Sarah Montez, Scott Bauhs claim national titles
Sarah’s race was by far the most spectacular of the weekend as the fifth year senior was eliminated in her 1500m semifinal the day before and had also run the 3k prelim after the failed 1500m attempt. Despite having two races under her legs before stepping to the line, Sarah managed to defeat a talented field of runners with amazing strength and a blistering kick. Her 9:39.00 finish time eclipsed Katie Lee’s school record and was the fastest 3k run by a DII athlete this year.
Event 5 Women 1500 Meter Run
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Meet Record: # 4:13.00 5/27/1989 Teena Colebrook, Cal Poly S
Name Year School Prelims
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Heat 1 Preliminaries
1 Jessica Lamp Jr Wisconsin-Parkside 4:34.12Q
2 Sofia Monroe So Adams State 4:34.19Q
3 Ashley Puga Jr Northwest Nazarene 4:34.22Q
4 Rebecca Winchester Fr Grand Valley State 4:35.57Q
5 Sarah Montez Sr Cal St Chico 4:36.19
6 Terran Wertz Sr Lewis 4:39.05
7 Lyra Clark Fr Mass - Lowell 4:40.24
8 Kayla Silva Sr Cal St Chico 4:43.48
Heat 2 Preliminaries
1 Heidi Evans Sr North Dakota 4:31.82Q
2 Brianna Schofield Fr UC San Diego 4:33.50Q
3 Stacy Girard Jr Chadron State 4:33.54Q
4 Megan Johnson So Western State 4:33.74Q
5 Michelle Dill Jr Nebraska-Kearney 4:34.75q
6 Katie Alfredson So Grand Valley State 4:35.16q
7 Diane Dunn Sr UC San Diego 4:35.43q
8 Kelly Gibbons Jr Grand Valley State 4:35.75q
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| Sarah, ends her college career at the top of the podium shown here being presented her National Champion trophy by her coach |
Given it was her senior year Sarah wanted to attempt a double at the NCAA’s choosing the 1500m and the 3,000m races. Her 17:11 winning time at the Oregon Relays showed great strength, but her 4:33 1500m was also a good indication of how her speed had developed. On Thursday Sarah competed in the 1500m trial race and unfortunately was placed in the first of two heats. I say unfortunately because most of the time qualifiers for finals seem to come from the second heats as athletes from the second heats are able to watch the first heat unfold, and know how fast a time is needed to achieve a spot in the final. Unfortunately for Chico’s distance crew, 7 of our 8 competing athletes who were in heats were somehow placed in the first heats (for the second year in a row!). Sarah’s 1500m heat started quite slowly, which meant that she would probably need a Top-4 finish to advance with an automatic qualifying mark. Despite closing in 70 for the final 400m, Sarah was out-kicked to the line and just as feared, All of the time qualifiers came from Heat II.
Kayla Silva has enjoyed an amazing school year since making the move from 400/800 runner to XC/800/1500m runner. During her first season ever running XC this fall Kayla moved her way into the Wildcat’s scoring 5, and eventually became one of just a few Wildcat women to ever earn All American honors in the XC championships. Track season brought more success and Pr’s as Kayla Pr’d for 800m (2:13.1) and recently broke Margaret Pridgen’s school record mark for 1500m, making her the second Wildcat ever to break the 4:30 barrier. With so much success in such a short period of time, the final outcome of a disappointing NCAA trials race was tough for the Senior from Chico High to swallow.
In her trials race Kayla put herself among the leaders but never quite looked to be in control of what she was doing on the track. Her body language suggested that she was tired or exhausted as when the pace started to quicken toward the finishing lap, Kayla was immediately dropped by the pack. It was just a short 3 weeks ago that Silva dropped a 66 final lap to win the CCAA 15 title, but today wasn’t to be her day. Although the NCAA race didn’t go very well, Silva has now adjusted her sights to the upcoming XC season, and taking out the negative energy on the hill and dale of the ’08 NCAA schedule.
