Chico State track and field teams win CCAA titles
Reyes, Burkhart set records while men's relay provides thrilling finish

Thursday-Saturday, May 4-6, 2017
By Joseph Shufelberger, Sharon Martin Chico Enterprise Record reporters

Chico - As Will Reyes closed out the 5,000 meters, the fans in the east bleachers offered him applause while the fans on the west side had hearty chants of "Chi-co!" lap after lap in the men's final. Reyes gave them what they wanted as the Chico State senior not only won the race - again - but he crushed a 38-year-old meet record for the California Collegiate Athletic Association Track and Field Championships, winning the 5,000 in 14 minutes, 1.22 seconds. He bested a 1979 mark by 12.41 seconds and Saturday's field by 22.64. "It's magical," Reyes said of the atmosphere, back-to-back titles and the record that came in an event a Chico State runner has won 16 years in a row. "You couldn't ask for anything more than that."

Then the men's 1,600-relay team went ahead and provided more. Willie Latin, Derek Morton, Mike Good and Kelly McDonnell continued the Wildcats' onslaught in Saturday's final event of the meet. The first three legs kept Chico State close before McDonnell's anchor run propelled them from second to another first on a day full of victories, this one in 3:15.90 to best the 3:16.54 turned in by runner-up UC San Diego. The team titles had been long decided by then, but that didn't stop the Wildcats from soaking in their latest achievements when they were announced during the awards presentation. The Wildcats' women won their eighth in a row and the men took their second straight and 13th in 14 years with these coming at their beloved University Stadium. "It feels good to be tasting the home cooking," said Oliver Hanf, Chico State's track and field head coach.

The men, who have been ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of the season, totaled 242.5 points. UC San Diego was second with 193 while Cal Poly Pomona took third with 143.5. Stanislaus State was fourth with 119. Humboldt State had 64 for fifth. The women, who have their own No. 1 ranking for the West while being ninth in the nation, had 198.5 points. San Francisco State was second with 153, and Humboldt State's 138 was third. UC San Diego placed fourth with 107.5. Cal Poly Pomona finished fifth at 66.5.

Together, of course, the Chico State teams took a celebratory victory lap before going low through a tunnel formed by well-wishers holding hands, all this while clutching the banners, medals draped around their necks and holding onto awards, and there were plenty of those. On the men's side, Wildcats were named the Coach of the Year in Hanf, the Field Athlete of the Meet in Nolan Nagle, the Track Athlete of the Meet in Kyle Medina, and Jason Dunn was the High Point award-winner as he was responsible for 26 points. "We've dreamed of this all year," said McConnell, who delivered a bit of drama with his anchor run after the big prizes had been secured. "It was huge. I'm glad to be a part of this." McConnell set a personal record in Friday's preliminaries in the 400 hurdles, only to lower it again in Saturday's final with a winning time of 52.75, yet he still had enough for the relay.

Alex Burkhart also outdid herself in an even bigger way. The Chico State junior won the women's 3,000 steeplechase in 10:24.56, besting the CCAA record of 10:30.08 that she set herself in 2015. But what Burkhart liked about Saturday's result was that teammate McCall Habermehl finished second in 10:24.94 and almost assuredly earned a trip to nationals in her senior season as part of the women's eighth CCAA title. "I love having McCall as a teammate," Burkhart said. "I love being a part of Chico. The streak makes it all that much better."

Connor Fisher won the men's steeplechase for Chico State, taking it in 9:08.24 while another 1-2 Wildcats' finish came in the men's 800 with Good winning in 1:53.19 and Morton in second at 1:54.17. Hannah Dorman added a title in the women's 5,000, taking the lead in the last mile with a surge, enabling her to withstand the closing kick of Cal Poly Pomona's Calene Morris. "Some girls have some pretty good kicks," Dorman said. "I decided to start a little early." Dorman didn't sense Morris much - "It was so loud around the track," she said - but the junior held the Broncos' runner off in a finish of 16:45.65 to 16:45.89.

