I’m proud to announce that the six Distance-’Cats that represented CSUC at the recent NCAA Championships enjoyed a fabulous weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina. Between the six, five All American Awards were earned, two school records were broken and four Top-5 finishes were recorded. Although I had hoped to share this recap of Nationals with you much earlier (We returned a week ago) a new computer and lost group-e mail files, prevented more a timely review. The NCAA meet is a three day event with prelims in the 1500’s, Steeples and finals in the 10k’s going off on Thursday afternoon/evening. Friday brings prelims in the 800’s and 5k’s, while Saturday-the final day of action highlights finals in all remaining events culminating with the 5k’s and 4 X 4’s. I’ll take you through the day to day action from Thursday prelims and 10k finals, to Saturday finals and new school records.

Thursday-Day 1 NCAA Championships

Women’s 1500m prelims: Chico’s Kara Lubieniecki a junior from Lakewood, Colorado advanced safely into Saturday’s final by placing third in the first heat of the women’s 1500m. For Kara this was her first time advancing to an NCAA track and field final after having been washed out of the 5k prelims a year ago. Her 4:32 prelim time was just off her PR of 4:31.9, and showed potential for cracking the 4:30 barrier in the final if she could run a strong race.

Men’s 1500m Prelims: Usually preliminary rounds are tactical and physical as athletes protect space and save energy for upcoming final rounds, but Michael’s prelim on Thursday was anything but tactical. German import Simon Stuetzel of Queens University jumped to the front and hammered out 60 second laps one after another and surprisingly enough, most of the field remained in tact through 1200m (3:01 split). with only 4 spots guaranteed into the final, Michael’s only option was to follow the quick pace and wait for the pack to sort itself out. With five guys still hammering out 60 pace as they entered the final turn, Michael surged toward the front of the pack and held off the charge of those behind, finishing in a swift 3:46.61 time. Colorado Mines’ top guy Mack McLain made a statement with a 3:44 PR to win the heat. The final would certainly be a fun race to watch!

Men’s Steeple Prelims: The men’s steeple prelim was almost a replay of Michael’s race earlier in the day with a large pack circling the track at a pace that was considerably far from tactical. Being that Beau was in the first heat (as most of our distance runners seem to be at this meet each year) he had to run for a top-4 spot in his heat to guarantee a berth into the final. Lap after lap the 9 man prelim stuck together, circling the track right around 9 minute pace. With 1.5 laps to go all 9 were still in contention for an auto spot into the final but several of the Western State Runners were starting to crack and give a stride or two to the pack ahead. A quick but controlled final revolution with some glances back as he strode down the final straight gave Beau a third place finish in his heat and his final time 8:56.78 tied his PR and narrowly missed our 26 year old school record. Beau hoped that he wouldn’t regret not trying for the record in the prelims, knowing that it wouldn’t be a guarantee to hit the mark in the final, especially after such a taxing preliminary effort.

 
Women’s 10,000m Final: The women’s 10k would be a big challenge for Chico’s Tori Tyler who had come down with some sort of week-long illness the week before leaving for North Carolina. Tori’s fever finally broke for good in the hours before we left for the Tar Heel State, and a short and swift workout was enjoyed the day before departure.. but exactly how much the flu had taken from her strength wouldn’t be known until she tried racing on Thursday night.

In the early going Tori played her cards perfectly. Slippery Rock’s Jen Harpp a 34:17 gal had split from the field early and quickly built a 50m lead on the pack. Tori held a conservative approach, marking the moves of defending champ (and #2 all time for DII-10k women) Tanya Zeferjahn (33:09 PR). As Zeferjahn made her way from the crowded mass that was the most talented women’s DII 10k field to date, Tori followed. Zeferjahn pulled the Chico junior up to the heels of 33:36 performer and NCAA XC runner-up Sarah Porter of Western Washington. Porter who logs 130 mile weeks and 25 mile long runs, in turn- pulled Zefferjahn and Tyler up to the heels of Harpp, and by 2-3k the four ran together, well clear of the large chase pack. At 3200m (11:00 roughly) Tori looked great and appeared to be well on her way to another Top-4 finish in an NCAA 10k final. In the third mile the pack whittled down to 3 with Porter, Zeferjahn and Tyler having dropped the tiring Harpp.

