The concluding week of spring break brought Sac State’s annual Hornet Invit. Traditionally a small group of Chico Mid Distance and Distance runners will compete in this meet, with most running 8’s and 15’s. This year’s event was highlighted by the men’s 800m in which New York Athletic Club 3:56 miler Steve Sherer was entered. I’ll provide a quick summary of the races from Sac below:

Men’s 800m: With 3:56 miler Steve Sherer in the field and with Sac State’s school record holder Jeffrey Paneda also among the entrants, the men’s 800m was the most anticipated event of the day. 1:46 guy Tim Bailey was the designed rabbit for the fast heat of the men’s 800m today and given the cold and windy conditions that greeted the participants, it was much appreciated. Bailey took the opening pace through 400m in 52 seconds with Sherer on his heels. Chico Junior Michael Wickman (1:50.6 PR) kept contact with this group hitting 400m in 53 seconds. Teammates Clinton Hayes (1:50.8 PR) and David Wellman (1:51.6 PR) followed the fast early pace as well. Bailey led to the 600m mark pulling Sherer and Paneda through in 1:19ish. Wickman followed in 1:20 and Hayes/Wellman were near 1:21 with 200m remaining.

Unfortunately the final 100m was into the headwind so the final stretch wasn’t pretty, but the great pacing to that point along with the amazing field assembled for this race made up for the tough conditions. Sherer at 6’3 is a powerful and smooth runner. His strength showed through as he pulled clear of all pursuers down the final stretch. Chico’s Wickman fought hard in an attempt to catch Paneda, but the Sac State Alum held on tight to finish second (1:49.18). Wickman would finish third clocking his first sub 1:50 and the school’s 6th such achievement (he’s now #5 all time in the 800m). David Wellman and Clinton Hayes finished 6th and 7th overall both having run their second fastest 800m’s of their lives. Not too bad for their first fresh 800m of the season!

Wickman’s mark is an Automatic NCAA qualifier while Hayes and Wellman have achieved provisional marks (that normally earn spots to the NCAA meet). Senior Brian Nelson led much of heat II which was difficult given the windy conditions but managed a seasonal best 1:54.55.

Women’s 1500m: Sophomore Kara Lubieniecki ran even 75 pace in the pack before losing touch with the leaders in the third lap (77ish) but stormed back with a final 300 of 53 to clock a nice 4:41 PR. Lubieniecki moves to #9 on the All Time CSUC list with this run. True frosh Samantha Racine notched a sub 5 in her first attempt at the distance.

Men’s 1500: Wildcat assistant coach Pat Boivin rabbited the men’s 1500m on this cold and windy day. Unfortunately his 61-62 second clip for 900m proved to be too much for NCAA ’08 runner up Angel Marquez who took the lead as Boivin stepped off the track with 500m remaining. Marquez’s first chore as the leader was to battle the strong head winds into the bell lap, which he did well, but with 300m remaining he slowed and Southern Oregon’s Cameron Kreuz exploded to the front. Marquez had no answer to this move and he struggled home in third stopping the clock well short of his Pr in 3:58 (3:50 PR). Teammate Manny Mejia who ran 3:54 as a frosh last spring struggled while leading the chase group into the wind as well. Mejia finished a disappointing 8th overall thus concluding a rough outing for the two.

Women's 800m: Coach Trevino’s 4/8 runners Jontay Coakley and Anna Eicholtz both ran seasonal bests in Sacramento as did Alyssa Flores who cracked the 2:20 mark for the first time this season.