Many years ago when my running skills matched up comparatively well with those of my team, I journeyed to Colorado to enjoy a training stint with several of our athletes who were spending their summer training at the higher elevations. Trying to keep up with my athletes in the thinner air of Colorado after their having spent the large percentage of the summer at the higher elevations was a challenge that made me question my own fitness. Thankfully I returned a week later to post what was my lifetime best mark at the Wharf to Wharf footrace, reminding me that my getting dropped by equal yet acclimated runners wasn't something to be ashamed of. The reality of the situation is that athletes who train at elevation have a large advantage over those who don't, when it comes to running hard at higher elevations. I start this final write up of the 2013 track season with this short story, because it in essence sums up an unfortunate theme for our kids, having to compete in the thinner air of Colorado the past two seasons at the NCAA Championships. Athletes from the Colorado schools (Mines, Metro State, Adams State, and Western State) along with the Kenyans (who grew up at the high elevations of the Rift Valley) were offered an added advantage in Pueblo, and despite our trying not to over think this advantage, it was really the elephant in the room at the end of the day.

With all of this being said, the ten Chico State distance athletes went into the week with a full head of steam, and some solid results were achieved, altitude or no altitude. Before diving into the action, I'd like to once again thank the Lubieniecki family (Kara, Gene and Sharon) for hosting us at their beautiful home in Lakewood, CO while we attempted to gain a handle on what race pace training was like at the higher elevations. Our kids enjoyed spending the week leading up to the Championships touring the Denver area, taking in a Giants/Rockies game in Denver, and of course studying for finals that would be taken upon our return from CO. Overall our time in Colorado was an experience that our athletes will never forget.

NCAA Championships 2013-Pueblo, CO

Multi-Madness: Without a doubt the competition highlight of the trip for the 'Cats was the amazing performance of JP Smith, Chico's defending NCAA Decathlon Champion. A year ago, while several top Dec's from other schools red shirted, the young Soph from Chico stepped up and had the competition of his life at the NCAA Championships winning the title and eeking by Trevor Papp's school record mark. Many outside Chico viewed his title as "good timing" and with the top dogs returning to the mix this year he would surely take his place on the 3rd of 4th step of the podium. This wasn't to be the case though, as JP stepped up his game in nearly every event, smashing his own school record with a new 7612 mark, and earning his place atop the highest step of the podium yet again.

Teammate Teddy Elsenbaumer nearly gave the 'Cats two of the top 3 in the Dec event, as Teddy finished day 1 in third position overall. Day II brought a devastating blow to Teddy though as the 15'1 pole vaulter no-heighted in his favorite event. Not deterred Elsenbaumer now set his sights on trying to make the podium, scoring only 9 events. To his credit he missed the podium by only 1 second (5points) in the 1500m event. This is an amazing accomplishment within itself. With a vault near his PR Teddy would have placed second behind JP and each would have broken JP's existing school record mark together. Both return for the 2014 season, as does red shirting John Brunk who placed 4th in the Dec. a year ago in Pueblo.

Coach Hanf's Robin Hannah used an amazing 2nd day run to move up to 4th on the podium from her 11th position at the end of Day 1 of the women's Heptathlon. The school record holder made the most of her first and final NCAA experience while earning 5 valuable points toward our team's efforts.

Thursday-Day 1 NCAA Championships

Women's 1500m Prelim: Chico's Ayla Granados who had punched her ticket to Pueblo at the last chance meet in Salem two weeks prior had a tough time in the prelims of the women's 1500m. After a fairly even paced 2:30 opening 800m Granados slipped off the heels of the pack, and was unable to make up the lost ground over the final revolution. The result was a disappointing run that left her short of qualifying for the final. Thankfully the Castro Valley native has another year of eligibility remaining and the experience of this season to draw from as she looks ahead to next year.

