KENOSHA, WISCONSIN -- On Saturday the Chico State men's and women's cross country teams contested the 2025 NCAA Championships in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The women enjoyed a solid 8th place finish out of a 34 team field, while the men's team struggled while taking 15th in their race. Both teams dealt with some adversity in the days and hours leading up to the races and I'm very proud of each group for their efforts given the circumstances. We're one of just two schools that have qualified both teams to the NCAA Championships each year since 2000 (a 25 year run) and I'm so grateful to these squads and everyone who has helped us to this point through the years. Please enjoy the write up below on each race.



Women's Championship 6k:

The run-up to the women's championship couldn't have gone much rougher in all honesty. The following Tuesday after regionals, 12th place finisher Olivia Beschorner had a bit of an asthma attack during our workout, and since that day she's been unable to sustain faster running in workouts (especially in cold air). With the NCAA allowing an alternate to make the trip with the competing 7 these days, it was nice knowing that RS Frosh Isabel Rosales was an insurance package in case she might be needed on the big day (Isabel recently ran a 17:36 5k while winning our 5k TT on the track). The day after we arrived to Wisconsin and while doing a routine course preview run Isabel's knee locked up and she was unable to get through 2 miles before having to limp back to the start. She had developed a case of IT Band syndrome. Then the day before the race (while resting Isabel) Kira Forsberg (CCAA Newcomer of the year) had her pre-race run stopped abruptly due to a sharp knee pain. Having had surgery on the same knee in high school Kira was worried that she might have somehow re-injured it.

Substitutions can be made up to 45 min before the race, so Scott and I followed the women out to an adjacent park where all 8 women warmed up. Isabel and Kira fell from the group pretty early on as both were favoring their bum knees. With Olivia dealing with coughing fits and the two knee issues we felt like we were sending 5 to the line with the chance of helping the team to a hoped Top-10 finish (they went in ranked 9th in the most recent NCAA poll). With both (Isabel and Kira) managing to get through a warm up, but not without pain, we decided to roll with the projected line-up and not make any changes.

Making matters more difficult for the 'Cats was the fact that the Parkside XC course is a VERY challenging layout. The first kilometer of the course is mostly a long challenging climb before the route narrows into a 12ft wide path that skirts through the wooded areas adjacent to the start stretch. It's a course that has few flat stretches and you're always climbing or descending on mostly narrow paths. Early placement is key, because if you start in the back half of the field going into the narrow stretches you can get caught into what is in essence a traffic jam.

The Chico women did a great job of placing themselves into spots by the course pinch point. At the 1k checkpoint the 'Cats ran in 10th place as a team and all 7 were operating within the top half of the 260+ runner field. As has been the case throughout the season, Iresh Molina was leading the way, checking in at 30th overall with 5k remaining. True frosh Paulina Martins followed in 47th, Megan Malloy in 79th, Sienna Bianchi (109), Jasmine Fletcher (117), Olivia (121) and Kira (136).

As hard as this course was for the athletes to navigate, it was equally as challenging to view and cheer them on. The hilly terrain coupled with the narrow paths and thousands of spectators created a nearly impossible scenario to grab photos and offer any words or encouragement. Thankfully the ladies were doing just fine for themselves out there as they'd moved up two spots in the team race by 3k and thankfully Kira's knee was holding up on the unforgiving layout. Iresh had moved up to 21st, while Paulina was holding steady at 62nd and Megan ran just behind her teammate in 65th. Sienna was running strong just outside the top 100, as was Jasmine. Kira looked a bit unsteady but determined in 130th. The only piece of bad news at the half way point was that Olivia's breathing had gone south and she was sliding back through the field.

As they have all season, the 'Cats did a great job of executing over the second half of the race, and although they didn't move up in the team standings by the finish, they did make up nearly 50 points on eventual 7th place team Cedarville who would beat the 'Cats by just 3 points. Iresh Molina fought off a mid-race side-stitch to garner her third straight All American award (the first 3-time All American in Chico State Women's XC history!) while placing 21st. Megan Malloy ran an amazing final half of the race and missed All American by just 8 seconds while placing 47th overall. Paulina Martins capped what had to be the best season ever by a true frosh in CSUC women's XC history with her 61st place run. Paulina had Zero bad races this fall and was an absolute rock for us. A year ago Sienna Bianchi placed 200th at these championships, on Saturday she would file across as our 4th runner in 102nd. Despite the challenging knee issue Kira would seal the 'Cats first Top-10 team finish since before COVID with her 129th place effort. Teammate Jasmine Fletcher would follow just a few ticks later in 131st. It was a tough NCAA debut for Olivia who crossed in 200th, but I'm willing to bet the CCAA steeple champ will punch her ticket to the big dance this spring and she'll get some revenge there.

