San Francisco, CA - It wasn't easy, but our Wildcats earned their third straight team sweep this weekend in San Francisco. While competing in unusually warm conditions (87 degrees at start time) a partially healthy crew of Wildcats managed to fend off regional foes Simon Fraser, Stan State, Concordia (Irvine), and several others. Given the hot conditions and less than 100 percent health, both squads did a wonderful job of measuring themselves early, and moving through the field in the later stages.

We'll start with the guys this week.

Men's 8k: The men would start the race without Damian Garcia who was the 'Cats #4 in our most recent competition at San Marcos. Garcia did manage 9 miles on Friday while cheering on teammates, but was held out as a precaution as he was coming off a calf ailment earlier in the week. A few others were a bit under the weather, but overall the guys really dominated this one.

The SF State course (which is the same layout that we've used since around 2010) covers the same 2k circuit, after an initial Polo field loop. Each lap, athletes cross a chip mat which quickly tabulates team scores, and early individual placings. One can learn a lot about what just went down by clicking on the scoring tab for each 2k mark after the races have concluded. Having done just this, I'm extremely pleased with the progress that both squads made during their respective races.

A quick glance at how the guys got the job done..
2k: #3 runner-10th overall
4k: #5 runner-10th overall
6k: #5 runner-8th overall, #6runner-11th.
Finish: #6 runner-9th overall, #9 runner-21st.

From the gun Daniel Hernandez inserted himself at the front of the field, and by mid race he and a pair of Simon Fraser athletes, and 2 Fresno Pacific runners had separated from the main field into a lead pack.  For much of the first half, the 'Cats Mario Giannini, Dylan White, Joshua O'Neill, and Brayden McLaughlin ran within a few strides of one another, slowly moving their way closer to the front, and dispatching competitors with each passing kilometer.

In the later stages of the race Hernandez ran among what was now a 3 man lead group, with SFU's Sebastian Brinkman showing the greatest potential for preventing Hernandez from taking home his second straight win. Teammate Mario Giannini (racing for the first time in 4 weeks) was now running solo and bridging the gap to the lead trio. Dylan White, Brayden, and Joshua looked great heading into the final lap and running within the top-10 overall. Also making big moves through the field from behind was San Diego Mesa alum Jesus Villarreal who was making moves toward an eventual Top-10 finish.

With a kilometer of racing remaining, Hernandez and Brinkman ran side by side down the path that parallels JFK Drive. In the early stages of the race Brinkman seemed to gap the lead pack on this stretch, so as they ran by yours truly I encouraged Daniel to just stay with him and get after the final (uphill) stretch to the finish. Hernandez would go on to drop his Canadian competitor shortly after, and making big moves of his own Giannini would also slide by Brinkman on the final stretch (giving the 'Cats a 1-2 finish). Dylan White and Joshua O'Neill would come home 5th and 6th, while Mclaughlin (dealing with an intercostal cramp) got nipped at the line by Stan's #1 Jose Garcia, while taking 8th. Villarreal would enjoy his first Top-10 finish while taking 9th.

Another great run for the Wildcat men, sending the crew into CCAA's undefeated, and with a giant target over their heads.

Women's 6k: From the top, the women entered Friday's run with their backs against the wall. Hannah Ryan (our 2nd place finisher in the team's pre-season TT) has had a REALLY hard time bouncing back from an early season bout with Covid. Her week and days leading into Friday's attempted run was something that no athlete should have to deal with while trying to prep for one of their final collegiate XC races. She would end up DNF'ing. Teammate Hannah Wirth (our #3 finisher in San Marcos) was sick with some sort of virus and ended up as our #10 on the day. Sienna Bianchi (our #3 in our first race of the year) was held out as she comes back from a calf ailment. Add another usual top-5 runner who was bouncing back from early week sickness, and you get the idea that we were vulnerable out there Friday.

With all of these things being said our pre-race plan was to run with confidence and poise out there. We knew the heat would take it's toll on the field, and we wanted to control our own destiny and Not allow the conditions to derail what we felt we could do. Now, here's what places our Top-5 runners were in at each 2k split.. along with team place at each point:

2k: 12,13, 21, 23, 32 (4th place team)
4k: 6, 8, 14, 17, 28 (2nd place team)
Finish: 5, 6, 12, 18, 26 (1st place team.by 2 points!)
Whew, what a race that ended up being!

Leading the way for the 'Cats (once again) were the Molina twins, who as you can see above, moved closer to the front with each passing 2k loop. For the third time this season Della would lead the team, while taking 5th on the day. Iresh would follow several seconds later in 6th. Our main competition on the day was the much-improved Concordia-Irvine team who's #1 runner Jori Paradis (4:26/17:00 track Pr's) finished just in front of Della in 3rd overall. The 'Cats would put their 1-2 across the line before CUI's Madi Jahashin (35:15 10k runner), who would finish 8th.  Chico's Jaclyn Denham (a key for our win) would cross next in 12th, and just two places ahead of CUI's #3 Porche Eisman (4:31/17:00 track PR's). Despite dealing with an early week illness Sophie Pelletier would grind out an 18th place finish, crossing the line just 3 seconds ahead of CUI's #4 Claudia Vera (4th at JC State XC in '22). CUI would put their 5th across the line next (24th), but Gracie Dupuis' 26th place effort was just enough to give the 'Cats a 2 point victory over their So-Cal competitors. As a fan of the sport, you have to love a close race, and this was a good one!

Wrap Up: As mentioned previously both Wildcat squads will enter the Championship season having won each of their three invitationals. Of course both squads will need to be closer to 100 percent to achieve their ultimate goals and potential. Hopefully we can get healthy by November!

Entering CCAA's the women will now go in as pretty heavy favorites. Despite having a less than healthy line-up on Friday the 'Cats finished well ahead of 2 time defending champs Stan State. The Warriors were without two of their top runners as well, but neither have raced since early September, so it appears that everyone is dealing with some adversity this fall.

The men will have a great re-match with the Pomona guys, who raced us very close in our head-to-head battle with them two weeks ago in San Marcos. At the San Marcos meet the Broncos ran without their top finisher in this past weekend's win. The 'Cats of course were without Mario Giannini two weeks ago. CCAA's will be a GREAT race. I'd highly encourage all alumni and friends who live in the Bay Area to consider checking out the races in 2 weeks. Info on the races: https://goccaa.org/tournaments/?id=118&path=mcross

As always, thanks everyone for your support. So many friends, alumni and family on hand in SF. Thank you all, and see you in Freemont in two weeks!