Men's 1500m Prelim: Given that Tony Palermini had to PR by a full 7 seconds Just to become one of the final entrants allowed into the NCAA meet this year, I can't say that I had huge expectations of the Deer Valley HS alum going into the big meet. All this being said though, Tony had momentum going in his way, and true to form, he wasn't just happy to be in Pueblo.. he wanted to keep the Cinderella Story going into Saturday's final. Running in the second of 2 qualifying heats Tony was on the ropes running in the final position for much of the race before coming to life over the final 400m. Running in 9th coming off the final turn Alaska Anchorage's Isaac Kangogo's jersey represented the final possibility of grabbing a time qualifier into the final. The Chico senior dug deep and swept by the tall Kenyan in the final 40m beating him to the line by a mere tenth of a second. Indeed this was the key to making the final as Kangogo's NCAA story had ended, and Cinderella's had continued for another day. Onward to Saturday!

Women's Steeplechase Prelim: Senior Amy Schnittger ran in Heat 1 and knew that a top 4 spot guaranteed her entry into the final the next day. The goal was to run as relaxed as possible while advancing on, given that the final would be run with only 24 hours of recovery. Alaska's Kenyan standout Susan Tanui created a quick early pace from the front, and a talented pack of 6 followed her through an aggressive 5:42 1600m split. The fast early split coupled with the altitude put everyone in the field on edge but Schnittger held on well over the final laps. Given that three of the eventual top-4 in Friday's final were all competing for top-4, along with Adams State's Kelly Lamb (A Top-15 NCAA finisher in XC) Amy would have to run a 10:57 just to safely secure a Q spot into Friday's final. Despite running a much easier pace initially, Heat 2 women appeared to be just as distressed during their race, which was a prelude to the final. With the exception of Adams State's 10:03 runner Alicia Nelson (NCAA XC Champ) Amy's primary competition the next day would come from out of her heat.

Men's Steeplechase Prelim: Chico's sophomore steeple phenom Alex McGuirk had momentum on his side coming into the NCAA meet, having run an 8:56 PR two weeks previous at the Willamette meet. Unfortunately he also had picked up a calf issue in the final month of the season, that seemed to flare up whenever we touched the track for workouts. Weeks of tweaking and adjusting workouts, seemed to leave the relatively inexperienced young steepler with too little to go off of as he stepped to the line against the NCAA's best barrier runners.. Especially at elevation. As the race entered the second half, Alex fell from the pace and looked completely out of synch he struggled home, well behind the final qualifier into Friday's final. The result was hard to swallow for an athlete with the fourth best seed time, but thankfully Alex has 2 more shots at NCAA action, and I think he has a LOT to look forward to in these next few attempts.

 

Women's 10,000m: Chico's Sara Mikesell entered the meet ranked 18th of the 21 entrants, and Paige Henker 21st. Expectations weren't huge, but both athletes viewed the Pueblo 10k as an opportunity to beat as many people as possible and to see where the chips fell after. After four laps (6:09) the Chico pair ran in 20th and 21st positions overall. Just when it appeared that the race would be a tactical/slow one, the leaders dropped an 86.0 sixth lap, and the race was on. The quickened pace tossed Henker off the pack and the Senior Chico native would run the remainder of the race operating on her own. Junior Sara Mikesell swung around her teammate and latched onto the back of the speeding pack. As repeated 85-86 laps were being run by the leaders, sub packs began to form and the race was officially on in earnst.

Knowing that moves had to be calculated and smoothed out (see altitude racing by sea level runners) Mikesell measured what she had in front of her and what the pace was of the group that she ran within and worked hard. From laps 6 to 20 Mikesell logged sub 90 second revolutions, and one by one caught and passed tiring opponents. By 8k the now tiring athlete ran in 9th position overall, but well behind a hard running athlete from Grand Valley State. Although she fought hard over the final 4 laps Mikesell would finish in the bitter sweet 9th position overall, just one out of the final All American spot, but well ahead of her 18th seed.

