It’s not every day that you are able to witness an American Record while you’re at the weekend track meet, but the Wildcats who competed and the many who made the trip to support those who competed, were treated to a new American 10k record on Saturday night at Stanford’s Payton Jordan Invitational. It may sound strange to start an e mail talking about another athletes’ performance, but Chris Solinsky’s 26:59 debut for the 25 lapper was something special-that reminded those who were there to witness it, that they were quite fortunate. With his American Record, Solinsky cemented himself as the first Non-African to have cracked the 27 minute barrier. Chico alum Scott Bauhs was in the Record race, and the 2nd year pro notched his second fastest 10k to date while finishing 12th overall (28:03).

Leading up to the record run, plenty of amazing fields were assembled and the ‘Cats had 4 men entered in 800, 1500, and steeple events. Results were a bit mixed for the small Chico contingent, but on the bright side, all four hit at least NCAA provisional marks. Only one (Manny Mejia) bettered his previous NCAA mark. Please enjoy the short re-caps below on this weekend’s races.

Day I recap:
Men’s 1500m Heat II: Michael Wickman stepped to the line in hopes of breaking his PR of 3:43, set last summer as he prepped for the USA Championships. Michael’s field was quite stacked with talent as several of those who toed the line had run sub 4 miles indoors this winter but the factor that seemed to impede the quick times that most had hoped for, was the prevailing winds that seemed to never die down. Michael played his cards quite well throughout the race, covering the moves made by the leaders as the pace hovered around the 60 second per lap.

As Michael was making his way toward the front of the pack with 450m remaining, several athletes on his outside tangled feet. Thankfully Michael managed to avoid the ensuing melee that saw couple runners hit the track hard. The race, with 300m remaining, was now a two man battle. Duke Alum Ian Cronin and Wickman had separated from the field. The two made their way around the windy final turn with Wickman on the outside shoulder of Cronin. Unfortunately, Michael was unable to match Cronin’s closing speed, but still finished strong in second overall with a respectable 3:45.34 finish time. British sub 4 miler David Bishop of University of New Mexico was third overall. Although it wasn’t as fast as Michael had hoped, it was a solid effort. Wickman’s 1500m Vid: http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236854/331028

Men’s 1500m Heat 5: Manny Mejia has yet to finish a 1500m with a final lap that’s not under 59 seconds this season! Mejia kept this streak in tact when he scorched a 57.75 closer after the early pace of his heat was all over the board. With the winds kicking pretty hard, the pace surged and slowed, but Manny stuck to a hard nosed race plan that kept him among the lead pack the entire race. After crossing the line with 2 laps remaining in 1:50 Mejia needed a 2:00 final 800 to give himself a chance at making the NCAA meet later this month. The gritty Junior did just this with the help of the quick final 400m. Mejia also left 3:48 Adams State guy Keegan Calmes in his rear view mirror, which of course is always nice. Hopefully Manny will get his shot at the NCAA meet because with his closing speed and race savvy he could be dangerous in North Carolina. We’ll hope for the best!

Mejia’s 1500m Vid: http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236854/331014

Men’s Steeplechase-Heat II: For some reason ever since our return from the Mt Sac meet where steeple-standout Beau Rogers enjoyed a 14:16 5k Pr, things haven’t gone so well with training. Beau has felt sluggish, and running has been difficult, with several workouts have been trimmed or scrapped as a result. As would you would think, expectations that had originally hoped for a sub 8:50 run quickly became ones of just having a solid effort in Saturday’s loaded steeple field. Add the annoying winds that faced the athletes every lap as they approached and came out of the water jump, and Beau had quite a challenge facing him. Beau did his best to keep a calm head and give a fast race a try, but his body language early spoke to a guy who was just hanging in there even after a lap or two. Amazingly enough Beau kept close enough to 9:00 tempo to where a solid final 250 meter stretch gave him his second fastest time ever 9:00.38. Given that Beau ran 9:00 on what I viewed his worst day, there’s hope for something very special at NCAA’s if we can get his legs back under him in the weeks between now and the end of May. Stay tuned!

Men’s 800m Heat 4: Junior Clinton Hayes is still trying to ‘find himself’ to some degree when it comes to having confidence in racing up to his potential. Saturday he ran tentatively in a field that was very much a doable situation for him and the result was a tough 1:52 run, which was about 2 seconds shy of his PR.

We’re hoping that Clinton finds the fire that it’s going to take to run the types of times that he’s capable of, but only time will tell. His 1:51.9 seasonal best has him ranked 3rd in the CCAA and just inside the NCAA’s top 13-14 going into the final weeks of action.

Clinton Hayes’ 800m: http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236854/331010

Men’s 10,000m: For those that have 27-28 minutes to kill and would like to be inspired, you might want to check out the 10k video below. Chris Solinsky dropped a 13:24’ish final 5k to crush the American Record and the 27 min barrier (that was capped by a 1:56 final 800m). Former North Section standout Tim Nelson took seventh with a 27:31 PR effort, while ex-Wildcat Scott Bauhs finished 12th overall and was the Fifth American with his 28:03 run.

American Record 10k Video http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236854/331184

Notes from meet: Other notable races from the meet were the women's 1500m where Jenny Barringer, making her pro debut (I think), needs a home stretch kick to beat pacesetter Morgan Uceny in 4:08. The men's steeplechase saw four runners under 8:30, with Kyle Alcorn holding off furriest finishes by Olinger, Bruce and Heath. Finally, the womens 5000m where Shalane Flanagan AR attempt sputters over the final mile and ends up being caught and out kicked by Bay Area native Shannon Rowbury.