“Winning!” No not Charlie Sheen “Winning,” but Chico State Track and Field “winning.” Although Mr. Sheen has made this word quite famous lately, the Chico State Track and XC programs have been doing this for quite some time. This weekend both men’s and women’s squads enjoyed the process of earning two more championship banners. For the men it was the 8th straight CCAA title, and for the women it was the second in as many years.

I should start this write up by stating that it was WINDY this weekend in Turlock, which should be no surprise to anyone who has spent any amount of time in the Central Valley. The three flags that stood at the top of the turn always seemed to be pressed to the South from a constant North wind. This created some nice PR’S for the sprinters and jumpers, but most of the distance races turned tactical given that your workload was substantially increased if you led the pack into the backstretch. Knowing that conditions would most likely Not be conducive to fast times and PR’s, our goals were on competition and gaining as many top spots as possibly by the finish of each race.

Friday Prelims/10K Finals: Women’s 1500m Prelims- Kara Lubieniecki, Tori Tyler and Anna Eicholtz each successfully navigated their way through the opening rounds, doing as little as needed to advance. After her prelim run Eicholtz’ allergies became very intense as her head seemed to fill with fluids just minutes after finishing. Given her 800m prelim to be run an hour after we hoped the wind driven pollens wouldn’t stand in the way of this deserving senior’s goal of winning a conference title. Women’s 800m Prelim- Coach Trevino’s Morgan Cavanaugh looked solid winning her heat of the 800m. Anna bounced back well despite having difficulty with the allergic reaction after the 15 prelim. Both ‘Cats looked good as they made the 8 woman 800m final for Saturday.

Women’s 10,000m Final: A year ago Shannon Rich (this year’s Chico State Female Scholar Athlete of the Year!) finished second in the CCAA 10k Championship behind teammate Julie Shaw. This year Shannon stepped to the line with a seed time well beyond the next best mark run by CSLA’s Maritza Hernandez. Hernandez’ 5k pr though, was quite close to Shannon’s, so we knew the tough CSLA runner might give Shannon a good run under the right set of circumstances.

On this night, the windy conditions would create just those circumstances. With the blustery conditions still in evidence at 8:30pm, none of the women in the field wished to lead the pack into the wind at any type of substantial pace. This created a huge pack that stayed together through a patience testing 20:50 5k split! The 99 second revolutions continued for another 2 laps before one of the athletes dropped the pace down to the low 90’s for a few revolutions. With 8 laps to go, Rich took the front and hit an 86 second lap. The faster lap splintered the pack and now the race was on. As expected LA’s Hernandez covered the move, as did Humboldt’s Irene Graham (17:48 5k PR) and Chico’s Sara Mikesell, Paige Henker and Olivia Guadiana followed fairly close behind. Rich kept pressing the pace from the front at a 90 second place clip, but this of course wasn’t enough to shake the best of the field.

Yours truly advised Shannon to hop back into the pack and let someone else lead for a bit while she “rested for the final push.” Thankfully Shannon did just this, and as the pace slowed a pack of 8 was now running together with less than a mile remaining. This race was turning quite interesting. After a 92 lap from 4 laps out, Chico’s Paige Henker took the fore and nailed an 86 revolution, testing her rivals, and splitting the group up for good. Chico’s top 3 all remained among the pack and the next lap was covered in 87. With a lap to go Five women ran together in a pack with three wearing the Chico uniform.

The rest of the race is a bit of a blur as Hernandez and Rich really started to roll. Just as one looked to have the other broken, she would battle back. Off the final turn Hernandez found a gear that it appeared Rich (not a noted kicker) couldn’t react to. BUT the senior fought back in the final 50 meters to Just miss Hernandez at the line. After 25 laps of racing, the final outcome would come down to less than a half of a second. Both had covered the final lap in a quick 76 seconds. Mikesell who also had an impressive run, just lost her own kick for the podium with Humboldt’s Graham, by .2 seconds! Paige Henker hit a bit of a wall in the final 50m and was just nipped at the line by SFSU’s top distance gal Tanya Ferriera who grabbed the 5th spot. As the results were posted, the ‘Cats had a lot to be proud of having placed all 4 runners among the top 7 overall, while each scored points toward the team title run.