Teammate Paige Henker had been dropped by the field in the early going, but absolutely refused to drift off into the sunset without a good fight. Even after being dropped, the gritty runner logged solo 90-92 second revolutions for much of the race. This hard work and focus would pay off as Paige finally caught an athlete nearing the end of the fourth mile. Remaining steadfast with her approach Paige would pass CCAA 10k champ Sabrina Lopez, and several more before reaching the line 16th overall (38:17). Although it wasn't what she'd dreamed of as a possibility before the race, Paige knew it was the very best she could do on that evening, which was a rewarding experience for coach and athlete.

Men's 10,000m: The Wildcats would send 3 athletes to the line of the men's 10k this year. Junior Isaac Chavez was the most decorated of the three with a 28:49 PR, and 4 All American honors notched on his resume. Dayne Gradone (Junior) had run an impressive 29:35 at the Mt Sac Invite, and Senior Anthony Costales would revisit the thin air of Pueblo for the second straight year, having contested the 25 lapper in 2012 as well. All three took to the track with a goal of vying for All American honors, but knowing that it would take a solid race to achieve this honor, especially given that half of the field either grew up at altitude (Kenyans) or currently live and train in Colorado.

Predictably the race started slow, as many athletes were scheduled to double back in the 5,000m event on Saturday. The slow start didn't last too long though as massive surges seemed to be recorded every third lap or so, with the pace per lap see-sawing between 75-77 on a given lap, to 70 the next. Knowing that reacting to the surges that the Kenyans would throw in from the front, would require a delicate approach, the Chico guys did their best to cover the changes in pace, while trying not to over-react to any of them. This of course is easier said than done, and soon Anthony Costales became the first 'Cat to be dispatched from the main group.

By 5k Isaac Chavez and Dayne Gradone were on the ropes and trying to stay close, as the pace quickened from the front. With laps 13 and 14 each having been run at a 70 second clip per revolution, Chavez and Gradone were now operating among smaller chase groups, as eventual champion Gabe Proctor battled the Kenyan duo of Michael Biwott and Glarius Ropp at the front. As the laps clipped away, Isaac trailed a chase pack by several meters for much of the final 3200m as he ran in the final All American position. Thankfully Mines' Derek Alcorn wasn't able to track down the tiring Wildcat over the final laps, and Isaac would hold on for 8th place respectively. Teammates Anthony Costales and Dayne Gradone would take the 13th and 14th places overall.

 

Friday-Day 2 NCAA Championships

Women's Steeplechase Finals: Senior Amy Schnittger is the fastest steepler in our school's history. In fact she's the fastest in CCAA history and with her school record run at Mt Sac, the returning All American became the 19th fastest female barrier performer in DII history. All of these accolades wouldn't diminish the challenge that Amy had in front of her as she approached the steeplechase final in Pueblo. The #1 seed Alicia Nelson is the #2 All time performer in DII history and she lives and trains at 7,500 ft. #2 seed Susan Tanui is altitude born (Kenya) and has run fifth fastest steeple in DII history. Add three others in the field who all had marks in the NCAA's All Time Top-21, and you had one heck of a talented group assembled.

In the early going, neither Nelson or Tanui seemed to care about a specific pace as a tight pack went through early splits of 90 and 89 seconds. The third lap brought a change in gears and Nelson and Tanui sailed off the front to do battle for the NCAA title (The two went 1-2 at NCAA XC this fall as well). As athletes went through the metric mile Schnittger was tucked into a main chase pack nicely that was about 5 athletes strong. Inside the final mile U Mary's Melissa Agnew (10:25 PR) left the chase pack, dropping her clip to a low 80's pace. The rest of the field showed the pain of Thursday's honest heat efforts, along with the 5,000ft of elevation. Schnittger fought hard and with 2 laps to go ran in 5th overall and just a few meters behind Bloomsburg's Victoria Davis (2nd in her heat the day before). Just when it appeared that Amy would have to settle for fifth, she hit the bell lap and rallied. A quickening pace was evident and the senior drew a bead on the PSAC Champion (10:34) as they entered the backstretch. Grinding with her familiar pain face evident, Schnittger made her way around Davis and hammered the final 150m. Her final 83 second lap earned the senior a fourth place finish and a second All American award. With Amy's racing being our only final of Friday evening. It was an enjoyable night at the track!

