Having just returned from the 2019 CCAA Championships in San Diego I'm very proud to state that the Chico State Wildcat track and field program is alive and well. The men's team won their 15th title in the past 16 years, while the women scored a 3rd place finish behind a very strong SF State squad, and the always tough Tritons of UCSD. As usual the two team results were a combination of all areas of track And field. Of the 32 men who were entered in the competition 31 scored at least a point toward the men's most recent win. Reflecting on the women's team's placing, it has to be stated that this squad took a large number of hits, both leading up to the season, during the season, and even during the races, that left us in a position where a very strong meet resulted in a 3rd place finish. Of course adversity is something that makes us stronger, so I like our chances of returning to the top of the podium in 2020.

As far as the distance squad's performance, it was another solid run for the Distance 'Cats. We suffered a few setbacks that took some wind out of our sails, and the rest of the CCAA brought their very best to the track, so every title, every point, and every place were hard-earned.

Overall the Distance crew earned 11 Top-3 podium (All CCAA) finishes with titles coming in both steeplechases and the men's 5,000m. Speaking of the men's 5k. What an incredible run we've enjoyed at that distance. On Saturday Eddie King upset 14:01 guy Ruben Dominguez while giving the 'Cats 18 straight 5k titles on the men's side!

Since I love statistics, another few that stand out after the weekend are from the barrier races. With Jack Johnson's steeple title on Saturday the 'Cats have now won 15 of the past 17 barrier events on the men's side. The women have been impressive in their own right as Haley Boynton (only a soph) gave the 'Cats 8 barrier titles in the past 9 years!

Before starting my recap I'd also like to give a huge shout out to the alumni who came out to support our crew over the weekend. It was so much fun taking in the action with familiar faces and folks who themselves helped us to where we are today. Thank you!!!

Now onward to the action!!

  FRIDAY:
Men's 800m Prelims: With just 10 men entered in the 800m and UCSD having a 9 lane track. Prelims were needed to eliminate just 1 man. All three Chico men (Derek Morton, Conor Wells, and Michael Good) advance with ease.

Women's 800m Prelim: Our only setback on the day Friday was true frosh Katie Hawley who ran an even splitted 2:20 800m, but needed to a negative split run to have a chance at qualifying out of her heat. Katie was seeded 11th going into the meet and not ranked to make the final, but it was still a bit of a setback as we'd hoped to advance her into the final.

Women's 1500m Prelim: A year ago then sophomore Desirae Jones entered the meet with a 4:43 PR, and was placed in heat 1. A tactical race didn't work well in her favor and Jones failed to advance to Saturday's action. A year later Jones looked very good running a 4:46 prelim run with a :73 second final lap of the facility. From watching her in the prelim Desirae looked capable of challenging for a top 5-6 spot in the final the next day.

Men's 1500m Prelim: Matt Herrera and Garrett DeLong both hit the bell around 3:00 in their separate heats of the 1500 prelims and each closed in 58 seconds, gathering large Q's into the final with 3:58-3:59 clockings.

Women's 10,000m Final: The women's 10k is an area where adversity struck the 'Cats in the weeks leading up to CCAA's. Kayden Carpenter (a San Diego native) entered the weekend with the 3rd best 10k run in the CCAA this year, and having placed 2nd in the CCAA Championships a year ago. Unfortunately the Mt Sac race was the undoing of her balky hamstring, and Kayden was unable to recover enough from the 'Sac race to even start this year's CCAA 25 lapper. The 'Cats would send Nora Pizzella (36:08), Jalen Burns (36:41) and Lucie Chevreuil (37:43) to the line on Friday. The rest of the CCAA would counter with Claire Fisher-East Bay (36:51), Shaylin Mabritto-UCSD (17:35/38:05 PR's), Lorraine Fernandez-Pomona (17:12/36:05 PRs), as well as a 6-7 others who had run in the 38-40min range.