Men’s 10,000m Final: Due to the brave front running of Humboldt’s frosh Joseph Ostini the men’s 10k offered a bit less drama than the women’s version. Ostini guided the thankful pack of 10 through a fairly even 16:05 first 5k. The Chico guys went to work after the 5k as planned and the pack quickly whittled down to 6, including all 4 Chico entrants (Brent Handa, Joseph Kochlacs, Alfonso Cisneros and Alan Campos). The plan was to slowly squeeze the pace down over the second half of the race to hopefully ensure placing as many ‘Cats into the top 5-6 as possible. Together Kochlacs and Handa traded turns at the front, squeezing the pace down and gradually pulling 6 athletes clear from the field. All four ‘Cats made this selection and now it was a matter of trying to shake the always tough Joey Nunes of Stanislaus who was the CCAA runner-up two years ago in the 5k. Somewhere in the final 2k Handa took a pull at the front and only Nunes was able to follow. True to form the tough Warrior from Stanislaus ran on Handa’s heels until just inside the final 1200m, when he fell quickly off the fast striding Chico All American. Now it was Handa’s race to enjoy to the line (just as he did a year ago) and Nunes looked very tired and Kochlacs quickly made his way onto his heels. As handa strode through the tape with his 3rd CCAA title in hand, Kochlacs blitzed Nunes with a wicked kick that ensured the junior from Moraga his second CCAA runner-up finish (behind Handa-his roommate). RS Frosh Alfonso Cisneros held on strong for 4th place, while Alan Campos gave the ‘Cats 4 of the top 6 placers with his sixth place run.

 
Day II-Saturday Finals

Women’s Steeplechase: The hoped finish in this race was a 1-5 sweep. Of course it’s rare to get exactly what you hope for, so nothing was taken for granted in the women’s steeple final. The ‘Cats had 5 entrants seeded among the top 7, but this group has been training very consistently and diligently as a whole throughout the season, and we knew a good finish could be attained through a solid team effort. From the gun Amy Schnittger (11:02 PR) and Shannon McVannel (10:48 PR) created the early pace. Humboldt’s Tess Dalgren, Brooke Begesen (Chico), Natalie Galvan (Chico), Bridget Fernandez (Dominguez) and Hayley Swanson (Chico) followed in a second pack several seconds back. As Schnittger and McVannel drifted away from the field through a 5:51 1600m split, Bergesen and Co. did their best to try to rid themselves of the opposition.

When Humboldt’s Dalgren (11:22 PR) cracked at around 1600m, the 1-5 finish seemed to look a lot more achievable. A few tough laps by the Chico crew, had them running in their desired positions with 2 laps remaining. Given the nature of the steeplechase, the 1-5 sweep wasn’t able to be enjoyed until the final barrier was crossed and the last water jump was exited. As Hayley Swanson crossed the finish (fifth place) the realization of a 33 point swing toward the women’s team’s chances set in. This was a great start to a Championship day!

Men’s Steeplechase: A year ago, the ‘Cats took 1-3 in the men’s steeple with all three running 9:09 or better. Of course Beau Rogers and Jordan Fairley have graduated, but Miles Dunbar who’d run 9:09 in that race as a soph, looked like the heir apparent to the Steeple crown in the coming years. After all, a Wildcat had won the steeplechase crown at CCAA’s since Pat Boivin started the streak in 2003! Unfortunately fate wasn’t on our side, as Miles came down with a nasty case of IT band problems in January, which resulted in his missing the entire season of running until just 4 weeks ago, when he was finally able to start some running and light workouts. Although he wasn’t ready to challenge for the title Dunbar was fit (and tough) enough to hopefully score some points for the ‘Cats cause.

