Hello everyone, it’s been a hectic week in Wildcat-Land, which has pushed my post meet write up all the way to the eve of our next meet. I’m determined to get on track (no pun intended) and update you on the meet in Davis last week which produced some nice early season marks. Competing in the newly formed UC Davis Classic meet, most of the distance ‘Cats focused their efforts on racing down from usual distances. Most 10k/5k folks took a crack at the 1500m distance, while usual 1500m runners took a shot at an early season 800m. Although the results were mixed, we had some bright spots to reflect on at the end of the day.

Men's 1500m: One of these bright spots was the run of Miles Dunbar who crushed the competition in the second heat of the men’s 1500m. After following the pack through 800m in a modest 2:13-:14 range, the pace quickened and the Kodiak HS alum gathered steam for the finishing stretch. Dunbar started an amazingly executed kick from 500m out, and never looked back. His final 400m (clocked in 60 seconds) put him ahead of the field for good and nearly put him under the 4:00 mark for the first time in his career. Miles also split an impressive 2:04 for the final 800m! Teammate Brendan Scanlon placed second in the race just 1.3 seconds behind his sophomore teammate.

Flotrack video coverage of Heat II of the men’s 1500: http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236799-uc-davis-classic/319856-mens-1500-h2

Heat I of the men’s 1500 was a race that can only be described as a “rough outing” for the ‘Cats men. In fact, that is probably a pretty generous or glossy description of the carnage that ensued after 3:43 performer- Michael Wickman took the lead with a 30 second first 200m split, in breezy conditions. Wickman who was running his first meet after missing a fair amount of training and racing due to injuries, could have employed a more cautious early pace to ensure a safe ending.. but the senior decided to lead and create a fast early tempo. The result was a strung out pack that saw fellow Wildcat and 3:50 guy Beau Rogers chase Wickman, and almost all others were out a bit aggressive for an early season 1500. The result was a race that saw most of the ‘Cats involved, fade out the back door of the field. Without going into any more detail I’ll move along to better news, knowing that all involved in this race will have better days down the road.

Women's 1500m: Most of the frustration that was endured by the Chico crew during the Heat I of the men’s race was completely wiped away after witnessing Dunbar’s win in Heat II, and the women’s performance a few minutes later. Senior Tori Tyler who had about zero speed a year ago, when she still earned some solid marks and recognition at the longer distances (see 4th place finish at NCAA 10k), has improved her speed, and today it really showed. Leading every step of the race after a slowish 77-78 first revolution, Tyler zipped to a big 4:42 PR, which is at least 14 seconds ahead of where she was at this point last year. Teammate Paige Henker managed a seasonal best of 5:05 a year ago, but on Saturday the RS frosh notched a huge PR of 4:47, while taking second overall. All American teammate Alia Gray also showed some speed for a 10k runner while completing the Chico 1,2,3 sweep. A nice run for the Wildcat ladies!

Flotrack Video: http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236799-uc-davis-classic/319841-womens-1500-h1

Men's 800m: Junior Manny Mejia spent his first two years in Chico focusing on the 1500 and 5k events, but this year he decided to narrow his focus to the middle distances of 800/1500. It would be hard to argue Manny’s decision on what to focus on after his very impressive early season progress at both distances. This weekend Mejia chipped several seconds off his PR for the 2 lapper and Just missed the NCAA provisional mark, but only .05 seconds. Teammate Kyle Robinson closed well also but had missed the “jump” that Manny made from 300m out. Clinton Hayes who led through 700m, after passing early splits of 25, 54, and 1:23, tied up badly in the final 100, but held on for third overall. Given that the ‘Cats have finished with 1-5 CCAA sweeps 2 of the past 3 years, and looking at the potential of the group this year. It appears that the ‘Cats should score some big points at the CCAA meet in the 2 lapper once again.

Flotrack Video: http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236799-uc-davis-classic/319868-mens-800-h1

Women's 800m: Junior Anna Eicholtz ran a bit hesitant in the women’s 800m and thus chased and never quite caught early leader Lauren Wallace of UC Davis. Eicholtz’ time of 2:17.02 is her third best time ever, but look for more as she get’s in a competitive race with more folks to carry and push her.

Coach Hanf reports from Davis: Greetings to all...On Saturday March 20, our Wildcat squad competed at the UC Davis Classic. Senior Katrina Rodriguez lit up the score board first, winning the pole vault with a new personal record of 12’3 1/2”...an NCAA provisional qualifying mark and 2nd on our all-time list. She earned CCAA athlete of the week honors in so doing.

Also breaking into the record books was Julianne Conrad, who is best know for her high jump skills. She had a break though in one of her supplimental events, sailing 36’10” in the triple jump; 8th on our all-time list...bumping Heather Halliday off of the list after a 18 year stay. Heather still remains 8th on the heptathlon and 100m hurdle lists.

The biggest news of the day was in the team scores....
1. Chico State- 106
2. UC Davis- 92
3. UN Reno-88
4. Sac State-63
5. SF State 16
6. Sonoma 14
7. Oregon Tech-12

Points were collected across the board with many coming from our throws crew of Ashley Webster, Breezy Wallace, Brooke Shepard and Maddie Groulx.

On the men’s side of the board our lads tied for a team victory with the host Aggies, scoring 88 points in the process. Eric “Bobo” Wright won the hammer throw with a toss of 170’. Many Mejia won the 800 tin a time of 1:53.00, and was followed by Kyle Robinson (1:54) and Clinton Hayes (1:55). Our 4 x 100 relay team made it’s season debut, now that Nick Lonegren returned from basketball and Isaiah Haywood is back from an injury. The boys were able to get the stick around the track in a time of 42.47. Chad McCammon cleared 15’6” in the vault to finish in 5th.

Next Up: The ‘Cats take off for San Francisco and Stanford meets Fri-Sat March 26-27