Having just returned from the 2017 NCAA Track and Field Championships in Bradenton, FL I'm proud to report that the Chico Wildcats enjoyed a very impressive conclusion to the 2017 track and field season. Both teams finished among the top-10 overall with the women leading the way with a 7th place team finish. The distance group enjoyed a great weekend with 6 of our 8 competitors earning All American Honors. I'll quickly list the top performers below before diving into some race re-caps after. 

Kyle Medina                   2nd place  Men's 1500m    3:49.6 with 55.10 second last lap 
Sadie Gastelum                2nd Place Women's 10,000m  34:48  (first NCAA track race) 
Hannah Dorman                 4th place Women's 10,000m 35:03 (First NCAA track race) 
Kyle Medina                   4th place Men's 5,000m  14:16  with 57 second final lap. 
Will Reyes                    7th place Men's 10,000m  29:51  (4:27/9:05 1600/3200m splits) 
McCall Habermehl              7th place Women's 3k steeple  10:12, school record, CCAA record. 
Alex Burkhart                 8th place Women's 3k steeple 10:16. 
Will Reyes                    9th place Men's 5k  14:23, 2nd team All American (top-12) 
Sadie Gastelum                10th place Women's 5k, 16:45 PR, 2nd team All American (top-12) 
Hannah Dorman                 12th place Women's 5k, 16:54, 2nd team All American (top-12) 
McCall Habermehl              14th place Women's 5k, 16:58 (2nd time ever under 17:00)
Alex Burkhart                 16th place Women's 5k, 17:01 (2nd best 5k ever) 
Connor Fisher                 17th place Men's 3k steeple, 9:18 (fell in first two water jumps of race) 
Derek Morton                  17th place Men's 800m, 1:57 (sick) 
Connor Fisher                 18th place Men's 5,000m 15:06



Thursday-Day 1 NCAA Championships

Men's 1500m Prelim: Junior Kyle Medina would run to his third straight 1500m final with a sharp 57 second final revolution of the track to nab the second automatic spot in his heat.

Women's Steeplechase Prelim: The women's steeplechase was arguably the most competitive event of these championships, so making the final would be no easy task. Wildcats Alex Burkhart and McCall Habermehl would both run in heat 1. The top 4 in each heat would make the final and the next four best times between the two heats would round out the 12 woman finals field. Burkhart's 10:14 PR ranked her 3rd in the preliminary, while Habermehl went in ranked 6th. Knowing it would be Very difficult to fit both 'Cats into the top-4 (given the stout times ranked ahead) the goal was to try to get both into the top-5. The time that it would take to secure a top-5 finish would most likely secure one of the four time qualifiers.

As the prelim race developed into the second half, the two Wildcats were placed well inside the top-6. Burkhart moved well over the final 800m to secure a heat win and an auto spot into the final. Habermehl passed 10:15 gal Ashley Laureano of Puerto Rico Mayaquez, moving into the fifth spot in the final kilometer as well. Running for time now, Habermehl kept the pace honest over the final lap to reach the finish in 10:33 (Burkhart won the heat in 10:25). Thankfully McCall's effort was rewarded, as she nailed down the 11th of the 12 spots into the final (by just 3 seconds!) The pair would now contest the final 24 hours later. Stay tuned!

Men's Steeple Prelim: Junior Connor Fisher just took up the steeplechase event this season. In only his first attempt at the barrier race he recorded an impressive 9:02 time. Unfortunately that first race (back in March at Sac State) caused a bruised landing foot, that has never quite healed. The ripple effect from that first run was unfortunately felt in Florida, as Connor landed awkwardly in each of first two water jumps, which caused him to fall onto all fours Twice! The second fall caused enough pain that overall running form was compromised, and all chances of making the final were in essence dashed. Fisher still plowed onward and finished with a respectable 9:18.



Women's 10,000m Finals: Success at the 10k distance at the NCAA Championships has a lot to do with late season momentum, and being prepared and fit enough to at least run what you did to qualify. If the athlete is prepared in these ways, the final outcome is oftentimes a positive one. Going into Thursday's 10k final both Coach Smith and myself, felt that Hannah Dorman and Sadie Gastelum were ready to take on the 10k field. Both were making their NCAA track debut's, but each had given us a lot to be confident in, with their late season training and racing, and their overall toughness. Going into the run the two Chico athletes ranked 5th and 6th on the pre-race form charts, but it should be mentioned that 2015 NCAA XC Champ Alexa Zeis had used her conference race to qualify for the 10k final and would probably have made 99 percent of the coaches' top-3 pre-race formchart picks. Sitting atop the pre-race formchart was 2 time XC NCAA Champ Kendra Foley a senior from Grand Valley who ran a 16:00 5k weeks after winning her second XC title this fall. Western State's Georgia Porter had sub 16:10 5k credentials and a 34:19 PR behind her as well.