Event 6 Women 3000 Meter Run
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Meet Record: # 9:09.40 5/25/2007 Mandi Zemba, Grand Valley St
Name Year School Finals Points
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Finals
1 Sarah Montez Sr Cal St Chico 9:39.00 10
2 Jane Larson So Seattle Pacific 9:41.20 8
3 Tanya Gaurmer Sr Adams State 9:43.17 6
4 Katie Hickey Jr Bellarmine 9:49.42 5
5 Esther Komen So Harding 9:56.57 4
6 Kylen Cieslak So Northwood 9:57.01 3
7 Anna VanWechel Fr Minn St-Moorhead 9:58.08 2
8 Naomi Fulton Sr Wisconsin-Parkside 9:59.50 1
9 Melanie Peddle Jr Colorado/Mines 10:07.51
10 Elizabeth Chepkosgei JR Alaska Anchorage 10:07.84
11 Katie Hansen Jr Seattle 10:08.20
12 Molly Clark So Augustana 10:17.58
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| Sarah Montez finishing her Chico State Athletic Career in a big way, winning an NCAA title!!!. |
A few hours later Sarah was back on the start line in Heat I (of course) of the women’s 3k trial. Leaving little to chance Sarah posted a seasonal best 10:00 to safely earn a qualifier for the final in the 7.5 lap event, which would be run the following afternoon.
Without going into too much detail I think it’s important to paint a quick picture of Sarah’s situation going into the final. A native of Simi Valley, CA Sarah was back at home running on the Mt Sac track surface. It was five years ago to the day that true frosh Montez ran these same championships on the same track (CP Pomona hosted NCAA’s 5 years ago). Just as when she was a frosh and failed to move out of the qualifying round of the steeplechase Sarah’s father Dominic and grandparents Manuel and Berenice were on hand to support the young athlete. Things had come full circle and this would be her final run in the Chico State uniform.
This year’s women’s 3k field was absolutely stacked, with Adams State Senior Tanya Gaurmer and Seattle Pacific’s Jane Larson standing as clear favorites to claim the top spots. Gaurmer (a 14 time All American) had won the NCAA title for the indoor mile last year and had finished 3rd at the NCAA XC championships this fall. Larson finished 2nd in the mile at this year’s indoor championships (4:51), and was 9th at the 2007 NCAA XC championships. Both Gaurmer and Larson owned 1500m PR’s of 4:26, but had passed on the 1500m event in search of titles at the 3k distance. OK, enough of the build-up let’s get to the action.
The initial pace of the 3k final was a slow one with 400m covered in a pedestrian 84 seconds. As is usually the case with the women’s races at NCAA’s, the pace didn’t stay this way for long. A second revolution of 80 seconds now had the field traveling at 10:00 pace, but given the slowish first lap, it was unlikely that a really fast time would be had today. Bellarmine’s Katie Hickey dropped the pace even more in the third lap, and before the 1/2 way point there was separation among the pack. Thankfully Montez had covered the moves at the front and sailed through 1500m in 4:58 (9:57 pace). The quick laps whittled the lead pack down to Garmer, Larson, Hickey, Montez and two Kenyan standouts Harding’s Esther Komen (2nd at NCAA XC’s ’06) and Alaska’s Elizabeth Chepkosgei. It appeared that these six women would control the final outcome of the race.
Back to back laps of 77, after the 1500m mark shook Chepkosgei, Komen, and Hickey, and now it was a three woman race with two laps remaining. Gaurmer was the first to crack and Sarah was quick to move around the tiring Grizzley of Adams State. Seattle Pacific’s Jane Larson now made an even harder push toward the finish hoping to shake her pursuer from Chico. The 400m split from 600m out (73) outlined just how fast and hard Larson had pressed the pace. Not willing to give an inch Montez hung on strong. Montez, on the final turn With 175m remaining in the race, made her move to win an NCAA title. Hitting the jets like I’ve never seen before, Sarah blistered a final 200m (32.9s) to finish off Larson and the rest of the field. As the senior crossed the line she was already in tears and threw her arms overhead in triumph. Larson would cross in second and Gaurmer hung strong for third. With the win Sarah becomes the first Wildcat Distance Woman to win an NCAA title. Her 9:39.00 is a new school record and her final 1600m was an impressive 4:59! Several coaches shared with me that Sarah’s effort was a highlight of their meet. An amazing effort that I will never forget.
