Three school records fall in busy weekend for the Wildcats
Watt breaks 800 record twice, McGuirk lowers steeple standard, Women's 4X100 falls

Friday-Saturday, April 4-5, 2014
Comments & photos by Oliver Hanf/Chico State Men's Coach & Gary Towne/Chico State Distance Coach

I'm happy to announce that we had another HUGE weekend of PR's and NCAA marks this past Friday and Saturday. On Friday the better percentage of the Wildcat distance crew was in action at the San Francisco Distance Carnival, which has become a huge overflow event for the very impacted Stanford Invitational. Isaac Chavez and Alex McGuirk would be our only two accepted men into Stanford, while Bailey Henshaw and teammate Olivia Watt would have the chance to compete at Stanford on Saturday afternoon in the 800m heats. Overall it was another magical SF/Stanford weekend for the 'Cats. Several school records were broken, and as usual, a number of All Time Top-10 marks were achieved. Two automatic NCAA qualifying marks were achieved, while many more provisional marks were stamped as well.

First, since there were so many impressive marks achieved, I'll start by listing the competitors and their marks below;

 
 
Women's 800m:

2:11.75 Olivia Watt (So) @ SF State, School Record, NCAA Provisional
2:10.91 Olivia Watt (So) @ Stanford. School Record, NCAA Provisional
2:11.90 Bailey Henshaw(Jr) @ SF State, #3 AT CSUC, NCAA Provisional
 
Men's 800m:
 
1:50.92 Kyle Medina(Fr) @ St State. Is Red shirting, but would be NCAA provisional
1:55.72 Andrew Overton(Fr) @ SF State, PR
1:56.35 AJ Pulice (Sr) @ SF State
 
Women's 1500m:
 
4:50.60 Jackie Mansoor(So) PR
4:56.91 Tiffany Heflin (Jr)
5:09.19 Natalie Galvan (Sr) first race since ACL surgery
 
Men's 1500m:

3:51.33 Phil Graber (Sr) PR NCAA Provisional
 
Men's Steeplechase

8:50.03 Alex McGuirk (Jr) @ Stanford.  School Record, NCAA Auto
9:06.49 Barron Maizland (Jr) @ SF St.  #9 AT CSUC, NCAA Provisional
9:23.65 Omar Pulido (Jr) @ SF St. PR, NCAA Provisional
9:49.14 Ryan Rampoldi (Fr) @ Sf St. PR, Hit a barrier w/ knee/fell @ 1k

Women's Steeplechase

12:30.96 Montana Loveday (Fr) @ Sf State, Red Shirting, PR/Fell twice

Men's 5k:

14:29.91 Dayne Gradone (Sr) @ Sf State, NCAA provisional (9:03 @ 3200m)
14:32.72 Nick Grubiss (Fr) @ Sf State, Red Shirting, would be NCAA mark.
14:36.06 Aaron Mora (Fr) @ Sf State, PR, NCAA provisional mark
14:38.12 Germay Tesfai (Jr) @ Sf State, NCAA provisional mark
14:46.96 Rogan Meza (Sr) @ Sf State PR
14:47.95 Aaron Thomas (Jr) @ Sf State
14:48.13 Johnny Sanchez (Jr) @ Sf State
14:54.85 Alan Cuevas (Jr) @ Sf State
15:02.13 Geoff Bogan (So) @ Sf State
15:10.53 Andrew Cobourn (Fr) @ Sf State, PR
 
Women's 5k:

16:47.18 Ayla Granados (Sr) @ Sf State, PR NCAA Provisional, #5 AT CSUC
17:10.38 Sara Mikesell (Sr) @ Sf State, PR, NCAA Provisional, #8 AT CSUC
17:34.84 Quetta Peinado (So) @ Sf State, PR
18:04.70 Jessica Varela (Jr) @ Sf State
18:23.13 McCall Habermehl (Fr) @ Sf State
18:41.51 Hannah Dorman (Fr) PR, @ SF State
 
Men's 10k:
 
28:56.19 Isaac Chavez (Sr) @ Stanford,  NCAA Auto Qualifier, Already #2 AT CSUC
31:17.61 Dillon Breen (Jr) @ SF State, PR
31:23.38 Geoff Hull (Jr) @ Sf State, PR
 
Women's 10k:
 
37:38.63 Bekah Bahra (So) @ SF State

Men's Steeplechase-Stanford Heat 2: Alex McGuirk's 8:56 run at the WCC Last Chance Invite in 2013 made him the #3 barrier runner in school history, and also gave him the opportunity to run in the second fastest heat at the Stanford Invite this spring. McGuirk, who sustained a clavicle fracture in the off season and was just opening his season on Friday took full advantage of this opportunity. Running through 4 laps at 4:41 (a touch shorter than 400m circuits given the water jump approach) the junior from Mountain View looked great operating among the top group in the field.