The race began with a pair of mid pack ranked athletes taking an early lead with a swift 80ish second lap. With all of the favorites sitting in the main pack Chico's Gastelum and Dorman found spots among the top-10 and waited to see how things would unfold around them. Although it was their first time on the NCAA track stage, the Chico pair never looked the part of rookies. Covering surges from the front of the main group Sadie and Hannah recorded early mile splits of 5:34, 5:39, and 5:42 reaching 5k in a respectable 17:36 split. By now the main group had both caught the early leading pair, and dispatched of a few of the weaker athletes in the field.

During the fourth mile the lead group whittled down from around 14 athletes, to the 8 that would eventually stand atop the finish podium. The fourth 1600 (5:35) was also the second fastest of the race for the lead pack. With 8 laps remaining Grand Valley's Foley made a solid push from the front dropping an 81 second lap. The change of pace blew up the lead group for good, and now small splintered groups formed as those who could, chased Foley, while others hung on as well as they were able. Although Sadie wasn't able to stay right with the GVSU star, she hung quite close and quickly opened a gap on everyone else in the field but Western's Porter who also ran an 82 second lap from 8 out. From 8 laps remaining Dorman dropped 83 and 82 second laps, but lost space on Gastelum, Porter and of course Foley. The final mile saw Foley record a series of 80-81 second laps as she would go on to run the final 3200m in 10:40 en-route to the eventual win. Twin battles were forming behind though. The first between Gastelum and Porter who fought for second place, and the second was a battle between Dorman and Zeis.

It's a known fact that Sadie Gastelum isn't the fastest of our distance crew when it comes to outright speed, but on several occasions she has employed nasty last laps to seal up big races. Sadie would do just this to Porter over the final 400m of the 10k on Thursday. Despite having 15/5k credentials far shy of Porter's, Sadie would record the fastest last lap of the field (75 seconds) en route to a huge 2nd place finish. Not to be outdone in the quick last-lap department was Hannah Dorman who notched a 77 second final revolution, which put NCAA champ Zeis behind her for good (4th place for Hannah!). The pair would rack up 13 team points vaulting the 'Cats into second place in the team scoring at the end of the first day of competition. Sadie's final time of 34:48 was just 2 seconds shy of her PR and included a 10:53 final 3200m and 17:12 final 5k! It should be pointed out that Sadie's 5k PR coming into the season was 17:15 and her HS 3200m pr was somewhere above 12:00!

Just as impressive was Dorman's run. Her 5k PR coming into the year was 17:54. She would run her final 5k in 17:26!

Men's 10,000m Finals: The Wildcats would send Will Reyes to the line of the 10k. Reyes had taken second in the 10k a year ago and defending champion Vincent Kiprop returned this year as the heavy favorite to repeat. Joining Kiprop on the list of top challengers was James Ngandu a Kenyan standout who placed second in the NCAA XC Championships this fall. Adams would send 13:36 5k guy Sydney Gidabuday to the line, and Alaska Anchorage would counter with 14:00/29:00 German standout Dominik Notz. On paper the rest of the field was quite some distance behind with respect to running resume's and PR's coming into the evening's competition.

Unfortunately for the field Kiprop enjoys taking races out at unsustainable paces, challenging his opponents to stay with him. Despite having 24 laps of running ahead of him Kiprop ran the first lap in 63 seconds! Lap 2 would offer little relief as Kiprop recorded a 66 second revolution (2:10 split). With a third lap of 68 seconds, Reyes, Gidabuday, Ngandu and Notz were on board, but had to be questioning how much longer Kiprop would hold this unreasonable clip. The five athletes would hit 1600m in 4:28 and Kiprop showed no signs of letting off the gas. In just 4 laps the first group had put 20 seconds on the main field.