Just as Chico fans thought they might have another upset in the making (Remember Bauhs ‘07?) Tori started to show signs of being tired. By 5k her form has deteriorated somewhat and she began to fall from the pace of the leaders. Tori was quickly caught by the chase-pack which had made it’s way up to the heels of the leaders over the last kilometer. There was no amazing come-back for Tyler on this night as the three time All American battled with a body that just wasn’t 100 percent healthy. Tori hung strong and finished the race, although far from where she had hoped with an eventual 11th place effort. For those close to Tori, (myself included) the toughest part of watching the race unfold was the fact that Tori had played her cards beautifully and certainly deserved a better outcome.. but the bottom line was that she had given all that she had. Hopefully her body would be able to bounce back for the 5k final in two days.

Men’s 10,000m Final: Senior Jimmy Elam has come a long way from his days at Sierra High School in Manteca, where as a senior he recorded track bests of 4:38 and 9:44. Through many miles and a lot of hard work Jimmy has transformed himself from an average high school performer to a multi time NCAA All American. In the men’s 10k final Jimmy faced the task of competing with 6 men who have all run sub 14 for 5k, and another who had run 14:07 at the recent Oregon Invitational (Edwin Cruz). Thankfully for Jimmy his workouts going into this year’s NCAA meet had shown that he was VERY fit and ready for whatever was thrown at him in the 10k final. 3 weeks before the big race Jimmy ran a 10 mile tempo in Bidwell Park (Solo) in 51:10 (5:07 pace per mile!). The week before the NCAA meet Jimmy did one last track session that included 3 X mile repeats done with alternating paces per lap at between 65-66 and 71-72. Knowing that NCAA Championship races are oftentimes tactical affairs with surging laps and paces, Jimmy was prepared mentally and physically for what was surely ahead.

Sure enough the early paces of the NCAA 10k were dictated by the top Kenyans in the race Daniel Kirwa, Amos Sang, and Glarius Rop. The early laps swayed between 73 pace for the quicker laps and 78-79 for a few of the slower ones. The result was a half way split of 15:37 (quite pedestrian for a bunch of sub 30 min guys). Soon after the 5k mark the fartleking began with Sang and Kirwa trading surges from the front and the field scrambling to cover the moves that they could. The first big surge came from about 10 laps out as Sang dropped a 66 second lap, which given the 75 pace that the first 12 laps had been covered in, was a very steep drop in pace. The surge immediately shattered what was a 16 man pack into smaller sub-groups and Elam managed to fight his way into the top 6-7 with a 68 split of his own. As Sang, Kirwa and Rop slowed the pace a touch, Jimmy was back on the heels of the leaders, along with sub 14 guy Ruben Sanca (U Mass Lowell) and Marko Cheseto (West Region Champ). The good news was that several of the “key players” including NCAA DII seasonal 10K leader Luke Cragg did not respond well to this initial surge, showing that they might be vulnerable as once the race really heated up.

