Hello and greetings from the Chico State Distance running headquarters. We hope that you've enjoyed a great holiday season and are excited for the spring season ahead. The Chico distance 'Cats have been working hard over the winter months to build a great base for the track season that's now upon us, and for the most part we're in a great place heading into the big meets ahead.

Speaking of big meets, we are hosting the 2017 CCAA Championships on our newly resurfaced track on May 5th and 6th. Hopefully we'll see some of you at the meet, as it will be a barn burner, and we're hoping to have a massive showing w/ fans and alumni.

The 'Cats have now competed in two relatively low key early season meets, and a number of our distance athletes took in a 3k time trial on Friday evening. Because of an unfortunate biking accident I've been unable to share details of our Wildcat Invite, but I'll give short recaps of each event below to catch everyone up.



Wildcat Invitational - Saturday March 11
As we've done in the past several years, most of the Chico distance crew packed into the 1500/800 events. With perfect weather conditions a good number of Chico runners scored PR's despite the fact that it was their first meet of the season. The highlight of the day was definitely the wicked double of Derek Morton. The sophomore clocked wins in the 1500 (3:51), and 800m (1:52) earning Pr's at both distances.

Men's 1500m: Kyle Medina (3:41 1500m PR) acting as a rabbit on the day led teammate Derek Morton through early splits that hovered just a touch above 61 second pace per lap. The pair hit 1200m at 3:05 before Medina exited to the infield. Morton held strong over the final 300m hitting the tape in 3:51 (NCAA provisional mark and PR). Connor Fisher would finish second in 3:55, and teammate Garrett DeLong making his uniform debut on the track notched a 3:56 PR effort. Sophomores Steven Velarde and Cameron Ashbaugh would take 5th and 6th places, with the latter enjoying his first sub 4 run ever. All told the 'Cats would take 9 of the top 15 spots in the metric mile event on the day with 5 dipping under the 4:00 threshold.

Women's 1500m: Junior Alex Burkhart won two CCAA titles on the track as a frosh and finished the season at the NCAA Championships in the steeplechase event. Her sophomore year was riddled with nagging injuries and although she was All CCAA and again advanced to NCAA's, it was a tough second year. In today's 1500m Burkhart seized the race as you might expect from someone who was anxious to put last year behind her and start the year anew. Burkhart would lead the initial 1400m of the 1500m race before Humboldt's standout Tatiana Gillick swung around and surged to an eventual 1 second win. Burkhart would finish within a 4:38 near-PR run. Following just a few ticks behind her in 3rd, 4th and 5th places, all running to PR's were Haley Kroll, Sadie Gastelum and Hannah Dorman.. Each ran 4:40. Another big PR was notched by RS Frosh Jenny Giguere who would place 7th with a 4:46 final time. The 'Cats would take 9 of the top 12 places in the 1500m event on the day.

Men's 800m: Derek Morton would steal the show from the gun in the 2 lapper. The sophomore from San Diego (Mt Carmel HS) would record back to back 56 second splits en route to a 1:52 winning time. Garrett DeLong, Connor Fisher, Cameron Ashbaugh, and Matt Herrera would all double back from the 1500 with sub 2:00 runs as well.

Women's 800m: The Chico women would place 7 into the top 12 by the finish with most doubling back from the earlier 1500m.

Women's 5,000m Red Shirting true frosh Hope Morgan enjoyed her first sub 19 minute 5k of her life while logging an 18:59 4th place finish.

Sac State Hornet Invitational - Saturday March 18
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: Sophomore Yajaira Zarate recorded a 2:18 PR while placing 4th in the 3rd heat. Elyssa Schall, Brittany Ansalmo and Janae Mayfield all recorded seasonal bests in their heat.

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.

Women's Steeplechase Junior Alex Burkhart stepped to the line of her seasonal debut in the steeple with a PR that fell just 2 seconds shy of Amy Schnittger's 10:25 school record. Given it was her seasonal debut the school record wasn't really mentioned in the pre-race discussion but perfect conditions and an unexpected rabbit (Davis alum Erica Barr would run sub 80 second pace for 2k before dropping out) led to a very quick early pace. Burkhart clicked off 4 consecutive 81 second revolutions and passed the metric mile around 10:13 pace. Predictably slowing began to occur as Burkhart clocked a series of 84 second laps after passing the 4 lap point. Knowing a PR and the school record were on the line with a decent close, Burkhart ran a swift final 200m hitting the tape in 10:23 thus making her the fastest female in school history to run the barrier event. The mark should guarantee her spot on the line at the NCAA Championships, and is just 8 seconds off the 10th fastest time ever by a DII athlete. The next goal is to crack into the Top-10 NCAA list.