Overall it was another really strong outing for the Chico women. As mentioned previously the Chico women hadn't finished among the nation's top-10 since 2019, and we did this while red-shirting multi-time All American Della Molina. Looking ahead we return our entire Top-10 women from this season, minus Iresh. The future looks bright!

Men's Championship 10k:

The Chico men entered the weekend in a pretty good place, especially as compared to our women's squad, although we did have one glaring challenge. Our only returning All American Mario Giannini just hasn't looked himself since winning CCAA's back in October. Pretty much all workouts since conference week had been a struggle for Mario, and his 10th place regional finish Really took a lot of effort, and seemed to zap him even more. On the Tuesday before NCAA's we do a pretty modest final workout, and Mario was unable to stick with anyone in our travel party, including our alternate. Given that Mario is a rock mentally we Had to send him to the line, and thankfully we did.

With as well as our women got out and put themselves in the race from the gun, the men collectively did the opposite. Regional champ Damian Garcia ran among the top-10 to 15 in the field for the first quarter mile, but then allowed over 130 runners to pass him on the climb to the kilometer mark. At 1k only Matthew Gordon ran among the top-100 as Mario and Jesus Villarreal followed in 108th and 109th. Sergio Cuartas crossed 1k in 120th with Damian Garcia, Travis Selby and Jackson Stream following in 147th, 151st, and 155th. Although the 'Cats had 9k remaining to make up places, they were buried on a narrow path and had left themselves a tall order to fight for a Top-10 spot (Team scoring @ 1k had them at 16th respectively).



The following check-points brought some progress as the 'Cats were in 13th at 3.2k but still nearly 100 points behind West Region rival Western Washington (who ran in 9th). At 5k the Chico men had moved up to 11th position with Mario Giannini somehow leading the way for Chico. Mario hit 5k in 15:30 and ran in 68th position. Matthew Gordon followed just 1 second behind, while Jesus had moved into the Top-100 with a 15:38 split. Damian had moved up to 108th and Sergio followed in 116th (15:48 split). The second half brought some continued progress for Mario and Jesus, but Matthew was struggling and trying to maintain a spot inside the top-100 of the field. Damian yo-yo'd a bit in the second half but was never able to get himself into the top 100.

Although it wasn't pretty, and it was far off what he'd hoped to place in setting up his season Mario did a masterful job of somehow running an even splitted 31:01 for a 57th place finish. Senior Jesus Villarreal enjoyed his best XC race to date while placing 72nd overall. Matthew Gordon would cross next for the Chico men finishing in 90th. Damian would follow next in 111th , and now we waited for a fifth. No less than 53 finishers crossed the line before true frosh Jackson Stream stopped the 'Cats bleeding with his 164th place effort. Sergio Cuartas' second half had been rough and he would cross next in 166th. Senior Travis Selby would close things out for Chico with a 32:36 10k for 190th.

With the separation of our scoring five over the final half of the run the men slid to 15th, missing 14th by just 1 team point.

The men's result is a tough one to swallow for sure. There's no doubt that this team was capable of more, and that's the hardest part of absorbing a result like this. We weren't a podium contending squad at any point of the season, but I'm confident in stating that we we were capable of placing in the top 7 on a decent day. Unfortunately that day will have to wait, and we'll have to learn from this one.

A few of the silver lining take-aways from Saturday (for the men):

* Mario Giannini is as tough as they come. From the outside most would probably think that a guy who placed 28th the year before should be devastated by a 57th place run (and to some degree he is) but I couldn't be more proud given the circumstances.

* It's always nice to see a senior going out on a strong note. Jesus' run today was solid and he deserves credit for a really smart and gutsy run.

* Matthew Gordon was 42nd overall at NCAA's a year ago.. then he missed the entire track season with a Sports Hernia repair surgery. He then dealt with a number of hic-ups in his build back. His entire '25 fall campaign has been just a bit 'off' and he tried his hardest to make this a great race.

* We return a solid core from this crew, including 2 regional champions, Matthew Gordon, Jackson Stream, and a host of talented youngsters. I'm very confident that the '26 crew will have us back in our usual spot among the top 5-10 in the country. The Chico State men have now finished in the Top-15 in 26 straight NCAA Championships, dating back to 1999.

Thank You... To Everyone who has supported us this season, and through the years. We're incredibly fortunate and grateful for all of the amazing people who have helped us to where we are as a program.