Medina earned the meet award for track athletes by first winning the 1,500 in 3:50.31 and then ending up as the runner-up to Reyes in the 5,000 at 14:23.86, even though as he put it, he had nothing left. "None. That really hurt. That really hurt," Medina said, repeating for emphasis, "but it's good practice. I'll have to do it at the NCAAs." Medina also appreciated the atmosphere that was the CCAA finals in their return to Chico for the first time since 2009. "Everybody is just lifted by the energy. Chico is an energetic place. It's loud and awesome, and it makes it an event, which is really cool," he said. "It's an awesome feeling just to be a part of it."

Second-place finishes from Chico State included Brooke Whitburn running the women's 100 hurdles in 14.41 and teammate Jenavieve Turner taking the 400 hurdles at 1:01.39. Dotun Olubenko took second in the men's 110 hurdles at 14.28. Latin's 49.10 came in the 400, but he would get his win when he ran a 400 leg of the relay. Both teams' 400 relays were second, too, with Marina Berrios, Michelle Holt, Aja Erskine and Hailey Jackson totaling 46.94 for the women while Dunn, Latin, Eric Richard and Phill Bailey did so for the men in 41.87. Erskine added third-place finishes by herself in the 400 in 55.33 and with Turner, Jackson and Berrios in the 1,600 relay in 3:48.62.

Fourths came from Erskine in the 200 at 24.56, Turner in the 100 hurdles at 14.79, Yajaira Zarate in the women's 1,500 in 4:37.36 and Jack Johnson in the men's steeplechase at 9:22.71. "It was an incredible team effort. Incredible. Incredible," Hanf said. "The dramatic finish, it was a closing touch to a very spirited team effort." And that's saying something when - you know - it's Chico. "It's perfect. It's a perfect end to the season," Hanf said. "But we're not done yet." He's right. With the NCAA Championships that start May 25 in Bradenton, Florida, there is still much more for the Wildcats.

Chico State senior Whitburn wins conference title in long jump

Chico - In front of plenty of friends and family, Brooke Whitburn achieved a new personal record for the long jump. The Chico State senior executed a leap of 20-2 3/4 in her first attempt to win the long jump Friday afternoon in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships at University Stadium. The Pleasant Valley High grad had finally hit a 20-foot jump, a goal she'd been aiming for the last few years. Immediately after she was announced the winner, she ventured over to celebrate with her hometown cheering section but found herself facing perhaps her only barrier of the day. "It was honestly one of the happiest moments of my whole life," Whitburn said. "I was so overwhelmed with joy and I went over to go hug my family, but you can't go past the fourth lane on the track and I had to stop and just look at them. I had to tell them 'I can't. I would get disqualified if I come over there.'"

Whitburn's win highlighted the day as many Chico State athletes medaled to cap day two of the three-day championship event. The women's team is currently first with 87 points over second-place UC San Diego, which has 42. The men are also first with 90.5 points, staying ahead of second-place Cal Poly Pomona with 62.5 points. Whitburn took second in the 100-meter hurdles with a PR of 14.28 seconds and second in the javelin at 141 3/4. But it was her Chico State teammate Taylor Sack who took top honors for the CCAA title in javelin. Sack had a throw of 141-3 1/4 for first place. The Chico State senior also won the pole vault clearing 12-1 1/2. "It feels fantastic. I got third place my freshman year (in javelin) and hadn't been on the podium since," Sack said. "To get on the podium and win today was incredible." The feat on Friday was even more significant for Sack as she was dealing with an abdomen injury beforehand, which meant she hadn't thrown a javelin in a few weeks. "I was a little nervous," Sack said. "I was a little hesitant coming in, but I told myself that I needed to come out here and compete."

Chico State's Melanie O'Brien, who had the lead in the heptathlon after day one, finished in second with 4,735 points. Humboldt State's Marissa McCay took first with 5,128 points. Lane Andrews, a Chico State junior, won the men's decathlon with 7,263 points. Andrews won the decathlon 400, 1500, pole vault, long jump and took second in the high jump and shot put. "Our team is performing really well," said senior Jason Dunn. "Lane Andrews started us off with a huge PR in the decathlon. From there we built on it." Dunn earned himself a medal for the men's javelin with a throw of 209-7 1/2. His throw was seven feet more than second place Damani Brown of Cal Poly Pomona. "We're in a big battle for first in the conference," Dunn said. "My motivation is for us to win a championship for the CCAA."