Saturday-Day 3 NCAA Championships

Men's 1500m Final: Tony Palermini laced on the spikes one last time knowing that he was fortunate to be among the field in the NCAA 1500m finals, but also determined to prove that he belonged among the NCAA's best. As the gun sounded a relatively honest lap of 63 was achieved, but then the pace dawdled and a field of 13 reached 800m in a pedestrian 2:14 split. Along for the ride and not in any position to be forcing paces at elevation, Tony played his cards with hanging onto the back of the pack and waiting for the kick to happen. The pace over the next 300m quickened as Palermini covered the 800m-1100m split in 47 seconds, with much of that acceleration taking place from 450m out. Predictably the leaders hit the bell in full flight and the race was now on for real. Palermini's reaction time wasn't the greatest as he had given up meters on 12th place by the 300m to go mark, but seemed to be catching a gear down the backstretch. Just as he had in our conference 800m final when he surprised with a 3rd place run Tony was Really flying with 200m to go. One by one he passed tiring athletes, but Mines' Frank Socha was too strong and held Palermini off for the 9th spot. Tony would finish a strong 10th overall, and the only regret might be the "what if" factor as to what might have happened if he had started his kick when the main field had gone. Either way, a man who owned a 3:57 PR leaving our Conference championships had just run a 3:59 in a tactical race at elevation And had finished 10th in the NCAA final. There was plenty to celebrate for the deserving senior.

Men's 5,000m: The 'Cats would send 3 men to the line of the men's 5,000m on Saturday with Isaac Chavez and Dayne Gradone bouncing back from 10k duty on Thursday, and Adrian Sherrod entering with "fresh" legs. Although many of the top finishers from the 10k were present in the 5k the pacing from the front was much more even in the 12 lap version. From the gun the pace hovered between a 71-72 second clip per lap, which early on looked relatively comfortable for everyone (as it should given their 14:15 or better credentials), but as the laps wore on and the altitude factor seeped through, many of the sea level athletes started to fall off the pace. As Proctor, Biwott and Ropp re-enacted their 1-3 sweep of the 10k many in the field behind struggled and fought hard to hold on to modest paces. Adrian Sherrod held onto the main pack the longest (8 laps) but seemed to pay the worst price out of the Chico athletes entered. Sherrod slipped all the way back to an eventual 16th place finish after crossing 3200m near 8th to 10th place. Isaac Chavez fought hard, as did Gradone to take places and names, but it was evident that a Top-8 finish wasn't in the cards for this trio of 'Cats. Isaac would finish 11th, Dayne 12th, and Adrian as mentioned before ended his Chico career with a 16th place run. It wasn't the finish any had hoped for, but the effort was there, and that's all that they could ask of themselves.

        
Summary: For those fortunate enough to have endured the Pueblo experiment and come away with eligibility remaining, there is a fire present to train HARD and show themselves and everyone else that we are better than what we showed in Colorado. With the 2014 championships set to take place in Raleigh, NC everyone is excited for the opportunity to race on a level playing field once again. Overall the 2013 track season was another amazing year. Two more CCAA team titles, many All Time CSUC Top-10 marks. A school record, and so much more.. Thanks to everyone who helped our team enjoy such a great season and we'll look forward to an amazing cross country season this fall.

Coach Oliver Hanf says...
The absolute highlight of our trip was the performance that junior JP Smith gave in the Decathlon. Although he was just the #4 seed coming in with a score of 7,035 he was the defending champion at 7366. His goal this year was to come in and PR (and therefore break his school record) and then let the chips fall where they may. Also in the field were 2011 NCAA Champion Brent Vogel from Central Missouri (7462), Lake Superior's Justin Balczak (7282) and Southern Connecticut States' Nick Lebron (7263). Fellow Chico State decathlete Teddy Elsenbaumer was the 5th entrant who had a score over 7K.

