Each year the Stanford Invite/SF State Distance Carnival have stood as a highlight on our schedule. With ideal conditions at each venue and DI schools in attendance from across the nation, each meet is a great opportunity for distance runners to hit some goal marks. Although it wasn't a perfect weekend for the 'Cats, the results were very promising, and at least 7 Chico runners hit marks that traditionally make the NCAA meet at the season's end. Because we had distance athletes competing in over 30 different races between the two meets, I'll bypass my normal long winded race summaries, and opt for a quick list of results, followed by a brief re-cap of each event per gender.
I'll start by listing the marks posted by the 'Cats at each distance.
List of Times run by 'Cats at each distance: Women's 800m: Olivia Watt (Sr) 2:11.06 (NCAA provisional, Seasonal best) Morgan McFadden (Sr) 2:20.91 (Seasonal best) Women's 1500m: Olivia Watt (Sr) 4:27.97 (NCAA Provisional, Seasonal Best) Lora James (Sr) 4:32.50 (NCAA Provisional, #7 AT CSUC, PR) Jacquie Adams (Jr) 4:51.54 (Seasonal Best) Veronica Garcia (Fr 5:15.5 (Seasonal Best) Katie Coleman (Sr) 5:16.0 Women's 3k Steeple: McCall Habermehl (Jr) 10:27.36 (PR, #3 A.T. CSUC, #5 A.T. CCAA, NCAA Provo) Alex Burkhart (So) 10:48.54 (Seasonal Best, NCAA provo) Nicole Anthony (Fr) 11:22.37 (PR) Women's 5k: Karlie Garcia (So) 16:40.22 (PR, #5 A.T. CSUC, NCAA Provo) Haley Kroll (Jr) 17:58.06 (Seasonal Best) Kayden Carpenter (Fr, RS) 18:00.13 (Debut/PR) Yajaira Zarate (Fr) 18:08.99 (Debut/PR) Julie Finn (Jr) 18:43.23 (PR) Desirae Jones (Fr, RS) 18:44.43 (Debut/PR) Carmen Martinez (Jr) 19:00.35 (PR) Jenny Giguere (Fr, RS) 19:59.58 (Debut/PR) Women's 10k: Camila Turati (RSFr) 37:43.01 (PR, Distance Debut) Danielle Oden (Fr) 38:04.07 (PR) Bekah Bahra (Sr) 38:31.80 (Seasonal Best) Mile: (SF State hosted a Saturday Mile) Lora James (Sr) 4:58.26 Jacque Adams (So) 5:20.20 Carmen Martinez (Jr) 5:36.83 Men's 800m: Kyle Medina (So) 1:52.36 (Seasonal Best, Misses NCAA Provo by .03) Michael Good (Fr) 1:52.51 (PR, Misses NCAA Provo by .18) Men's 1500m: Kyle Medina (So) 3:47.91 (Seasonal Best, NCAA Provisional) Derek Morton (Fr) 3:52.58 (PR, Misses NCAA Provisional by .9 sec.) Garrett DeLong (Fr) 4:03.55 (PR) Mile: (SF State hosted a Saturday Mile) Connor Fisher (So) 4:14.26 Arturo Arevalo (Fr) 4:18.03 Garrett DeLong (Fr) 4:22.92 Michael Good (Fr) 4:23.44 Anuare Magana (Fr) 4:23.62 Derek Morton (Fr) 4:23.96 Men's Steeplechase: Brandon Taylor (Sr) 9:38.43 (Seasonal Best) Men's 5,000m: Steven Martinez (Jr) 14:33.60 (PR, NCAA Provisional) Jack Johnson (Fr) 14:43.61 (PR, First sub 15) Connor Fisher (So) 14:54.26 (Seasonal Best) Arturo Arevalo (Fr) 15:03.87 (Debut/PR) Anuare Magana (Fr) 15:04.42 (Debut/PR) Eddie King (Fr) 15:09.97 (Debut/PR) Zachary Chamberlain (Fr) 15:25.35 (Debut/PR) Men's 10,000m: Will Reyes (Jr) 29:02.34 (NCAA Auto, #3 A.T. CSUC, NCAA D2 Leader) Aaron Mora (Jr) 29:59.53 (NCAA Provisional, Seasonal Best) Steven Velarde (Fr) 31:01.65 (PR/Debut, Misses Provisional by 1.65 sec. Andrew Cobourn (Jr) 31:29.54 (Debut/PR) Moshe McCarter-Ribakoff (Fr) 32:06.72 (Debut/PR) RSFR - Red Shirt Freshman (i.e. second year in school) FR, RS-Freshman Redshirting (i.e. running unattached)
Some Highlights from the day for the various distances:
Men's 10,000m:
Junior Will Reyes barely missed breaking the elite 29:00 barrier in the second heat of the Stanford 10k. Following a pacer through early splits of 4:41, 9:20 and 14:00 (14:35 @ 5k) Reyes ran a 4:33 fourth mile as he now ran in an elite group of 5-6 that all seemed determined to eclipse the 29:00 mark. Sensing that the pace of the pack was slipping, Will attempted to bridge the gap between the pack and the race leader (Ian LaMere). LaMere would run a sub 9:00 final 3200m, and Reyes would eventually pay a price for trying to catch the soon-to-be D3 10k record holder, as he would fall back to the chase pack in the final 800m. Leaving little in the tank for a final kick Reyes hit the tape in a bitter-sweet 29:02 time. The new PR ranks Reyes among the Top-10 collegiate 10k runners of 2016 (Counting all divisions). Reyes Chico debut for the 10k lands him at #3 on the stout CSUC 25-lap list behind multi time All Americans Scott Bauhs and Isaac Chavez. Bumped from the list was one time school record holder Jose Alfredo-Saenz. It now takes a 29:58 or faster to crack the 'Cats 10k list.