Ironically this year’s eventual champ Jessie Morrill has had a career full of injuries, that have limited the once 9:13 (3200m) prep performer, until this season. Morrill took out the early pace at a blistering sub 70 rate. Following in a distant second was Pomona’s Jersain Torres who had run his first steeple the week previous in 9:22. Knowing that neither of the top 2 was a realistic expectation, the ‘Cats crew focused on the 3-7 spots hoping to gather some valuable points in doing so. Zack Zadrozna pushed the chase pack as he was able before UCSD’s #2 guy Matt Lenehan made his way around the Chico frosh. Dunbar covered the move, and quickly upped the ante himself while trying to crack the 9:38 runner from SD. Thankfully Miles had enough gas in the tank to throw in a well timed 71 lap from 600m out, that put him well clear of Lenehan. Zadrozna wasn’t able to pick up the fourth spot, but he did hang tough for fifth. Coming back from the 10k the evening before Alan Campos toughed out a nice 6th place finish over SD’s Kellen Levy who was fresh, but debuting over the barriers. Another race, another 13 points in the bank for the ‘Cats!

Women’s 1500m: With the wind blowing hard and knowing that Kara Lubienicki and Anna Eicholtz have great finishing speed, we played our cards on letting the race evolve into what would surely be a tactical affair. This was indeed the case as athletes hit 400m in 82 (5:07 pace) and continued at a somewhat dawdling pace. In the penultimate lap Tori Tyler decided it was time to move, and she forged to the front tightening the pace as she grew closer to the bell lap. A host of the top seeds grabbed her heels and collected themselves for the madness that lie ahead. Tyler’s well timed kick held well, given that Tori isn’t known for her outright leg-speed. Going into the final turn CSLA’s pair Justine Sadauskaite and Lisa Ohberg passed Tyler and looked like potential champs, but those who have seen Kara Lubieniecki kick knew that the final outcome would probably end with a repeat champion.

This would indeed be the case as Lubienicki found another gear in the final 70m hitting the tape a full second ahead of the tough Ohberg. Lubieniecki’s final circuit (64.5) bodes well for future NCAA racing at the same distance and track. Tyler held on well for a fifth place finish defeating a number of athletes with higher seed times (Tori was ranked 9th coming in). The only disappointing part of this race was Eicholtz’ run, which seemed to be hampered by the severe allergies that cropped up the day before. The 2010 1500m runner-up just didn’t have the finishing strength over the final 200m, despite great positioning and having the best 800m PR among the field (2:12). There are so many variables with running and racing, and Anna had to deal with a tough one on this day unfortunately. Lubieniecki gives the ‘Cats 4 of the past 5 CCAA 1500m titles with her second consecutive title run.

Men’s 1500m: Going into Saturday’s 1500m final the ‘Cats had a 7 year run on individual titles dating back to Chris Eggers’ victory in 2004. Along the way All Americans Steven Springhorn, Scotty Bauhs, and Michael Wickman have kept the title in the ‘Cats locker room. This year would be a true test though, as Stanislaus’ top distance guy Dawson Vorderbruegge had just run a 3:51 (fastest time of the year in CCAA) and Humboldt’s Nicolas Arguelles had 1:51-800m speed, which would surely come in handy on this windy day (sure to be tactical race). Knowing the closing speed of Manny Mejia and Dan Parker, we knew this would be one heck of a race, which in all likelihood would boil down to those four in the final straight.

