On Saturday the 2015 Track-Cats enjoyed another successful outing at the races. Not all runs resulted in PR's, but hard nosed racing was achieved and overall we were able to take away a lot from the beautiful SF State facility. With most of our top athletes stepping up for their first crack at 5k's this season, the results were quite rewarding. In the men's 5k Chico affiliated athletes (Current 'Cats, Red Shirts, and Recent Alum) would take the top 11 of the 70 places overall.

On the women's side the Lady-'Cats would take 4 of the top 5 places at the finish, with all running under the 18 minute mark. Of course there was more to the story on the day, and I'll share a bit more below on each run.

Women's 1500m: Junior Lora James and senior Bailey Henshaw would get the 'Cats day off to a sizzling start with a pair of huge 1500m PR's. Both entered the meet with bests of 4:42 for the 3.75 lapper, and each hoped to eclipse the 4:40 barrier. The opening laps saw James and Henshaw running stride for stride as the pair remained locked in with a talented and relatively large chase pack that had smartly allowed a pair of USF standouts to sail off on their own.

Approaching the kilometer mark the chase pack began to stretch and the Chico pair allowed a gap to occur between themselves and several others in the group. Still they looked strong, and PR's appeared to be still in the cards given their initial splits. In the final 200m Lora James found another gear and started gaining ground on a few athletes ahead. Henshaw found a similar gear and dug deep going into the final straightaway. Running down the final 100m both had great momentum, and it appeared that they might catch third place runner Daryl Phill from USF. Unfortunately their kick fell just short as James was edged by the USF runner by a scant .05 of a second, with Henshaw another .07 behind. The great news was that both James and Henshaw had clocked mid 4:36 marks to come within a second of making our school's all time list!

Men's 1500m: Senior Alex McGuirk missed out on the 1500m fun a week ago as he served as pacer for teammates and training partners who would eventually run NCAA provisional marks. Ironically it was a pacer that was needed in the men's field on Saturday as the early pace failed to stray from a 64 second clip per revolution until the third lap. Boxed pretty badly for much of the initial 800m McGuirk swung wide coming off the turn with 500m remaining in the race and took the lead. Unfortunately in his effort to save some sort of time goal, McGuirk ended up serving as a perfect lead-out for a pair of St Mary's runners, who would take McGuirk over the final 200m. Still Alex' move and strength over the final 800 (2:01 split approx) earned him a 3rd place finish (3:55.1) ahead of sub 14 min 5k guy Eric Causey, and 29:19 runner Jose Madera (both of USF). Alex will now take a week off racing before tackling his first steeplechase race of the year at the Stanford Invite.

Women's 800m: RS Frosh Madison Grenier ran to a seasonal best 2:22.02 in Heat II of the women's two lapper. Red Shirting teammate Kody Atkins ran her first 800m in several years, notching a 2:26 for third place in Heat III.

Women's 5,000m: The goal for the Chico women from the start was to spend the early laps recognizing the pace that they wished to run for the race, and then work into competing as the race grew into the key laps. Collegiate 5k's often go out too fast, and then settle (or fade) in the later laps. The plan was to resist this tendency and run a more even race.

Following the gun, the Chico women dialed in their desired tempos and set out in various positions among the field. Just as in past years a pack of Chico women gradually moved through the lead group, and soon only Humboldt's freshman standout Tatiana Gillick lie ahead. Initially Gillick had teammates creating a tempo for her but as the laps wore on and she eventually ran alone. As her cadence softened, a trio of Chico athletes caught and passed the tiring Humboldt runner.

Junior Quetta Peinado led teammates Alex Burkhart and Olivia Watt through 3200m in 11:19. As laps became difficult in the third mile it was frosh Alex Burkhart that kept things near an 85 second per lap clip. Surprisingly Peinado (17:18 PR) slid from the group over the final kilometer. Not surprising was the 73ish final revolution clocked by Olivia Watt (Olivia is our school record holder for 800m) who after hitting the metric 3mile in 16:59 dropped a 34 for the final 200m. Watt would take the title in a 17:34 PR. Not far behind was Burkhart, who continued her freshman year tear, with a debut 17:39. Peinado lost a battle with a Saint Marys runner but still held on well for fourth place (17:49). Finishing just one second back was Sadie Gastelum who enjoyed her first 5k ever on the track, running to a 17:50 time. Not to be left out of the PR category was RS Frosh Hannah Dorman, who also recorded her first sub 18 minute 5k with a 17:55 final time.

