Before I take off for our trip south to the Mt Sac Relays, but wanted to quickly send out the recap of the Chico Distance Carnival below. I have to give special thanks to our assistant Matt Schubert who wrote the description of Friday’s events at the track, while yours truly was at a wedding. Results were mixed for the ‘Cats, but a good number of solid performances were had by the Chico crew..

Day I recap:
Women's 800m: The first event of the night was the womens’ invitational 800m. It should really have been called the Chico State inter-squad 800m, as 5 athletes were from Chico State (6 if red-shirt freshman Natalie Galvan were counted). A freshman sprinter was tasked with taking a field through 400m in around 65 seconds, with a goal for Eicholtz and Clancey to run under the NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark of 2:14.50. The field broke down as follows: Anna Eicholtz (2:16 PR), Kelly Clancey (2:16 PR, NCAA qualifier in the heptathalon), Skylar Young (2:19 PR), Ana Marquez (2:25 PR), and Sam Racine (2:31 PR) from Chico State along with Courtney Gooch of Fresno CC (2:17 PR) and Rachel Novak of Oregon Tech (2:25 PR). Unfortunately, a quick 30.5 opening 200 would come back to bite Eicholtz in the final 150, as Clancey would pull away on the homestretch to win in 2:16.07. Anna still notched a credible 2:18.51 clocking, while an excellent close by Marquez and Young netted both PRs as they almost passed their tiring teammate. Bringing up the rear, Racine enjoyed personal best time of 2:26.

Men's 800m: Next up was one of the more anticipated races of the night, the mens’ invitational 800m. The Chico coaching staff wasted no expense, as former Chico State All-American and assistant coach (and current Soka coach) Pat Boivin came up to rabbit the first section. Michael Wickman’s workouts since Stanford have shown that he had the fitness to run 1:50 or better, and teammates Clinton Hayes and Kyle Robinson were also running workouts that indicated times in the 1:51-52 range. Also in the field were Cameron Kreuz, running unattached for Southern Oregon (1:51 PR), teammate Levi Roudebush (1:53 PR), and Santa Clara’s Robbie Reid (1:53 PR), along with Chico’s Carlos Suarez.

Boivin took the runners through 200 in 25.8 seconds then limped off the track 80m later clutching his hamstring. Wickman took over pacing duties and the field continued down the homestretch, hitting the 400 in tight pack at 54.5. Wickman exploded out of the third turn and looked great as he covered the back straightaway. Kreuz and Hayes followed, with Hayes the first to catch a tiring Wickman with 180 meters to go. Comming off the turn Kreuz jumped into the lead and never looked back. Kreuz would cruise to the win in 1:51.30 while Clinton Hayes held form well enough to take second in 1:51.90. Teammate Kyle Robinson caught and passed a gassed Michael Wickman to give the Wildcats 4th and 5th, in times of 1:52.53 and 1:53.08, respectively. Carlos Suarez, also in this heat, recorded a solid seasonal best of 1:54.75. Both Hayes and Robinson recorded NCAA provisional times. Also of note were the clockings of 1:57.21 and 1:59.50 by red-shirting freshmen Steven Bradley and Jonathan Ahman in the 3rd heat of the 800.

Women’s Steeplechase: The next event of the night was the women’s 3000m steeplechase. With 6 of the 9 runners who toed the line from Chico State, this was to be an all-Chico affair. Amy Schnittger (11:08 PR #12 nationally), Jessica Brieno (11:12 PR), and Katie Spencer (11:18 PR/11:24 SB) set off from the gun hoping to better their provisional marks and pull Katie to a sub-11:20 (NCAA Provo). Kelly Clark of Southern Oregon went with them for the first three laps before fading off and getting swallowed up by the second pack of Chico runners, led by Brooke Bergesen (11:49 PR, returning from injury). In the front, the ladies were averaging 89-90 second circuits around the track. With two laps to go, Schnittger and Brieno dropped Spencer. Schnittger rolled into the final 400 with a full head of steam and opened up a gap that Brieno wasn’t able to close, which Amy puncuated with a respectable 82 seconds during her final circuit of the barriers for the win. Brieno, Spencer, Bergesen, frosh Hayley Swanson, and Jessica Nelson would round out the top-6 Chico State sweep. Solid times all around, and Swanson notched a nice 3 second PR from her debut, run 3 weeks ago.

Men’s Steeplechase: Following the ladies over the barriers was to be the men. Only two Chico State men were stepping to the line in the steeplechase this night: team captain Thomas “Bob” Whitcomb (9:30 PR) and the junior from Alaska Miles Dunbar (9:55 PR) who has been enjoying a stellar season thus far. Despite having missed some training with injury, Thomas wasted no time mixing it up with the leaders as they clicked off 74-75 second laps early in the race. Isai Orea of Fresno CC and Stephen Koch (who, as Jordan Fairley aptly put it “seems to be following us everywhere we go”) of Santa Clara moved into the lead after 2 laps, with Orea opening a slight gap while Koch led the Chico duo along, accompanied by COR’s Jon O’Connell. By the conclusion of 4 laps, it had been whittled down to Koch, Orea, Dunbar, and Whitcomb. The freshman from Fresno then took charge again, picking up the pace and dropping Whitcomb. Koch retook with lead with 2 laps to go, but with 500m remaining, much to the crowd’s delight, Miles Dunbar flew into the lead and never looked back. Miles closed with abandon over the remaining barriers to win in a time of 9:24.88, a 30-second personal best AND an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Thomas rolled across the line in 9:52, not exactly what he was looking for, but a solid steeple opener nonetheless for the senior.