Not wanting a dawdling pace it was decided that Burns and Pizzella would work together trading laps in the high 80's in hopes of shaking at least most of the remainder of the field along the way. Chevreuil, who'd struggled with sickness in the weeks leading up to CCAA's would find the pack that ran closest to the final scoring places and work to score some points for the team.

As expected no one appeared willing to take the front of the run as the lead pack ran through a dawdling 95 second first revolution. Burns and Pizzella then went to work setting the pace. The plan worked quite well for the first 5k, as the lead pack of 5 at 2,000m was down to just 4 by 4k, with Burns, Pizzella, Fisher, and Fernandez looking like the four who would duke it out for the three podium spots.

After around 4k of racing Burns fell from Pizzella's heels during one of Nora's pulls at the front. Neither Fisher or Fernandez responded, and after 800m Pizzella had established a 4-5 second cushion at the front.

Just when it looked as though Pizzella might run away with the win and the other three might duke it out for the final podium spots Fisher swung around Burns and set her sights on Pizzella. Fernandez did the same, and relatively quickly the pair had separated themselves from the tiring Burns. For the next 10+ laps Pizzella did a masterful job of focusing on her own running and bringing in lapped runners who were coming back to her over the second half of the race. Fisher initially made up a few seconds on Pizzella, but didn't seem to have the legs to completely close the gap, which may have reached 6 seconds at one point in the run. Fernandez fell off Fisher's pace over the final 3200m, and at times Burns looked as though she might catch the Pomona standout.

With 1k remaining Fisher committed to press as hard as she could to catch the tiring Pizzella, who had hit a few 90 second revolutions at the front. With 500m remaining the catch was made, and Fisher did as one is told to do when they pass.. She went hard. Nora strained to match the East Bay runner's increased turnover and at the bell the two ran within a second of one another. Fisher had a hidden gear in her back pocket though, as she would cover the final 400m in a very swift 72 seconds. Nora would run a 79 final revolution while taking second. Fernandez did enough to hold onto the third place, and Burns would run a 37:54 finish time while placing 4th. Lucie would close well over the final laps while scoring 2 team points with her 7th place finish.

Men's 10,000m Final: The 'Cats would send 4 men to the start of the 10k with hopes of scooping up some quality team points on Day 1. Although the race didn't go exactly according to plan (do they ever?) it was a successful run for the crew.

On paper the pre race favorite was most certainly Chico's Wyatt Baxter who was the defending CCAA 10k champ, and recently ran a 30:08 PR at the Mt Sac Invite. San Marcos' 30:19 guy Josh Litwiller stood as a solid pick for at least a top-2 finish. Excluding the remaining Chico entrants the few others who had at least run sub 32:00 before Friday were: Jeremiah Suzara-Pomona (30:59), Vahagn Isayan- San Marcos (31:06), and Julian Romero-UCSD (31:48). The 'Cats would fill the field with Jason Intravaia (30:48), Luis Ortega (31:18), and Jack Emanuel (31:48).

By 1200m into the run it appeared that San Marcos had a plan to get Litwiller and Isayan out relatively hard and perhaps trade laps at the front. Suspecting that Litwiller would be wanting a fast pace Baxter knew to mark his moves, and to keep the San Marcos runner within reach. Initially all 4 'Cats ran within the lead group, but Litwiller and Isayan's surging laps at the front separated groups with the two San Marcos runners and Baxter forming the eventual podium, and the Chico trio along with Suzara and Romero forming a second group of five.

The lead trio hit 5k in 15:15 and the San Marcos pair continued to share fast laps at the front despite the fact that Isayan's fastest 5k according to TFFR's was 15:24 before this race. Just under 10 seconds in arears was the Chico trio and a straining Suzara who appeared unable to hold the pace much longer.