As expected, the early pace was quite slow and to be honest, I can’t even remember who led the early laps. The Chico guys kept themselves in good positions early and when Jr. transfer Joseph Rivera took the front inside the penultimate lap, you had the feeling that he was in essence leading the pack out and into the final sprint of a cycling event. As the big kickers prepared for the final push, Rivera kicked the pace up heading into the bell. With the big names on his heels the pack flew around the lead out of Rivera down the backstretch. Off the final turn the race for the title appeared to be a dual between Arguellas and Vorderbruegge, but Parker and Mejia ran just a step behind as they hit the 1400m mark. Down the final stretch Vorderbrugge (the least accomplished at 800m of the 3) fell back ever so slightly, while the Chico pair moved closer to the front. In the final 30m Mejia made a last surge to the line that nipped Arguelles and kept the title in Chico for at least one more year. Arguelles would finish second, while Dan Parker took the hometown favorite down for a spot on the podium. Julian Spence ran solid taking home the 5th place spot, and Rivera gave the ‘Cats 4 of the top 7 finishers.

Having had some time to reflect on this finish I couldn’t be happier that Mejia was able to win the title. The graduating senior is one of the nicest and hardest workers to have put on the Chico uniform and he had twice finished second in this race behind the likes of Scott Bauhs and Michael Wickman. This was his year and he seized the opportunity.

Women’s 800m: As much as Mejia’s 1500m finish was such a fitting end to a senior’s career, the women’s 800m final would offer a different story unfortunately. A year ago Anna Eicholtz doubled in the 1500 and 800, finishing second in both as a junior. This year as a senior and having improved her marks in both events Anna set out to do her very best to score as many points for the team while hoping for a title in the 2 lapper. Given the difficulty with allergies in the 1500m final, we knew it was probably a bit of a long shot, especially given several of the other the top seeds who were “fresh” and hadn’t doubled from the 1500m 1:15 before.

As the race started Anna put herself in a perfect position just on the heels of a fast starting trio ahead, that included Coach Trevino’s 4/8 gal Morgan Cavanaugh, Pomona’s defending champ Kyle Wolff and SF State’s Kaylie Belk. All three were running their first event of the championships. Going into the final lap Cavanaugh surged to the lead and looked very strong running into the head wind down the backstretch. Belk, Wolfe and Eicholtz responded. Rounding the final turn, Eicholtz tightened and it was obvious that a title wasn’t in the cards. Cavanaugh lost a battle down the stretch with Belk, as did Eicholtz to 2:13 gal Justine Sadauskaite who closed well. It wasn’t all that we’d hoped, but Chico did put 2 among the top 5 overall and ahead of UCSD’s only entrant.

Men’s 800m: Senior Clinton Hayes has been a known talent since the day he set foot on the Chico State campus. As a senior in HS he ran 1:53 for the two lapper and oftentimes split 47-48 second 400m splits in the relay. Success has always been a part of Clinton’s running at Chico, but for whatever reason, we’re having a hard time finding the level of success that we feel Clinton is capable of. Saturday’s 800m final was a bit defining of this unfortunately. Going into the 800m final Clinton had three times finished among the CCAA’s top 3 for the 800m, oftentimes finishing just behind a teammate on the podium. This would surely be his year, especially given that his top competition Nicolas Arguelles had just run the 1500m final only an hour before.

Given the windy conditions and feeling as if Hayes has the best outright legspeed in the field, the plan was to wait until the final 100m to take the lead and then pounce on the final stretch. The plan looked to be working perfectly as Hayes ran on the heels of the leaders through a modest 56 second first revolution. With 200m remaining Hayes was still in a perfect position and coming off the final turn and into the homestretch the senior jumped into the lead, looking strong and quick. Following his every step through this process was Humboldt’s Arguelles who waited to make his final move, until the final 50m when he moved past Hayes who had no answer. Ironically Arguelles had done to Hayes as Mejia had just done to him just an hour before in the 1500m final. Hayes would have to settle with another runner-up finish, while true frosh teammate Dan Parker closed out a very impressive double finishing fourth overall with a strong finish. Mejia, completely spent emotionally and physically from the 1500 victory would collect another team point with his 8th place finish.

