A victorious return for the Wildcats at the Bronco Invitational
Chico State men vanquish the opposition, win both races, women top DII team

Saturday, October 13, 2018
Comments & photos by Gary Towne/Chico State Cross Country Coach

Sunnyvale, CA - One of the best parts of cross country season each year is having the opportunity to weigh ourselves against DI programs head to head, while also showcasing the quality and depth of talent in Chico. Saturday's Bronco Invite provided the perfect platform to do just this, as the 'Cats would split their deep rosters between 4 races. The Top-10 Wildcat men from the Capital Cross race would represent Chico in the Invitational section (one of only two DII teams allowed in the 21 team field), while the remainder of the 'Cats line-up would take on a good number of DII A squads. A solid group of 7 women would tackle an Invitational field that included all four teams that had beaten them at the Capital Cross race, plus plenty more DI schools. A second group of Chico women would have the chance to race A-squads from 5 fellow CCAA teams in the Open run. At the conclusion of the day Both Wildacat men's teams would walk away with convincing victories. The women's A squad managed to defeat All 4 schools that had beaten them at the Capital Cross race, while placing 5th of 24 squads. The women's open team defeated 3 of the 5 CCAA A teams, barely losing to Humboldt's top squad by just 6 points, and East Bay's A team who won the race. Please follow along below as I share some of the details of the 4 races.

Men's Invitational 8k: In looking over the field of entered teams leading up to the race, yours truly felt that the 'Cats had a good chance at coming away victorious. The host school Santa Clara (ranked 11th in the West Region for DI schools) looked like the biggest threat, with Loyola Marymount and a few other DI's being potential threats.

As the race navigated through the initial kilometers of action, a fairly large lead pack of 30ish runners separated themselves from the chasing runners. The 'Cats had seven among this group. Eddie King, Jack Johnson, Luis Ortega, Wyatt Baxter, Jason Intravaia, and RS frosh Jack Emanuel and Jhvahn Holston. Teddy Kassa followed some 5 seconds back in a chase group, with Daniel Harrigan Cota and Zach Chamberlain also maintaining spots among the top third of the field.

After an initial 2 miles that consisted mostly of shorter loops near the start/finish area, the men's course starts a series of three 1 mile loops that circuit the entire Baylands Park area. After leading the lead pack for much of the early 2 mile stretch, Chico's Eddie King made a move from the front, deciding to up the ante a bit. With none of the pack appearing prepared to cover King's move he grew his lead throughout lap 2, and into 3. While King was running solo from the front the lead pack was stretching, with Intravia and Ortega maintaining positions at the front of the group. Both Jacks (Emanuel and Johnson), Holston, and Baxter ran just a few seconds off the front of the leaders.

As King neared the conclusion of the third large loop his lead that at one point neared 50 meters had narrowed to 20-25 meters, with a chase group appearing hungry to make the catch. Intravia ran among the top of the chase group with a half mile remaining, and Baxter was closing well among the top-10 overall. As yours truly scooted a walker across the uneven grass field toward the finish, the animated announcer was having a fun time describing the fact that King had now been caught with about 600m remaining, BUT he was not letting the leaders get away.

The tight race continued all the way to the line, where LMU's Coby Pederson nipped King at the line. Pederson's teammate Jack Polerecky appeared to finish just a half of a stride behind King (even in my finish pics) but Eddie was somehow given the third position (23:57 finish time). Just 2 seconds later Chico's Jason Intravaia eclipsed the 24 minute barrier as well with a 23:59 run in 5th place. Running a huge PR was sophomore Wyatt Baxter who would finish 9th in 24:05. Jack Emanuel (16th-24:16) and Jack Johnson (21st- 24:19) would end the 'Cats scoring, while Luis Ortega (24:19) gave the 'Cats a nice insurance finish as the team's 6th man. Teddy Kassa (37th-24:35) would finish as the 'Cats seventh and Jhavahn Holston, who had faded badly over the final 2k, still managed to hold on for a 24:36 PR.

Women's Invitational 6k: : The Lady-Cats would welcome All American Karlie Garcia back into the fold for the Bronco meet. With 5 weeks of workouts beneath her, Garcia appeared prepared physically to handle some top level racing. Joining Karlie at the start line would be the 'Cats top 6 finishers from the Capital Cross meet in Sacramento, Alex Tucker, Nora Pizzella, Haley Boynton, Desirae Jones, Kayden Carpenter, and Talia Swangler. Women's Open 6k: As with the open men, the Wildcat women were excited to have the opportunity to test themselves against East Bay, Monterey Bay, Humboldt State, SF State and Sonoma's A squads. Leading the way from the gun was Chico's senior Nicole Anthony. Junior Transfer Moly Mulay who spent her first two years at Monterey Bay ran strong throughout the race in second position for the 'Cats. After the first two, it was a youthful look for the 'Cats who's next 4 runners were all freshmen. As the race developed into the later stages Anthony found herself battling with Humboldt's top 2 runners Kaylee Anthony and Tatiana Gillick. Both would edge the Chico senior, but Nicole's 10th place finish began the Wildcats scoring in the race. Mulay would follow with a 22:23 PR run that chopped an impressive 3 minutes off her time from the same course two years ago. Frosh Nadine Dubon would cross next at 26th overall, while Taylor Bayley would finish in 30th position. Sophia Pearson a true frosh from Saugus, CA would conclude the scoring for the group with her 45th place run. It should be noted that red shirts Jalen Burns (18th), Carrie McDonough (24th) and Kela Lemy (27th) all enjoyed solid efforts as well. Also, 2018 CSUC alum and steeple school record holder Alex Burkhart (running unattached) won the Open race individual title. By the 1k mark of the race Garcia was running on the heels of the leaders, while her teammates were spread throughout the 200+ runner field. In the previous evening's pre-race discussion the women were reminded that many of the top teams would be relatively spread out in the field, and that it was important that no matter where they felt they were at in the overall equation, it would be important to fight for ever spot. This would indeed be the case as the race would develop.