The biggest surprise of the second half of the run was the impressive running of Isayan who's teamwork with Litwiller eventually pulled the pair clear of Baxter who was still holding 72/73 seconds per lap. A huge final lap by Isayan gave him the eventual victory as well as his two fastest 5k's of the season (15:15/14:54 splits!). Litwiller would also PR with a 30:12 finish time. Knowing he would be unable to make up the difference over the final mile Baxter was instructed to "cruise it in" as he had the 5k to contest the following afternoon. Wyatt would still run a 30:32 which was :20 seconds faster than his winning time a year ago.

Working together beautifully over the final 5k was Jason Intravaia, Jack Emanuel, and Luis Ortega who would finish 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. For Emanuel, his 31:16 was a :30+ second Personal best. Chalk up 18 points toward the team's trophy hunt.

Saturday- Championship Day
Women's Steeplechase: The 'Cats had won the women's steeple 4 years straight with Alex Burkhart and McCall Habermehl hogging the past 4 titles for the Chico crew. The chances of making it five straight looked very good on paper as Nicole Anthony and Haley Boynton were the only two entrants with sub 11 min credentials coming into the final (10:32/10:42 PR's). There were though a lot of women in the CCAA this year who'd run between 11:00 and 11:20, so we knew Not to allow a tactical race to happen, as it could work against our chances of a hoped 1-2 finish.

For 3 laps the steeple looked exactly how we'd scripted it before-hand. Anthony and Boynton worked together at the front at a 10:45-10:50 targeted pace and as expected each lap would shed 1-2 runners from the group.

One of the interesting dynamics of the UCSD steeplechase set-up is that the facility is an outside pit, which creates a bit of a turning-while-leaping effect as the steeplers round a tight turn into the water barrier each lap. Another interesting dynamic is that the SD barriers are pure wood, and don't have a layer of rubberized surface on top of them, to allow for a better push off. The combination of hard wood with a fresh coat of paint, and the short approach to the barrier seemed to cause several mishaps on the day. The first came in the form of Cessair McKinney (Humboldt State) who's push-off foot seemed to slip from the barrier and she landed belly-flop style into the pit while running among the lead group.

By the fourth lap Anthony, Boynton and UCSD's Camille Perkins had separated from the remaining field and looked like the eventual podium crew. Unfortunately Anthony wasn't able to get a good push off the water barrier and landed awkwardly on an ankle that she's injured in the past. She took a step or two out of the water and fell to the track unable to finish the race.

Now the eventual win would be a battle between Boynton and UCSD's Perkins, who was receiving a lot of support from the SD folks. The steeple is a battle of attrition, and Boynton is as tough as they come. Over the final kilometer the Lodi native held on tight to the lead and gradually built a lead that would not be overcome by the determined Triton.

At the tape Boynton would run a 10:43 narrowly missing her PR, while Perkins would break the Triton's school record with her 10:48 PR. As mentioned previously The 'Cats have now won 8 of the past 9 women's steeple titles.

Men's Steeplechase: The 'Cats would send senior Jack Johnson (a San Diego native) to the line with an 8:59 PR, along with Teddy Kassa (9:19 PR). The biggest threat to a potential 1-2 finish would most likely be Stanislaus' Alejandro Rios who owns a 9:10 PR and was surely eying a potential NCAA mark. It didn't take long for the three to separate themselves from the field as Johnson, Rios, and Kassa rolled through 1k right at a 9:00 clip, and all looked solid doing it. During the third or fourth water jump Rios unfortunately took a bad spill in the water, and would eventually fade to an 8th place finish. With no one close Kassa and Johnson focused on holding onto the 9:00 rhythm. With 3 laps remaining Kassa was pulling clear of Johnson, but the pace was slipping from the desired tempo.

