I’m proud to report that the 2009 Chico Twilight Distance Carnival was a huge success. Athletes from a number of western states converged on Chico this weekend taking advantage of the perfect weather conditions and enthusiastic crowds, while posting some very impressive marks. Topping this list was Chico Alum Scott Bauhs who won the featured Men’s Elite 1500m run with a U.S. leading 3:41.34 mark. Before going into detail about the amazing performances this weekend I’d like to thank all of those who made their way out to the track on Friday and/or Saturday evenings. Everyone knows that our sport needs more support and hopefully everyone who was there to witness the action this weekend found the event to be an enjoyable experience.

FLOTRACK: Before I forget, Anyone who would like to check out ANY of the races, they are all archived on FLOTRACK.COM at the following link. Thanks to Alum Kevin Selby who deterred a planned weekend with his family in Nevada City to come and film the meet. There are also some great interviews of top athletes from the men’s 1500m field. Enjoy and Thanks Kevin and Flotrack!!! http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/234913-chico-twilight-distance-carnival/169721-m-1500-introduction-of-invitational-field

Friday afternoon & evening: Friday’s races would consist of the fastest 2 heats of the 800m (1 men’s and 1 women’s) followed by the steeplechase and 5k events. It would be quick period of distance races that started around 7pm and concluded around 9pm.

Women’s 800m: With a host of women who have already run or appeared capable of running in the 2:15-2:20 range (most of whom were from Chico State), this race would be a fun one to watch and enjoy. 4/8 runner Johntay Cokley would spring to a quick first lap, hitting 400m in 63-64 seconds. Training partner Anna Eicholtz followed a stride or two behind, but was never able to make up the difference between the two. Although slowing after the blazing first lap, Cokley held on well to record a nice 2:14.6 PR which earned her a spot in the All Time CSUC Top-10 (9th) and an NCAA provisional mark. Not to be left out of the historical implications list teammate and heptathalete Kelly Clancey closed well to also sneak into the All Time list (#10). Eicholtz held on for third, while Humboldt Steeple specialist Megan Rolland finished 4th at 2:17.5. Stephanie Consiglio’s 2:18 was a seasonal best and just off her 2:17 PR, and RS frosh Skylar Young cracked 2:20 for the first time, with Alyssa Flores just behind at the tape. All told Chico would place their top 6 among the top 7 overall, with many running PR’s.

Men’s 800m: The ‘Cats sent a very potent group of half milers to the line in the men’s 800m on Friday evening. With absolutely perfect conditions to work with, and having a very capable pacer to take them through 500m (Michael Wickman-1:49 guy) the men prepared to take aim at some low 1:50 marks. As the gun sounded Wickman assumed his position at the front of the pack. As he ran down the backstretch teammate and 1:54 guy Kyle Robinson tucked in on his heels. Just off Robinson’s stride was Clinton Hayes (1:50.8 PR) and David Wellman (1:51 PR). During the fourth 100 Wickman gapped Robinson and Wellman moved around with Hayes quick to follow. Wickman hit 400m in 52.9 while Wellman and Hayes hit the half way mark at 54.0. Robinson now followed the pair while teammate Brian Nelson (1:51 PR) made a move around Southern Oregon standout Levi Roudebush. With 300m remaining Wickman stepped off the track and Wellman assumed the lead. Down the final stretch Wellman tightened a bit and Hayes caught and passed the senior for the win. A solid final 200m by Brian Nelson gave him the 3rd place finish and a seasonal best 1:52 time, and Kyle Robinson broke a 2 year old PR to finally become a 1:53 guy, while finishing the Wildcat sweep in 4th place. Hayes, Wellman and Nelson all earned NCAA provisional marks with this run. Robinson missed the NCAA mark by .84 seconds. With the stockpile of great ½ milers on campus these days talk of a 4 X 8 relay has been tossed around a few times. Today the crew would have recorded a nice 7:39 time, minus rolling starts and of course not counting Wickman, who leads DII for the 800m (1:49.90). A very nice step forward for this talented group!