As the pace eased back into the 72-73 range, much of the lead pack re-assembled and waited for the next big push. This happened just inside the final 2 miles as Sang made another hard move from the front. This time the move was for good, and everyone knew it. Elam covered the best that he could, ratcheting the pace down under 70 again, and pulling away from Cragg, Cruz and a number of other contenders. With 2k remaining Jimmy ran in 6th place and was making up ground on Cheseto who was several strides ahead. Catching and passing the struggling Kenyan, Jimmy kept the pace honest and within 4-600m Cheseto was again adrift and Jimmy was now chasing sub 14 guy Ruben Sanca who ran in 4th position. With 1k to go Jimmy caught and passed Sanca and again kept the pedal to the metal trying to squeeze off another big name contender. Sanca proved to be a tougher nut to crack than Cheseto but Jimmy kept hammering and looking ahead at Glarius Rop who had finished 3rd at the NCAA XC Championships in the fall. Although it wasn’t in the cards for Jimmy to catch Rop, Kirwa or Sang, his hard work and 63 closing 400m split kept him ahead of Sanca and earned him a sweet 4th place finish in a very accomplished field.

In looking at the three that beat Jimmy on Thursday night, you might recognize that all three finished among the Top-4 overall at last fall’s NCAA XC Championships. Jimmy’s final 5k of the 10k final was run in an impressive 14 minutes and 43 seconds! It goes without saying that everyone present was inspired and fired up having watched Jimmy pull the trigger on his best race ever on the biggest stage.

Friday-Day 2 NCAA Championships

Prelims-800m/5,000m: Athletes and coaches arrived to the track on Friday evening amid stormy skies and lightening in the air. As per NCAA rules competition is not allowed if lightening is near-by so a delay in action pushed the start times back several hours before the green light to compete was granted. The skies were still dark and flashes of electricity were certainly still in the air, when 200 and 800m athletes left to warm up for their respective preliminaries. At the conclusion of the 200m prelims and just before the 800’s were about to begin, lightening had again grown far too close to the stadium for the NCAA’s liking. Events were halted and everyone ran for the gym as a hard rain started to fall and lightening lit the skies around the stadium in almost every direction. After several more hours of “gym time” the announcement was made that all remaining events would be run as timed finals the next day. This would mean that the men’s 800m would be run as a 2 heat final with times dictating the outcome between the two heats. The 5k’s would be run as a single race per gender, which made for some very happy distance runners. Now it was off to another Midnight “dinner” before the final day of action on Saturday.

Saturday-Day 3 NCAA Championships

Women’s Pole Vault: At 10:30am on Saturday morning the Distance crew made their way to the track to support teammate Katrina Rodriguez, the ‘Cats top female pole vaulter. Katrina is Beau Rogers’ girlfriend and is DEFINITELY one of the best team leaders our women’s track team has had in quite some time. Rodriguez. coming into the competition ranked just outside the Top-5, vaulted with a sense of purpose that only a fifth year senior can have, knowing it would be her final opportunity to represent her school.

Katrina cleared almost every height on her first attempt, looking quite sharp as she climbed the ladder and separated herself from more and more of her competition. Katrina cleared a PR 12’10 on her first attempt, while only two other competitors were able to clear the height.. but on their 2nd and 3rd attempts. The bar now went to 13’3 (I believe-going off memory here) which would be a School record and might secure an NCAA title. Katrina’s first attempt was a good one, but the bar brushed off as she went over. Both of her competitors missed, with one not being close at all. Katrina’s second attempt was beautiful and although I was trying to capture the moment with a series of photos, it appeared to me that she had in fact cleared it.. But unfortunately the bar barely brushed off as Katrina had started to descend on the backside of the fiberglass obstacle. Both competitors missed, and again, neither appeared to be especially close to clearing the height. Katrina’s third attempt was another solid one, but unfortunately for her the perfect ending wasn’t in the cards as the bar fell to the matt behind her.

HOWEVER....if both remaining competitors also missed their final attempts at 13’3 Katrina would become NCAA Champ due to her clean record of misses at the final cleared height. It was hard not to hope that the bar would fall for each of her competitors as well.. but we did anyhow (ha, ha…) and of course the bar did fall twice more. On this day the person who is the glue who helped pull the different segments that is our track team together each of the past 3 seasons, would win an NCAA title in her one and only chance to do so. Watching Katrina win on Saturday morning set the stage for a great evening ahead. Congradulations to Katrina Rodriguez, NCAA Champion!