With 400m remaining Alex needed a 67-68 second final revolution to take down Beau Rogers' 4 year old school record. In the attempt to win the race McGuirk shifted gears and chased Syracuse' MJ Erb (4:04 mile pr). Alex found a final gear in the final 50meters and caught the Syracuse star just at the line. The two leaned well, and the camera gave the NY native the .02 win. McGuirk wasn't too disappointed with the loss though as he'd clocked a 6 second PR, and had of course broken the school barrier in the process. His mark was also an automatic qualifier for the NCAA meet in Michigan this May.

http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/251505-Stanford-Invitational-2014/video/741963-Alex-McGurk-just-barely-misses-out-on-Steeple-win

Men's 10,000m-Stanford
Heat 1: Senior Isaac Chavez would step into the deepest Stanford Invitational field ever assembled on Friday night. With a 28:49 25 lap PR to his name Chavez eyed the field as a great opportunity to test himself among the best. Isaac did a masterful job of feeling his way through the race and following the Oregon trio of Edward Cheserek (NCAA DI XC Champion), Parker Stinson, and Trevor Dunbar. Chavez hit the 5k in 14:34 and looked great covering the moves of the pack that he was running within.

A split occurred at about mid-field during the sixth kilometer, and most in Isaac's group seemed fine with keeping the laps in the 69 to 70 seconds per lap range. The pace picked up steadily over the second 5k and Chavez looked great until about 1200m remained, when his form left him a bit. Despite giving a few seconds and places away over the final kilometer Chavez held on well and finished with his second best mark (28:56) and guaranteed his fourth straight trip to the NCAA track championships. An amazing 28 men ran under the 29 minute barrier in Isaac's race, making it one of the deepest fields ever assembled.

Olivia Watt and Bailey Henshaw's 2 X 800 Weekend: Upon seeing that Stanford's 800 races were held on Saturday it was decided that our two 800m standouts on the women's side (Olivia Watt and Bailey Henshaw) would take a crack the distance at both the SF and Stanford meets, in consecutive days. This would give each a second chance if things didn't go so well at SF, and it would mirror the NCAA schedule with trials and finals format. The two passed this test with flying colors and Watt now has the distinction of having broken a school record in consecutive days.

SF State 800m: The 800m race at SF State looked quite promising from the start, as the two Chico athletes were out well in 3rd and 4th cruising through 200m in 30 seconds. Unfortunately CAL's Nijae Jones (who eventually would run 2:32!?) seized the lead and gradually hit the brakes over the next 200m. The pack hit the bell in 66 seconds, having run a 35 second 200m. Tulane's Jessica Adamson took the lead and the Chico pair followed, along with Simon Fraser's 2:08 gal Sarah Sawatsky. Down the backstretch Chico's Bailey Henshaw took the front and gradually accelerated into the final turn. Off the turn it became a three person race with the Chico pair and Simon Fraser's Sawatsky for the win. Showing her 4:28 1500m strength Olivia Watt charged down the final straight taking a slight lead. Sawatsky had other plans though as she would fight back to nip the Chco pair by just a few tenths of a second at the line. The front three would all run negative splits, which is quite impressive in an 800m race. Watt's disappointment in losing the race was quickly lessened once she heard her final time had broken Lyndsey Brown-Gabriel's former school record. Henshaw's 2:11.90 was a seasonal best, and just missed her PR that was run at the JC State Championships two years ago. Bailey also became the #3 all time CSUC performer for the 2 lap distance respectively.

Stanford 800m, Heat 6: Bailey Henshaw ran in the 6th section of the Stanford meet on Saturday and didn't enjoy the best tactical outing. Running with heavy legs the junior got out well initially but then allowed the field to collapse in front of her as they approached the second turn. She was now trailing the pack and looked tight as she tried to pass her way up through the field as the race progressed. Even on a day when all systems weren't firing quite right, Bailey still managed to eek out a 2:13 run, which would have been a seasonal best coming into the weekend.

