with 10 DI's ahead. For the men Senior Kyle Medina would lead the way with a fine 2nd place showing, while Hannah Dorman would enjoy her best outing on an XC course with her 15th place effort in leading the Lady 'Cats.

Due to the large field sizes meet hosts allowed teams to enter a maximum of 9 athletes, while remaining runners would be pushed to Open races for each gender. Several A squads from various schools would compete in the open races as well. The 'Cats would send 4 men to the line in the Men's Open race, while 5 women would compose a scoring group in the women's run. Follow below for details of the four races.

Men's Invitational 8k: The Chico State men lost a lot of firepower from the 2016 team. Gone are sub 14:00 5k guy Will Reyes, Aaron Mora (sub 30 10k PR), Steven Martinez (29:44 10k), Falco DiGionnardo (3rd in 2016 West Regional), and Nick Valenzuela (All CCAA XC). Add the absence of Senior Caton Avilla who had student teaching commitments that prevented him from travelling to Riverside, and the 'Cats might appear to be vulnerable. Thankfully roster depth has always been a strength of the program and this year despite red shirting all of our accomplished recruiting class, the Chico men still managed to put together a fine showing on Saturday in Riverside.

From the gun the Chico men established themselves nicely among the top third of the 250+ runner field. The only exception among the Chico crew was RS frosh Wyatt Baxter who was wearing the Wildcat maroon for the first time. Baxter found himself somewhat buried at the 1k mark, yet appeared in control and confident.

By mid race the once bunched field had strung out from the front with Southern Utah, and Utah Valley athletes forcing the pace at the lead. Kyle Medina and Connor Fisher (7th, 2nd at CCAA XC in '16) looked great as they worked up to the heels of a 12-15 runner lead pack. A large group of teammates followed 20-30 places behind. This group included Teddy Kassa (Wildcat debut), Jack Johnson, Zachary Chamberlain, Daniel Harrigan-Cota (Wildcat debut), Arturo Arevalo, and Steven Velarde. With the 'Cats top-7 running among the top quarter of the field, things looked promising for an eventual solid team finish.

As things evolved down the stretch Medina moved through the splintered lead group into second position chasing race leader Tyson Lambert of Utah Valley State who had built a sizeable lead on the pack in the 6th and 7th kilometers. Unfortunately Kyle was unable to catch Lambert, but he did hold off a talented trio from Southern Utah, that included 13:40's and 13:50's 5k guys Mike Tate and Kasey Knevelbaard. Connor Fisher would finish well also nailing down an 8th place finish. Arturo Arevalo moved up nicely over the final kilometer finishing 22rd in 24:41. In the next 20 seconds 6 more 'Cats would flood across the line (including red shirting Luis Ortega) with Ortega finishing 23th, Teddy Kassa (30th), Jack Johnson (35th), Daniel Harrigan-Cota (37th), Zach Chamberlain (42nd) and Wyatt Baxter (47th). Baxter, who had passed over 100 men during the race was the only 'Cat mentioned who didn't crack the 25 minute mark for the 8k run (25:03). The only rough outing from the men's group was Steven Velarde (All Region '15) who slid to a 25:23/76th place finish after a promising start, but even so, still ended up well inside the top third of the large field.

Women's Invitational 6k: The Chico women would step into a deep and talented DI heavy field on Saturday and they would do it without two top returners, Karlie Garcia (16:40 5k PR) and Haley Kroll (2 time NCAA scorer for the 'Cats). Kroll had student teaching commitments, while Garcia continues to work back from the injury that sidelined her during the '17 track season. A top-5 team finish was hoped, but it would take a BIG effort from this group of women to accomplish this goal.

Senior Hannah Dorman picked up where she'd left off last track season (CCAA 5k champ, and 4th place NCAA 10k performer) as she placed herself among the top 30-40 in the early going. The rest of the 'Cats were scattered through the field by the mile mark, but of course there was plenty of racing ahead.

By mid race Dorman was only a stride behind 21st place, but about 30 meters behind the next chase pack. Teammate and track All American Alex Burkhart ran about 20-30 positions behind, but didn't look completely in control of her running. Another 20-30 runners passed before Nora Pizzella and Alex Tucker made their way by, operating just inside the top third of the field. A similar gap separated this pair from our final scorer on the course Kayden Carpenter. It was obvious at this point in the race that we needed a HUGE second half to have any chance at a Top-5 finish.

Hannah Dorman used her 10k strength to catch the pack ahead during the final mile and would cross the finish 15th overall. She was the first Non-DI/Post Collegiate finisher, and her 20:32 time is the fastest by a Wildcat ever over the 6k distance. Unfortunately, the second half of the run wasn't a pleasant one for Burkhart who slid some places while battling a side stitch. Damage control still left her some 59 seconds behind Dorman with a 61st place finish. Nora Pizzella would finish next some 10 seconds and nine places behind Burkhart, while RS frosh Alex Tucker enjoyed a 76th place (21:42) debut for the 'Cats. Kayden Carpenter would conclude the 'Cats scoring with her 95th place effort (22:05).

As the dust had settled and the scores tabulated the 'Cats had placed 12th in the team scoring. 10 Division 1 programs had finished ahead, including Top-10 ranked U of Arkansas. The real blow to the 'Cats women outside the obvious large 1-5 gap was the fact that conference foe Cal State San Marcos, now eligible for the CCAA title, had finished nearly 100 points ahead of our women. If the Chico ladies are to defend their CCAA title it will take a much better effort, given the strength of the CSUSM crew. Stay tuned!

Men's Open 8k: It was very unfortunate that the 'Cats didn't have just 1 more guy in the open race, because the four who ran, combined for a relatively low 57 points. Leading the way for the Open crew was RS frosh Remington Breeze who enjoyed a great run in his maiden voyage in the Chico kit. Breeze spent the good portion of the race working together with fellow RS Frosh Matt Herrera who's come a long way since his Serra HS running days. Breeze would lose a close kick for 10th place (235 finishers) recording a solid 25:25 PR for the 8k distance. Herrera would hold on nicely for 14th overall with a 25:31 run. Derek Morton was leading the Chico charge at mid race, but slid back into the 30's late in the run. A huge surge to the line brought Morton all the way back into the top-20 overall. Garrett DeLong who's been under the weather all season to date struggled, but held on well to finish 35th overall.

Women's Open 6k: Sophomore Desirae Jones led the charge for the Chico women's open contingent. The Simi Valley HS alum ran just behind Cal Poly Pomona's #6 runner most of the race (Pomona ran their women in the Open 5k) before giving up some spots over the final ½ mile. Jones would cross the finish with a time of 18:37, which was good enough for 45th overall. Brittni Frace would debut in the Wildcat uniform as the 'Cats #2 with a 19:08 outing. Jacquie Adams would finish with a 19:38 final time while teammates Danielle Oden (19:43) and Veronica Garcia (19:46) would conclude the 'Cats scoring. With all 5 runners placing in the top half of the field, the women's open squad would secure a 13th place finish out of 28 scoring teams.

Next up: The 'Cats will comete on Saturday Sept 30th at the Capital City Classic XC race in Sacramento at Hagen Oaks Golf Course the site of the 2019 DII NCAA Championships.