Men’s Steeple Final: Having just watched his girlfriend win the NCAA championship in the pole vault, Beau had hours of gentle prodding throughout the day by friends and family who asked him if he was going to follow in Katrina’s footsteps. Unfortunately for Beau the prospect of winning the steeple title was a long shot given that Ruben Chebon Mwei of Adams State is the fastest steepler in the NCAA this year (DI included). His PR is 8:34, and to top this off Ruben is also the defending NCAA XC champion. In all likelihood the race for everyone other than Ruben in the men’s steeple this year was for second place. Nevertheless given that all 12 finalists had PR’s of 9:01 or better, this would be the most competitive DII steeple final since the early 1980’s.

As expected the pace was honest from the start with Mwei taking an early lead and kept the tempo at just below 9:00 rhythm for the first few laps. By 1600m there were 9 guys running in the lead pack, with Chico’s Rogers right in the thick of the action. With a kilometer to go the lead pack was down to 8 and the relentless pace was beginning to show on the faces of many that remained. Mwei attacked with two laps to go to make his bid in winning another NCAA crown. The pack strained to follow but didn't disinigrate, as the seven in the chase pack stuck close together with second place now the goal on their minds.

During the penultimate lap, Rogers covered the moves that needed to be covered to keep himself in contention for a high finish, as the chase pack finally began to break up. Penultimate lap split of 70 left Beau running in fifth position with the final 400m to go. Coming off the turn with 300m remaining Western State’s Aussie standout Glen Watts made a huge move down the straight. Lock Haven’s Nick Hilton strained to try to cover this move while just behind Norwegian star Tom Karbo of Augustana battled with Rogers and Alaska’s Micah Chelimo. Coming off the final water jump Watts appeared to be a lock for second place but the race for third was up for grabs between Karbo, Rogers, Chelimo, and Hilton with one barrier to gg. Unfortunately for Chelimo, who uses the unorthodox Kenyan “hop” technique when trying to hurdle, clipped this final barrier and fell to the mondo surface. Now the remaining trio sprinted to the line with Beau outleaning Karbo by a scant .02 second and more "comfortable" two tenths of a second over Hilton, and just 2 seconds in front of Tyler Emory of Grand Valley (Beau’s last lap was a quick 65.4!). After regaining his feet Chelimo struggled in at 7th overall (still under 9 minutes). What an exciting race!

Beau’s third place finish was not only a two place improvement over his placing at Nationals last year, but also stamped himself as the fastest distance hurdler in the history of the Chico State track team. Beau’s 8:53.07 clocking surpasses Tom Brown's 1974 mark of 8:55.0, quite a testemant for a guy whose high school track PR’s were only 4:30 and 9:56! For Chico fans and coaches, the fun was just beginning as Kara Lubieniecki was already on the track preparing for the next final of the day....the women’s 1500m.

Women’s 1500m Final: Just as Beau had in the men’s Steeple, Kara Lubieniecki had a near insurmountable obstacle in the women’s 1500m... And that was an obstacle for those looking in from the outside, that was pretty much untouchable. The obstacle, not only for Kara’s but the entire field, was Seattle Pacific's Jessica Pixler who is arguably the most decorated female distance athlete in the history of the NCAA. Pixler has won 3 NCAA XC titles and 3x1500m titles, along with indoor miles, DMR’s etc…. With Pixler pretty much untouchable by the field, everyone focused on placing as well as possible. Coming into the meet ranked 9th Kara’s goal was to compete for a Top-5 spot in the final, and from all that we could tell going into her race on Saturday, that would probably take a sub 4:30 effort. With Kayla Silva’s 4:29 school record also dangling as a carrot of sorts, Kara had a lot to shoot for as she started the race on Saturday.