Women’s Steeple: It’s not often that a group of 4 teammates all step to the line and finish with PR’s but the ‘Cats women steeplers did just this on Friday evening. Red Shirting Soph Katie Spencer led from the gun, lowering her personal best to 11:17 (Would be an NCAA provision mark if she were in uniform). True frosh Amy Schnittger (also a red shirt) dropped the better part of 10 seconds off her previous best on Friday while finishing second overall in 11:29. Brooke Bergesen tried hard to make it a Chico sweep but couldn’t catch The College of Idaho’s Molli Lee-Painter down the final stretch. Bergesen did have reason to celebrate though, as the soph kept her streak of PR’ing in Every race this season alive. Running a great race of her own was Chico Senior Ondi Foster. Ondi chopped 20 seconds off her seasonal best while hitting a lifetime mark of 12:09!

Women’s 5,000m: With sub 17:30 5k gals, Alia Gray, Julie Shaw, Tori Tyler and Kara Lubieniecki preparing for Mt Sac races next week, it was up to the younger developing group to represent the ‘Cats tonight. Up front Tori Tyler paced College of Idaho’s Stephanie Helm through 3200m as the young Idahoan was trying to capture a Nationals time. Tyler breezed the standout through 3200m in 11:02 before stepping off the track. Chico alum Mary Torres ran some distance behind Helm the entire race, but also well ahead of the chase pack that was headed by another Wildcat Kara Lubieniecki who was rabbiting her own group who had hopes of breaking the 18 minute barrier. Idaho’s Tegan Troutner and Chico’s Jonah Weeks, Samantha Racine, Shannon Rich, and Colleen Joyce all tucked in behind the 86 per-lap-splits of Lubieniecki. After an evenly paced 11:29-3200 Kara stepped off the track and left the real racing between Troutner and the ‘Cats quartet. While Helm clipped off 81’s and 82’s on her way to a meet record 17:07 Troutner and Weeks pulled clear of the others in the sub 18minute hunt. Troutner’s strength would prevail today as she would eventually finish just a second ahead of Weeks in third place overall. Jonah’s 17:54 final time was a nice PR and made her one of 3-4 ‘Cats to ever break the 18 minute mark while they were true frosh! Running one of the most mature runs that I can remember by a Wildcat was Jessica Brieno. The Sophomore from NORCO high who had never broken 12 minutes for 3200m during HS, must have run negative splits on Friday evening because she made up big time on the previously described pack and almost dipped under 18 minutes herself. For Brieno the 18:04 PR was a nice drop from her 18:26 earlier in the season. Shannon Rich chipped a few seconds off her PR as well with a nice 18:11 outing and Sam Racine missed her Personal Best by a tick of the clock. ’08 alum Lindsay Nelson and Aisha Kamala took the next two places with each running at or just under 6:00 per 1600m.

Women’s 2009 5k List: The Chico women have never enjoyed such depth so I thought I’d toss out the Seasonal best marks for the Wildcat women for the 5,000m to show just how deep the squad is: (also notice that most are frosh and sophs!)
1. Julie Shaw (Jr) 17:22
2. Kara Lubieniecki (So) 17:23
3. Alia Gray (Fr) 17:25
4. Tori Tyler (So) 17:25
5. Jonah Weeks (Fr) 17:54
6. Shannon McVanell (So) 17:59
7. Jessica Brieno (So) 18:04
8. Shannon Rich (So) 18:11
9 . Colleen Joyce (Jr) 18:13
10. Samantha Racine (Fr) 18:19