Women’s 5,000m: A year ago the women’s 5k was the signature event for the women’s team title, as in the penultimate event of the meet the Chico women would take 7 of the 8 scoring places. This result wasn’t expected to be duplicated of course, but we did have plans to hopefully scoop up some nice team points in the 12.5 lapper again this year. A year ago, the person missing from the 5k sweep was Alia Gray who’d hit an NCAA Auto mark in the 10k at the Stanford meet, but became injured in the days following and was unable to race again the remainder of the season. This fall Alia had a similar outcome to her cross country season, starting well, but falling victim to another weird injury and missing the Championship schedule. Now she toed the line in her first championship event in over a year knowing that it would also be the final race in uniform with her best friend Kara Lubieniecki. So many sub-plots.. Let’s get to the race.

Feeling that it was in our best interest to create a half-honest pace from the gun, a few ‘Cats that were doubling back from previous events were asked to take the pacing duties at the front, and of course wouldn’t be expected to finish the run. Steepler Natalie Galvan was supposed to take the initial 1600 before peeling off and allowing teammate Sara Mikesell to take the pack through hopefully the half-way point in the run. The plan went relatively close to plan with the exception of a surprise passing of our “rabbit” by Pomona’s standout and sub 17 min gal Tiffany Dinh. Given that she didn’t take the pace any quicker than Natalie had been, this was a nice break for Galvan, who tucked in, for a lap before re-taking the front, sensing a bit of a slow-down. With the wind pushing hard on the backstretch the pacers did a wonderful job of protecting Gray, Lubieniecki, Tori Tyler, and a thinning lead pack that also included 10k runner-up Shannon Rich.

After Galvan stepped from the track after a 5:42 opening 1600m, Sara Mikesell took the front and did a great job of keeping the pace honest and strong. Mikesell pulled the pack through 7 laps dropping an 83 before stepping off the track and leaving the racers with just over 2k of windy running ahead. Tori Tyler was the first ‘Cat to take the front, keeping the pace quick, and within a lap or two the lead pack was down to 4, with Gray, Tyler, Lubieniecki being challenged by CSLA’s Norwegian standout Lisa Ohberg . Alia Gray took a pull at the front in hopes of helping to squeeze Ohberg off the pack, but unfortunately Ohberg was just too strong. Lap after lap, Ohberg stuck with the ‘Cats trio, and given her 2nd place 1500m finish earlier, I was worried about our chances if things boiled down to a kick. Neither Tyler or Gray have amazing leg-speed, and Lubieniecki who does have a great kick.. appeared to be struggling to stay on the lead pace. This would be an interesting finish.

Tori Tyler, who’d done most of the late race leading chores, was passed by the Gray, Ohberg and Lubieniecki going into the last lap . Ohberg took the lead running down the backstretch, but Gray appeared to be ready to do whatever was necessary to try to outkick the gritty LA runner. Lubieniecki was against the ropes in boxing terms, but was close enough to the finish to where you knew she would find herself in the hunt down the final straight. With 200m to go Alia ran past the Chico distance cheering section and seized the lead hitting a gear that even surprised her coach. Ohberg, not done yet followed closely and Lubieniecki hit the final straight a few strides behind. Gray appeared to put all of her frustrations into this final sprint as Ohberg just couldn’t quite catch her, and seeing the opportunity to join her best friend at the top of the podium Kara hit a final gear that put her past Ohberg as well. Gray would strike the tape first, winning her first CCAA title, Kara finished just .07 behind and Ohberg only a second behind that. Tori Tyler held on nicely for 4th and Shannon Rich exacted a bit of revenge on LA’s Hernandez for the 10k the evening before with her impressive 6th place finish. With a 1-2 finish and places 4 and 6 for good measure, the ‘Cats were up for good in the team standings and best friends Alia Gray and Kara Lubieniecki stood atop the CCAA podium together with a lot to be proud of and thankful for.

