Hello and welcome to Chico State track season 2016. I would like to first apologize to our faithful fans for a delayed first installment of my usual meet by meet summary. The delay is a result of a number of factors, most of which are just lame excuses by yours truly. In reality though, we have raced sparingly, and the one meet in which we ran most of our distance crew (Wildcat Invite), they competed in a massive rain/windstorm. The results were as the saying goes.. "nothing to write home (or to you) about" ;v) .
So far this season we've had athletes compete in 3 different meets and we also conducted an intra team 3k time trial this past weekend that produced some solid results.
Kim Duyst Invitational - Saturday March 5
All who ran at the Kim Duyst Invite have memories of a Very Wet and Windy day. The only performance that stood out for the 'Cats was the re-debut in the steeplechase for Quetta Peinado who began her career as a barrier runner, before taking a injury driven 2 year leave of absence. Peinado powered to an 11:05 PR while placing third overall. Her new personal best misses the NCAA provisional standard by less than a second, but expect that to be achieved in her next attempt.
Teammate McCall Habermehl's race mirrored the weather of the day. She fell twice, the second of which she decided to circle around the barrier instead of climbing over. This series of events left her bruised and frustrated, and her 11:22 final time became a "DQ," but not frosty variety that we all enjoyed as kids. We had 5 women in the 5k, but our top three were all given times that were 15-20 seconds slower than they actually took to run the 12.5 laps.
Lets move on to Meet 2. . .
Wildcat Invitational - Saturday March 12
Traditionally the Wildcat meet is where we open up the good majority of our distance crew in 1500's and 800's. The meet has produced some solid early season times for our top athletes, with the men traditionally posting 3:50ish winning times and the women mid 4:30's in the metric mile. This year El Nino had other plans as the winds howled throughout the day, and a steady rain through the women's 1500m turned showery the rest of the meet. Consequently, the focus of the day evolved into an opportunity to compete for place while throwing times out the window.
Men's 1500m:
Sophomore Kyle Medina (3:46 pr) won the fastest heat, catching and passing frosh teammate Derek Morton as the two posted 4:00/4:02 times while placing 1st and 2nd overall. The 'Cats (counting red shirts) would take 9 of the top-10 places in the 1500.
Women's 1500m:
Senior Olivia Watt (4:22 PR-3rd at NCAA Championships in '15) took the early lead and added to it with each lap. Although her splits weren't blazing (Given the strong winds) Watt was leaving a talented field in her wake. Not quite managing her intensity to perfection given the winds, Watt struggled over the final 200m and Humboldt's standout Tatiana Gillick seized the opportunity and strode home for the win. The 'Cats would take 4 of the top 6 places, but only McCall Habermehl (perhaps motivated by the previous week's steeple?) was close to her PR.
Men's 800m: A good portion of the men doubled back in the 800 to take a second crack at mother nature and the competition. RS Frosh Derek Morton was the 'Cats top finisher behind two athletes who hadn't yet competed on the day.
Women's 800m: Senior Lora James knew she hadn't run to her full ability in the 1500, so in the 800 she employed a 67 final revolution to completely unravel a field that included the 1500 champ from Humboldt.
Sac State Hornet Invitational - Saturday March 19
Although only a small handful of 'Cats raced in Sacramento this weekend, they were quite thankful for the a sunny and nearly wind-less day. Several of our 15/8 runners would focus on an early season attack on the 2 lap distance, and a few others would run a steeple and 5k. Overall it was a productive day at the State's capital.
Women's 800m:
Senior Olivia Watt (2:09 PR) a fierce competitor would allow her heart to overtake her head, as she was drawn out through early splits of 29.3/61.0. Given this was an early season effort, the final circuit was predictably painful and too far from the first lap split. Still Olivia would hold on to a 2:13 run the hard way. Lesson learned...
Teammate Lora James (running in heat 2) did a wonderful job of mixing the reality of early season fitness, with the competition around her. Running a quick but controlled first lap, James ran strong in Lap-2 finishing 2nd overall behind a CAL runner and earning a .2 second PR. Her 2:12 season debut was an NCAA provisional mark and solidified her already strong #7 standing on the school's All Time list.