A Pre-Med student with a GPA that is approaching 4.0 Kara lacks no smarts, and she showed this in the 1500m final. As the gun sounded Kara tucked in on the rail in about 10th position as the pack flew through an opening 400m at around 70 seconds. Prepared for a quick early start, Kara used the straightaways to start her progression forward toward that top-5 position. Making sure not to spend too much time in the outside lanes on the turns and making moves that were needed on the straights, Kara had moved onto the heels of a pack that included the fifth place runner by 800m. Kara, after reaching 800m in 2:23, continued to cover moves demanded by the honest pacing of the race. A 70 second third lap had Kara hitting the 1200m mark in 3:33, a pace well under the school record!!.

Unfortunately, the steady and honest pace left the usual hard-kicker with little to close with, but of course most around her were dealing with the same issues (everyone was tired!). Kara hammered home down the final straight in 5th position, with 6th,7th, and 8th right on her heels. Thankfully for Kara her closing speed was sufficient to keep the challengers at bay, and she was rewarded with a fifth place finish, accomplishing goal #1. Her fifth place finish also gave the deserving Junior her first All American honor for the track (to go with the one she earned last Fall from XC), while her final time of 4:28.46 made her the fastest Wildcat EVER for the 1500m distance! Kara joins Kayla Silva and Margaret Pridgen as the only ‘Cats to have broken the 4:30 barrier. She also became the ‘Cats highest placer at the NCAA meet in the metric mile event. Kara’s new PR converts to a sub 4:50 mile, which is another quite impressive milestone! Congrats Kara!



Men’s 1500m Final: The men’s 1500m had plenty of sub-plots as fans and followers studied and guessed as to how the race would unfold and who would be this year’s NCAA Champ. Thankfully Chico’s Michael Wickman was one of those talked about as a potential winner. Michael has enjoyed a brilliant career since joining the ‘Cats as a 1:54, 4:22 prep at Northgate HS in Walnut Creek, CA. From the first season working with Michael as I became aware of the talent and drive, conversations have revolved around developing for the future and a hopeful NCAA title at the 1500m distance. Of course it’s one thing for a 3:52 frosh to dream of developing to the point to where he can compete with 3:43 type guys, and another, to actually do the work and have the mentality that it requires to progress to that point, but Michael has accepted this challenge and took the steps each year to put himself into the position of being a favorite in the NCAA. A year ago, Wickman finished 3rd at the NCAA meet and later in the summer posted a 3:43 PR which is equivalent to a 4:01 mile.

Michael’s senior year hadn’t gone quite as well as we’d hoped, due to a few injury set-backs that limited training and racing opportunities. Still Michael’s experience and residual fitness had him in a great place coming into the 2010 championship meet. Competition-wise Michael had an interesting field to contend with. When running his 3:44.08 seasonal best mark at Mt Sac this year Michael took second place behind Adams’ Andrew Graham, one of the Grizzlies’ British imports. Graham’s 3:43 winning mark was the leading time in DII, coming into the meet and teammate Ryan McNiff a Junior from Adams was another favorite running an altitude equivalent 4:01 indoor mile this winter. McNiff, a strong runner with a 14:01 5k PR also has a very potent kick that he used to place second at the indoor nationals (at the mile distance). The fourth big threat to the title appeared to be Colorado School of the Mines’ Mack McLain who had run a 4:02 indoor mile this winter and had just lowered his 1500m PR in the prelims to 3:44. This race would be one for the ages and any of these four could win on a given day.