Men’s 5000m: A host of ‘Cats took aim at the 15 minute barrier in perfect conditions on Friday evening. Brendan Scanlon and Jimmy Elam did a wonderful job of pacing the front pack through very even splits around 71 seconds per revolution. The goal was for Scanlon to take the first 6 laps before peeling off and allowing Elam to assume the role for the next 4. This plan worked well, with the exception being that not all of the ‘Cats were able to follow the pacers through the first 4k. Soon after 3200m (reached in 9:30.00 by Elam and Co.) the pack started to split as the reality of the quick pace took it’s toll on a few. Jason Simpson of Boulder Running Company (Boyfriend of American Record Holder Jenny Barringer a Junior at U of Colorado) looked great trailing Elam, and the two eventually separated from the remainder of the pack. Red Shirting frosh Anthony Solis lost contact with the pair ahead and ran much of the final 1600m alone and in search of his first official sub 15 clocking. Also a red shirting frosh Adrian Sherrod shook off 2 weeks of knee problems that had limited his training, to keep the chase pack close to 15 minute pace. Simpson’s 14:45 final time earned him a convincing win and PR and Solis’ finishing kick gave him a nice 14:53 mark. Sophomore Manny Mejia’s final 200m kick gave him his first 14-something 12.5 lapper, and Adrian Sherrod our second true frosh (red shirting) just missed the 15 minute barrier by .15 seconds (Darn F.A.T.!) Junior Alex Sharp shaved a nice chunk off his PR with the 15:02 run and Thomas Whitcomb was close to follow with the second fastest mark in his lifetime. Jeff Wilson ran what has to be his 10th time between 15:02 and 15:10, but consistency in this sport can’t be discounted ;) Joey Kochlacs also finished very close to his PR with the 15:11 final time. Not a bad outing for the men this evening.

Men’s 5k Depth Chart (2009): Since we shared the depth chart for the women we might as well do the same for the guys here:
1. Angel Marquez (Sr) 14:14
2. Jimmy Elam (Jr) 14:35
3. Tim Cannon (So) 14:37
4. Beau Rogers (Jr) 14:38
5. Brendan Scanlon (So) 14:46
6. Michael Wickman (Jr) 14:52
7. Anthony Solis (FR) * 14:54 (red shirting)
8. Josh Linen (Fr) 14:57
9. Manny Mejia (So) 14:59
10. Thomas Whitcomb (Jr) 15:00.14
11. Adrian Sherrod (Fr) 15:00.15
12. Alex Sharp (Jr) 15:02
13. Jeff Wilson (Sr) 15:07
14. Joey Kochlacs (Fr) 15:10
15. Jose Garcia (Sr) 15:19

Saturday Evening Events:
Women’s 1500m-Seeded: Whew, what a race this was. Many thought that the men’s 1500m would be the premier race of the evening but I’ve heard from a number of people today that they REALLY enjoyed watching the women’s version unfold. Tori Tyler had done such a great job of pacing Friday’s 5k, that she was asked to do a similar version for the 1500m. The goal was to take the pace out at an even 74 second rhythm through 2 laps. Although it wasn’t necessarily an even road to the 2:28, Tori did an excellent job of guiding the leaders through 800m on time. From the 800m mark to the bell 5k Champ Helm pressed the pace to keep herself, Lubieniecki and Humboldt’s Megan Rolland on an honest pace. Just off this pace was Eicholtz, then Shannon McVanell, and Stephanie Consiglio.

With 400m remaining Humboldt’s Rolland the reigning CCAA steeplechase champ squeezed the pace down. The tall (nearly 5’10) runner’s stride is very deceiving as she moved away from Lubieniecki and Helm. Down the final backstretch, Kara made the move past Helm and up to the heels of Rolland. Kara being close to 5 feet even in height appeared to be taking 2-3 strides to each one by Rolland. Nonetheless the two strode away from the field and with 150 remaining it was anyone’s race. Off the final turn and in front of hundreds of screaming Chico fans Lubieniecki caught a gear that was off limits to Rolland. In 75 meters Kara put 2 full seconds on Rolland and the result was a huge PR and the win for the Sophomore from Colorado. Kara’s final 400m was covered in an impressive 68.2 seconds! Rolland also finished with her first sub 4:40 time and Helm would cross the tape next. Consiglio took 2.5 seconds off her PR set two weeks prior and Anna Eicholtz tied her best with a 4:46 time. Also running 4:46 was steepler Shannon McVanell. Frosh Sam Racine also notched a PR with her 4:55 run for 8th place.