Men's 5,000m: The men's 5k was even more of a Chico affair. It would be up to the Chico guys and a few recent alums (Alfonso Cisneros/Dayne Gradone) to make a good race happen, with Santa Clara and USF sitting out their top 12.5 lappers,. Thankfully Alex McGuirk was game to help with some pacing duties post-1500 as well. With McGuirk trying (unsuccessfully) to dial in an even 69 second pace (67/70/67/70) the guys still managed to hit 1600 on pace (4:36). Alex would make 3 more laps before stepping off the track after 7 laps of leading.

A once crowded lead pack of 10-12 was now dissolving, and once Will Reyes sprung to the front and recorded a 67.1 revolution, the pack could no longer be referred to as such. Reyes hit 3200m in 9:12 and looked full of run. Not far behind were our freshly minted 3:49 1500m guys, Kyle Medina and Falco DiGiallonardo. Damage control was in place for the good portion of our other top guys, as they fought hard to keep their paces well under 15:00 tempo.

Will Reyes a red shirting junior would go on to close the race with a 4:30 final 1600m to ensure the victory, while also notching a 10 second PR (14:17 is the new personal best mark). DiGiallonardo would find the tape next with a 14:25 PR and NCAA Provisional mark, and Kyle Medina would finish just 2 ticks of the watch behind in 14:27 (also a PR and NCAA mark). Red shirting junior Steven Martinez would run his first 5k PR in two years, notching a 14:36 for fourth place, and CSUC alum Alfonso Cisneros would crack 14:40 for the first time, finishing in 14:39. Barron Maizland (14:41), Aaron Mora (14:44) and Nick Grubiss (14:49) would take places 6-8 overall.

Notes to the men's 5k: Will Reyes' 14:17 mark would have broken into the school's All Time Top-10 list as 14:20 is currently the 10th best in school history. Medina has run his one and only 5k for the year, but DiGiallonardo should give the 14:20 threshold a good run for it's money in April at the Mt Sac Invitational.

Overall it was another good day at the oval office with many pr's run and some valuable racing experience notched. The Distance 'Cats will now take a weekend off racing before returning to the Bay Area for the SF Distance Carnival and Stanford Invitationals in a couple weeks. Stay tuned!

Coach Hanf take on the meet: Track fans! Spring break was capped with another strong outing for the 'Cats as we traveled to San Francisco for the Johnny Mathis Invitational to preview the CCAA championship facilities which will be contested at SF State from April 30-May 2. Meet by meet we are getting sharper and sharper in our pursuit of 18 titles in a row (Women-6, Men-12).

Three more Wildcats put themselves in the discussion for an NCAA Championships berth, nine registered new personal records (PRs) and 10 won events for the Chico State men's track & field team Saturday at the Johnny Mathis Invitational, hosted by San Francisco State.

Brian Egge did all three, breaking out a three-meter PR in winning the javelin to break into Chico State's all-time top 10 in the event. The junior from Oroville unleashed an NCAA Provisional throw of 58.58 meters (192'2") to unseat Erick Contrearas (1987) for 10th best in school history. Incidentally Contrearas was a teammate of coach Towne's at both Shasta College and Chico State.

Geoff Brown also had a big day on the track, finishing first in the 400 meters with a personal-record time of 49.64 and then running the third leg of the Wildcats' winning 4x400-meter relay team. Phill Bailey, Lane Andrews and Tristan Lake ran the other three legs.

The Wildcats took the top seven spots in the 200 meters, led by Bailey's season-best effort of 22:55. Scott Pater finished second and Olu Coker came in third. Justin Woo won the pole vault by clearing 4.56 meters. Taylor took home the title in the long jump with a leap of 6.49 meters and Bailey finished third (6.40 meters). Michael Haddorff won the discus with a throw of 45.09 meters. Dallas Wilson was second in the discus and shot put. Sean Goetzl grabbed the win in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.15, while Pater posted a PR of 16.10 to take third. Lake, Goetzl and Kelly McConnell made it a Wildcat sweep of the 400-meter hurdles for the Wildcats. Lake won the race in 54.51,

Two out of the ordinary highlights on the day were performances by some of our coaches. Recent alums Teddy Elsenbaumer and John Brunk teamed up with Brian Beeman and head coach Robert Nooney in the 4 x 100 to face off with our A team. (which posted a season best 42.08 after back to back DQs!). The Chico "All-Stars" provided lots of extra motivation for our current athletes. It's not everyday that the student athletes get to see their own coaches compete. Immediately following the relay head Cross Country coach Gary Towne stepped onto the track for the master's mile. He also delighted the crowd and when it was announced that he broke 5 minutes (4:59.97) the bleachers erupted! What a great start to the meet!

This week we will send a smaller crew to American River College as the distance crew takes a weekend off before hitting the Stanford Invite/SF Distance Carnival.

Cheers from Chico, Coach O