Bellingham, WA -- On Thursday morning the 2017 Chico State XC teams embarked on what would be the longest road trip ever attempted by the modern day 'Cats, as they set sail for the 750+ mile drive to Bellingham, Washington (less than an hour's drive from the Canadian border). During the trip athletes were treated to runs in Portland's Forest Park, and Eugene's Pre's Trails, but most importantly the teams both performed exceptionally well at the Western Washington Invitational on Saturday. The men would win their second straight invitational, while running without top runners Kyle Medina (a bit under the weather before the trip) and Caton Avilla (#4 man @ Capital City Classic last week). The 14 hours of travel time between Chico and Bellingham didn't stop the men's crew from scoring a nearly perfect 17 points for win. The ever-improving women's squad lost a very close race to Griak Invite and #4 ranked (nationally) Simon Fraser. Overall the road trip was another resounding success and produced memories that will surely last a lifetime for both athletes and coaches. Please read on for brief race re-caps.
Women's 6k:
As mentioned previously the Simon Fraser women have enjoyed a very fine 2017 fall season. They opened the season with a win at the Sundodger Invite in Seattle, and then followed that up with a huge win at the 30 team Griak Invite in Minnesota. The Clan were ranked #1 in the west region and 4th nationally coming into the WWU weekend. As yours truly studied the SFU women's results it was apparent that their depth was lacking a bit and there was a gap gap between their usual 4/5 runners that could potentially be exploited. Their top runner Julia Howley had finished 2nd overall at the Griak Invite, but some distance behind NCAA champ Alexis Zeiss of U Mary. With Hannah Dorman enjoying a great season to date, and with Alex Burkhart improving with each week, this race had the potential to be a barn burner.
Knowing that the SFU women are aggressive starters and not wanting them to get away early, the Chico women crafted their best start of the year collectively, as each of the top-7 ran among the top 20-30 overall by the teardrop 180 degree turn 600m into the run. As the women sailed through the mile mark and headed out for their loop around scenic Lake Padden, the 'Cats were positioned quite well and appeared poised and ready for the fight ahead.
Perhaps the only limitation of the Padden layout (where we've run 3-4 regional championships in the past) is that the 2.5 mile loop around the lake, makes spectating a real challenge. As the leaders finally came to view, several stand-out Canadian post collegians came to view, one after another. The familiar sight of Hannah Dorman's powerful stride appeared in 5th position. Next to come out of the woods was teammate Alex Burkhart who had SFU's Howley running several strides behind. Dorman and Burkhart would each hold their positions through the final 400m loop to finish 1-2 in the team scoring (5/6 overall). SFU's top two would take the next two sticks. Some 20 seconds later SFU's 3 and 4 runners crossed the line, followed closely by Chico's Nora Pizzella (the 'Cats #3 on the day). The 'Cats would pour finishers 4,5,6,7 across the line in consecutive order and in front of Simon Fraser's fifth and final scorer, but unfortunately the damage of having their 4 in front of our 3 ended up being the decision maker. It should be noted that if club team Club Northwest (post collegiate team) hadn't been scored with the NCAA teams, the 'Cats would have won the meet due to the fact that CNW had 3 athletes finish just in front of the 'Cats final scorers but behind SFU's #4, adding substantial points to the 'Cats total. Either way, it was a very close run and the Chico women had enjoyed their best meet yet of the 2017 season.
Several performances to note: RS Frosh Haley Boynton enjoyed by far her best outing of the year while running as the 'Cats #6 on the day. Nicole Anthony, who'd dropped out at the Sacramento meet scored for the Chico women for the first time in her career. Sophomore Kayden Carpenter ran with a flu bug but still managed a 27th place effort in the 120+ runner field. As the 'Cats look ahead to the CCAA meet ahead, favored San Marcos will be a tough team to beat, but there's no doubt that the Chico women have taken some big steps forward since their early September meeting in Riverside. Stay tuned!
Men's 10k:
A part of the reason for our trip to the WWU Invite was because they host one of the few men's 10k races in the country, and that's the distance that we're training for in the championship season. Coming off a not so inspiring outing in Sacramento that found our men's team more scattered than we're used to seeing, the goal Saturday (while running without 2 scorers) was to collectively have a solid say at the office, while embracing our training for the 10k distance. In reflection of these goals, the guys definitely hit the mark on this day.
From the sound of the gun the Wildcat men executed their individual race plans to near perfection. Some of the men who do a great job of working through fields, held off a bit in the early going, measuring their intensities, while others that operate well among the leaders, did just that from the start. As the men set sail for lap 1 around the lake, they were very well positioned and appeared to be in control of a hoped team title.
Post collegiate Canadian standout Keenan Viney appeared first after the initial lake loop, and soon after waves of 'Cats would appear from the forested trail. Leading the way was Connor Fisher who was rebounding nicely after an "off" day in Sacramento last week. The biggest surprise of the day was Eddie King who was the 'Cats second runner on the course. King (who's yet to make a CCAA XC roster) had enjoyed an Awesome summer of training in Truckee and won our annual Mt Rose hill challenge at camp, had become injured in the initial weeks of classes and missed at least 14 days of running out of a 3 week window in early Sept. King has been back to running consistently for 3-4 weeks now, but with very few workouts. Nothing over the past 6 weeks had pointed toward a race like this, but at 5k it WAS happening. Just behind King was a group of Teddy Kassa, Jack Johnson, Arturo Arevalo, and RS frosh Wyatt Baxter, all running in the top 12-15 overall. One by one 'Cats flew by looking full of run and ready for the second lap ahead.
All 12 of the Wildcat men did a masterful job of execution over the second lap as nearly everyone moved up several spots. At the conclusion of the second lap the strong Viney still held the lead, en route to his eventual win but most of his nearest pursuers wore Chico kits. With 400m remaining Chico's Connor Fisher was running with teammate Eddie King and Teddy Kassa was just a few short strides behind. Your truly encouraged the lead duo to cruise it in and help teammate Kassa stay clear of his closest pursuer WWU's #1 man Andrew Wise, which was indeed accomplished as the trio enjoyed a blanket finish in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th overall respectively. Wise would finish next, but then another Wildcat wave would cross the line in the form of Jack Johnson, Arturo Arevalo, Wyatt Baxter and Remington Breeze, who would all finish in a 6 second span in 7-8, 10-11 spots overall. Juniors Steven Velarde and Daniel Harrigan-Cota would finish 16th and 17th, while Garrett DeLong and Matt Herrera would take 21st and 22nd overall. Zach Chamberlain would conclude the 'Cats day as the 12th man finishing 24th overall (134 total runners) with a still impressive 32:33 run .
A few quick thoughts on the men's run. This was by far our best performance of the year and it came without two of our best runners, so the Chico men have a lot to be proud of, and hopefully a lot to look forward to as the season progresses into the championship phase. King's emergence potentially adds another much needed low stick to the championship squads, and the continued progress of RS frosh Wyatt Baxter and Remington Breeze (5/6 guys for the team this week) are great signs for both this season and the future. Also, Garrett DeLong and Steven Velarde have each been dealing with illnesses that have hampered their seasons to date. Recent training and now Saturday's results show that they are coming around nicely as well.
Up Next: The Chico men and women will now turn their attention on the CCAA Championships to be held in two weeks (Saturday Oct. 21) in Ceres, CA (Stanislaus St-Host). More to come on the CCAA races.