Event 29 Men 5000 Meter Run
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Meet Record: # 13:49.85 5/28/1994 Charles Mulinga, Lewis
Name Year School Finals Points
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Finals
1 Scott Bauhs Jr Cal St Chico 14:00.65 10
2 Daniel Kirwa Fr Harding 14:01.38 8
3 Nate Peck Sr Grand Valley State 14:17.92 6
4 Brian Medigovich Jr Adams State 14:20.72 5
5 Joel Hamilton Sr Colorado/Mines 14:21.03 4
6 Iain Donnan So Western State 14:22.70 3
7 Amos Sang Fr Abilene Christian 14:27.11 2
8 Reuben Chebon-Mwei So Adams State 14:29.06 1
9 Nick Polk Sr Grand Valley State 14:37.48
10 Pat Reagan Jr Slippery Rock 14:40.79
11 Nicaise Kazingo Fr Abilene Christian 14:42.02
12 Aaron Braun Jr Adams State 14:45.01
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| Bauhs, after a well fought battle with Harding’s Daniel Kirwa, hits the tape first to end the night with his second NCAA title in hand (Photo: Peter Alexander) |
After Bauhs had recorded the 13:31 5k at Mt Sac, the distance running world was ready to crown the junior from Danville, CA the NCAA title before even running the race. When he followed that up with a now American leading 27:48, he created a situation where he was almost too much of a favorite, because folks weren’t as interested in even watching his attempt to win the 5k at NCAA’s. Those of us who were able to watch Harding’s Daniel Kirwa run a solo 28:33 10k at Mt Sac last month knew that Scotty would have an interesting challenge in front of him, and this was indeed the case on Saturday.
Scott advanced to the final of the 5k with little drama using a well placed kick during a 14:45 5k heat to claim one of the automatic qualifying spots. Kirwa who’d run away with the 10k easily the evening before would win his 5k heat with an un-needed 14:23 run making the pace look like a walk in the park. Bauhs and the Chico fans took note that Kirwa would definitely offer the Wildcat an interesting challenge in the final. Given that Kirwa had run the 10k on Thursday it was decided NOT to allow a tactical race to develop for too long of a period. It would be important to run the kick out of Kirwa, which would most likely mean that Scott would need to lead almost the entire race. It was decided that Scott would make a hard push home from somewhere between 2-3k to go, running mid 60’s and squeezing the pace down as he drew closer to the finish.
The race unfolded exactly as planned with the early pace going very slowly with the leaders reaching 1600m in 4:45 (14:50ish pace). Soon after, Slippery Rock’s Pat Reagan dropped the pace and immediately gapped the field. Bauhs bridged the gap in the stretch of 100m and Kirwa was quick to jump on Bauhs’ heels. After a 400m tow from the gamely Reagan, Bauhs took the fore and started his push to the finish. Kirwa who makes running fast look incredibly easy, seemed to effortlessly float up to Bauhs’ heels and now the race for the title was on. Lap by lap Bauhs kept the pace honest and with each 400m covered the pair separated themselves more and more from those chasing. Kirwa played his cards perfectly just letting Bauhs do the work and marking his every move. Knowing what he was up against before the start of the race Bauhs kept the pressure on, also knowing that Kirwa’s finishing kick wouldn’t be too deadly if he had to counter the relentless pace that he was setting. As the pair grew closer to the finish 66’s turned to 65’s, and 64’s and with 400m remaining nothing had changed.
With just over 300m to go Kirwa made his bid to win the race and the Kenyan phenom glided by Bauhs, quickening the tempo to a 60 second pace rhythm. As the pair came off the penultimate turn you couldn’t hear the announcer any longer as 50+ Chico fans had lined the backstretch rail and were chanting the familiar Chiiiiiicccoooo cheer. Bauhs, playing his cards beautifully allowed Kirwa to take the lead, almost as a seasoned vet does in a 4 X 4 leg. Now Kirwa was being hunted and Bauhs saved his energy for a final push of his own. As the pair hit the final turn you could see Bauhs loading up for the final stretch push and as they came off the final turn Bauhs took the lead back for good. Using the same speed that made him the 308th American to break the 4 minute mile barrier, Bauhs motored the final straightaway and hit the tape .75 seconds ahead of Kirwa. With the win Bauhs gives the Wildcats a two year streak of NCAA 5k wins (Serrano won the ’07 race of course) and earned his second NCAA title.