At the bell it appeared that Kassa would win his first CCAA title, but most likely in the high 9:0's and not quite fast enough to make the NCAA field.... but of course there was another lap of running to be had, and 4 barriers to navigate. As Kassa lept off the final water jump he stumbled upon landing and skidded face first to the track. Johnson, who was closing hard made a clean landing and took the lead for good with 130m remaining. Thankfully Kassa wasn't injured and the two had forged a huge lead on the field, so he was able to regain his composure and finish the race. Johnson's winning time was 9:10 and Kassa still managed a 9:15 PR for second. Add another 18 points to the 'Cats point totals.

Women's 1500m: What a race the women's 1500m was this year! Chico's lone entrant Desirae Jones had the 14th fastest time of the year in the conference (4:43) and was ranked 8th on the entrants list coming into the weekend.

From the gun the women's race was VERY hot.. The leaders seemed to forget that they were running a 1500 and Not an 800, as the entire field crossed 200m between 31-33 seconds. Jones sat in 7th or 8th position at 400m and still split 68 seconds on my watch. Pomona's 2:10/4:27/16:40 star Casey Monoszlay was the pre-race favorite and wanted nothing to do with a tactical race apparently.

At 800m Jones split a seasonal best for 800m (2:24) and looked very engaged and ready for the difficult final 700m of running ahead. Making a few moves around athletes as they slowed in front of her Desirae hit the bell in 6th position and needing a sub 75 second lap to break 4:40. A strong final 150 carried the Simi Valley native into 5th place for good, but the 4:40 barrier will have to wait as Desirae hit the tape in 4:40.15. Still a very impressive and gutsy run for Jones, who has another year of eligibility remaining.

Men's 1500m: The 1500 was a very deep event in the CCAA this year. No less than 18 guys ran between 3:51-3:55 this season, so the conference championship race would be a very exciting one to watch.

The 'Cats had advanced Matt Herrera and Garrett DeLong to the final. A year ago Herrera had placed 9th in the final in what was a disappointing run for him at the time. DeLong returned to CCAA action for the first time since the '17 season and has looked very good closing out races in recent weeks. Yours truly felt well about our chances of putting these two into the top-5-6 if all went pretty well on Saturday.

From the gun the pace for the men was pretty honest as 400m was reached in 60 seconds by the entire field of 12 runners. With so much parity among the group it would take an honest pace to shake many from the lead group.

Herrera reached 800m in 2:04-:05 and ran about 3 runners back from the lead. DeLong also ran within a second of the front in about 8th or 9th position through 800m. The third lap of the 1500 is the lap of truth, and the one that can make or break the run. Humboldt's CCAA runner-up in 2018 took the front and stepped on the gas. Herrera was able to cover the acceleration, along with 5-6 others, but DeLong had fallen back into 8th or 9th position leading into the bell.

The final lap was very exciting as 5 guys had broken from the chasing group and were picking up steam with each passing 100m. Herrera ran in 5th position at the 200m to go mark, but looked to have some life in the legs for the final push. As Herrera came off the turn he was losing ground on a few, but gaining on several others. In the final 60m Herrera swept into 3rd position for good and hit the line in 3:53.07, his second best time to date. DeLong closed well over the final 300m and grabbed a 6th place finish in 3:54. 9 more points toward the totals!

Women's 800m: Second year in a row with no Wildcat scorers, much less any qualifiers for the finals.

Men's 800m: Chico would send a trio of two lap standouts to the line in San Diego on Saturday. Two were SD natives (Derek Morton-Mt Carmel/Michael Good-Westview). Good had won the race two years ago and owns a 1:50.5 PR, while Morton ran a 1:48.90 at NCAA's a year ago, but missed a big chunk of training this season with injury. The 'Cats would also send 1:53 guy Conor Wells to the line in the 2 lapper. UCSD offered the biggest threat to the 'Cats with Nick Famalaro (1:51 PR), Tim Corvese (1:52), and Jake Selstad (1:53/3rd place @ CCAA's a year ago). Add Humboldt's 1:48.5 guy Braedon Leach (Defending CCAA Champ) and you had the makings of an interesting race.