Women's 5000m: Again, a rabbit was scheduled to take the field through at just under NCAA-provisional pace (17:33). That rabbit was Kara Lubieniecki (16:45 PR), and Kara did an admirable job getting the Chico runners through 8 laps. The first lap was a slowish-90 seconds (18:45 pace). Humboldt State’s all-American steeplechaser Megan Rolland (10:35 steeple @ Stanford) and former Chico all-American Lindsey Nelson decided they wanted nothing to do with that and quickly separated themselves from the pack with Nelson taking point in clicking off consistent 82 and 83 second 400s. Kara led a large Chico pack along at solid 85s. The pack included Julie Shaw, Paige Henker, Michelle Johnson, Jonah Weeks, Colleen Joyce, Stephanie Consiglio, and red-shirt Shannon McVannel. Four laps into the race, Consiglio and Johnson had fallen off the goal pace, but the rest were cruising along together. Once Lubieniecki stepped off the track, the Chico pack further splintered, losing Henker and Weeks. With one lap to go, Rolland finally left Nelson’s shadow and flew by her to claim the win in 17:18, with Nelson finishing second in 17:23. The next 8 spots were to go to Chico runners, as Julie Shaw was the first Wildcat across the line in a seasonal best, 17:40. Colleen Joyce, looking strong yet relaxed over the final mile, enjoying an excellent 17:48 PR. Shannon McVannel (17:51 PR), Jonah Weeks, Michelle Johnson, Paige Henker, and Stephanie Consiglio followed their teammates across the line. Also of note was freshman Olivia Guadiana’s 19:09 clocking in her 5k debut.

Men's 5000m:The large field had several rabbits scheduled to run in it: Jimmy Elam (14:17 PR) had been asked to take Chico athletes through 8 laps at 70-second 400m pace (14:35), while Brent Handa (14:25 PR) would assist him through 7 laps. Tim Cannon would tow along a second group right at 15:00 pace (72-second quarters). With 14:20 guy Kevin Pool and USF’s Ganbileg Bor pulling ahead of the pack early, running slightly faster, the rabbits did an excellent job of pacing through 8 laps. Brendan Scanlon (14:46 PR) and Joey Kochlacs (14:43 PR) stayed right with Jimmy and Brent through 8 laps, while Alex Sharp and Josh Linen followed between the front group and the pack led by Tim Cannon. With three laps to go, Scanlon began to fall off the pace while Kochlacs moved up to pace his teammate. Behind these two, Josh Linen was quietly moving up and closing the gap on both of them. By the time one to go had rolled around, Linen had caught Kochlacs. Pool and Bor, having run alone most of the race, would end up getting 1st and 2nd, but the next three spots would go the Chico athletes led by Josh Linen. Linen enjoyed a solid 14:42 PR, and was followed by Kochlacs, who also enjoyed a 14:42 PR. It should be noted that both Linen’s and Kochlacs’ times were under the NCAA provisional mark of 14:45. Scanlon would rally to claim 5th in 14:48. Alex Sharp also broke 15 minutes with his 14:55 clocking. Red-shirting freshman Dayne Gradone enjoyed a nice 10-second PR, notching a 15:11 finish.

In the second section, freshman Zach Zadrozna, who has shown a nasty kick over the last 400m in his past 5k’s, made a strong move 500m out to try and catch the leader, Chris Mosier of Santa Clara. Zach caught Mosier with 120 to go, but he may have spotted Mosier too much ground over the middle laps, as the Santa Clara runner responded strongly to Zach’s challenge with 80m to go and held on for the win. Still, Zach enjoyed a 12-second PR, recording a time of 15:25.

Day II of the Twilight meet brought B heats of the 8’s and 15’s, along with the seeded 1500 races that concluded the evening. The impending storm made conditions less than ideal with winds coming from the South and pushing into the evening hours. The ‘Cats made the most of the afternoon/evening while posting some solid victories. Day 1500 heats were highlighted by a few of the red shirting frosh who claimed victories in windy conditions. Natalie Galvan won the women’s day 1500m with a 72 final lap. Fellow Frosh Zachary Zadrozna recorded a 61 second final 400m in the 1500m, only to have teammate and red shirt Steven Bradley claim the victory with a 60-ish final revolution.