Senior Phillip Bailey also added another victory for Chico State with a 23-9 3/4 leap for the long jump. Chico State men have won the CCAA title 12 of the last 13 years and the women have won seven straight. Saturday's finals include men's and women's discus, triple jump, high jump and shot put. Field events begin with the men's discus at 10:30 a.m. at University Stadium. Running events begin with the women's 400 relay at 12:30 p.m. "I'm feeling good about tomorrow. I'm going to try to bring that positive energy into tomorrow," Whitburn said. "We're all for the goal to win a conference title. That would be the icing on the cake, especially being at my hometown. That's the goal."

 

Chico State's Gastelum wins women's 10K; Cobourn sets personal record in men's final at CCAAs

Chico - Distance coach Gary Towne gave Sadie Gastelum the "green light" with five laps left in the women's 10-kilometer final. Appropriately enough, it was go time. Gastelum powered past Cal State San Marcos' Raelyn Werley and found, as Towne put it, "a couple more gears" to win the 10K in 36 minutes, 11.38 seconds on Friday night in the second day of the California Collegiate Athletic Association Track and Field Championships at University Stadium. Gastelum, who was the runner-up the previous two years in the event, wasn't denied the title this time around. "Gary said to seize the day," Gastelum said. "That's just what everyone needs to hear."

Gastelum didn't seem to struggle at all through the grueling race. She stayed on Werley's heels, letting her set the pace while biding her time to make her move once Towne gave her the sign. "I was feeling good. I was warmed up," she said. "I was just using the energy from the crowd. I kind of forgot where I was and just listening to Gary." Werley finished second in 36:58.91 and was unable to move much past the finish line so Gastelum brought the Cougars' senior some water. "She worked really hard," Gastelum said of the show of sportsmanship.

Werley's finish didn't count in the team standings as Cal State San Marcos is in its final year of the transitional process to join Division II. That left Chico State to enjoy even more points toward the team title thanks to a trio of freshmen. The Wildcats' Nora Pizzella finished third, turning in a time of 36:58.91 with Kayden Carpenter in fourth at 37:05.74 and yet another freshman, Jennifer Giguere, was fifth in 37:36.08. Those four amassed 29 points for the women's team. Each event is scored on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 for the team title. With one more day and 15 finals to go, Chico State leads the women's standings with 87 points. UC San Diego is second with 42. Stanislaus State is third with 23. The men's team title is a bit closer, but Chico State still holds a sizable margin with 90.5 points to Cal Poly Pomona's 62.5. Stanislaus State has 39. The Wildcats' men are after their 13th CCAA title in 14 years.

The women have won seven straight and all those team points in the 10K will help. Just ask Gastelum. "To have the girls all go 1-2-3-4, that was kind of my dream," she said. Pizzella made that possible even though this was her first 10K - ever. Usually a 5K entry, Pizzella ran the 10K. "To try it and see how it goes," she said. It went pretty well. "Oh, my gosh! Well, it was an amazing experience definitely," the freshman said, "with our teammates, it made it the most magical thing."

The men's 10K - the other final on a day otherwise filled with preliminaries for track events before Saturday's slew of finals - saw Andrew Cobourn be the sixth runner to finish but get fourth place for his team with two San Marcos runners ahead of him. Cobourn, a "super" senior as he said because he's in his fifth year after a redshirt, turned in a personal-record 31:07.79, getting the Chico State men five more points to their team total. The Wildcats might have had more but fellow senior Steven Martinez wasn't able to finish despite leading for much of the race and dropped out with about 11 laps left. Martinez has dealt with a lingering calf injury this season but was setting the pace Friday. "He was crushing it," Cobourn said.

Still, Cobourn and the Wildcats had reason to enjoy his Wildcats' finale. He and Gastelum were classmates at Douglas High in Gardnerville, Nevada, and did what they hoped to do. "I couldn't ask for it to be any better. It's everything to have your team here on my home track, under the lights, a gorgeous night," Cobourn said. "I finished this race with nothing else left in my tank. I couldn't have run a millisecond faster out there. So I'm happy with that."