Men's 800m:
RS Frosh Derek Morton ran a gutsy and competitive 1:53 seasonal debut for the 800m, just missing his PR by a fraction of a second. A few tactical errors stood between himself and a potential sub 1:53 run, but overall this was a very promising season opener for the talented frosh from San Diego. Speaking of RS frosh from San Diego the Hornet Invite will one day be known as the breakout meet for Michael Good. Running in the third fastest heat of the day Good took the front of the race from the start and ran a relaxed looking 26 second first 200m split. Settling a bit much and with no one to gage his effort off Michael slowed into a 56 split at 400m. With athletes now on his shoulder the 6'3 Good increased his stride rate a touch keeping his competition safely off his shoulder. The third 200m split 28 had him back on track for a potential PR. The final 200m looked similar to the third as Good rolled through the line looking surprisingly fresh and hitting the tape with a 1:53.8 PR and heat win! You never want to put too much stock into any one effort, but after watching Saturday's run, I'm quite confident that Michael Good has a lot to look forward to as we look ahead to the rest of the season, and his three remaining years of eligibility.
Men's 5,000m
Junior Andrew Cobourn has enjoyed very little luck when it's come to track season. Dating back to high school the dedicated and hard working Nevada native has struggled with an assortment of knee issues that have always sidelined him during the oval season. This fall we snuck Cobourn on the track at the conclusion of the XC season and he managed to crack the 15:00 barrier for 5k in our end-of-the season team time trial (14:57 PR). Thankfully training since XC has gone well and has been injury free and Cobourn enjoyed his first healthy 5k in a uniform on Saturday. The junior did a wonderful job of moving through the field as the race progressed and enjoyed the lead with 300m remaining. Unfortunately his 67 second closer wasn't quite enough to collect the W though, as Sac State alum Benny Willers would take those honors. Cobourn would hold on for second though with his second best time to date.
Red shirting frosh Moshe McCarter Ribkoff had entered the meet late, and officials placed him in the second heat. He would win this, but would have to run every step solo from the front. His 15:33 time wasn't a disappointment, but it also wasn't reflective of his current fitness, or the race that he had run to achieve it.
Chico State 3k Track Time Trial Friday Night - March 18:
With Coach Sean Smith doing some early pace-setting All Americans Kyle Medina and Will Reyes eyed the 8:10 mark as a hoped goal. The pair notched a good number of 65 laps along the way and minus some unstable steps in the final 50m Medina would have easily ducked under the 8:10 mark. Still Kyle's 8:10 final time was the second fastest 3k that yours truly has witnessed by a 'Cat, trumped only by Scott Bauhs' 8:04 3k split en route to his eventual 13:31 school record 5k run in '08. Reyes lacked the kick needed to hit the 8:10 mark, but still enjoyed a large PR with his 8:12 final time. Will's finish was the 3rd fastest by a 'Cat in at least the past 30 years. Cuesta CC transfer Connor Fisher also enjoyed a PR with his 8:28 run. Perhaps the largest improvement came in the form of Jack Johnson's 8:30 effort that trimmed an amazing 27 seconds from his time a year ago.
On the women's side Coach Smith bounced back to lead Karlie Garcia and Quetta Peinado under the 10:00 barrier. Karlie's final time (9:56) is just one second off the 10th mark on our school's top-10 list, and Peinado trailed her by less than a second. Both marks show good potential for future racing and hoped sub 17 minute 5k running in the coming weeks. Also enjoying a nice PR on the day was junior McCall Habermehl who notched a 10:13 final time.
Results to follow below:
MEN'S 3000m WOMEN'S 3000m Leader Splits: Leader Splits: 1. 65.6 1. 78.2 2. 67.2 2. 81.2 3. 65.4 (3:18) 3. 80.2 4. 65.2 (4:23.4) 4. 80.5 (5:20) 5. 65.8 5. 79.7 6. 65.8 6. 80.5 7. 33.0 (200m to bell) 7. 39.4 (200m to bell) 8. 62.1 8. 76.3 1. Kyle Medina (So) 8:10.27 1. Karlie Garcia (So) 9:56.23 2. Will Reyes (Jr) 8:12.32 2. Quetta Peinado (Sr) 9:57.04 3. Connor Fisher (So) 8:28.90 3. McCall Habermehl (Jr) 10:13.65 4. Jack Johnson (Fr) 8:30.50 4. Alex Burkhart (So) 10:18.35 5. Arturo Arevalo (Fr) 8:40.70 5. Camila Turati (Fr) 10:35.10 6. Falco DiGiallonardo (Jr) 8:43.90 6. Bekah Bahra (Sr) 10:56.55 7. Aaron Mora (Jr) 8:47.65 7. Nicole Anthony (Fr) 11:00.38 8. Anuare Magana (Fr) 8:51.10 9. Eddie King (Fr) 8:52.40 10. Zachary Chamberlain (Fr) 9:07.50 11. Ryan Ortiz (Fr) 9:24.45
Next Up: The 'Cats will have this coming week off racing, before we get after our first true weekend of racing as a group, at the SF Distance Carnival/Stanford Invitationals on March 31/April 1st..