Junior Aaron Mora fought hard to knock out his second sub 30:00 10k on Friday in San Francisco. Although his 29:59 wasn't an outright PR, it gives him a great chance at making the NCAA field in May.
Women's Steeplechase: Junior McCall Habermehl was initially placed into the second heat of the women's steeple with her 10:49 Pr/Seed Time. Thankfully meet management allowed the vast improved barrier runner to bump into a loaded DI heavy first heat. Taking advantage of the high level of competition Habermehl ran splits of: 82, 84, 84, 86, 84, 83, 81 and closed the final 200m in 36ish as she rolled through the field with each lap. Having started in the back of the field, Habermehl would finish 7th overall while notching a 22 second PR. Her time ranks her third in DII on the year, and #3 All Time for CSUC. It also makes her the fifth fastest female steepler in CCAA history.
Fellow 10:27 steepler and teammate Alex Burkhart had a "rough" seasonal debut in her steeple at the Stanford Invite. Struggling with some stomach issues, Burkhart would finish with a 10:48 time, which was well off her PR, but still lands her on the NCAA list (11th currently). RS frosh Nicole Anthony would enjoy a PR 11:22 at SF despite falling into the water jump at mid race.
Men's 1500m:
Sophomore Kyle Medina (Ventura HS) was disappointed to Not get into one of the elite sections of the 1500 at the Stanford invite, so he made a point for himself to be included next year with a 3:47 heat win, in which he passed the entire field in the final 400m (56 split). Medina is faster and stronger than ever, so look for his 3:46.0 PR to be lowered in the coming weeks. Teammate Derek Morton also closed well running a final 300m of 42 seconds to win his heat at the San Francisco Distance Carnival. Morton's 3:52 time was a large PR, and the fast close shows sub 3:50 potential for this season if all goes well.
Women's 1500m:
Like Kyle Medina Olivia Watt wasn't overly pleased with her heat placement at Stanford, and went to the line with something to prove. Running with just a bit too much aggression early on Watt towed the field through 1,000m with a 67 opening 400m split. Unfortunately the early pace would take it's toll and Watt would fade a bit over the final 400m, eventually finishing 5th in her heat but with a 4:27 seasonal best mark. Farther up the bay teammate Lora James took a nice step forward with her evenly paced 4:32 PR. James' 2 second PR moves her from #10 on the 'Cats all time list to #7.
Women's 5,000m:
Karlie Garcia hadn't run a track race since her high school days at Oakmont High in Roseville, CA. On Friday Garcia made her return a solid one, posting an evenly paced 16:40 effort. Her shiny new 5k PR ranks her as the 5th fastest 12.5 lapper in Wildcat history and will advance her to the NCAA meet in late May.
Men's 800m:
Kyle Medina would bounce back from his 3:47 with a modestly executed 1:52 800m at the Stanford Invite on Saturday. Running in a heat that went out conservatively (56.0) Medina ran without a general sense of purpose and lost a sprint finish. Despite the less than focused effort Medina still ran within a fraction of a second of the NCAA provisional standard. RS Frosh Michael Good ran as well as his name would imply with a 1:52 PR while nearly winning his heat in San Francisco. Good entered the season with a 1:55 PR, and has lowed that to 1:53 in Sac, and now to 1:52.5 in SF. Another 2 seconds of improvement could send the vast improved athlete to Florida in late May.
Women's 800m:
Olivia Watt bounced back from her Friday 1500 nicely, posting a 2:11.05 Seasonal best 800m while placing third in her heat.
Women's 10,000m:
RS frosh Camila Turati ran to a debut 37:43 for the 25 lapper despite a fair amount of missed training this year. Teammate Danielle Oden (Soph) raced to a 38:04 PR.
Next up: For the 'Cats will be the Chico Distance Distance Carnival this Friday evening and the Chico Twilight Invite on Saturday Afternoon/Evening. We hope to see many of you out there!
