HUNTSVILLE, AL - For those who follow our program closely you will remember how our women's team tied for 3rd in the West Region championships in 2023, and how they won a tie-break by virtue of our #4 runner beating the other team's #4 by less than a quarter of a second. That was the difference between us making NCAA's for the 23rd straight season, verses us sitting out our first championship since 1999. No one reading this will care to know the boring details of NCAA qualifying these days, but the cliff-notes version is that you need to run against, and beat teams from outside your region during the regular season, if you want any chance at gaining one of the 8 at-large spots to NCAA's, should your team finish outside the top-3 in the regional champs.

After last year's close call, we decided to take matters into our own hands, and hit the road to a big meet with competition from various regions outside the west. It was decided that we'd attend University of Alabama at Huntsville's Chargers Invite. The meet is run on an incredible course that hosted the 2020 high school national championships, and Huntsville is a relatively short 2 hour drive from Nashville, so flying in wasn't too challenging or expensive. Another bonus was that there was another solid north state invitational the same weekend that we could send our developing athletes to (San Francisco Invite). Having survived the weekend I'm 100 percent confident that our decision to split the squad and go to Huntsville was a good one, as the Chico men bested a 32 team field, while the women finished a very close 2nd behind nationally ranked Pittsburg State (KS). Our youthful squad did a masterful job of holding down the fort with 2nd and 3rd place (m/w) overall finishes at the SF Invite, defeating a number of A squads from fellow CCAA schools.

UAH Chargers' Invite Men's 8K:

The Wildcat men went into the weekend expecting a big show-down with Lee University, a strong team from TN who'd just finished among the top-5 at last week's big invite at Louisville. Unfortunately for the 'Cats Lee decided to rest most of their top 7, and entered a "B" squad that included a few of their normal top-7. Either way the 'Cats would have their hands full with hometown (14th ranked) Huntsville who's top guy has run 13:48/28:43 on the track. Pitt State would also send a very formidable and nationally ranked squad to the line, as would 32 other squads on the day. This would be a nice test for the road-weary 'Cats, who began warming up for their race at 5:00am (Pacific).

As the race began to circuit the beautiful layout that is John Hunt park (formerly a golf course, that has since been turned into a dedicated XC venue) the 'Cats got themselves out well, but were a bit scattered among the various lead groupings. The first timing check-point had the Chico men sitting in 3rd of the 35 teams competing, with the hosts in the lead, and Pitt State sitting in second. With just under 6k of racing left and given that the guys were placed well among the field, yours truly had confidence in an eventual winning outcome.

Check-point two brought movement, but the 'Cats sat in 2nd place, just 6 points behind Huntsville. Despite the point differential it was obvious that the 'Cats were moving well as the race reached the challenging stages. Damian Garcia had started in a second chase group in the early going, but smoothly moved himself into the elite pack that trailed only Harding's Kenyan standout Josphat Meli (28:38 10k guy), and Huntsville's Sam Wilhelm who had broken away from the field early. Dylan White ran beside Garcia, while Brayden McLaughlin, Daniel Hernandez, Matthew Gordon and Mario Giannini were bridging up from behind. By 4 miles you could visually see that the 'Cats were no longer in second, and that they were literally running away with the title.

The final mile brought a solidification of the eventual win as Damian began the scoring, placing 4th overall in 23:56. In just 17 seconds the 'Cats 2,3,4,5 and 6 runners had crossed the line. all finishing among the top-14 in the 330 athlete field. Senior Hunter Dougherty didn't have his best day, but his persistence and toughness got him through the finish in 23rd (24:28) thus earning himself a place on the Top-25 awards podium post race.

Chargers' Invite Women's 6k:

It almost feels like a tradition that the Wildcat women get out conservatively in big races and then move through the field along the way, finishing among the top teams by the end. On Saturday our women flipped the script to some degree as the 2k split mat had the 'Cats leading Pitt State and Cedarville, 81, 144, 183. I must admit that yours truly felt pretty confident at that point of the run that the title would be ours, assuming we didn't have any major implosions (which thankfully we didn't).

Leading the way throughout, much as they have all season, were the twins Della and Iresh Molina who ran among a 7-woman lead group in the early-going. Marbella Flores did a great job of keeping the Molina's in her sights as she operated in the Top-15 the entire run. The remainder of the Wildcat women spent the race working in the top 30-40 overall in the 330 plus runner field.

Through the middle kilometers Cedarville's top runner broke free from the lead pack, and the twins focused on working with the front group for a bit longer, as it's size dwindled with every kilometer covered.

The second split mat near the 4k mark saw the 'Cats chop 14 points from their score, as their tally was now reduced to 65. Pitt State had dropped 51 points from their score, and now had 93. Cedarville had also taken quite a few points off their early race tally as they now sat in third with 110.

Over the final kilometers, the twins set out together giving chase of the lone leader ahead. Marbella had enjoyed her best start of the year, and she was making it stick as she ran among the top 10 with 1k remaining. Sienna Bianchi, Sophie Pelletier, Jasmine Fletcher, and true frosh Kaya Scuba ran most of the race within several meters of one another, but the final kilometers brought some separation, which opened the door for the competition.