The Chico lads started the competition with a huge blast off! JP won the first two events, was 2nd in the high jump and only trailed Elsenbaumer in the 400. JP's 10.68 in the 100 was a career best, as was his long jump of 24'7" (3rd best in school history, trailing only Stan Urman and Butch Allen @ 25'2"). Teddy had three big PRs: 10.87 in the 100, 42'0 in the shot, and 48.65 in the 400. JP's point total of 4070 was a 132 point PR and had him in a 100 point lead over Balczak and almost 200 over Vogel. Elsenbaumer was one place higher than his pre-meet ranking of 5th with a score of 3875 (a 250 point PR!).

Teddy opened up Day 2 with another PR, hurdling to a 14.81 and then posting the top discus mark of 127'4". JP held onto his lead with solid marks of 14.95 and 123'0". As often happens, huge changes occur in the pole vault. This happens to be Teddy's best event and there was a possibility for him to move up into 2nd if he were to be able to match his PR of 15'1". Unfortunately he was unable to get over his opening bar of 12'5"! As Dire Straits sang in the '80s, "sometimes your the windshield, sometimes your the bug". It was giant bummer for Ted but he handled the disappointment in amazing fashion. His first words to me after the event were "is there still a way to finish in the top 8?" He competed to the best of his abilities and finished just 5 points from All-American...less than a second in the 1500! To score 6669 and only finish 5 points out of A.A. is a huge accomplishment. Everyone who witnessed it or has heard the story has been quite impressed.

JP meanwhile padded his lead by tying his vault PR of 14'9". His first two javelin throws were in the 160's which still give him a cushion entering the final event. But on his last throw he unleashed a bomb that sailed 20' further than he ever had before...191'2"! He now had a 26 second cushion over Balczak (over 100 meters in the 1500) and almost 200 points over Vogel. In the driver's seat JP navigated the altitude challenge well, eventually passing Balczak on the final lap and finishing within 20 meters of Vogel. He successfully defended his NCAA title! He also demolished his school record posting a mark of 7612, which meets the USATF Open national "B" standard of 7500. Stay tuned to find out if he makes it to the top meet in the United States at the end of June in Des Moines, Iowa.

Balczak (7387) and Vogel (7384) both had scores higher than JP's winning mark last year but were no where near this year's version of JP Smith. Who knows how Teddy would have finished up had he cleared that first pole vault bar but it's easy to envision him finishing over 7400 and placing 2nd to his teammate. The good news is that they will both return next year for their senior season and will be joined by last year's 4th place finisher John Brunk (7049)who redshirted this season.

Robin Hannah, who broke the school record in the heptathlon at the CCAA championships earlier in the month with a score of 5037 and was ranked 4th coming into the meet. Only 100 points however, separated her from the 12th qualifier so we knew we were in for a battle. She opened up with a 14.83 in the hurdles, only .01 from her PR and only the second time under 15. We were happy with that and not panicking with her 13th place finish as we knew it was a hurdle heavy field. Her 5'4" clearance moved her up a spot to 12th but she lost it again as she only yielded 29'10" in the shot put. Her speed made up ground on the field as she posted the 3rd fastest time in the 200 at 25.16 (9th best CSUC). She finished the day in 11th. While she had no huge events on day two she also had no weaknesses. She placed 5th in each of the final events with marks of 17'10" in the LJ, 115'4" in the Javelin and 2:23 in the 800. She remained in 11th after event 5 but moved into 9th after the javelin. She ran a very savvy race and her most even-paced 800 to date (71s/72s) and passed several of her close competitors in the final 300 en route to a 4th place finish and All-American status. 5013 was her score.