The second mile brought more of the same as Kiprop drug his four pursuers through 3200m in 9:05. The third mile brought the separation that Kiprop was looking for (well almost) as Gidabuday, Notz and eventually Reyes were all dispatched. Reyes would hit 5k in 14:27 but a side stitch had struck and the following 1600m split was a brutal 5:05! Just when it appeared that the main pack would most likely catch him, Reyes rid himself (temporarily) of the side issue. A pair of 71 second revolutions had him on the heels of Gidabuday and Notz and with 2k of running remaining Reyes swung around and moved back into third place overall. The hard surge forward was relatively short lived though as the side issue reappeared, and with 1200m remaining Reyes was back trying to employ damage control, and now Gidabuday and Notz were gone for good. A 78 second 23rd lap was enough to allow the top two from the chase pack to catch and pass the distressed Chico runner. Thankfully Will was able to re-group enough over the final 400m to salvage a 66 second closer and an eventual 7th place finish, earning him his third track All American award (and fifth overall counting XC). Amazingly enough Kiprop would lap the entire field with the exception of Ngandu who would finish some 300m behind in second.

 

Friday-Day 2 NCAA Championships

Men's 800m Prelim: Chico Sophomore Derek Morton would struggle in the 800m preliminary as he battled with an illness he picked up during travel. After an initial 400m split that had him right in the hunt for a qualifying spot into the final, Morton faded to an eventual 1:57 finish. Although it was an unceremonious end of a fine sophomore campaign, Morton has a lot to look forward to in the coming years.

Women's Steeplechase Final: As mentioned previously the women's steeplechase was potentially the best field assembled between any of the events on the weekend. 5 of the nation's 10 fastest female steeplers in DII history would step to the line, and several others (like Chico's Alex Burkhart-10:14 PR) were among the top-15 all time for DII. Chico's school and conference record holder Alex Burkhart and teammate McCall Habermehl (10:23 PR) would need to run their best races ever to make this podium, and they might need a little help. Given the difficult prelim run the day before, perhaps some of the top seeds might crack?

From the gun 10:05 gal Breanna Colbenbson of Minnesota Duluth would take the front with a very honest sub 10 minute clip. The pack followed several strides behind as the Chico pair bided their time near the back of the main group. Running pretty aggressively given the difficulty of the prelim the day before McCall Habermehl seemed determined to give all that she had to make the podium, as she recorded initial laps in the 80-82 range. By 1600m McCall was running around 7th position, with Burkhart just behind in 9th. The first crack of one of the top seeds came in the form of Adams' Jenna Thurman (10:13 PR, and 16:09-5k runner) who was already out of contention by 1600. The next victim came in the form of Cal Baptist' Anett Somogyi who had qualified second in her heat, but was losing ground with every stride in the second half of the finals race.

Burkhart made a big surge to the 2k mark moving up several spots among a thick and fast moving chase pack. Just as it looked as though Burkhart would hammer away to a top-5 spot while Habermehl might hang on for an 8th place finish, McCall found another gear and dropped an 81 second lap from 1200m to go. Over the final 2 laps Habermehl would battle 10:11 runner and defending NCAA runner-up Molly Oren as they ran on the heels of Stonhill's Nicole Borofski. While DII steeple record holder Alicia Konieczek of Western State sailed away to an eventual 9:55 victory McCall and Alex fought hard trying to move up and onto the podium. Despite closing with laps of 81, 80, and 79 seconds Habermehl would finish just behind Oren in 7th with a HUGE PR 10:12 run. Burkhart would easily hold on well enough to gain her first All American honor at the distance as well, hitting the line less than 4 seconds later (10:16).

Habermehl's PR would eclipse Burkhart's school and CCAA record and makes her the 11th fastest steepler in DII history. In looking through my NCAA archives post championships, I found a few tidbits of info that were enlightening. First it's good to know that the women's steeple has been an event at the NCAA meet for 17 years now. Alex Burkhart's 8th place time from the weekend would have won 12 of those 17 championship races. Her time would have finished in the top 3 in all but 2 of the previous NCAA Championship races. Her 10:16 NCAA mark is 12 seconds faster than any previous 8th place finisher, and every placer ahead was the fastest ever for that position, with the exception of Konieczek's 9:55, which missed the meet record by less than a second. What a race this was!