Stanford 800m, Heat 7: Fast 800m running is helped by a little luck, in that if you're fortunate to have someone take the pace out fast and you follow along and run a tough race, oftentimes you're rewarded with a PR. This was the story of Olivia Watt's Stanford run on Saturday. Abby Regan of Washington State bolted out to the front with something to prove (she ran a 2:07 in the 7th fastest heat of the day!) and towed the field through fast 200 and 400 splits. Olivia put herself into the first 3-4 through a very fast 28 something 200m, and 62.0 400. Now it was time to maintain and handle the pain that was sure to come as they hit the final stretch. Olivia battled a pair of DII foes during the final lap in Seattle Pacific's Lynelle Decker and Northwest Nazarene's Natalie Evans. The trio trailed Regan (WAZU) by several meters but still hit 600m in a blazing 1:35 split. Time was given up during the final 200m, but Watt managed to split her competitors while notching a 3rd place 2:10 run. Her time cut nearly a full second off her previous PR/School record and moves her several spots higher on the NCAA provisional list. A great weekend for the young lady who walked onto the team two years ago never having trained for a distance above 400m.

Men's Steeplechase-SF State: Junior transfers Barron Maizland and Omar Pulido enjoyed PR's and NCAA provisional marks in the steeple event at SF State. Maizland's 9:06 nearly broke the existing meet record (held by Chico's Beau Rogers) but in a sign of just how far the SF meet has come, Barron only placed 5th with this big effort. Maizland's 9:06 does move him well up the NCAA provisional ladder, while also bumping the Orange Coast College alum onto the CSUC top-10 list. Redding-area coaching legend Bill Elliott becomes the victim of the latest Wildcat barrier standout as he falls from the Top-10 list after several decades of recognition. Omar Pulido who just eeked onto the Wildcat roster this Spring now has an NCAA provisional qualifying mark to his name as he approaches the meets ahead. RS Frosh Ryan Rampoldi who has a definite future in the steeple, hammered a barrier in the early going with his trail knee and struggled home in a disappointing 9:49.

Women's 5,000m-SF State
Section 1: In the history of our program only 5 women had dipped under the 17 minute barrier and 4 of the 5 were school record holders. Ayla Granados set out to become the sixth such runner on Friday and all workouts and races leading up to the effort pointed toward a successful outcome. Rolling through even splits of 5:22, 5:24 (10:46) and 5:23, Granados held onto the lead pack throughout, while one by one it pared down from 15, to 10 and eventually 5. Although Granados didn't close quite as well as she'd hoped (eventually placed 4th/3.5 seconds off the win), she would finish with a 45 second PR while becoming the fifth fastest Wildcat ever.

With Ayla's emergence on the All Time Top 10 list, of course someone's name has to depart. The "Someone" in this case was current senior Sara Mikesell, who happened to be in the same race as Ayla. In what would turn out to be an unlikely turn of events, Sara would be pushed from the list as Granados finished the race, but ran herself back onto the list some 23 seconds later as she enjoyed a huge 17:10 PR of her own.

Mikesell's run was a thing of beauty. Knowing that she had the slowest seed time among the field, and also knowing that everyone in the field would most likely follow the leader through the fast early laps, Sara settled in last place early and allowed a fairly large gap to form between she and the race ahead. A 5:30 first mile had Sara within 10-15 meters of her first "victim", who would be caught and passed as the pair hit 2k. From there to the finish Sara hammered out 82 second laps, like a human metronome. The once seeded 31st in the field, ended up placing 14th out of the 24 eventual finishers. Sara now sits as the #8 All Time 5k runner in CSUC history.

Section 2: Sophomore Quetta Peinado has endured more injury setbacks in her short career at CSUC than anyone should ever have to, but in the windows where good health has been achieved, her light has shone brightly. On Friday Peinado ran a perfectly executed 17:34 5k PR and looked great doing it. Teammate Jessica Varela had a rare "off day" and finished well off her 17:20 PR, set in the '13 SF Invite.

Section 3: RS Frosh McCall Habermehl broke out in a big way this cross country season, earning All CCAA honors along the way. Unfortunately a deep heel bruise caused by practicing her first water jump ever, took her out of training for several weeks in February, and she's just now regaining her competitive fitness. On Friday McCall ran a very solid 18:23 time while PR'ing for the 12.5 lapper. Watch for this former 300m hurdle standout as she debut's in the steeple at our upcoming Chico Twilight meet. As great hurdle form and improving fitness meet in the middle, some fast times surely await in the steeple.