Amy Schnittger became our 3rd All-American, making the podium for a second year in a row in the Steeplechase. Like Hannah, Schnittger finished in 4th place to bring the Wildcats point total up to 10 points on Friday which at the time had the team in 9th place. That point total would remain for Chico and we ended up in 24th in the nation. Schnittger finishes her career as a three-time CCAA champion and two-time All-American in the Steeple. Her best time of 10:25 a CCAA record as well as a school record. She was all-ccaa in the 5K the past two years in addition to being all-ccaa in the Steeple her freshman year when she finished 3rd.

Our final All-American was Isaac Chavez. The junior distance runner from Barstow was made his third straight NCAA appearance in the 10K. He finished in 3rd as a freshman but was forced to drop out last year with an injury to his calf. In 2013 he was able to overcome last year's disappointment (and altitude disadvantage) and finish in 8th to bring home his 4th All-American trophy. He also has two from Cross Country. His 8th place earned the team another point and brought our total to 11, where we remained finishing 23rd. For more details on the distance recap, stay tuned for Coach Towne's newsletter. He will certainly be able to paint a much more vibrant picture of those races.

In addition to Elsenbaumer, there were 3 more Wildcats who finished one spot from All-American. Junior Kasey Barnett, who qualified for the pole vault with a 12'6" clearance at the last chance finished in 9th with a height of 12'5 1/2"...only 1cm shy of her PR. Her opening height clearance of 12'1" was the highest bar she has seen to start a competition. 8 ladies cleared 12'9" or higher so that was the "money" height. 3 years ago Katrina "Hurricane" Rodriquez was national champion with a height of 12'10 3/4" and 12'2" was AA. This year 2 were over 14'4", one at 13'9" and three more at 13'1. Women's pole vault is red hot at the moment! Kasey would have been an AA in any other year with her clearance. Kasey also competed in the long jump, finishing 19th with a distance of 17'11". That jump was actually her worst of her three efforts, however the first one was a scratch and not measured and the other was over 15" behind the board. Those two jumps had her traveling 19" in the air ( the measurement board in the back allowed us to make that observation). 19'1" was 8th place.

Senior Bridget McClarrinon qualified 8th from the trials in the javelin throw with a toss of 144'0, and survived that position until the final toss from the Angelo State athlete who was 9th for the first 5 rounds. She ended up launching the spear 152'4" to move into 4th, 1 cm ahead of the 5th place finisher. That dropped Bridget into 9th :-( It was the Butte College transfer's second straight trip to Pueblo but it was a much better performance than a year ago. She finishes her career with 2 All-CCAA awards and 3rd best on our All-Time list.

Sara Mikesell ran a courageous 10,000m race and worked her way up to the 9th position but in the final mile or so was caught in a big gap between runners. She held on to her tempo running all alone and finished in the 9 spot. The XC All-American has one more season and next year will not be at altitude (Raleigh, NC). Coach Towne did a great job preparing his athletes for these championships, they went to CO a week early (thanks to the Lubieniecki family!) and had them as ready as could be. Coming from sea level however had us at quite a disadvantage. That makes the accomplishments of Schnittger and Chavez that much more impressive! At the NCAA banquet Gary was named the West Region Assistant Coach of the year! We are excited to have survived the two years of Pueblo air and are looking forward to sea level air, albeit humid air next year. As previously mentioned, Gary will be sending out the distance recap soon where you will be able to gain more info on our distance runners. Senior Paige Henker was 16th out of 20 in the 10K, Anthony Costales finished his career with a 13th place in the 10K while junior Dayne Gradone was one spot back. Chavez came back two nights after his 10K race to place 11th in the 5K while Gradone finished 12th and senior Adrian Sherrod finished 16th. The final NCAA qualifier for the men's 1500 was Tony Palermini and he also was the final qualifier into the finals on Sat. His 10th place finish and he and his fans delighted as it was a true success story and a fast accent to the near top of the NCAA.