Men's 1500m Final: A year ago Kyle Medina took second in the 1500m final, losing a close finish to the over-aged Brittish runner from Adams State. This year Medina had changed his training to focus on the 1500 and 5k events, which have left fewer opportunities to run fast 15's and perhaps a bit shy on the speed side of training as compared to the '16 campaign. The result was a 3:44.0 seed time coming into this year's championships, vs the 3:41 he'd posted a year ago. During the '17 season Western Oregon's David Ribich had shown himself to be a solid top-seed for the 1500 final, having run several sub 1:50 800's, as well as a 3:41.4 for the 1500. Ribich, who'd finished 5th a year ago was anxious to earn his first outdoor NCAA title (he'd led his indoor DMR Team to victory this winter).

Much like a year ago no one appeared to be in any rush to make a fast pace happen and the pack went through 400m in a pedestrian 65 seconds. Medina was positioned well near the front and awaiting what was sure to be a quick final portion of the race. Nearing the end of the second lap Ribich moved to the front of the pack and Medina became a bit boxed losing some steps on the top seed. Ribich brought the pace down to just under a 60 second pace rhythm as the leaders covered the 300m from 800m to the bell in 44 seconds. Unable to get into the position that he needed to by the bell Medina awaited an opening down the backstretch to make his move to the heels of Ribich. As the Western Oregon standout shifted gears Medina did as well, and with 150m remaining it was clearly a 2 man race for the win. As the two hit the final straight Medina appeared to make up a fraction of a stride on Ribich but unfortunately wasn't able to close the entire gap that the WOU runner had formed with his early move, and Medina would hit the tape just .22 second off the win. The replicated performance from a year ago was a bit bitter sweet, but there was no denying that another NCAA runner-up finish was nothing to be disappointed in. The pair had covered the final 400m in 55.1 and the final 800 in 1:55. Kyle would quickly turn his focus on the 5k final that loomed some 2 hours later.

Women's 5,000m: One of the great accomplishments of our season was the success of our women's 5k group. Their success was highlighted by the fact that all four of our NCAA qualifiers made the 5k field, which gave us the most women of any team in the nation. This was the good news. The bad news was that all four had run either 2 steeplechases or a 10k in the previous 48 hours. The other piece of rough news was that our 4 women were all ranked between 17th-24th in the field of 24 runners. None were expected to be All Americans, but this tough group of women stepped to the line determined to do their absolute best to give the field all that it could handle. It should also be noted that none of the Chico women had Pr's under 17:00 before the season began in February.

Although it wasn't part of the race plan Chico's own Alex Burkhart took the lead of the 24 woman field and dropped a healthy 76 second opening lap. Thankfully the tired steepler let off the gas a bit and settled into an 80-81 second rhythm at the front. Burkhart would pull the field through 1600m in 5:17 and no one appeared antsy to get around, despite the fact that all 24 athletes ran within 2 seconds of one another. Running just off Burkhart's heels was Hannah Dorman who was of course doubling back from her 4th place finish in the 25 lapper on Thursday night. As our lead pair were positioned at the front of the large pack, our other duo (Sadie and McCall) seemed content to sit in the very back, in essence sandwiching the field with 'Cats.

After 2k at the front some of the faster seeds began making their way around Burkhart and the race began to stretch ever so slightly from the front. Somewhere around mid race Burkhart and Gastelum met in the middle of the field (literally) as Sadie was making nice progress up towards the top 10 overall.

As 15:59 performer and steeple champ Alicia Konieczek made the moves necessary to win her second NCAA title of the weekend, the Chico women held on as well as they could over the final laps of the race. Gastelum managed her paces perfectly hitting 3200m around 10:43, and fought hard to bridge the gap up to the 8th place runner ahead. Unfortunately a second Top-8 finish wasn't in the cards for Sadie, But her fight and incredible pacing would earn her a 10th place finish and a 16:45 PR! Finishing just 9 seconds back in 12th was Dorman who notched a 16:54 run. Both she and Sadie earned Second Team All American honors with their Top-12 finishes. Dipping under the 17 minute threshold for the second time in her life was McCall Habermehl who would place 14th in 16:58. Alex Burkhart would manage a 16th place finish crossing the line in 17:01. After the dust had settled, all 4 women finished better than our top seed going into the race, despite all four running on tired legs. Sadie's new PR also moves her up on our All Time list from 10th to 8th. Our women's '17 formchart now goes: 16:45, 16:45, 16:48, and 16:50!!

