CERES,CA - After a hot but rewarding summer of training, the 2024 cross country season got officially underway for the Wildcats. A very successful recruiting class composed of 13 women & 8 men joined last year's returnees to open up their season at the Kim Duyst Twilight Invitational under the lights at River Oaks Golf Course in Ceres.

Women's 6k:

The twins had some company in the early going, with Stanislaus' Annie Wild (CCAA 1500 champ) and Jacqueline Sanchez (7th in '23 CCAA XC race as frosh) covering them in the initial 2k loop. Sanchez held on the longest, as the twins dispatched her approaching the bell lap. The Chico duo would run the fastest last lap of the day (by far) over their final revolution as they put 38 seconds on Sanchez in the final loop. The pair hit the tape with the same exact time, holding hands, and smiling. Certainly not choreographed, but it's hard to fault them given this was their first 1-2 XC finish in their college careers to date.

The rest of Chico's scorers ran the majority of the race within a few strides of one another with some minor shuffling of places along the way. By the finish Jasmine Fletcher, Hannah Wirth, Sophie Pelletier, and Sienna Bianchi occupied the 6,7,8 and 9 spots, guaranteeing a lop-sided victory over the host school. True frosh Kaya Scuba, (who was running unattached) would take 11th, and 2024 JC 5k Champ Marbella Flores would cross in 12th.

The good news of the day was certainly the depth of the women's crew. Counting two true frosh who ran out of uniform, the Chico women accounted for 10 of the first 15 finishers in the race. The "There's work yet to be done" angle, is the reality that we have a 2/3 gap of 1:20, which we hope to reduce as the season goes along.

Looking ahead, watch out for the addition of 3 true frosh in uniform next week. Kaya Scuba, and Kira Forsberg (11th and 14th on Saturday) will be joined by teammate Roxana Diaz, as the three will make their uniform debut. This year's women's team will certainly be our deepest in some time.

Men's 8k:

The men's 8k course was the same 2k loop as the women had run, with the addition of an extra circuit. Final instructions to the Chico men by yours truly included something to the effect that we didn't need any first lap hero's that night, and to save their best stuff for the second half. The guys did a wonderful job of executing the race-plan on the night. In the early going a lead pack of 10 had formed by the 2k mark, and the Chico men accounted for 6 of those places.

By the completion of two loops the lead pack had pared down to 6, with the 'Cats occupying 5 of those spots. Chico now held 8 of the top-10 positions, as opponents were squeezed off the pace with each passing revolution.

The final two laps were very fast at the front, as Chico's Mario Giannini, Dylan White, and Damian Garcia locked horns with 27 year old Spanish post-collegiate athlete Ero Doce.

With a lap to go the lead pack was down to three with Doce, Gianinni and Garcia dueling it out for the win. Defending CCAA Champ Dylan White ran a few strides off the lead group in 4th, and now teammates followed in 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th.

Damian gave Doce a good run, but the RS Sophomore didn't have the strength to hold onto Doce over the final half mile of the run. Ero would hit the tape first, with Damian following in a blazing 23:23. closing the final lap in a wicked 5:35 split! Mario Giannini would follow in 3rd, White in 4th, Matthew Gordon in 5th, Daniel Hernandez in 6th, Hunter Dougherty in 7th, and Devin Pereira in 8th (24:26). Red shirts Mason Mullen and Jesus Villarreal would take 9th and 10th for good measure. Mullen's time and race were particularly impressive as the true freshman ran a speedy 24:28 and had moved up from 23rd at mid-race to 9th at the finish. Another great run that was somewhat buried in the stats was that of Devin Pereira a RS frosh from Rocklin, CA. Pereira was a standout at Rocklin HS but spent his entire freshman year dealing with a few unfortunate injuries that prevented any racing. Devin's 24:26 Chico debut was his first actual race since his State meet 3200m as a senior in hs. Welcome to collegiate running Devin, and great job!

This was a very solid start for the 'Cats who flexed their depth in a number of ways, including placing 15 finishers across the line in the top-25 overall. It should also be noted that the 'Cats ran without multiple time CCAA Champion and 29:16 10k guy Brayden McLaughlin, who missed a decent portion of the summer training while returning from a late-season track injury. McLaughlin, who's fitness is progressing nicely should join the fold either next week in Washington, or two weeks following, in Alabama.

Speaking of Washington, the 'Cats pick back up on Saturday September 28 at the Bill Roe Invitational, hosted by West region rival Western Washington University.

Also: Please consider joining us on Nov. 23 @ the NCAA XC Championships Hosted at Hagin Oaks Golf Course in SACRAMENTO, CA. We're hoping to pack the course with Chico fans!