Della Molina closed the final half mile extremely fast (5:07 pace!) using a slight downhill and a long flat final straight to make up most of the gap that separated her from the eventual winner from Cedarville. Sister Iresh finished 3rd just a few ticks back. Marbella notched a new 6k PB with her 8th place 21:14 run. Sienna Bianchi finished next for the 'Cats with her 25th place effort (21:41). Jasmine Fletcher held on for 31st, while Sophie and Kaya wrapped things up with 39th and 40th place efforts.

The 'Cats fought hard over the final 2k and despite some give and take from our scoring 5, we added just two points to our mid-race total. Given that we had a 30ish point lead going into the final 2k this would normally be a safe buffer, but Pitt State's #5 Claire Bruening caught fire and passed no fewer than 24 women over the final 2k (which included our numbers 4,5,6, and 7 runners). The result was a narrow 5 point victory for the Gorillas, and a bitter-sweet runner-up finish for the 'Cats. It's safe to say that the Chico crew was slightly stunned to find that Pitt State had overcome the deficit that they had.

With some time to absorb the initial shock the Chico women were pleased to have practiced getting out more aggressively, and to have handled the large field size (300+ runners) well. In looking more closely at the breakdown of points, the 'Cats barely benefited by the nearly 20 seconds that both Molinas put on Pitt's #1 runner.. In fact there were no points between Iresh and Pitt's top finisher. In a larger more powerful field, the seconds between the Molinas and teams like Pitt State and Western Washington (the only 2 teams we've lost to this season) will be filled with finishers that will tack on points to all five of our opponents' scorers, and only 3 of ours. It's complicated, but if we run as we did Saturday at NCAA's, we should beat teams like Pitt State.

It should also be noted that the 'Cats had defeated a number of nationally ranked teams from across the country, which should help to give us leverage toward a potential at-large NCAA bid should we finish 4th or 5th in the regional in November.

San Francisco State Invitational (Golden Gate Park) The SF Invite was run on Friday.

Men's 8k:

The Wildcat men went into Friday's race hoping to take a crack at winning the team title. Everyone knew that it would be a tall order, as Stanislaus would be sending a formidable A squad to the line, and the Warriors hadn't competed in 3 weeks, so they would be hungry to make a statement.

During the race, several of our younger RS frosh guys made their presence known at the front of the main pack. Sean Alliegro, a walk-on from Mira Costa HS led the race for a brief period at around the 3 mile mark. Red shirts Mason Mullen (true frosh from Berkeley HS) and Jesus Villarreal also ran among the lead pack throughout much of the race.

Unfortunately Stanislaus' firepower and strength prevailed as the Warriors would eventually place their scoring 5 inside the races' top-10. Villarreal would lose a close race for the win while finishing 2nd to Stan's leader on the day. Mullen would take 11th. Alliegro would start the 'Cats scoring with his 12th place run. Wes Selby would finish next for the 'Cats with a 14th place finish with teammate Nicholas Guzman crossing next in 15th. Anders Beil and Adrian Hippolito would finish the 'Cats scoring on the day with their 18th and 19th place finishes. As the results were tabulated the 'Cats had taken 2nd on the day, defeating A squads from Monterey Bay, East Bay, Sac State, San Jose State, SF State, and several other universities (see team scores below). Given the 'Cats were without an injured Devin Pereira (24:20's and :30's in his two races this season), and couldn't score the two unattached runners, the SF race was certainly a solid outing for a young and developing crew.

Women's 6k:

The Chico women would be up against an improving Stanislaus A squad, and DI Sac State's best women's team in a number of years. Of course Monterey Bay, East Bay and others would also send capable A teams to the line on Friday.

Leading the way for much of the race for the 'Cats was true frosh Zoe Aitken, who's struggled with some medication related heat issues this fall, both in training and racing. After having to DNF the WWU meet, Zoe looked and felt much better this week as she spearheaded the 'Cats attack among the top 15 overall. Senior teammates Jaclyn Denham, Hannah Wirth, and Jennifer Ruiz all ran among the top-20, along with Aitken for much of the race.

With Stanislaus and Sac State taking most spots among the top-10, the Wildcat women were battling for 3rd throughout. Jaclyn Denham had a big closing kilometer to hit the finish first (of our team) in 11th. Zoe and Hannah would finish in 15th and 16th while Jenny Ruiz would find the line at 21st overall. Grace Reed's 31st place finish would conclude the 'Cats scoring day, guaranteeing them a podium finish (3rd).

Next Up:

CCAA Championships on Friday October 25th @ Clovis, CA (Woodward Park)
9:00am: Men's Start
10:00am: Women's Start

The Chico men will try to defend their 21 year CCAA streak on the iconic Woodward Park course that many of our kids raced their high school state championships on. Once again Cal Poly Pomona will supply the biggest challenge as the Broncos recently won the 40 team Dallas Baptist Glory Gallop Invite. Stay tuned, as this will be another barn-burner! The Wildcat women will enter the CCAA race as defending champs, and trying to win their 18th title in 22 years, but Pomona and Stanislaus enter the weekend with some solid recent momentum. Pomona's women finished 2nd in the DBU Invite behind DI Rice University. Our women will need to be on top of their game to add to the program's trophy case.

NCAA Championship Reminder: Keep 11/23/24 earmarked on your calendar as the NCAA Champs return to Sacramento, CA. We're trying to pack the course with screaming fans and hope to see there. More to details to come in the next few days on the Championships and associated events.