The guys decided on their own that Good would lead things out at the front if no other team appeared willing to do so. It would be to our advantage to make an honest pace since Leach hasn't looked very strong this season, But usually has a big kick.. and Corvese from SD would be doubling back from the 1500 several hours earlier.

As planned Good took to the front and hit 200m a touch faster that we'd hoped @ 25 seconds. The entire field followed somewhat closely, and at the bell Good led Selstad, Wells, Famalaro, and Morton (in order) with a 53 second split.

Just before the final turn Selstad took the lead with the entire pack of 5 reaching 700m within 1 seconds of one another. The final 100m was not kind to Good, who's quick early pace seemed to create an invisible wall over the final meters. Selstad hit the final straight in the lead and teammate Famalaro followed him down the final straight. Chico's Morton pressed hard from 120m out and moved up to the heels of Famalaro, but was unable to prevent the eventual 1-2 Triton finish at the front. Morton would hold on for 3rd, while Wells and Good would grab the 4th and 5th place finishes. Although it wasn't quite the finish we'd hoped for, putting 3 into the top-5 while scoring an additional 15 team points was a solid result for the half milers.

Women's 5,000m: Pomona's newly minted 1500m champ Casey Monoszlay would double back for the 5k, where the 16:40 performer was an overwhelming favorite for the title. Chico would counter with sophomore Alexandria Tucker (16:57 PR/17:04 seasonal best) who recently recorded an NCAA qualifying 35:11 10k at the Mt Sac invite. The 'Cats would also double back steeple champ Haley Boynton, and 10k 4th placer Jalen Burns.

Knowing Monoszlay wouldn't want a fast pace, since she'd just run a PR in the 1500 hours earlier, and since she's got the best speed in the field (2:10 800m PR), Jalen Burns agreed to try her best to run at least mid 80's laps in the early going to help Tucker's chances of potentially stealing the race from the Pomona standout.

Burns did a great job of pressing from the front until she couldn't any longer and the dwindling lead group finally started to work around her with about 2k remaining. Tucker then took the front and notched several low 80 second revolutions, which Monoszlay covered with relative ease. The quick surge in pace at the front rapidly turned the race into a two person affair for the win, but the final spot on the podium became a battle between 3-4 women, including Chico's Boynton.

At the bell Monoszlay took the lead for the first time in the run, and began a strong surge to the line. Tucker fought hard but was unable to match the speed of the Pomona runner. The two would finish 1-2, and a hard push over the final kilometer by Chico's Boynton would land her on her second podium of the day with a third place finish. Burns held on very well over the final mile despite all of the leading early, and finished 9th overall with an 18:11 PR.

Men's 5,000m: There's no doubt that the excitement of the 4 X 4 is the ultimate way to finish off a championship track meet, but I have to say that this year's men's 5k was a great lead-up to the finale.

Since he stepped foot on Pomona's team Ruben Dominguez has been a standout runner. The low 4:teens HS 1600m runner recorded a sub 3:50 for 1500 as a junior two years ago, and ran 14:04 in the same season. He'd been on the podium countless times at CCAA Championships, and had twice finished inside the top-25 at the NCAA XC Championships. Having run his first 3 years in uniform, and knowing that Kyle Medina would be a senior a year ago (lessening his chances of a conference title) Dominguez decided to red shirt his fourth year and put everything into his fifth and final year at CPP. Enter Eddie King, who a year ago went from a 14:44 5k guy, to a 14:13 runner and All American, and suddenly Dominguez had to be hearing some footsteps. This season Dominguez raced to a 14:01 at the Fanelli meet, while King ran a 14:06 at Mt Sac, setting up Saturday's duel in SD.