Men's 5,000m: The men's 5,000 was nearly a replay of the men's 10k in looking at the top seeds in the field, except one would add Chico's Kyle Medina (fresh off a 2nd place 1500m race) into the mix. It was no surprise to see Missouri Southern's Vincent Kiprop sprint to the early lead with an initial 200m split of 30 seconds. Just as the 10k had gone James Ngandu followed closely, as did Gidabuday and Notz. Not wanting to press his luck in the 5k Reyes elected to stay with the main field, as did the doubled Medina. As Kiprop drug the leaders through 65-66 second revolutions at the front, the main field seemed content running 69-70 second laps.

Just as had happened with the 10k two nights previous Kiprop's group put a large gap on the pack over the initial 3,000m. Just before 3k Notz cracked hard and in just 3-4 laps he was absorbed by the chase group. Gidabuday also fell from the pace, but only in the final mile of the run.

Much of the race saw either Reyes or Medina at the fore of the chase group, keeping things close enough to an honest effort to ensure the capture of Notz and to make sure some of the weaker competition wouldn't have too big of kicks left in the tank. Unfortunately for the Chico fans, Reyes just didn't look himself, as the 10k coupled with pre race illness that had struck between CCAA's and NCAA's seemed to have taken their toll. With 800m remaining the chase pack started to pick up steam as the top athletes began to fight for the remaining 5 All American spots (since Kiprop, Ngandu, and Gidabuday were too far ahead to consider catching). Throughout the shuffling of the final 800m Medina looked composed and prepared for a big finish.

To no one's surprise Kiprop had dropped Ngandu and would record a 13:48 winning run, while his fellow countryman would take second (just as they had in the 10k). Medina found a big gear down the backstretch of the final lap, putting a stride or two on his nearest competitor and his momentum started to make fans wonder if he Might be able to nab Gidabuday, who was wrecked from Kiprop's handling of the 10 and 5k's from the front. Medina sprinted down the final straight and would close with a 57 second final revolution, leaving him just shy of Gidabuday, but clear of the rest of the chase pack. Medina's 5 team points helped boost the 'Cats into 8th overall in the team scoring. Unfortunately Reyes would miss his second podium of the meet by 1 place as he would finish 9th overall (still good enough for 2nd team All American). A battered Connor Fisher would finish up 18th after a steeple that left his foot and legs a mess.

Wrap up: It's been another fantastic year for our distance athletes and we would like to thank all of our supporters who have helped us achieve what we have this year. There's absolutely no doubt that we're the best supported team in the country by our alumni, parents, and fans, and it's so appreciated by myself and the student athletes on the team. We want to wish you all a great summer and we hope to see you at the races in the fall. Go 'Cats!

Wildcat Web site
BRADENTON, Fla.- (Women, Day 2) Members of the Chico State women's team continued to deliver outstanding performances while racking up multiple All-America honors Friday at the NCAA Track & Field Championships. The Wildcats matched Thursday's opening day total of three All-America performances, with McCall Habermehl and Alex Burkhart scoring All-America marks in the 3,000-meter steeplechase-Habermehl breaking Burkhart's Chico State record in the process-and Brooke Whitburn earning her second All-America honor in as many days with a third place finish in the heptathlon.

Whitburn began Friday in ninth place in the heptathlon standings, and huge marks in the final three events resulted in 5,272 points to secure her second straight medal-winning hep performance and her third career All-America honor. The Chico native started with a solid third place finish in the heptathlon's long jump competition, placing third with a leap of 19-feet-0.75. She finished second in the javelin, posting a throw of 126-feet-06, then in the final event of her Wildcat career, turned in a personal best time of 2:21.99 on the way to a fifth place finish in the 800-meter run and a spot on the awards podium.

Habermehl barely made the field of 12 in Thursday's steeplechase preliminaries, but turned loose with her record-setting performance in Friday's finals at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The senior shaved over 12 seconds off her previous best mark in the event and stopped the clock with a school-record time of 10:12.82, finishing in seventh place and earning her first career All-America honor. Burkhart posted a time of 10:16.54-over nine seconds faster than Thursday's steeple preliminaries but two seconds shy of her previous school record mark-to finish eighth overall and cement her second career All-America honor.

The success of Whitburn, Habermehl and Burkhart Friday also meant another nine team points for Chico State, giving the Wildcats a total of 25 points through the first two days of action. The 'Cats, vying for the program's first-ever national top 10 finish, trail only West Texas A&M (32 points) on the women's team leaderboard.