Men’s 1500m (Non Seeded): Sophomore Tim Cannon shaved a second off his 1500m PR after following teammate/pacer Anthony Solis through the initial 800m in 2:08. Teammate Matt LoForte failed to record a PR or seasonal best but was close with his 4:01 final time. Kyle Robinson clocked his second PR in two days with his 4:02 final time.

Men’s 1500m (Invitational Race): Assistant Coach Pat Boivin did an excellent job of pacing the 1500m main event. Ticking 100m splits in the 14-15 second range Boivin delivered the field to 800m in 1:59-2:00. At the two lap mark NYAC’s Steve Sherer followed closest with Scotty Bauhs on his heels, and Michael Wickman in tow as well. Boivin, before dropping out, accelerated to help the leaders drop the pace early in the third lap. This move edged Sherer and Bauhs away from Wickman, Charlie Serrano and NIKE’s Brent Vaughn. With 400m remaining, Bauhs appeared to be up to the task against the mid distance credentials of Sherer. Moving down the backstretch, Bauhs made a final and decisive move past Sherer. The 3:36 runner had no response and Bauhs continued to accelerate, using a 43 second final 300m, to run clear of his closest competitor to take the victory. Sherer held on for second while Chico Alum Charlie Serrano out-lasted Chico’s Michael Wickman and NIKE’s Brent Vaughn.

Wickman’s 3:46 is the fastest 1500m run in DII this season (non altitude adjusted) and is an Automatic NCAA qualifier and #6 All time on the Very tough 1500m list. Perhaps just as shocking as Bauhs win was the big PR’s recorded by ‘Cats David Wellman and Beau Rogers. Both entered the weekend with PR’s of 3:55 and looked great running to big Pr’s. Each gained NCAA provisional marks as well. Just missing an NCAA mark was Soph Manny Mejia who PR’d with his 3:53.60 time (NCAA marks is 3:53.50). Josh Linen’s 3:58 was his first lifetime sub 4 and Clinton Hayes also dipped into the 3’s with a 3:59. Chico State Current Athlete PR list for 1500m: The ‘Cats have quite a deep list at the 1500m distance when it comes to PR’s.

Including this weekend’s action here’s the scoop.
1. Michael Wickman 3:46
2. Angel Marquez 3:50
3. David Wellman 3:51
4. Beau Rogers 3:51
5. Manny Mejia 3:53
6. Clinton Hayes 3:57
7. Matt LoForte 3:58
8. Jordan Fairley 3:58
9. Josh Linen 3:58
10. Tim Cannon 3:58
11. Wes Cheney 4:00
12. Jose Garcia 4:01
13. Kyle Robinson 4:02
14. Joey Kochlacs 4:02
15. Brian Nelson 4:03

Thank You: Once again, Thanks to all who came out to support our meet this weekend! Also, a special thanks to those who helped promote the meet to the public. Luke Reid and Rory Miller (CSU Sports Info), Travis Sauders @ The Chico ER for putting a promotional piece in Saturday’s paper, and for the folks at KNVN for filming live from the track on Friday evening. We appreciate the coverage and the support!

Next up for the ‘Cats: Thursday/Friday 4/16-4/17 MT Sac Relays, Walnut, CA
Stay tuned as 12 Distance ‘Cats will attempt to improve their chances at qualifying for the upcoming NCAA Championships in Texas.

Saturday 4/18 Cal/Oregon Challenge @ Ashland, OR.
A small group of Distance runners will journey with the team to Ashland for the 4 way meet in Oregon.

CCAA Championships: May 1, 2 , 2009 Chico State will HOST the CCAA Track and Field Championships. Come out and support the ‘Cats