CBS, the television rights owner of the NCAA championships had been doing a documentary of sorts on Scotty’s helping Charlie win the ’07 version, and his pursuit of this year’s prize, were on hand to capture the action. Although I’m not sure when it will be aired I’ll try to share the details with everyone as it becomes available. As Scott and I had sat and talked about the challenge of winning this race and what would offer his best chances of success, we both agreed that learning how to win match races like this will help his overall development and ability to compete well in future championship races (regardless of level). Looking back on this effort I would have to think that this was a valuable race for him to experience and win. His final 3200m was an impressive 8:40.9, and even after leading the entire final 7 laps, he still managed a sub 60 closer as needed. Of course it was a fun one for the fans as well!
Event 27 Men 1500 Meter Run
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Meet Record: # 3:38.91 5/23/1987 Kip Cheruiyot, Mt St Mary's
Name Year School Finals Points
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Finals
1 Aaron Braun Jr Adams State 3:48.81 10
2 Angel Marquez Jr Cal St Chico 3:50.29 8
3 Jeremy Lee So Tiffin 3:50.52 6
4 Iuri Pinto Sr East Stroudsburg 3:51.05 5
5 Chris Cummings Sr Mansfield 3:51.25 4
6 Julius Nyango Sr Abilene Christian 3:51.36 3
7 Ryan McNiff Fr Adams State 3:51.47 2
8 Denise Mokaya So Minn St- Mankato 3:51.74 1
9 Mujahid Hassaballa So Pittsburg State 3:52.28
10 Kevin Gill Fr Stonehill 3:52.73
11 Max Hiltner So Ashland 3:53.06
12 Artur Kern Sr Harding 3:59.01
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| Angel Marquez surges to the lead with 300m to go. The eventual winner, Aaron Braun, looms over Angel's right shoulder was the only one to pass him once he made his well played move. |
Angel Marquez was perhaps the biggest surprise of all the ‘Cats in this meet. His PR for 1500m run at the OXY Distance meet two week previous left him ranked 21st on the end of the year performance chart for DII 1500m guys (3:50.17). Given that he had run a 14:18 for the 5k at the Stanford Invit earlier in the season the 5k was a tempting option to declare in. E mails, phone calls and text messages were traded in the hours and minutes leading up to the actual declaration. Angel’s coach (yours truly) preferred the 1500m option, but Angel was worried because there were so many guys on the 15 list ahead of him. Finally just minutes before declarations were due he texted back one last time agreeing that the 15 might be the best option. A phone call was made to Coach Freitas and within minutes Angel’s debut on the national stage as a miler was to be a reality.
The fact that Angel was the only Chico distance runner not placed in the first heat in his trial would usually help his chances of making the final, but most of the top seeds in his heat were known kickers or had very solid 800m credentials, which would mean that it might turn into a kickers race. I was more worried about his chances of getting out of his heat than I was of his eventually earning his first All American honor. Having trained with our distance group most of the season we hadn’t had much time to sharpen his closing speed. Thankfully (this made little sense to me at the time) Denise Mokaya, Mankato’s sub 1:50 (800m guy), decided to make the heat fairly honest with respect to pace. This was perfect for Angel because the 60-62 second laps would keep the kick to a reasonable level and would allow a time qualifier or two to come from the heat most likely. The ironic thing about the qualifying race for Angel was that he closed in 57 seconds for the final 400m and managed to find the tape before last year’s NCAA champ Aaron Braun, and others with much better credentials than he. Angel, with the final in his hands, now set his sights on an All American finish.
