SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- It's hard to know where to start with this one.. Do I open with the atmospheric river that dumped 5+ inches on the course in the 48 hours leading up to this year's NCAA races? Or do I dive right into how special it was to have hundreds of alumni and fans of our program out on the course and at our post-race luncheon? But then there were the results that further validated our program's being one of the best in the NCAA once again. To be honest, my head is still spinning, and ultimately I'm so grateful for the season that we've enjoyed, and all of those who have poured into it. Saturday's NCAA Championships in Sacramento will go down as one of the most memorable coaching experiences that yours truly has experienced in 30+ years as a Chico State Wildcat. When all the mud had been splattered and the final chip mat was crossed the Chico men had placed 6th in the most competitive DII field in history, while the women finished 15th of 34 qualifying teams. Three Wildcats earned All American honors (all Chico HS products!) as Mario Giannini (28th), Iresh Molina (24th) and Della Molina (32nd) would earn the prestigious distinction. Please feel free to follow along below for some of the muddy details of an epic day in Sacramento.
Men's Championship 10k:
The Chico men had a season-long goal of finishing this campaign on the podium at the NCAA Championships (Top-4). To do this we estimated that all scorers would most likely need to be at least in the Top-40-50 of the field. Training was centered around getting the men prepared and fit enough to run a sub 30:00 10k on the flat and relatively speedy Sac course. In 2019 (running on the same course) it took 30:43 to finish among the Top-40, but the NCAA landscape has changed drastically since the Pre-Covid days. Even with the muddy footing of 2024 the final All American crossed the line in 30:30 this past Saturday. In any event, the Chico men toed the line knowing that the competition would be fierce for a podium finish, and that the path to that goal would be filled with mud.
Despite talking pre-race about the need for getting out well on muddy days, the guys were admittedly buried in the early going this year. At the 1k checkpoint the guys sat in 13th place in the team scoring, and Daniel Hernandez was leading the charge at 87th.
The 2k check-point brought some momentum as the 'Cats had chopped some 50 points from their score and had moved into 10th on the team leaderboard. Damian Garcia now led the Wildcats, but only 3 seconds separated our first 6 runners.
By 4.4k (I know, random distance) the 'Cats were sitting in 8th with Hernandez once again leading the charge at 52nd. One of the really nice things about how this race was developing was the fact that our scoring five all ran within several seconds of one another for much of the race. At this checkpoint the guys spread was a miniscule 4 seconds. Although there was no official checkpoint at 5k (half-way) all five 'Cat scorers were under the 15:00 threshold.
The next check came at 6.2k. The 'Cats were now tallying 204 team points (a far cry from the 400+ at the 1k earlier!) and Mario Giannini was now leading the way for the good guys. Mario ran in 34th position, with Daniel just behind in 42nd, Dylan White in 51st, and Brayden McLaughlin and Matthew Gordon following in 55th and 56th. Oh yeah, and we were now running in 6th place, not far behind Midwest power Grand Valley State who sat in 5th.
At 8.8 kilometers (less than 1 mile to go) the 'Cats had moved into 5th place with 186 points, just 5 ahead of GVSU. It would take a miracle to catch Adams who sat in 4th now, but the 'Cats were moving, as Mario was now in the top 30, and Dylan was 43rd, Matthew 47th, Bray-50th, and Daniel 51st.
Unfortunately for the 'Cats Grand Valley must have heard the footsteps from behind as they stormed the final kilometer of the run, moving back into 5th for good with some big finishes. A few of the 'Cats gave up some spots, but overall the guys would hold their own pretty well over the final stretch of this one. Mario Giannini would finish first for the Chico crew, earning his first All American honor with a 28th place effort. Matthew Gordon would miss the final All American spot by less than 2 seconds with a very impressive 42nd place effort. Daniel Hernandez would close very well also with a NCAA personal best 47th place effort. Dylan White would finish next at 52nd place, while Brayden would become one of the 'Cats lowest 5th place finishers at NCAA's with his 56th place run (30:51). Sophomore Damian Garcia would finish 114th as our 6th on the day, and senior Hunter Dougherty would cap his Chico XC career with a 179th place finish.
Having had some time to evaluate and soak this performance in, I'm very proud of this group. My estimation is that the course ran :30-:45 slower due to the conditions. Our team average for the Top-5 was a 30:36, which means that we were pretty close to the target. One of our emphasizing points as we prepare for these types of races is to control what you can control, and then let the cards fall as they may. The guys did a great job of executing on the biggest stage. Their 1-5 gap over a tough 10k course was an impressive 36 seconds. There was much to be proud of and the men enjoyed an incredible season overall, going undefeated through the regional, and losing to 5 VERY Good teams at the end.