BRADENTON, Fla.- (Women, Day Three) From an individual standpoint, Saturday's results for the Chico State women during the final day of the NCAA Track & Field Championships were not as spectacular as the previous two days of competition. But there was still plenty to celebrate within the Wildcats' camp, as Chico State successfully notched the program's first ever final season top 10 ranking in action at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Thanks to six All-America performances during the three-day meet, the Chico State women racked up 25 team points, putting the Wildcats in a tie with Johnson C. Smith University for seventh place overall. Besides being Chico State's first top 10 team finish at the NCAA Track & Field Championships, it was the 'Cats' best showing since concluding the 2007 season 13th in the nation.

Chico State was unable to add any team points to its total on Saturday, but several athletes came close to All-America glory. Taylor Sack came up short of reaching the awards podium in the women's pole vault, finishing among a group of six athletes who finished tied for fifth Saturday with a height of 12-feet-10.75-just three-quarters of an inch shy of her career best. Sack was unable to clear the bar at 13-feet-02.5, and because she needed three vaults to reach 12-10.75, she finished below four vaulters who achieved the same height but needed less tries to do it. As a result, Sack placed 10th overall.

Four Chico State distance standouts lined up later in the day for the 5,000-meter run, and while none finished in the top eight, two earned Second Team All-America honors. What was perhaps most impressive was that only seven Chico State athletes in history had ever run the 5k faster than any of the four Wildcats that competed Saturday-and all four were participating in their second distance event of the meet. Sadie Gastelum, who received All-America accolades Thursday in the 10,000-meter run, turned in the most memorable 5k performance, shaving eight seconds off her previous best to finish 10th in the 23-runner field with a personal record time of 16:45.88. The mark goes down in the Wildcat record books as the eighth-best 5k time in the program's history.

Hannah Dorman, vying for a second First Team All-America effort after finishing fourth Thursday in the 10,000-meter run, had to be content with a Second Team honor Saturday, placing12th overall in the 5k with a time of 16:54.97. McCall Habermehl and Alex Burkhart, First Team All-Americans in Friday's 3,000-meter steeplechase finals, came up short in Saturday's 5k. Habermehl stopped the clock at 16:58.29 to place 14th, while Burkhart posted a time of 17:01.35, good for a 16th place finish.

West Texas A&M won the women's track & field national championship, collecting 64 team points.

BRADENTON, Florida - (Men, Day Two)Sanity, sheer exhaustion, and the name of the event itself demand that event 10 marks the stopping point for the decathlon. But the Chico State men's track & field multi squad doesn't stop. The Wildcats kept rolling Friday at the NCAA Division II Championships, notching First Team All-America awards No. 10 and 11 over the past eight seasons Friday at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Jason Dunn finished fifth and Lane Andrews seventh, adding two more arrows to the quiver of a Chico State team targeting the claim: "Best collegiate decathlon squad in the nation, Dunn found himself in ninth, on the outside looking in at a podium position, following the day's first event, the 110-meter hurdles. But he unleashed the second-best discus and javelin throws of the day to climb all the way up into fifth. Andrews began the day in 13th place but began his move up the leaderboard in the 110-meter hurdles, climbing two spots. A personal-record discus throw of 36.16 meters helped his cause greatly, and then a third-place clearance of 4.50 meters in the pole vault vaulted him into ninth and podium contention. He hurled the javelin 50.10 meters to move into eighth, and then finished second in the 400 meters with a time of 4:32.60 to finish seventh. The junior hopes to add to the Wildcats' impressive streak next season as well.

The final results were actually a mixed bag for the Wildcats, who had dreams of placing four on the podium. But Aaron Martin finished 13th and Phill Bailey, who led the nation in the event upon arriving in Florida, was forced to drop out due to an injury.

Dotun Olubeko finished the Wildcats' day on a high note, shattering his own school record in the 110-meter hurdles to advance to Saturday's final. He crossed the line in 14.11 seconds (his record was 14.23) to finish second in his heat and sixth overall. Eight athletes advanced and all eight will be All-Americans and score for their team by simply finishing the race. Derek Morton also had a frustrating Friday, failing to advance to the 800-meter finals. Competing at less than 100% a hard opening 400m took a toll on the sophomore, cuasing him to fade down the stretch and finish fifth in his heat.