Men’s 5,000m With 3 top seeds, all with fresh legs and most of our top competition coming off an earlier race, we employed a similar tactic in the men’s race as we had in the women’s. Steepler Zack Zadrozna (14:54-5k guy) agreed to take the early pace. Zack pulled a string of Wildcats and a number of other competitors through 1600 in a 4:52 split, which given the wind factor, was a pretty solid effort. Alfonso Cisneros doubling back from the 10k inherited the front for the following two laps, which were done in 2:24. As Fonz pulled off the track Humboldt’s Nicolas Arguelles who was in his third race of the day took the lead and dropped a 68 lap, which pulled a quartet of ‘Cats away from the chase pack. Now following the Humboldt runner were Chico standouts Anthony Costales, Brent Handa, Adrian Sherrod and Isaac Chavez. Not knowing what the Humboldt runner had in mind, but not wanting to let him get away, the four followed the quick surging laps that included a 67 8th lap (9:35 split). Apparently Arguellas wanted to run a hard 3200m, because he stepped off at the 8 lap mark leaving the ‘Cats in the 1-4 positions.

The Wildcat foursome, a bit scattered after the 2:15 800m tossed into laps 7-8, quickly re-grouped and started trading laps at the front. The remainder of the race looked like a day at Wildcat practice on a typical Tuesday, with the guys communicating and trading positions among the pack. With 1200m to go teammate Julian Spence made a hard move to get around and beyond Pomona’s 14:36 frosh (Ryan Carrell). It appeared that the ‘Cats would sweep the top five, but a determined (and most likely frustrated-post 1500m) Dawson Vorderbruegge caught and flew by Spence in the final lap. Anthony Costales would continue the ‘Cats most impressive CCAA win streak by crossing the finish line first. A Wildcat distance runner has won the men’s 5,000m in each of the past 10 editions now, dating back to Tyler Graff’s upset win in 2002. Graff won this race 3 years in a row, followed by a three year run by Charlie Serrano. Next came Angel Marquez, Beau Rogers and most recently Jimmy Elam. All All Americans…. Costales joins some great company here!

What an exciting three days of action this was. The team concept of track and field was alive and well in San Diego this weekend and the product was a thing of beauty. 64 athletes doing everything in their power to claim as many team points as possible for the overall whole, and the result being wins for both squads. I’m very proud of the athletes from our group, and all of the athletes on the team. There are plenty more stories to be told from other areas of team including Katie Prucha’s school record in the 400m hurdles and a 7 foot High Jump clearance that secured the men’s HJ title for Ryan Bertucci. Amazing stuff! As always, thanks so much for your support and if you’ve made it this far, Thank you for your patience with reading through this long-winded account of a great competition in San Diego. Next up for the ‘Cats is a last chance meet in Turlock this Friday and then a weekend off, before the NCAA championships the following week in Charlotte, NC. Stay tuned and think good thoughts for our kids who are on the NCAA bubble, as they have 1 more week to improve their chances or to hold on to their spots.

A few words from Coach Hanf:
The Wildcat Track and Field team swept the CCAA titles for the second straight year. For the men it was the 8th straight championship and the 9th in 10 years. Our ladies successfully rebuffed a valiant effort from the UC San Diego Tritons, and ended up winning by a 34 point margin.

TEAM SCORING:
WOMEN
Chico State - 210
UC San Diego - 176
CS Los Angeles - 116
San Francisco State - 99
Dominguez Hills - 94
Cal Poly Pomona - 60
Stanislaus State - 42
Humboldt State - 17

MEN
Chico State - 237
CS Los Angeles - 143
UC San Diego - 141
Cal Poly Pomona - 135
Stanislaus State - 97
Humboldt State - 59


I am thrilled to report that our Track Cats had an exceptional weekend, brining home the coveted CCAA banners that we will proudly hoist in Acker Gymnasium. The feeling of winning a championship never gets old! The team title is a shared joy...32 athletes per gender on the championship roster, several more of our athletes who did not make the roster, our redshirts, assistant coaches, the athletic director, athletic training staff, sports information, equipment room, grounds crew...and our very supportive alumni. It’s such a group effort. One of the many thrills of the weekend was when I received a congratulation from President Zingg on Sunday morning!! Chico State has such a family atmosphere and the celebration is shared by so many. It feels great.