The Men’s 1500m final still seems very strange to me. On paper there were PR’s of 3:42, 3:46, 3:46, 3:48, 3:48, 3:49, 3:49, 3:49 before Angel’s 3:50.17 broke in as the #9 fastest PR. Of the guys ranked ahead of him many had solid NCAA credentials as well, with Adams’ Braun leading the way after his NCAA title the year before at 1500m. Mansfield’s Chris Cummings had taken 2nd at this year’s NCAA indoor mile with a big kick. Abilene’s Julius Nyango was the defending NCAA 800m champ and has big closing wheels. Angel prepared for a big effort and had his sights set on finishing among the top 5 if all went well. As the gun sounded Angel seemed to make all of the right moves. Having placed 4th in our CCAA meet for the 1500m after being boxed in when the moves started to happen, Angel kept himself out of trouble early and followed the pace that was created by a number of different athletes. The first couple laps were fairly modest with respect to pace, but during the third lap things heated up. Angel hit 400m remaining having run a 61 and looking full of run. As the junior rounded the penultimate turn he seemed to feed off the nearby Chico cheering section and immediately surged into the lead as he entered the backstretch. A small gap was formed between himself and the field which only Adams State’s Braun quickly covered in the final meters of the straight. Hitting the final turn Braun assumed the lead and Marquez kept the pedal to the metal using his now famous crouched yet direct running style to keep him ahead of a large group of chasing athletes. With 50 meters remaining it became apparent that Marquez’ gutsy move with 300m remaining was going to pay off in a big way. He wasn’t to catch the defending champ Braun but he did hold off all chasers while becoming the highest Chico finisher for the 1500m since DuWayne Ray won the event back in 1969! Not too bad for Chico’s #3 1500m guy, and the fourth place finisher from the ’08 CCAA meet!
Event 28 Men 3000 Meter Steeplechase
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Meet Record: # 8:36.84 5/26/2007 Nicodemus Naimadu, Abilene Chrstn
Name Year School Finals Points
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Finals
1 Daniel Maina Jr Abilene Christian 8:53.61 10
2 Reuben Chebon-Mwei So Adams State 8:54.27 8
3 Jasper Peach Sr Humboldt State 9:02.13 6
4 Scott Dahlberg Sr Western State 9:07.18 5
5 Ryan Miles Sr Colorado/Mines 9:07.59 4
6 Chris Hammer Jr Grand Valley State 9:10.89 3
7 Curtis Barclay Jr Grand Valley State 9:11.56 2
8 David Kiplagat Jr Alaska Anchorage 9:14.79 1
9 Tim Tollefson Sr Cal St Chico 9:26.98
10 Jesus Solis Jr Humboldt State 9:31.68
11 Timothy Guerin So Mass - Lowell 9:42.78
12 Sean Cusick Jr Colorado/Mines 9:58.64
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| Angel Marquez begins his quest to medal at the NCAA DII Championships in the 1500m |
The end result of Tim Tollefson’s journey at Chico State was definitely bitter sweet. Tim came to Chico with very modest HS marks, and worked amazingly hard to literally turn himself into an NCAA caliber runner. Along the way he developed into one of the best team leaders that we’ve had on the squad and he’s twice earned the school’s Male Scholar Athlete of the year award. Quite simply put Tim is one of the best human beings that I’ve had the opportunity to work with in my 12 years on the job.
After a frosh year where he red shirted and didn’t even run the steeplechase we decided to try our hand at hurdling during his RS frosh season of track. He made quick progress and notched a 9:30’s mark and earned a CCAA title at season’s end. A year later he dropped a 9:09 bomb at the Stanford Invit, taking him from a descent CCAA steepler, to an NCAA factor, almost overnight. His first trip to NCAA’s didn’t go so well though and he failed to make it out of trials. A year later Tim won his third straight CCAA title and easily made the NCAA final. During the final Tollefson looked amazing and appeared ready to sieze a top-5 spot with 800m remaining. With 400m remaining he was hurting but still holding well inside the top 6-7. The final 150 went in almost slow motion as Tim simply ran out of gas and faded badly losing the final All American spot in the final 50 meters. This race was absolutely heart wrenching to watch, knowing everything that Tim had done to put himself in this position.
