UNIVERSITY PLACE, WASHINGTON -- I'm proud to report that the Wildcat cross country teams enjoyed a solid day on the national stage near Seattle this week. The men went into the weekend ranked 4th or 5th in most polls, and managed to snag a 5th place finish at the end of a tough 10k of racing. The women went into their run ranked 11th in the final USTFCCCA polls, and managed to nail down a 12th place finish, (just missing a Top-10 run). Both performances were improvements over 2021 results (the two squads were 8th and 25th a year ago) so there is a lot to be proud of. For the men's squad this was their 22nd Top-10 finish in the past 23 NCAA championship races. The ladies earned their 19th Top-12 finish in the past 22 races. Both squads were the top performers from the CCAA, and West Region, as the ladies tagged nearly 100 points onto CCAA and West Region Champs Stan State, who placed 18th on the day.
Ok, on to the races.
Men's Championship 10k:
Had we not run our regional race two weeks earlier in 15 degree temps and on a snowy layout, the 'Cats might have been affected negatively by the low 30's temps and (lightly) snow covered course, but the regional experience definitely provided valuable perspective for our athletes, as conditions were actually not too bad at race time.
The race plan for the Chico men was one to hopefully maximize each person's unique strengths, while also taking into consideration the wet conditions of the course, and the strength of the field. This meant that there would be no more pack running, as we've been able to do in smaller fields this season.
The pace was predictably very quick from the start, and returning 2 time All American Jack Emanuel spearheaded the 'Cats efforts, operating among the top 10-15 in the early going. Teammate and CCAA Champ Rory Abberton followed some 3-5 seconds back, while Cameron Duquette (who's been a usual 6-7 runner this season, was out well, running in the top-50. NCAA rookie Daniel Hernandez had decent positioning in the early going, crossing the 3k mat around 80th (260 total runners), while Brayden McLaughlin (All American in '21) positioned himself just inside the top 100. Joshua O'Neill a 30:19 10k runner on the track looked engaged running in the top half of the field, and Omar Alvarez-Hernandez rounded out the 'Cats 7 crossing early check points in the 130's. Alvarez-Hernandez had unfortunately been dealing with a lower leg/achilles issue in the weeks between regionals and NCAA's and appeared to be a bit off his usual self (he led the 'Cats @ Bronco w/ a 23:30's 8k). Early timing mats had the 'Cats move from 7th to 5th between 1k-3k.. and the Chico crew would basically hold this position through the remainder of the race as some slid and others moved up.
Emanuel went into the race with an inside goal of finishing in the top-15 (he was 24th a year ago), but unfortunately his Top-10 placement in the early going didn't last too long, and the senior spent much of the run bleeding places and trying hard to stay composed for the team. Abberton moved up nicely from the early stages, to a mid-race placement of 16th at one point. Cameron spent the first half of the run gradually moving from around 50th, to a spot just outside of the All American zone (Top-40) by mid race. During the middle kilometers Brayden made nice progress, moving into the top third of the field, sliding by teammate Hernandez along the way. O'Neill and Alvarez-Hernandez held positions in the low 100's pretty much throughout the race, giving the 'Cats a solid insurance package if someone ahead should faulter.
Not much changed over the final 5k of the run as the 'Cats' fought hard to maintain positions, both individually and as a team. Emanuel's off day was unfortunate, as a rough second-half cost him the chance to add to his All American totals, but his eventual 76th place finish was an important 4th scoring spot for our Top-5 finish. Rory, who'd been sick the week leading up to the race lost a few places over the final mile, but still managed to earn his first XC ALL American honors with a 25th place finish. Duquette, not known for his kick, lost a few spots over the final kilometer, but held on nicely for a very impressive 46th place finish (missed All American by just 10 seconds). After passing a good number of athletes over the middle stretches of the run, McLaughlin's body stalled out a bit, and he held steady over the final few K's while taking 72nd overall. Daniel Hernandez had gotten out relatively aggressively, gave up some places leading up to the half-way point, but did a solid job of holding on tight in the second half, while concluding the 'Cats scoring with a 100th place finish. To put Hernandez' run into perspective the Vacaville native was the 3rd #5 runner to finish, and he was just 6 seconds behind Wingate's #5 (Wingate took 2nd place in the team scoring). Finishing just 13th seconds back and in 118th place was Joshua O'Neill, and teammate Omar Alvarez-Hernandez was the 5th #7 man to cross the line, as the Maria Carrillo product finished 144th on the bum leg.