The multi-events were the first to be contested and Chico got off to a lead once the two-day hep/dec competitions concluded. Our men took the top 4 spots accumulating 29 points. Talor Fulfer, who sits second in the nation, repeated as conference champ. Sophomore John Brunk had a big PR scoring 6373 (nearly a 300 point improvement) to post a provisional mark. He sits 16th in the NCAA. The ladies placed 2nd, 6th and 7th to get 13 points. Kelly Clancey amassed 4937 points to secure an NCAA championship berth. After 6 events she needed to run 2:19.11 to break the school record set by Elle Cruikshank in 2007, when she placed 3rd at nationals. Kelly had run 2:15.76 at our distance carnival in April but that was her only event of the day and we had a rabbit setting a pace. She ended up running 2:20.66 and fell 21 points shy of the record. She will have one more opportunity in three weeks, on the same track.

Friday was a mix of some finals and lots of trials. Our trials were mostly successful. Although our top sprinter Isaiah Haywood did not compete, we had 3 men step up and qualify for Saturday’s final. Jordan Alford-Helems ran a lifetime best 10.70 on Saturday to finish in 2nd place overal. Damaris Greer and Nick Sloggy both broke the 11 second barrier and finished 4th and 6th respectfully. Nicole Cooper qualified in a very competitive women’s race, cracking the 12 second barrier. Her time of 11.96 is an NCAA provisional mark and ranks 4th on our all-time list. Frosh Amilia Santos missed qualifying by on place but her time of 12.48 ranks 10th best in school history. I was sad to remove my good friend Jen (Haws) Stuart from the list. Her time of 12.50 has been there since 1988.

Another highlight from the trials was in both the hurdle races. Sophomore Aimee Rodgers blasted a 14.11, which now ranks 13th in the nation and is looking likely to qualify. Decathlete Michael Beeman was able to qualify shortly after finishing his 1500 of the dec! He ended up placing 4th in the final on Saturday, filled in for Haywood on the 4 x100 and anchored the 4 x 400 to a season best time. Beeman is a beast :-)

Our big points on Friday came from the 10K. Our gals were led by senior Shannon Rich who placed 2nd. She was joined by sophomore Paige Henker (Chico HS) and freshmen Sara Mikesell and Olivia Guadiana. The 4-some combined to score 18 points. Our men were led by senior Brent Handa who won the 25-lapper. JR Joey Cochlacs was 2nd, frosh Alfonso Cisneros was 4th and Senior Alan Campos was 6th. ... they scored 26 points!

Adam Fry became an all-conference pole vaulter....the senior cleared 14’11 1/2” to finish 2nd, while Soph Derek Nichols was 3rd in the discus with a season best 156’7’.

The most troubling result was in the women’s 400m hurdle trials. Aimee Rogers was disqualified for false starting. The sophomore was red-hot after her sizzling 100m hurdle time and she was ready to better her provisional mark of 62.99. To her credit Aimee kept her composure. While we lost her for the event we did not lose her for the meet. She maintained a positive attitude and helped the team the next day by finishing 2nd in the 100 hurdles and anchor our 4 x 400 relay to a place higher than we were ranked.

The meet on Saturday seemed to go 100 miles an hour! Chico started things off on the track with a 1,2,3,4, 5 finish in the women’s steeplechase (34 points of the available 40 that are awarded!) and then the men had a pretty incredible steeple as well. While they didn’t score as many points (13) they accomplishes this with a guy competing in his first race of the year, a freshman and a guy who competed in the 10K the night before. Miles Dunbar had spent the previous two months conditioning in the swimming pool, managing an IT band injury that would not let him run. His bleached out hair was not from the hair salon but rather from chlorine! With 3 short weeks of running prior to the CCAA meet he demonstrated to coach Towne that he could be successful and his all-conference on Saturday was very rewarding for all involved. To see Alan Campos come back after running a 10K on Friday and finish 6th was also amazing.