Fast forward a year to his senior season (2008) where Tim came off his best XC season to date having finished 3rd at the West Region finals and missed All American again by just 1 place. His track season opened with amazing promise as he notched a quick 9:13 opening season win in Chico, and lowered his PR to 9:05 while winning the Stanford Invit. Then came the bad news… Two really rough races in a row and some poor workouts led Tim to the health center doors, where blood tests were conducted and Mononucleosis was discovered. The good news was that we had an answer to his poor running, but the bad news was that he would have to take a break at mid season, AND he had picked up a bad case of Strep Throat. Keeping an optimistic approach during the whole ordeal Tim took some time away from running and battled through the sickness always keeping the door open to a return to fitness before the season’s end. Running resumed several weeks later and workouts were slowly added to the equation. A very small window of opportunity to gain back some of his lost fitness was there, but there was no way he would be ready to become the CCAA’s first 4 time steeple champ. Teammate Jordan Fairley would keep things in the family taking home the title, and in the weeks after CCAA’s and before NCAA’s Tim’s workouts showed signs of hope.
The trials race gave the Chico fans what they had hoped with respect to Tim’s return to racing. He looked fairly relaxed and in good form while gaining an automatic spot into the final. Looking back on the weekend and Tim’s races, everything was far too de-ja-vu like for the senior unfortunately. As the final started Tim put himself among the lead pack from the start, and the early pace was fairly modest (which is good for a guy coming off Mono), but the pace quickly picked up and soon the leaders crossed 4 laps at 9:00 pace, which in hindsight was just too fast for Tim given his trial run two days before and of course his recovery from Mono. Although he ran in around 5th position through 1600m, lap splits grew slower and the reality of the situation soon crept to the forefront. One by one athletes passed Tollefson, who eventually hit the line 9th overall for the second straight year (top 8 earn All American honors). It would have been easy for Tim to claim that “Life isn’t fair” or something to this effect, but to his credit Tim stepped off the track for the final time with his arm draped around former HS rival Jasper Peach (Placer HS Alum) wearing a big smile and with a sense of accomplishment, knowing he had given it his best shot. Although things didn’t end as one would hope for such a deserving young man, there is no denying that Tim has left a permanent mark on the Chico Distance program and we’re all very grateful for his efforts.
Only a Sophomore, Jordan notched his NCAA qualifying mark at the Chico Twilight meet, and followed this up with a nice 3:58-1500m PR and a CCAA steeple title. Unfortunately Jordan picked up a variety of ailments in the weeks leading up to NCAA’s with the most recent being a tweaked hamstring. During his trials race at NCAA’s Fairley’s luck couldn’t have been any worse. Given that he was nursing a sciatic nerve problem that affected his hamstring and calf, his first hurdle offered a tough landing that seemed to twist his leg upon landing. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, his first water jump was even rougher as he landed well forward and seemed to tweak his hamstring upon landing. He made it another 40 meters beyond the water jump before falling over in the infield. This was a rough first NCAA run for Fairley but given his relative young age it appears he’ll be ready to capitalize on his final two years of eligibility ahead. With good 1500m speed and the strength that carried him to a Top-20 regional finish during XC this fall, Jordan has a lot to look forward to in the coming years.
Event 4 Women 800 Meter Run
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reseeded update
Meet Record: # 2:02.48 5/26/1990 Teena Colebrook, Cal Poly S
Name Year School Prelims
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Heat 1 Preliminaries
1 Katherine McCarthy So Grand Valley State 2:10.07Q
2 Sofia Monroe So Adams State 2:10.28Q
3 Haley Catarius So Mass - Lowell 2:10.40q
4 Lisa Anderberg So Seattle Pacific 2:11.35q