Another cool subplot behind the men's CCAA 5k was of course the 17 year winning streak by the 'Cats coming in. Back in 2002 the 'Cats 5k'rs were building good momentum as a program, but Davis had the top 3 seeds going into the meet. Fast forward 14 minutes and 53 seconds and the 'Cats had enjoyed a huge 1,2,3 sweep, led by Tyler Graff's first of 3 CCAA 5k titles. (Tyler will be inducted into the CSUC Hall of Fame this coming September BTW.) Oh yeah, and the '02 version was hosted @ UCSD as well. So eighteen years later the 2019 'Cats had a lot of history to live up to. Chico would send King, Wyatt Baxter, Teddy Kassa, Jason Intravaia and some potential pacers to the line in search of an exclamation point to the eventual team victory.

Rumors circulated in the days leading up to the race that Pomona would try to pace Dominguez out to very quick early splits. The plan for the Chico guys was to allow King to latch onto the front group, while Baxter, Kassa and Intravaia (all doubling back from 10k's or earlier steeples) would all lock into a 71ish second rhythm, helped along by Jack Johnson (steeple champ), Matt Herrera (1500 3rd placer) and several others.

From the start the race went exactly how we had anticipated. Pomona had set two obvious rabbits at the front of the field and Dominguez tucked in behind him. The unfortunate thing for Dominguez was that his pacers weren't in the greatest of fitness, and only got him to 1600 in a relatively modest 4:37 before they dropped out. With 8.5 laps of racing ahead, Dominguez had the lead with King trailing on his heels, patiently waiting for his time to attack. Laps in the second mile were covered in 69-71 seconds, but not especially fast. During this mid race mile, the trailing Chico pack gradually pulled clear from those who were once attached to them, while also starting to bring in Stanislaus' 14:31 5k guy Alexies Reynoso (one of the few fresh guys in the field). By 4k the Chico men had caught Alexies and now it appeared that another Chico runner would stand on the podium with King and Dominguez at the race's conclusion.

At the front Dominguez threw in a big surge from around 4 laps to go and at one point King had lost what appeared to be a few strides to the Pomona athlete. Thankfully King was just measuring his efforts and gradually made up the small gap that had formed, and with 3 laps remaining Dominguez stepped into lane 2 inviting King to take the lead, in which he did. Having taken the lead King kept the pace honest, but it was obvious he was saving his bigger gears for the final stage of the run. Leading into the bell King's cadence was building and Dominguez ran stride for stride as the intensity gradually increased. Heading down the backstretch for the final time Dominguez made a push to go around King, but Eddie responded as a well versed 4 X 4 runner might, quickening his stride just enough to keep the Pomona runner at his side and not allowing him to take the lead going into the final turn. With 200m remaining King held the rail and Dominguez ran beside him. As the pair entered the final turn they raced by a large group of Pomona supporters, but that quickly transitioned to the water jump area where yours truly, Coach Nooney and a huge throng of Chico athletes and alum had collected. It was LOUD! As the pair hit the final straight Dominguez hit a final gear hoping to swing by King, but unknown to him Eddie had one final gear left in his pocket, which was employed to perfection. Eddie would sprint away to victory over the final 50m, winning the title by 1.5 seconds (14:26 final time).

Almost lost in all of the screaming, crying and hoopla was the 3,4,5 finish of the all Chico chase pack of Baxter, Kassa, and Intravaia who sealed the 25 point haul toward the team title. What a great run this was! The men's 4 X 4 would wrap up the title run with a 3:14 PR, sealing another incredible CCAA experience for all who were involved.

Luke Reid - Chico State Sports Information Director (men) & Rory Miller - Assistant Sports Information Director (women)

LA JOLLA-The Chico State men's track and field team began its 2019 journey in January discussing the team motto: "Two weekends in May." One down. One to go. The Wildcats entered the third and final day of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championships with a sizeable lead and built on it throughout the day Saturday on the way to its fourth consecutive conference crown and 15th in the past 16 seasons. The next weekend circled on the Wildcats' calendar is May 23-25, when the NCAA Division II Championships take place in Kingsville, Texas.