As the race began, the pace was somewhat slow with the 12 man pack floating through 400m in 63. Given that Michael has great closing speed and had missed a fair amount of training this season, the plan was to allow the race to unfold and to make sure that he was in a good position to move as the race surely would over the final 600m. 800m was reached in 2:05 with the entire field looking quite ready for the action that lie ahead. The pace quickened over the next 400m and with 500m remaining Adams’ duo of McNiff and Graham ratcheted down the pace. With a lap to go Michael ran in fourth position hitting the bell at 2:51. As the pace quickened a lead pack of 4 separated almost immediately with the previously mentioned favorites comprising this select group. Down the backstretch Wickman closed a slight gap that the trio ahead had formed in the early stages of the break. Wickman moved onto the heels of the pack as they rounded the turn. As the four reached for a final gear down the final straight, Wickman and McClain edged ahead of the Adams’ pair running neck and neck, sharing the lead. For a split second I thought that we might have our third NCAA champ at the Johnson C Smith facility, before McClain found one final gear that propelled him through the line just a fraction of a second ahead of Wickman. Less than a quarter of a second separated Michael from his dream of winning an NCAA title, but he had so much to be proud of having finished second overall in a very impressive field. His final lap was covered in 55.4 seconds and he had run his second 3:46-1500m in three days. If Michael had run a poor race and lost the title, it would have been tough to swallow, but on this day he ran smart, tough, and was beaten by the narrowest of margins by someone who ran a touch better. This was a solid effort for Michael, and the third race in a row that ended with a favorable outcome for a Wildcat participant.

Men’s 800m Final: Unfortunately for Michael there was little time to recover from the 1500m before the 800m final was to start. Roughly 70 minutes to be precise, and this year’s 1500 had required more all out work than the ’09 version had. Given the tired legs that he had to work with Michael played his cards conservatively, trying to run from the back of the pack in hopes of moving through the field during the second lap and hopefully scoring a top spot again this year. Michael’s plan looked very promising for 600m as the leaders zipped through 400m in 53-54 with Michael hitting the bell at 55ish. As the pack of 9 started down the backstretch, Michael held his spot on the rail and started moving through the field without leaving the comforts of lane 1.

One by one athletes who were moving into the outer lanes trying to pass others, left the inside open. At 550 meters, Michael had worked all the way up to 4th position, but with a big crowd to his right and several runners ahead on the rail. Unfortunately one of these runners (ahead) put a foil to his plans. Standing at 6’4, Kenyan Indoor NCAA Champ Denise Mokaya was slowing down in a big way. As Michael and the group to his outside were building momentum toward the final turn the giant Makoya was dropping like a stone. Seeing the dilemma in front of him and with little time to react, Michael was forced to slam on the breaks and allow all of those who he’d just worked hard to pass, to get around him so that he could have room to make the pass of Makoya as well. This process took only a fraction of a second, but the slowing and speeding back up, along with the obvious positions lost and the diminishing amount of real estate left in the race, really put a dent in Michael’s chances. Having lost a few steps on the pack Michael fought hard down the final straight, eventually finishing 6th in his heat. Given the quick winning time from the first heat, Michael ended up 7th overall between the two heats. His seventh place finish ensured the senior of a sixth All American award, making him one of the most decorated track and field athletes in Chico State history.

Women’s 5,000m: In the 48 hours between the finish of Tori’s disappointing 10k and the start of her 5k final, it was apparent that she was re-gathering her energies for what would be a hugely difficult 5k field. In a normal year if one runs 17:20 or better for the 5k they are usually granted a spot in the NCAA meet. This year the final competitor had run 16:55 and several had run close to the 16 minute mark coming in. The biggest players in the field on paper would be defending champ Neeley Spence of Shippensburg who was a sub 10:20 3200m runner in HS and had won last year’s NCAA 5k with a sub five minute final 4-lap split. This year Spence would join the top seeds of the 10k, Zeferjahn, and Sarah Porter as the pre race favorites. Chico’s Tori Tyler had a shiny 16:29 PR behind her, but had struggled with the 10k as she tried to shake the lingering effects of her flu two nights before.