Section 4: Red Shirting frosh Hannah Dorman has had an assortment of injuries and sicknesses this spring, which have left her very shy of fitness. Her 18:41 debut for the track 5k looked great though, and showed the potential that lies within her as consistency is reached in the coming weeks and years.

Men's 1500m-SF State: Sometimes an athlete just has to get in a really fast race to learn what they're truly capable of. After a few 3:54 efforts I felt as though Phil Graber was ready to take a step forward this weekend, so his seed time was adjusted to something around 3:50, guaranteeing him a spot on the line in the fastest section of the men's 1500m. Phil handled the test with flying colors running through 400m in 63, then clocking 61.7 and 61.2 laps, hitting 1200m in 3:06. With more in the tank Graber passed several runners in the final 300m (44.7) and hit the tape 8th overall in a shiny new 3:51.33 PR. This moves him onto the NCAA provisional list and to within a second or two of what it will surely take to reach the Championship meet in Michigan next month.

Men's 5,000m-SF State
Section 1 : A year ago Dayne Gradone ran a perfectly executed 5k at the SF Distance Carnival, moving through the field tactically with each passing lap and eventually notching a 14:14 PR and NCAA qualifying mark. On Friday Gradone was determined to take the next step and challenge the 14 minute barrier. The senior from Aptos ran through 1600m with the lead pack in 4:33ish, and then covered the second 1600m in 4:29 (9:03.0 @ 3200m). In the ninth lap the rope that held Gradone on the leader's heels snapped and with each passing lap seconds were added and places were lost. Dayne held on the best that he could and finished in a respectable 14:29, having taken a stab at a big mark. Hopefully we'll have another opportunity for Dayne to lower his PR. Red shirting frosh Nick Grubiss ran a gutsy 14:32 after a 9:15 initial 3200m split. This matches his PR set a few weeks ago at the Johnny Mathis meet.

Section 2: Heat 2 brought some mixed results as the weather began to deteriorate into off and on rain with winds. RS Frosh Aaron Mora ran a tough 14:36 PR while closing in 28.0 for the final 200m. Teammates Aaron Thomas and Johnny Sanchez missed their high 14:30s PR's, but neither was too far off the mark either with their 14:47/14:48 times. Alan Cuevas was also within 10 seconds of his PR after having to miss several weeks of workouts with injury in March. Geoff Bogan ran very well through 3200m (9:25ish?) but completely unraveled over the final 2k unfortunately.

Section 3: Heat 3 enjoyed the worst of the day's weather as athletes braved through a final two miles of racing that included complete downpours. Junior Germay Tesfai ran like a man possessed over the final 2 kilometers, seizing the lead with a kilometer to go, and never relinquishing it. His 14:38 is his second best time ever and a huge seasonal best mark. Rogan Meza, who was a roster cut victim early in his career at CSUC, has bounced back nicely and Friday the senior from Burlingame dipped under 14:50 for the first time with his 14:46 PR run.

Section 4: RS Frosh Andrew Cobourn continued his steady progress recording a 15:10 PR on Friday, while battling among the leaders for much of his race.

Women's 1500m-SF State Section 3: Sophomore Jackie Mansoor has been sick much of the past 3-4 weeks, but still managed to bounce back and nab a nice PR over the 1500m distance on Friday with her 4:50 effort. Given that the 5k and 10k are her true callings, we'll hope for better health in the coming weeks, so she can enjoy some success at her optimal events. Tiffany Heflin missed a week of running 3 weeks ago with a foot flare up after her first race of the season and has just returned to workouts and normal training. Friday was off her PR by 4-5 seconds, but the coming weeks should produce better results as consistency is achieved.

Section 4: Senior Natalie Galvan sustained a terrible season ending injury last track season while finishing her CCAA Championship steeplechase. Running in 2nd place overall and with an NCAA mark already logged Natalie fell awkwardly on the final water jump and tore her ACL. A mid summer surgery and rehab have left her just able to return to limited action. On Friday she made the most of her opportunity but had a rough first outing in the Chico uniform. Her 5:09 is well off her mid 4:40's mark from last season, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

Men's 800m-SF State
Section 1: Red Shirting true frosh Kyle Medina has proven to be one of the most versatile talents that we've had on the men's team. Although he's training with our middle distance team, he recorded a 14:33 5k PR at the Johnny Mathis meet 2 weeks ago. This weekend Medina cranked out a 1:50.9 PR for 800m (dropped from his 1:53 HS mark last spring). Sitting in 4th-5th and well behind the leaders with a 54-point first lap split, Medina looked Very strong over the final 200m as he flew by several athletes who were rigging hard. Although he was making up time on eventual winner Sandall with every step down the final straight, Kyle ran out of real-estate unfortunately.