5 Lindsey Brown Sr Cal St Chico 2:12.91
6 Abigail Huber Fr Shippensburg 2:14.73
7 Kristi Comstock Sr Findlay 2:16.42
|
Lindsay Brown After breaking Margaret Pridgen’s school record for the 800m at the Occidental Invit two weeks earlier Lindsey set her sights on the NCAA 800m. Unfortunately a lingering hamstring problem cropped up in the days leading up to the championships, which created a situation where Lindsey didn’t feel comfortable even doing strides on the Mt Sac track two days before her trial race. All that could be done was to rest the ailing muscle and hope that it would be ready when race time came. Thankfully Lindsey was healthy enough to toe the line, but fell short of making the final, which would have required a PR effort to do so. Although Lindsey had her heart set on making the final and becoming an All American the reality of the situation was that she would have needed a more cooperative body to do so, and unfortunately this just wasn’t the case. The senior leaves Chico as a CCAA champion, NCAA qualifier, School record Holder, and Top-10 1500m runner. A great run indeed! |
Event 9 Women 10000 Meter Run
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Meet Record: # 33:24.24 5/22/1985 Robyn Root, Cal Poly SLO
Name Year School Finals Points
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Finals
1 Winrose Karunde Fr Abilene Christian 35:29.68 10
2 Jonel Rossbach Sr Emporia State 35:35.02 8
3 Rachael Lanzel Jr Edinboro 35:39.72 6
4 Shannon Payne Sr Colorado Springs 35:45.50 5
5 Kimi Shank So Missouri Southern 35:48.64 4
6 Lavenna Mullenbach Jr Adams State 35:51.18 3
7 Emily McGregor Sr UC San Diego 35:52.55 2
8 Nicole Blaesser Sr Slippery Rock 35:53.79 1
9 Sarah Porter Fr Western Washington 36:11.17
10 Laura Carr Jr Alaska Anchorage 36:14.98
11 Claudia Garcia Sr Cal Poly Pomona 36:27.04
12 Allison Kreutzer Sr Clayton State 36:27.07
13 Julianne Hoekzema Jr North. Kentucky 36:47.19
14 Lindsay Nelson Sr Cal St Chico 37:15.41
15 Adrienne Schumm Sr Cal Poly Pomona 37:25.33
-- Ramsey Kavan So South Dakota DNF
|
Lindsay Nelson Senior Lindsay Nelson had come a long way since her high school days at Chico’s Pleasant Valley High. As a high schooler Lindsay only cracked the 12 minute barrier for the 3200m a handful of times and hovered around the 5:30 mark for the 4 lap event. Through sheer determination and a long term approach to training and racing Lindsay, much like her boyfriend and teammate Tim Tollefson (talked about earlier) has literally turned herself into a standout collegiate runner. A year ago Lindsay qualified for her first ever NCAA track championship with her 36:40’s 10k PR at the time. A 37:23 run at the championships earned her a 10th place finish which was tantalizingly close to All American honors. This year things went very well for the Senior as she notched PR’s across the board 10:07-3k, 17:13-5k and 36:22 for 10k, but then she came down with some sort of illness (same time boyfriend Tim came down with Mono… go figure) and things have been tough since. The CCAA meet was a below average meet for Lindsay, but she made the most of her chance to compete there, while placing third overall in the 5k. Workouts were going better leading up to the NCAA meet, but this year’s NCAA field was the best that I’ve ever seen at the championships. Normally the final entrant allowed in is around 37:00, where this year it took a sub 36:30 just to make the field! This surge of quality was indeed evident as almost the entire field rolled through 5k together at 18:00. Knowing she was up against a tough field Lindsey covered moves that she felt she needed to cover for as long as she could. It was somewhere in the fourth mile that consistent 86’s suddenly turned into a 90 split and a gap had formed between the pack and herself. The rest of the race was a struggle as Lindsay gave all that she had to reach the line, in 37:15, which was still better than her 10th place time last year. |
Event 8 Women 5000 Meter Run
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12 Advance: Top 4 Each Heat plus Next 4 Best Times
Meet Record: # 15:59.34 5/25/1985 Julie Bowers, West Chester
Name Year School Prelims
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Heat 1 Preliminaries
1 Loice Cheboi Jr Abilene Christian 17:18.74Q
2 Stephanie Williams Sr Kutztown 17:23.57Q