The Wildcats will begin Saturday's final day of competition tied for 15th overall with eight points. Dunn captured four points and Andrews two Friday, adding to the two that Will Reyes scored in Thursday's seventh-place finish in the 10,000 meters. Chico State has finished among the nation's top 21 for 13 years running and has a great chance to continue that streak with six more chances to score during Saturday's final day of competition. Dunn will throw the javelin at 11:25 a.m., Pacific. Kyle Medina will compete in the 1,500 meters at 2:45 p.m. and join teammates Reyes and Connor Fisher in the 5,000-meters at 5:30. Olubeko will run at 3:05.



BRADENTON, Florida - (Men, Day Three)Kyle Medina turned on the jets, and along with his co-pilot Dotun Olubeko, flew the Chico State men's track and field team into eighth place on the final day of competition at NCAA Division II Championships Saturday at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Medina ran a 55.10 final lap in the 1,500 meters to finish second, and less than three hours later, covered the final 400 meters in the 5,000 in 57.84 to finish fourth, collecting 13 points for the Wildcats. They finished with 25 in the meet to lock up their fifth top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships in 11 years and their 10th top-12 finish in the past 14 seasons. They have now finished among the nation's top 21 for 14 years in a row.

Olubeko shattered his own school record in the 110-meter hurdles for the second straight day, placing fifth with a time of 13.97. Prior to Olubeko's arrival, no Wildcat had run faster than 14.38. Olubeko entered the championships ranked 13th in the nation with a personal-record (PR) of 14.23. He advanced to the finals with a time of 14.11 Friday, shaving .12 seconds off of his PR. He shaved .14 more away Saturday in his final collegiate race, earning All-America honors in the process.

Medina, still only a junior, will be back. And he will return in 2017-18 as a three-time All-American in the 1,500 and six-time All-American overall. He finished fifth in the 1,500 meters as a freshman and has now been the runner-up in back-to-back seasons. In addition to Saturday's 5,000-meter All-America run, he has two straight Cross Country All-America awards. Jason Dunn, who finished fifth in the decathlon this week, opened the Wildcats' action with a 19th-place finish in the javelin. His best throw was his first, traveling 59.46 meters (195-feet-1). The 1,500 meters was next for Chico State and Medina went out quickly, taking the lead during the first lap. He ran second for the next circuit before falling into fifth with one lap to go. But Medina moved past three competitors with his speedy final lap, beating all but Western Oregon junior David Ribich to the line with a time of 3:49.86. Ribich's winning time was 3:49.64. It marked the second straight season that Medina lost the title by less than four-tenths of a second. With the addition of Olubeko's five points a few minutes later, the Wildcats had risen into the top 10 to stay.

Chico State's last chance to score came in the 5,000 meters. Medina, Will Reyes, and Connor Fisher were all in the Championship field and all three were doubling back: Medina from the 1,500 earlier in the day; Reyes from his seventh-place finish in the 10,000 meters Thursday, and Fisher from his 3,000-meter steeplechase Thursday. Medina and Reyes worked among the top eight early in the race and Fisher followed in the main chase pack after four went out very quickly from the opening gun. They were all in the mix at the midway point in the race, but it was Medina who had the most in the tank. He ran sub-70 revolutions in five of his final six laps. Reyes remained in the hunt for a First Team All-America honor (top eight) as Fisher dropped off over the final four laps, eventually finishing 18th in 15:06.96. After his fourth track and field First Team All-America honor in two years (he also has two top-10 finishes in cross country), Reyes fought hard for the eighth spot but got outkicked, finishing ninth by less than a second with a time of 14:23.46. Medina finished in 14:16.07. Reyes will receive Second Team All-America honors for finishing in the top 12.

With only the 4x400-meter relays remaining after the 5,000 meters, Chico State's run at nationals was over. And with the relay's completion, the Chico State women secured their best NCAA Championship finish ever in a tie for seventh. Once the men's team scores became official, the Chico State men became the fifth out of Chico State's 13 intercollegiate athletic programs to finish among the top eight in the nation in 2016-17.

The men's and women's cross country programs each finished fourth, and the men's basketball team advanced to the Elite Eight. In all, 12 Chico State teams advanced to the postseason during this academic year, including 10 to the NCAA Championships. Five, including both track and field squads, won California Collegiate Athletic Association titles out of a possible 12. Kyle Medina turned on the jets and he and Dotun Olubeko helped bring home WildcatFamily Airlines with a fitting and beautiful landing to 2016-17. Ohana! And thank you for flying the Wildcat Family friendly skies!