One of the most dramatic events of the day was in the women’s high jump. Senior Julianne Conrad was the pre-meet favorite and had cleared 5’6” in her last 3 meets. Earlier in the day she had a whole foot PR in the triple jump (38’9”) to place second and then a season best 118’ in the javelin to place 3rd. So she was already on the podium twice before getting to her best event. However when the bar was raised to 5’5” she missed on her first attempt while the SF and LA top jumpers each cleared. JC missed a second time before booming a takeoff that sent her high above on her 3rd effort. Now the onus was on making 5’6 1/2” before the others to break the tie. The SF girl however applied more pressure by clearing that height on her first effort. JC also made it while LA’s Tuekeya Huntley bowed out. The bar was raised to 5’7 3/4”. The Gator Girl finally missed her first jump and Juels wasted no time in seizing the opportunity to gain the lead and ultimately qualify for nationals. Our Chico crowd clapped in unison as she stood at her starting mark sizing up the crossbar. Her runway was exceptional and she hit the takeoff with the perfect amount of speed and takeoff angle, easily clearing her PR height and earning her first CCAA title. With the win her team point totals went up to 24...our team high.

One of the surprises of the meet and perhaps of the year, was the remarkable performance of freshman Morgan Cavannaugh. She had a personal record of 2:22 in high school last year at a tiny private high school near Modesto. Morgan made tremendous progress through the entire academic year and was ranked 6th in the pre meet list with a time of 2:17.62, but ended up on the award podium with a 2nd place finish and a new PR of 2:16.00!

It was apparent that the men were running away with the victory early on, but they never let up. Our guys kept racking points all day long...tallying points in sprints as well as throws, jumps as well as hurdles. And of course in the distance races. Gary had to make regular trips out to the podium to give the all-conference awards (the wining coach of each event give the awards).

The women’s race appeared to be more tightly contested but for all of those who studied the “dope sheet” ahead of time it was clear that SD would need a significant lead going into the final 3 events. By the time the 5K and Shot put started we had a 169-165 lead and I knew we were about to seal the deal. The final touches of our victory were beautifully on display as Gary Towne’s runners and Beth Burton’s throwers were clearly showing us we would amass more than enough points to capture the conference crown. The 5k crew, led by national qualifiers Alia Gray, Kara Lubieniecki, Tori Tyler and Shannon Rich tallied 26 points while Ashley Webster, Brooke Shepard and Maddie Groulx added 11 more points....meanwhile UCSD gathered a Goosegg in the run and only 3 points in the throw, leaving them 38 points behind with one event- the mile relay- remaining. Our relay finished the year off with a season-best mark to finish 4th while SD was beaten for the first time in many years by the very impressive Dominguez Hills sprint crew. Our men’s 4 x 400 put a stamp on the meet with it’s best time of year...Michael Beeman chased down the Cal State LA anchor runner on the final straight away to nip him at the line by a .3s margin and set the Chico team and supporters off into a frenzy. Our team left no doubt as to who the dominant team on that track was.

It has truly been one of the my favorite years as a coach; the team bought into what our coaching staff has been preaching and working on all year and we were able to enjoy the fruits of our labors in the meet that counted the most. It was a total team effort and a very rewarding experience for all who were involved. Not that we are done...we still have several nationally ranked athletes who will move on to an even bigger stage...the NCAA Division II championships, which will be contested on the very same track as last weekend...Stanislaus State in Turlock, CA. We expect to have a huge Chico following at that meet and I am hopeful to see many of you there. Please enjoy the pictures that I think show a very joyful bunch of people...the Chico Track family celebrating another title.