As the race entered the second mile Garcia ran at the front of the field with 3 Kenyans from the UTEP squad and a few of Oregon State's top runners. The Roseville native looked strong and composed as she battled some very heavy hitters at the front of the race. As the remainder of the Chico women ran by, each appeared to be engaged in the action and running strong.

During the third mile UTEP's Winny Koech seized the lead for good, and Garcia ran in second just a few meters ahead of UTEP's #2. Making some nice moves through the field was Sophomore Alex Tucker who looked well engaged in the action and operating inside the top 30-35 overall. Trailing Tucker by 20-30 meters was teammate Kayden Carpenter, who also looked very well. Desirae Jones, and Nora Pizzella both trailed Carpenter by some 15-20 seconds and each looked relatively distressed by the hot early pace.

Not having a huge finishing kick, Garcia would lose 2 spots in the final kilometer, but still managed to finish 4th overall in a very swift 20:14 final time. Alex Tucker found a nice final gear to secure a top 25 finish, while narrowly missing the 21 minute threshold (21:02 finish time). Tucker's solid final half of the run also gave the 'Cats two finishers in front of Stanislaus' #1 (remember that Stan State defeated the 'Cats @ Capital Cross). Just 15 seconds back was Kayden Carpenter who would place 38th. Some 30 seconds would expire before the 'Cats 4th runner (Desirae Jones) would find the line, but thankfully #5 Nora Pizzella would cross with an identical time, ending the 'Cats scoring with a 69th place finish. Haley Boynton (21:59) and Talia Swangler (22:08) closed out the 'Cats Invite run with 91st and 111th place finishes respectively.

After watching the Invite race finish, it was difficult to discern as to how well the Chico women had done in the overall scoring. It was obvious that Oregon State had won the competition, but after that it was anyone's guess. As the scores populated online, it wasn't surprising to see that Second and Third place UTEP and Rice Had scored 172 points (pretty large scores for 2nd/3rd place teams). U of Wyoming had finished 4th (174) while the 'Cats had finished with 189, just 17 points out of 2nd. CCAA foe Stanislaus would place 12th with 304 points.

Men's Open 8k: The opportunity to score and help a team to a potential victory can inspire a runner. Exhibit A for the 'Cats this week was the run of Derek Morton a 1:48 800m guy who at times struggles in the longer XC races. Yours truly challenged Morton the day before the race, to have a good one, because the team's potential victory depended on it. Morton, who'd placed 100th at Capital Cross (26:01 time) responded to the challenge with a 24:48 run on Saturday.

As the race developed, the 'Cats 5 potential scorers all ran among the top 25 in the field controlling the team competition. Perhaps inspired by his teammate Eddie King's bold move to the front, Chico red shirt Raymond Lopez took to the front of the race and established a decent margin over the chase pack. Running in the lead group were Chico's Mathew Herrera, Remington Breeze and Derek Morton, Garrett DeLong and Christian Woolfolk.

As the race progressed into the third and final circuit of the Baylands Park, Lopez had been caught and passed and Chico's Remington Breeze ran alongside Hawaii Pacific's Rickus Jacobs who had several strides on the next runner. Matt Herrera ran strong inside the top-10 with teammate Derek Morton. The 'Cats were well on their way to their second team title of the day.

Rickus a South African native and transfer from Arkansas St. would go on to win the race. Derek Morton would close very quickly while hitting the tape 5th overall in 24:48. Breeze would finish next for the 'Cats, 7th overall with a PR 24:49 time. Matt Herrera would follow closely in 8th place while DeLong and Woolfolk would conclude the 'Cats scoring with 15th and 17th place finishes. With the quality pack at the front of the field the 'Cats had easily won the race and nearly perfect scored the 4 CCAA squads in the field. Only East Bay and Stanislaus managed to place a single scoring runner inside the 'Cats' top-5.

Women's Open 6k: As with the open men, the Wildcat women were excited to have the opportunity to test themselves against East Bay, Monterey Bay, Humboldt State, SF State and Sonoma's A squads. Leading the way from the gun was Chico's senior Nicole Anthony. Junior Transfer Moly Mulay who spent her first two years at Monterey Bay ran strong throughout the race in second position for the 'Cats. After the first two, it was a youthful look for the 'Cats who's next 4 runners were all freshmen.

As the race developed into the later stages Anthony found herself battling with Humboldt's top 2 runners Kaylee Anthony and Tatiana Gillick. Both would edge the Chico senior, but Nicole's 10th place finish began the Wildcats scoring in the race. Mulay would follow with a 22:23 PR run that chopped an impressive 3 minutes off her time from the same course two years ago. Frosh Nadine Dubon would cross next at 26th overall, while Taylor Bayley would finish in 30th position. Sophia Pearson a true frosh from Saugus, CA would conclude the scoring for the group with her 45th place run. It should be noted that red shirts Jalen Burns (18th), Carrie McDonough (24th) and Kela Lemy (27th) all enjoyed solid efforts as well. Also, 2018 CSUC alum and steeple school record holder Alex Burkhart (running unattached) won the Open race individual title.