Men's Steeplechase The 'Cats would send three to the line in the men's steeple. Two would be running their first 3k steeples ever (Connor Fisher and Jack Johnson). Senior Chris Kigar has solid experience in the event, but has struggled with some injuries and a class schedule that doesn't allow him to do any workouts with his peers. Fisher and Johnson, looked anything but rookies during their first barrier run. Fisher tucked into the lead group of 4 with 3 Weber State athletes. Johnson and Kigar settled at mid pack recording splits around 5:00 pace in the early going.

After 1200m of relaxed running Fisher took the lead of the race and pulled two remaining Weber athletes to 70/71 splits. Just after the 1600m point Fisher was passed, but he held on tight to the pair until around the 2500m mark. As the pain of the barrier race sunk in Fisher lost a few meters to his opponents. Despite taking his final two water jumps off the wrong foot Fisher managed to close well and hit the line in 3rd place with the fastest debut time that this coach has seen by a Wildcat (9:02).

In the impressive debut department teammate Jack Johnson closed quite well also hitting the finish in 9:24. Kigar would finish in a somewhat disappointing 9:42 mark, but I'm certain he'll run substantially faster as the season continues. Fisher's 9:02 is an NCAA mark that would have gone to NCAA 's in each season to date, so his chances of making the Championships look great (not to mention that this WAS his first one ever). His time is also the 9th fastest ever by a Wildcat. Jack Johnson's (RS Soph) 9:24 mark is one of the best debut's ever by a Wildcat as well. Given the depth of our 5k group we decided to try the steeple this season given that his 14:43 5k from last year was strong, but not good enough to make our CCAA teams. It appears that Jack will have a part in our CCAA plans in May.

Men's 5,000m Red Shirting true frosh Wyatt Baxter (Simi Valley HS) would race to a beautifully run 14:51 5k PR while placing 5th overall in the men's 5k.

Chico State 3k Track Time Trial Friday Night - March 17:
Senior Will Reyes who's coming off a winter injury and just getting back into competitive fitness would provide pacing duties to Kyle Medina who had hoped to give the 8:00 barrier a scare in the 7.5 lapper. Reyes would guide Medina through 1600m in 4:20 before stepping off the track. A side stitch derailed Medina's chances at breaking 8 minutes but he held on tight and would finish in a very respectable 8:10 final time.

Nick Grubiss would tow a group of three 'Cats through 79/80 second splits for 6 laps of the women's 3k before upping the pace at the front for Senior Sadie Gastelum who appeared ready for some mid 70's second splits to close. After an initial 1500 split of 4:59 Sadie would record a second 1500 of 4:52 en route to a 9:51 PR finish. Senior Haley Kroll recorded even 4:59/4:59 splits en route to her 9:58 PR run. Hannah Dorman JUST missed the sub-10 club with her 10:00 effort for third. All three enjoyed substantial PR's at the front.

Results to follow below: 

 
MEN'S 3000m                                    WOMEN'S 3000m

1. Kyle Medina (Jr)		8:10.3 (PR)	1. Sadie Gastelum (Sr)	   9:51.72* 
2. Falco DiGillaonardo (Sr)	8:23.2 		2. Haley Kroll (Sr)	   9:58.0 (PR)
3. Andrew Cobourn (Sr)		8:40.7 (PR)	3. Hannah Dorman (Jr)	  10:00.4 (PR) 
4. Daniel Harigan-Cota (Jr	8:42.2 (PR)	4. Alexandria Tucker (Fr) 10:47.2
5. Steven Velarde (So)		8:44.7		5. Britni Frace (Fr)	  10:57.9 
6. Jason Intravaia  (Jr)	8:46.8		6. Hope Morgan (Fr)	  10:58   (PR)
7. Eddie King (So)		8:47.5 
8. Remington Breeze (Fr)	8:47.7 (PR) 	*Would be a Top-5 mark in CSUC history if run in an official setting
9. Matt Herrera (Fr)		8:47.8 (PR) 
10. Teddy Kassa (Jr)		8:50.8

Next Up: the 'Cats will have a week off before heading to the Bay Area the final week of the month to compete in the SF Distance Carnival and Stanford Invitationals. Look for some big marks from the 'Cats as we head to the Bay, as the group is poised to take some steps forward.