3 Jonel Rossbach Sr Emporia State 17:24.54Q
4 Laura Woznicki Sr Tampa 17:25.57Q
5 Emily McGregor Sr UC San Diego 17:26.86q
6 Heather Wood Jr Adams State 17:31.00q
7 Lindsay Nelson Sr Cal St Chico 17:34.92
8 Laura Carr Jr Alaska Anchorage 17:49.53
-- Rachael Lanzel Jr Edinboro DNS
Heat 2 Preliminaries
1 Ramsey Kavan So South Dakota 17:03.47Q
2 Anna Bretan Sr San Francisco State 17:12.84Q
3 Tanya Gaurmer Sr Adams State 17:15.01Q
4 Priscilla Jennings Jr Millersville 17:15.55Q
5 Lavenna Mullenbach Jr Adams State 17:19.55q
6 Kimi Shank So Missouri Southern 17:21.53q
7 Megan Maceratini Fr Grand Valley State 17:39.11
8 Jennifer Harpp So Slippery Rock 17:54.83
9 Amber Hackenberg Sr Bloomsburg 17:57.07
10 Elizabeth Chepkosgei JR Alaska Anchorage 18:13.94
|
Lindsay Nelson Despite the rough outing Lindsey was determined to finish the meet on a better note, so she ice-bathed after the 10K, and prepared for the 5k heat the next evening which would most likely be her final run in the Chico uniform. Lindsay’s 5k effort was inspiring to say the least. Anyone who knows Lindsay and who watched this race unfold couldn’t have done so without feeling moved by just how deep she dug. Lap after lap Lindsay would hang onto the back of the quick moving pack, not allowing separation to happen. 3200m was reached in the 11:12 range, and watching Lindsay was watching a boxer being punished against the ropes. Tired, depleted and up against perhaps a more talented foe, Lindsay kept coming back for more with each lap. At one point with about 3-4 laps remaining she was dropped by the pack and it appeared that she would have to solo things home. This was the case only until she reached the Chico cheering section which spurred her to surge back up to the group, which she did successfully. Lindsay was able to hang with the pack up until the lap-to-go bell, when most of the competitors ahead started their kick. Given how deep Lindsay had dug into her reserves already, a kick was to cut a second or two off the previous lap split. Although Lindsay didn’t quite qualify for the final she did post an impressive 17:34 mark, and made believers out of everyone who watched this epic battle. Great work Lindsay as you definitely made us proud! |
Event 7 Women 3000 Meter Steeplechase
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12 Advance: Top 4 Each Heat plus Next 4 Best Times
Meet Record: # 10:22.06 5/24/2001 Jennifer Michel, Western St
Name Year School Prelims
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Heat 1 Preliminaries
1 Winrose Karunde Fr Abilene Christian 10:40.12Q
2 Kara Eckard Jr Missouri Southern 10:51.92Q
3 Loice Cheboi Jr Abilene Christian 10:55.35Q
4 Suzie Strickler Jr Seattle Pacific 10:56.30Q
5 Lyndsey McKillip Jr Western Oregon 10:58.88q
6 Karin Rohde Sr Seattle Pacific 11:01.17
7 Erica Ogle Sr Pittsburg State 11:01.60
8 Jacquelyn Dibbern Sr Nebraska-Kearney 11:05.42
9 Shannon McVannel Fr Cal St Chico 11:06.10
Heat 2 Preliminaries
1 Sheila Salil So Western State 10:41.14Q
2 Rachel Stangler Sr Augustana 10:41.47Q
3 Mary Ballinger So Southern Indiana 10:46.82Q
4 Janette Cary So Adams State 10:47.53Q
5 Jessica Harper Sr Western Oregon 10:47.63q
6 Lisa Thomas Jr Western State 10:50.45q
7 LeAnn Sarka Sr Indianapolis 10:54.56q
8 Katy Grant So Harding 11:23.35
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Shannon McVannel After a tough CCAA outing that saw the true frosh fail to finish among the top 5 in the conference or improve on her 11:23 seasonal best it appeared that Shannon’s season was over and that she would have to settle for what was a pretty solid frosh campaign. Then came her request to be taken to the last chance meet in LA the week following CCAA’s where she recorded a 20+ second PR to just eek into NCAA field by one second. Shannon stepped to the line an 11:02 runner on paper, but with nothing but a bunch of 11:25-11:40 marks to back it up. Although she wouldn’t improve on her PR at NCAA’s Shannon did compete well and recorded a nice 11:06 follow-up effort to prove the 11:02 wasn’t a fluke. Although it wasn’t near the 10:58 that was needed to make the final, it was a nice run that gave her even more to be excited about for the coming years. Shannon will now return for the ’08-’09 year with the experience gained at the NCAA level and will surely be someone to watch out for in the coming years. |