Section 2: Senior AJ Pulice battled well in Heat 2 but his lack of base fitness caused by an early season injury seemed to leave him with little in the tank in the final 200m. Still 1:56 ties his seasonal best and he held off CCAA 800m finalist Dean Alley down the stretch.

Section 3: RS Frosh Andrew Overton continues to take steps forward in his new 800m event. Having run a 51 second 400m time as a prep we've moved Andrew up in distance and he's responded nicely with 1:55/4:07 PR's at the longer distances. His goal this season was to dip under 1:55 and he seems well on his way given his progression to date.

Women's 10,000m-SF State Junior Bekah Bahra has had a bit of a rough start to her track season thus far. Friday she stepped up to the 10k distance hoping to take a crack at the 37 minute barrier. She held the pace through the initial 5k, but slid over the second half of the race and narrowly missed her PR of 37:28. Still it was a solid outing, and puts her among the top of the CCAA heap as we look to the championships on the horizon early next month.

Men's 10,000m-SF State Juniors Dillon Breen and Geoff Hull have had a rough start to their 2013 track seasons, so it was extremely rewarding watching the pair work together and hammer out 74-75 second laps one after another on Friday. Stepping onto the track with 31:45 and 31:50 Pr's the two nailed down 31:17 and 31:23 final times.

Up Next: For the 'Cats will be the Chico Twilight Distance Carnival this Friday evening, and the Chico Twilight Invitational on Saturday afternoon/evening at University Stadium. Please come out to support the teams if you're able. Following that will be the Mt Sac Relays and Beach Invitational

Now a word from Coach O:
Our team is back home after splitting up in four directions over the weekend. Big things happened in all of our separate journeys.

STOCKTON
Coach Brian Beeman took a crew of 7 heptathletes and 4 decathletes to the Delta Multi meet. Two of our decathlon redshirts also competed in the meet. True freshmen Scott Pater (Mt. Carmel HS), Jake Mitchell (Castro Valley HS) and Lane Andrews (Center HS) each added over 500 points to their PRs. Pater finished in 2nd place, cracking the 6K standard in only his 2nd dec...6047. Mitchell was 4th (5850) and Andrews was 5th (5781). Adam Nikssarian, a 5th year senior with aspirations of qualifying for the NCAAs competed in his first significant action since spraining his ankle at the Chico Multi. While he did not contest the entire Dec (no LJ, HJ, 400 or 1500) he did come home with some impressive season-best marks: 15.90 in the hurdles and 14'7" in the vault. He will be in contention to possibly win the CCAA decathlon title since our "Big 3" will be spread out at conference in a variety of events and not contesting the decathlon. Redshirt Freshmen Kristen Brunk also cracked a significant barrier, going over the 4,000 point mark. Her score of 4072 was good enough for 3rd place. True freshman Kylie Herman was 2nd, improving her collegiate PR to 4144. She went 4198 at Ventura HS last year and is primed to score big at the CCAAs next month in San Diego.

SANTA BARBARA
5th year seniors J P Smith, John Brunk and Teddy (Mr. President) Elsenbaumer traveled to Smith's home town to compete in the prestigious Sam Adams Invitational at Westmont College. One of the highlights for them was to meet and race against the world record holder and Olympic champion Ashton Eaton (see attached pic). The lads performed quite well on a glorious southern California Friday and all were within "spitting distance" of their day 1 PRs. Competing in the "B" group was Chico State alum David Burton (1993 NCAA decathlon champion!). One of the highlights for the 44-year old was a 6'0" high jump clearance! Another highlight was having John Wissmath show up to show support. Wissmath who is the head coach of the College of the Canyons softball team was a two-time All-American for the Wildcats in the late 80s. The weather turned on day 2. Although the skies remained blue, winds of 15-20mph and gusts over 40mph created a challenging environment for the athletes, especially in the final three events - Pole Vault, Javelin and 1500m Run. That did not stop JP from sustaining consistent performances of his own over the two days winning with 7351 points. His efforts included a 15.39 in the 110m Hurdles, a personal best 42.44m (139'03?) in the Discus, a 14'1" vault and a 4:47.68 in the howling wind to cap off the day in the 1500m. He is the two-time reigning NCAA Division II national champion. He currently leads all NCAA Division II competitors and is ranked 7th in the U.S. Reinis Kregers of Kansas State finished second with 7304 points and Brunk rounded out the top three with 7262 points. Mr. Prez was 4th, only 2 points back from Brunk. Brunk and "Prez" passed Dave Marden (7250 in '88) and John Wissmath (7244 in '89) to move into 3rd and 4th on the all-time list, trailing only JP (7613 in '13) and current assistant coach Trevor Papp (7284 in '00). Also competing in the meet were Gray Horn (4th at the '12 Olympic Trials), Gunnar Nixon, the U.S. High School and Junior record holder and several members of the French National team for L'Union Sportive Athletisme Haut Bugey. Ashton Eaton only competed in two events but wowed the crowd with his 10.43 in the 100 and 45.86 in the 400.