Chico State outscored second-place Cal Poly Pomona 230-160, netting more points (164) than any other team Saturday at Triton Track & Field Stadium on the campus of UC San Diego. Wildcats Head Coach Oliver Hanf, the CCAA's Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year for the fourth straight year, wrote the following in an email to his 32-man CCAA Championships roster: "We have lots of firepower up front but we truly separate ourselves from the competition by our depth!" Hanf has his team pegged.

Four Wildcats captured individual conference titles: Tyler Arroyo won the high jump for the second year in a row; Eddie King won the 5,000 meters for the second year in a row; Lance Huber won the pole vault; and Jack Johnson won the 3,000-meter steeplechase. But the key to the crown was what the Wildcats did further down the leaderboard. Thirty-one Wildcats scored points for the team, including 16 in two or more events. Twenty-one earned All-CCAA honors with finishes of third or better, including five who earned two: Isaiah Roybal, Wyatt Baxter, Dominique Mosley, Hasani Barrett, and Joshua Cummings. Twenty-four Wildcats scored five or more points for the team, which scored in 20 of the 21 events.

Joseph Ilaoa was the team's leading scorer with 15 points. The senior thrower finished second in the discus, fourth in the hammer, and seventh in the shot put. Teddy Kassa contributed 13 team points Saturday by placing second in the steeplechase and fourth in the 5,000 meters. Coming off a third-place finish in the 10,000 meters Friday, Wyatt Baxter doubled back to place third in the 5,000 meters Saturday, racking up 12 points. Hasani Barrett scored in five different events-the long jump, 100 meters, 200 meters, and both relays-while racking up 11.5. It was another title, but a different feeling for Arroyo, who has long sought to break Chico State's school record in the high jump while piling up win after win over the past two seasons. This time he did it, clearing 2.19 meters (7-feet-2.25) to break Imad Jamal's 35-year-old school record. Arroyo's mark is the second best in Division II this season.

King carried the weight of history with him into his 5,000-meter showdown with Cal Poly Pomona's Ruben Dominguez. The Wildcats had won 17 straight 5k titles at the conference championships, including King's last season. But Dominguez came in as the top seed in the race and ranked No. 4 in the nation. King is ranked No. 6. That pair also had a large field of 30 to negotiate. They ran together at the front throughout most of the 12.5 laps. King set the tempo for the second half of the race and the last revolution was a slugfest, each runner doing is best to break the other. Dominguez surged to King's right side as they weaved through lapped traffic with about 300 meters to go. King put his head down and kept a half-step lead until they hit the final straightaway. It was a thrilling finish. With a glimpse of the finish line, King catapulted ahead, put space between himself and Dominguez with nearly every step, and pulled away for a 1.45-second victory. He is now the 10th champion during Chico State's 18-year run of titles and the 10th to win it multiple times, joining Tyler Graff (2002-04), Charlie Serrano (2005-07), Anthony Costales (2011-13), and Will Reyes (2016-17).

The pole vault title came down to Huber and fellow Wildcat Zehr Jeuech Blanco. Huber cleared a personal-record (PR) 5.01 meters on his first try to clinch it. After finishing third at last year's CCAA Championships, the sophomore stood atop the podium this season. His NCAA Championships provisional 5.01-meter (16-feet-5.25) clearance is tied for the 13th in the nation and will likely vault him into the NCAA Championships. He also rose to seventh on Chico State's all-time top-10, knocking Brian Tebbs' 2001 mark off the list. The Wildcats also had a 1-2 finish in the steeplechase. Johnson, who finished second in the steeplechase last year to teammate Kyle Medina, moved up a spot on the podium Saturday, while Kassa finished second.