Although they had missed their goal of earning a team trophy by just 1 team place, the Wildcat men have much to be proud of. Saturday was another step forward for the guys, after the massive set-back the Covid layoff was. A year ago the men finished 8th, and today they climbed back into the nation's Top-5.
Women's Championship 6k:
The Wildcat women went into the weekend ranked 12th in most polls, and the goal was to improve on this ranking by at least two placings, to get the squad back into the nation's top-10, as we had been most years leading up to the Covid break. Of course a year ago, our women took 25th at the big dance, but this year's squad has enjoyed a solid season, and has shown potential for being a Top-10 team.
In the early going, the Wildcat women positioned themselves quite well among the 260+ runner field. At the Very early 600m split mat, the Chico women ran in 7th position as a team, and all scorers were among the top third of the field. Marissa D'Atri led the way for the 'Cats injecting herself into the top-20 from the gun, seemingly unafraid of the firepower of PR's around her.
In the 1k stretch from the 600m mat to the mile mark the 'Cats gave up some places as they settled in for the 5k ahead, and at the mile marker the Lady-'Cats ran in 10th position.
RS Frosh Hannah Tiffany looked solid rolling through 3k well inside the top-100 overall, as Chico's #2 runner in the field. Twins Della and Iresh Molina ran in 3-4 positions just a few seconds behind Tiffany. Katie Hawley, who was subbed into the line-up the week of the race was also having a nice day, operating well inside the top half of the field, and providing a solid final scoring spot for the 'Cats. Junior Gracie Dupuis who was our #2 in Montana had gotten out well, but her body appeared to not be working with her throughout the run as she lost some places at each remaining check-point. The 'Cats seventh on the course was Hannah Ryan, who'd been absolutely buried in the early going, and was trying to power her way through the sea of runners ahead. Team scores at 2 miles. 10. Chico 360, 11. 366, 12. 368, 13. 368... It would be a nail biter for the 'Cats to hold onto the final Top-10 spot.
For the most-part the Chico women held their ground well over the final stretches of the race. Marissa ran in 12th at 2 miles, and gave up two spots over the final half, finishing in a Very impressive 14th place overall. Hannah Tiffany would clip off 5 places over the same stretch to finish 81st overall in her first NCAA Championship run. Della Molina would pass 7 women over the final 3k to finish 92nd overall. Katie Hawley moved up 9 spots over the final 3k while finishing 106th. Iresh Molina, who'd missed some training the week leading up to the race lost some spots, but stopped the Wildcats scoring with her 133rd place NCAA debut. Gracie Dupuis and Hannah Ryan would finish 162nd and 169th respectively to finish out the 'Cats day.
As things would turn out, Wayne State and Colorado Christian, two of the teams who ran just behind our women at 2 miles, had better closing segments and moved into the 9th and 10th slots by the finish. Winona State fell to 11th, just nipping the 'Cats by some 6 points. There's no doubt that this was a bitter-sweet finish for the Chico women. On one hand we were SO close to adding to our Top-10 NCAA team finishes, but on another hand, we did manage to finish 12th in the nation (out of 300+ schools that sponsor the sport).
D'Atri's run was one for the ages, as the senior earned a coveted NCAA trophy that comes with a Top-15 performance. She joins a select group of 'Cats who have earned this honor (Karlie Garcia, Sadie Gastelum, Sara Mikesell, Jill Symons, Sarah Montez, and Katie Lee). Marissa now has matching All American honors between last spring's steeple, and this fall's XC award. The bad news is that this was D'Atri's final cross country race for the 'Cats, but the good news is that she has two seasons of track remaining, to add to her list of accomplishments. The only other senior on the 'Cats line-up was Katie Hawley, but she too has two track seasons to run!
Concluding thoughts... Although both teams finished a bit off their hoped goals, there is much to be proud of in looking at Friday's performances, and the season as a whole. The 'Cats are one of what is most likely just 4-5 schools that have qualified BOTH squads to the NCAA Championships each year since 2000. (*Most would miss this, but Adams State is NOT on this list, as their men failed to qualify for the NCAA meet this year). Chico State is also just 1 of 6 schools to put Both men's and women's teams into the Top-12 of Saturday's races. Of course there are SOO many folks, who have helped to pave the way to statistics like this, so I'd like to thank you all for your contributions to where this program is today. It's been quite a ride, and we're excited to see what's around the next turn.