STANFORD
In addition to some rain falling from the sky, school records were falling in Palo Alto for the Wildcats. Amilia Santos, Ashley Jones, Aja Erskine and Kasey Barnett teamed up to break their own record in the 400 relays with a time of 46.94. They are ranked 12th in the nation for D2. Barnett also competed in the Long Jump (18'10" in the rain) and WON the invitational pole vault, beating the Texas A & M vaulter in a tie-break jump off! She cleared 12'6" in the regular competition, passed 13"0 because she ran the 100 (12.30) and returned to attempt 13'4". After 3 failed efforts it was determined that there was a tie for first place. A jump off was needed to crown a champion and Barnett was the only one to clear 12'10" and therefore won the Gold! The day after breaking Lindsay Brown-Gabriel's school record in the 800, Olivia Watt (a RS Soph from Morro Bay) bettered her own mark on the Stanford oval. She first broke the record (set by Brown in '08) at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival in a time 2:11.74 24 hours later she switched stadiums and lowered her record to 2:10.91! She is ranked 6th in D2. Alex McGuirk, last year's CCAA champion, lowered 2010 All-American Beau Rogers' school record in the Steeplechase to 8:50.03 earning an NCAA auto mark. Also earning an auto qualifier was Isaac Chavez. His PR time of 28.45 in the 10K will send him to his 4th NCAA championship which will be held in Allendale, Michigan at the end of May. The only faster 25-lapper in Chico history is the legend himself...Scottie Bauhs. Hakeem Dyson qualified for the finals with a preliminary time of 14.6 on Friday and then placed 5th on Saturday with a season-best and CCAA leading 14.46. He's ranked 12th in D2.

SAN FRANCISCO
No less than 6 men reached prov.Q (PQ) at the distance carnival at SF State. Barron Maizland ended Bill Elliott's 32 year stand on the top 10 list in the Steeplechase, by running, hurdling and water jumping a 9:06.49. Sequoias and Butte transfer Omar Pullido nailed a PR/PQ 9:23.65. Chico native Phil Graber PQ'd in the 1500 with a new lifetime best 3:51.33 to place 8th out of 86 runners. Dayne Gradone led the Chico 5K contingency, stopping the clocks at 14:29. RS Nick Grubiss was next in 14:32. RS Frosh Aaron Mora landed on the NCAA list with his 14:36 and Germay Tesfai was the final PQ at 14:38. Ayla Granados, who has previously notched prov. Q marks in the 800 and 1500 (on the heals of her All-American XC campaign) punched her ticket to Michigan with a "kick-tail" 5K. Her time of 16:46 ranks 3rd in the nation and 5th best in school history behind legends: Katie Lee, Tori Tyler, Kara Loooo and Alia Gray. Sara Mikesell also hit a PQ garnering a 7 second PR in a time of 17:10. In the second section Quetta Peinado made her 2014 debut and arrived and did so in impressive form her time of 17:34 now gives Chico the top 3 marks in the CCAA. Boom goes the dynamite! The women's 800 race at SF was a prelude to the Stanford 800...the latter being contested on Sat while the SF on Fri. Coach Towne made the decision to enter them in both to A) give a back up race if the first didn't go well and B) provide a trials/finals scenario just like at the CCAAs and NCAAs. While Olivia Watt made the headlines with her new school record, Baliey Henshaw (a junior transfer from college of the Sequoias) also made a big splash on the national scene as well as in the Chico record books. Her time of 2:11.90 placed 3rd in the race, just behind Olivia who was 2nd just .15 ahead. The winner was a D11 runner from Simon Fraser (Canada) out leaning the Wildcat women by a few tenths. That trio of runners will likely meet again at nationals.