Women's Invitational 1500m: With the field really struggling for talent from other schools, Junior Kara Lubieniecki was solicited to return to pacing duties for the leaders. It was hoped that Kara could take teammates Tori Tyler and Anna Eicholtz through 1,000m at an even 74.0 tempo per lap. Kara did this to perfection as she, Tori and Anna sailed through 800m in 2:28.0. As Kara slipped from the track with 500m remaining Tyler took the fore and Anna switched gears to match the quickening stride of the Junior from Los Altos. The pair had a huge lead over the rest of the field and hit 1200m having just recorded a 73 lap. With 200m remaining Tori was holding the pace well, but Eicholtz was showing signs that the quick and honest pace was taking it’s toll. Over the final 200m Tori put 4 seconds on her teammate and stopped the clock with her first ever sub 4:40 for 1500m. Eicholtz crossed in 4:43, and teammates Samantha Racine and Julie Platero recorded 4th and 5th place finishes overall. With this run Tori climbs back onto the CSUC All Time 1500m list, passing a good number of former Wildcat standouts, including school 800m record holder Lindsey Brown, and Dana Bjornsen.

Men's Invitational 1500m: The Invitational section of the men’s 1500m has been the premier event of this meet since it’s inception several years ago. This year a solid field was once again assembled for the event, but the slew of Sub 4 min 1500m times that was hoped, just didn’t materialize. Michael Wickman provided excellent pacing from the front, and teammate Beau Rogers was ready for the challenge of sticking with Wickman through 1200m. The pair hit 400m in 63 and 800m in 2:04, but over the next 400m Rogers struggled with the pace and many of those behind were having even more difficulty. While Wickman hit 1200m in the prescribed 3:05, Rogers was a few ticks back with a huge lead on a fading Eric Malain of Humboldt State. Beau ran the final 300m in a solid 45 split and recorded a pretty easy win, while teammate Anthony Solis managed to outkick the rest of the field for second (3:56-PR).

Notes from Coach Hanf: It's good to be home! Our Wildcat tracksters performed remarkably at our final home town showing last Friday and Saturday night during our annual Distance Carnival & Twilight Invitational.

Team Scoring:
WOMEN
1. Chico State-343
2. 2. Humboldt- 90
3. Oregon Tech-68
4. Butte College-60
5. Southern Oregon-56
6. Shasta College 38

MEN
1. Chico State- 248
2. College of the Siskyous-92
3. Butte College- 89
4. Shasta College-69
5. O.I.T.- 58
6. S. Oregon-57
7. Humboldt-33


Julianne Conrad's 5'7" high jump, a provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Division II championship in May, was not only the top jumper in the field but also tied Brianna Cardenas (All-American in 2003) for the 3rd best jump in school history. Conrad also won the triple jump in a distance of 36'0".

The Wildcats had an abundance of first place finishes including several at Friday night's distance carnival. Kelly Clancey came away with first place honors in the 800-meter run with a personal record (2:16.07), Amy Schnittger was the winner in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (11:14), and Chico State placed seven runners in the top 10 in the 5,000-meter run. Five different Wildcat runners on the men's team – Clinton Hayes, Kyle Robinson, Miles Dunbar, Joshua Linen and Joey Kochlacs – earned NCAA provisional bids Friday in the first three events of the two-day Distance Carnival, taking place at University Stadium.

Dunbar’s performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase was the “runaway” highlight of Friday’s competition. Not only did the freshman from Kodiak, Alaska win the 21-man event and earn the NCAA provisional bid, his time of 9:24.88 bettered his previous PR by more than 30 seconds.

On Saturday, heptathlete Kelly Clancey set some more PRs, winning the long jump (18'4 1/4") and placing second in the 100 meter hurdles (14.97). Freshman Aimee Rodgers was the winner of the 100m hurdles, running the 7th best time in school history (14.77). Clancey's time moves her into 10th best all-time. Rodgers also placed 2nd in the 400m hurdles (66.38) behind teammate Katie Prucha (65.04). Prucha is now a 3-time winner of this event at the Chico Twilight.

Our top lady vaulter Hurricane Katrina Rodriguez was resting a sprained ankle but sophomores Aubrie Bowers and Ashley Reno helped to pick up the slack. They placed 2nd and 3rd and landed on the all-time top ten list in the process. They cleared 10'8 3/4".

Nicole Cooper took the 100m in 12.44 seconds, won the 200 (25.51) and anchored the 400 relay to a victory. She is now 9th on the all-time list in the century race.

Tori Tyler, who set our school record in the 10K last month, also broke into the top 10 list, winning the 1500m in 4:38.12. Beau Rodgers, who already has an automatic NCAA mark in the steeplechase, won the mens' 1500 in 3:53.

Eric "Bobo" Wright won the hammer throw with a toss of 167'1" while Chico State was also victorious in both verticle events: Ryan Bertucci was first in the high jump (6'7") and Chad McCammon won the pole vault (15'6"). Both are seniors. Fellow senior Nick Lonnegren was the top collegiate finisher in the 100, cranking out a PR 10.80).

Chico State alum Troy Lalaguna won the javelin (200'3) while decathlete Talor Fulfer was second (183').

The NCAA released their first team national team rankings and I’m proud to say both or men and women’s programs are currently in the top 10. Our men’s team is ranked #2 in the nation while the ladies are at #10.

This week we will send a handful of distance runner to Mt. SAC with coach Towne, while the majority of the team will head to the Woody Wilson Invitational at UC Davis. Hope we see many of you there.