After a relaxed 82 second first revolution of the track Spence took the fore and dropped the pace down to 77-78’s and the race was on. Tyler played her hand conservatively in the early going, biding her time on the rail and waiting for a split to happen in the field ahead. At 800m into the race Tori ran somewhere around 12th position overall. As the honest pace wore on, the pack spread out into a long line of fast moving runners, which allowed for easier movement through the field. Tori took advantage of this passing through 1600m in 5:15. By 2k Tori ran in 6th position overall and a lap later nearing the half way point Tori ran in 4th looking full of run. During the 8th lap Tori passed Sarah Porter and ran on the heels of Spence and Zeferjahn and the Chico fans were really starting to make some noise on the top of the turn. Tori passed 3200m in 10:27 having just run a 77 second lap, but as quickly as she’d worked to move onto the leaders heals, she fell off during the 9th lap. An 81 second lap saw Porter catch and pass the noticeably tiring Chico runner and now damage control was in effect. Lap by agonizing lap Tori lost a position or two and an 84 second penultimate lap saw the junior fall to 6th place with seventh now running on her heels. Tori held 7th place until the final straight when Mesa State’s Alexis Skarda sprinted by the straining Tyler. It appeared that Tori would hold on for 8th place and the final All American spot but a last second “dash-and-lean” by Missouri Southern’s Kimi Shank pushed Tyler right off the podium, hitting the tape .24 seconds ahead of the exhausted Chico runner.

At first glance the 9th place finish is a tough one for Tori to swallow, but there are plenty of silver lining points that could be taken from this effort. Although she faded hard, Tori still held on to close with an 80 final lap. Her final time 16:42 is her second fastest ever and only 13 seconds slower than her PR, and of course that was run without having to run a 10k two evenings before. In a “normal” year 16:42 is usually a mark that falls among the top 2-3 finishers in the NCAA race, but of course this was no normal year of 5k running in DII. Perhaps the best part of this 5k effort was watching Tori run a beautifully executed 5k, trying her best to put herself into position to possibly win the race. Unfortunately it just wasn’t in the cards on this evening.

Men’s 5,000m Final: Brent Handa and Jimmy Elam went into the men’s 5k final with nothing to lose and with a goal of trying their hardest to challenge for a Top-8 finish. This wouldn’t be easy given that Brent was the final seed allowed in the race and Jimmy was coming off perhaps his best (and most grueling) race ever (10k) two nights prior. The race started with a 69 second lap, as sub 14 minute Adams State runner Florian Theofile paced the field in the early going. The tempo slowed over the next two laps with the 16 man pack crossing the 1k mark in a slowish 2:57. At 3.5 laps the first big surge was thrown into the mix and it had immediate results. Amos Sang, the 10k champ threw in a 66 lap, which immediately split the field into parts and pieces. Chico’s Handa fought hard to cover the move and by the start of the 6th lap Handa ran in 11th place overall at the tail end of the lead pack. Space had formed between Handa and a sub group of composed of Elam, Mine’s Zywicki, Western Oregon’s Chris Reed, and Florian Theofile who were working hard trying to catch back up to the lead pack. A mid race 2:15 800m split seemed to take it’s toll on Handa and the junior fell out of contention just before the 3200m mark, and was quickly caught by Elam’s group. The final mile was a rough one for the Chico pair but they fought for places the best that they could, and while Amos Sang would run to his second victory in three days, Elam would finish his NCAA career with a respectable 11th place effort. Handa would follow some 14 seconds back in 14th place. Although it wasn’t the ending that we’d hoped for, the race was hard fought and both athletes had done their best to fight for top spots in the race.

        
As the team points were tallied the Chico men’s team ended up placing 8th overall with 27 points. The women’s team who’s scorers consisted of Katrina Rodriguez and Kara Lubieniecki finished 18th! Not too bad to have two teams among the NCAA’s top 20. For those who have made it this far in my summary, Thank you for your support and interest in our meet and season. We really do appreciate the many fans and supporters that we have, and I feel honored to be a part of such a great tradition and team. We hope to see you in the fall as we shoot for another great season on the trails. Until then, have an awesome summer and Go ‘Cats!