LA JOLLA-The Chico State women's track & field team knew it would take an almost perfect day-and a lot of first place finishes-to overtake San Francisco State Saturday and wrest the CCAA Track & Field Championship crown from the Gators. The Wildcats more than stepped up to the challenge, and while they came up short of their ultimate goal, an afternoon of brilliant performances netted the 'Cats 89.5 points and a third place finish in action at Triton Track and Field Stadium in La Jolla. San Francisco State racked up 182 points to successfully defend its conference title. UC San Diego placed second with 148.5 points, while Chico State finished with a three-day total of 122.5 points to easily outdistance the rest of the CCAA field.

Taylor Nevitt provided the biggest of many Wildcat highlights Saturday, setting a new Chico State record in the hammer throw. The senior placed fifth in the event and picked up four conference meet points for the 'Cats with a personal record throw of 49.71 meters, breaking Ashley Webster's eight-year old school mark by 1.21 meters. Nevitt was also Chico State's highest finisher in Saturday's shot put competition, placing 12th with a heave of 11.35 meters.

Hayley Boynton took top honors in the CCAA Track & Field Championship's 3,000-meter steeplechase, collecting 10 points and bettering her existing NCAA Provisional mark with a winning time of 10:43.65. Later in the day Boynton racked up another six points for the Wildcats in the 5,000-meter run, placing third with a season-best time of 17:45.31.

The 'Cats dominated the pole vault competition, claiming the top four places and adding 29 points to Chico State's team score and briefly put the 'Cats in first place. Megan Farrell finished first and posted an NCAA Provisional mark with a height of 3.70 meters-just .01 meters shy of her personal best in the event. Lara Condosta was second, with her PR mark of 3.60 meters good for eight team points and putting her in the Chico State record books with the eighth-highest vault in the program's history. Rebecca Graham accounted for six points with her third place finish of 3.35 meters, with Jade Permenter-Barnes adding four points with her fourth place height of 3.35 meters.

Alexandria Tucker was runner-up in Saturday's 5k, earning eight points with a time of 17:35.50. Jalen Burns ran a personal best 18:11.88 on the way to a ninth place finish. Desirae Jones contributed four points to Chico State's team score with a fifth place finish in the 1,500-meter finals, crossing the finish line with a personal record time of 4:40.15. Later in the day Jones placed 14th in the 5k with a time of 18:30.49.

Wildcat sprinters provided the 'Cats with several team points Saturday. Claire Chappell, Isabella Moyer, Lyndsey Settle, and Jordyn Dorsey teamed up to finish fifth in the 4x100-meter relay finals, matching Friday's preliminary time of 47.55 seconds and earning five points for their effort. Chappell stopped the clock at 57.11 seconds in the 400-meter dash finals, finishing fifth and picking up four points for the 'Cats. Sydney Proiette garnered three points and placed sixth at 57.25 seconds, and Savannah Bailey-just a day after registering a personal best time in the 100 preliminaries-bettered her PR Saturday with a finals time of 57.64 seconds, finishing seventh and earning two team points. Moyer secured two points for the 'Cats in the 100-meter dash finals. Her personal best time of 12.16 seconds was good for seventh place overall.

Nadia Torkman shared fourth place in the high jump, earning 4.5 team points with a leap of 1.57 meters. Eva King collected three points and matched her PR mark of 1.57 meters, finishing sixth overall. Heather Pendleton also posted a season-best mark when she cleared the bar at 1.57 meters. Jessica Lee added one point to Chico State's team total with an eighth place finish in the triple jump. The sophomore recorded a personal best distance of 11.06 meters.

The Wildcats wrapped up the CCAA Track & Field Championships with a fifth place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. Proiette, Bailey, Settle, and Chappell combined to earn four team points with a time of 3:58.78. The Chico State women's track & field team has two more meets on the docket next Saturday. The Wildcats will be in Turlock for the Stanislaus State Warrior Last Chance, while also competing in Los Angeles at the Occidental College-hosted Oxy Invite. The meets will provide several 'Cats one last stab at posting a Provisional mark in hopes of earning an invitation to the May 23-25 NCAA Track & Field Championships in Kingsville, Texas.