San Marcos, CA - The 2022 Chico Wildcats opened up their season with solid runs this weekend at San Marcos' Cougar Challenge. The men would walk away with a convincing victory after placing their entire 5 scorers among the Top-10 overall, while the women would place 2nd with a lot of new faces leading the way. The epic road trip included some post-race beach time, and a detour through Sequoia National Park for a Sunday long run on the High Sierra Trail. It was a long exhausting weekend, but well worth trip.
Men's 8,000m:
Most of the Wildcat crew was relatively familiar with the San Marcos campus course, as we'd run the Cougar Invite last year, and raced our conference championships there in late October. The 2022 course was exactly the same layout as the '21 version, and the only difference this year was the abnormally warm conditions at race time. Temps rose to nearly 80 degrees during the men's race, and exceeded that mark during the women's.
From the gun, defending champs (Both Cougar Challenge, and NCAA D3) Pomona Pitzer established themselves at the front of the field. As the leaders crossed the initial timing mat near the mile marker the Sagehens led the 'Cats 18-68. By the conclusion of the second of four course-circuits, the 'Cats had flipped the script and led PP 23-66. Azusa Pacific ran in third, and CCAA rival CP Pomona followed in 4th. Chico sophomore Daniel Hernandez led the field into lap three, with teammates Omar Alvarez Hernandez and Jack Emanuel just behind. Defending CCAA champion Brayden McLaughlin ran within a stride of his teammates ahead, and Rory Abberton looked strong, as the 'Cats 5th on the course while running in the Top-10 overall.
The top 'Cats held positions well through the final lap, although Hernandez' big mid-race move did catch up with him a bit, as he would finish 10th as the team's fifth scorer. Senior Jack Emanuel made a bid for the overall title during the final lap, but APU's Nixon Korir was just too strong in the end. Emanuel would hold on for second, becoming one of 2 'Cats on the day to dip under the previous course record. Alvarez-Hernandez would become the second 'Cat to cross the finish under the previous course standard while notching a 24:28 8k Pb (5th overall). CP Pomona's #1 Leandro Candray would finish next, followed closely by Chico's Abberton (24:35) and McLaughlin (24:35). Daniel Hernandez' 10th place finish (24:38) sealed the win for the 'Cats, and gave the Chico men a perfect score over the defending champion Sagehens.
A quick look at the results shows a lot of promise for the Chico men. Their 24:31 team average well exceeded the 24:59 average that they had recorded a year ago the same meet, and was far superior even to the 24:52 average that it took to win CCAA's in October. Another positive statistic was the fact that all 5 Wildcat scorers ran under Brayden McLaughlin's 24:43 CCAA winning time from the '21 Championship race.
Women's 6,000m:
With the women's race starting :45 min after the men's had begun, the ladies would face the brunt of the warm weather. Stanislaus State would take a controlling lead from the gun as their top 3 had a full 10 second gap on the chase pack by the conclusion of the second loop. The Chico women were positioned in second among the team scores throughout the race, but for much of the competition Stan had their 5 ahead of Chico's 2nd. Leading the 'Cats charge throughout was RS Frosh Hannah Tiffany a local Nevada Union HS alum who was enjoying an awesome collegiate debut. Tiffany ran among the top-6 throughout and would end up crossing the line 5th. Also making their collegiate debut's were Della and Iresh Molina, a pair of identical twins from Chico HS. The two linked up mid-race and spent the remainder of the run rolling through groups of runners who were dying off ahead. The patient duo rolled through the first lap split in 26th and 29th places, and would finish 7th and 8th respectively. Along the way the twins would catch and pass Stan's 4/5 runners. Hannah Ryan and Marissa D'Atri (both All CCAA in 2021) worked together on Saturday while placing 13th and 14th at the finish. Jaclyn Denham would give the 'Cats 6 of the top 18 finishers with her solid seasonal debut.
While the Wildcat women had been defeated pretty handily on the day by the Warriors, it should be noted that several of the 'Cats most decorated returners had tough days at the office. Katie Hawley who was All Region in 2021 was 57th overall. Gracie Dupuis who's finished 3rd in each of her two previous CCAA Championships races placed 28th on the day. If we can bring these top returners closer to the front of the fields, our women's team will be a very tough one to beat. Stay tuned!
The 'Cats next head to the PacNW to race in the Bill Roe Invitational in Bellingham, WA on Oct. 9