Women's Championship 6k:
As the men's race was winding down the rain had begun to fall again, and it was Really coming down during the :30 gap between races. Scantily clad super-fans ducked for cover between races, while the already torn up course took on even more water. The women's race would be a sloppy one for sure and I'd guess times were around :45-:50 slower than they would have been on a typical November day in Sacramento. Of course times don't matter in XC, so the Chico women prepared for battle, knowing that they would need to be tough and composed in these adverse conditions.
With the women entering the competition ranked 13th, the goal was to break into the Top-10 if all went well. From my estimation, if the twins could both finish among the Top-40 again this year (they finished 33rd and 37th a year ago) and if we could get our final scorers through the line in the Top-100, we could accomplish our goal. Unfortunately the adverse conditions didn't leave yours truly feeling extra confident in our chances, as several of our top women are a bit more geared to the track (which would have been great on this course in good conditions). The mud could be a bit of a liability in my estimation, but all pre-race instructions and comments were based around making the most of the opportunity in front of us.
At the 1k checkpoint the Chico women ran in 12th overall, which was slightly surprising given that Della Molina had gotten out to a really tough opening stretch. Sister Iresh ran in the 30's overall, but Della was somewhat buried at 79th. With plenty of running ahead, the Chico women had some work to do, but a top 10 finish was certainly within reach.
At the 2k mark the Chico women still sat in 12th. Iresh had moved up into 16th position overall and was leading the charge for the 'Cats. Sister Della had moved up 27 places into 52nd, but the gap back to the 'Cats #3 Marbella Flores included some 70 team points. The 'Cats 5th and final scorer (Kaya Scuba) sat in 134th at 2k.
Just shy of 4k the 'Cats were scuffling a bit, sitting in 17th with 440 points. Iresh had suffered a bad patch, falling back to 34th, but Della was continuing to grind forward in the field (42nd) and was now just outside of an All American position. The 'Cats number 3 on the course was now Jasmine Fletcher who sat in 138th. Kaya Scuba followed closely in 144th, with Flores running as the #5 in 146th.
Iresh must have heard her sister coming, because by the 5k mark she had moved back up and into 27th place. Della now sat in 39th and appeared motivated to finish her toughest race of the season on a strong note. Jasmine had moved up some places and now sat in 132nd, with true frosh Kaya Scuba just off her heels in 140th. Not having a good day, but holding on the best she could was Marbella Flores who sat in 151st with just 1k remaining. The 'Cats now sat in 16th and were just 1 point behind U Mary for 15th.
The Chico women would trim an additional 12 points from their score over the final kilometer of racing, which solidified a Top-15 finish by the line. Iresh Molina held on nicely over the final stretch placing 24th. Della would follow some 10 seconds later with a hard fought 32nd place effort. True frosh Kaya Scuba passed 9 women over the final :90 to place 130th in her NCAA debut. Jasmine Fletcher followed just 2 seconds later (also her NCAA debut). Marbella would close out the 'Cats scoring with a 159th place day. Senior Sophie Pelletier capped an awesome XC career with a 167th place run, while sophomore Sienna Bianchi would finish 200th in her nationals debut.
Not grabbing that Top-10 spot definitely stung a bit, but in reflecting on this one, the women did the very best they could given the circumstances. We've been trying to narrow that 2-3/4/5 gap all season, and ran into some adversity along the way, but outside of the twins this was a pretty young squad in terms of NCAA experience. Our entire scoring five return next year, and you can bet they'll be hungry to get the Chico women back among the NCAA's top-10. It also can't be lost that these women enjoyed one heck of a season overall, winning CCAA and West Region titles, and continuing on a tradition of solid NCAA success.
Random Concluding NCAA stats
*The Chico State men have now qualified for the NCAA Championships 25 straight years.
*The 25 year average team finish for the Chico Men @ NCAA's is 6.04
*Running on the same course (but muddy) the 2024 Chico men produced a faster team time than our 2019 3rd place team on the same layout.
*The Chico State women have qualified for NCAA's 24 straight years.
*The 24 year average team finish of the Chico Women @ NCAA's is 8.04
*Iresh and Della Molina join Sadie Gastelum, Missy Lendl, Tori Tyler, Jen James, and Alia Gray as 2-time XC All Americans.
