First off, please accept my apologies for the delay in updates. If I had time to explain the reasons I would, but it would take an entire write-up in itself. To make a long story short, I've had computer problems that have required weeks of help from our IT folks, and one of the negative outcomes was the loss of ALL of my group e mail lists. Good times! Speaking of Good Times, we just returned from the Mike Fanelli Distance classic @ SF State, and as usual, it didn't disappoint. The 'Cats notched countless PR's, a few school records (DMR's!) and even meet records (DMR's!). This year's meet was drawn out over 3 days, so I'll start by listing the times that the 'Cats ran each day. I'll then follow with some breakdown of Thurs, Friday and Saturday's action.
Thursday Racing: Women's 10k's: Hannah Ryan (So): 36:24 (PR) *NCAA provisional Gracie Dupuis (Fr): 36:47 (Debut) Men's 10k: Cameron Duquette (Jr) 30:00.34 (PR) *NCAA provisional Joshua O'Neil (Fr)l 30:19. Debut *NCAA provisional Michael Ramirez (Jr) 30:48 (PR) Omar Alvarez-Hernandez (Fr) 31:04 (PR) Travis Selby (Fr) 33:51 Debut Alfredo Mejia (Jr) 34:11 Dylan White: DNF - Sick Men's Steeple: Peter Normann (Sr) 9:21 (PR) Friday Racing: Men's 1500: Conor Wells (Sr) 3:50.3 (PR) Brian Hastings (So) 3:53.3 (PR) Women's 1500: Katie Hawley (So) 4:41.0 (PR) Men's 5k: Jack Emanuel (Jr) 14:08. PR, *NCAA provisional #9 AT CSUC Brayden McLaughlin(Fr) 14:16 PR, *NCAA provisional Rory Abberton (So) 14:38 Matt Herrera (Sr) 14:44 Daniel Hernandez (Fr) 14:45 (PR) Matthew Gordon (Fr) 14:48 (PR) Bennett Woodward (Fr) 14:51 (PR) Jayden Olea (Fr) 15:16 Raymond Lopez (Sr) 15:34 Anders Beil (Fr) 15:40 Women's 5k: Marissa D'Atri (Jr) 17:17 Debut Jaclyn Denham (Fr) 17:51 PR Alexi Steinmaus (Fr) 18:18 PR Esmeralda Aguayo (Jr) 18:50 Jennifer Ruiz (Fr) 18:58 Grace Gaddy (Fr) 19:45 Saturday Racing: Men's 800m: Walker Doucette (Fr) 1:54.55 (PR) Patrick Roehling (Fr) 1:55.69 (PR) Women's 800m: Natalie Dinin (Fr) 2:22.9 (PR) Kelli Vierra (Fr) 2:38.7 Men's DMR: Chico A Team: Conor Wells 3:00.3 Walker Doucette 51.0 Brian Hastings 1:55.3 Rory Abberton 4:11.6 **Total Time: 9:58.69 (Meet and School Record) Chico B Team: Matt Herrera 3:05.2 Patrick Roehling 50.5 Bennett Woodward 1:57.7 Brayden McLaughlin 4:18.3 Total Time: 10:12.00 (3rd place overall) Women's DMR: Chico A Team: Jaclyn Denham. 3:43 Kelli Vierra 64 Katie Hawley 2:16.7 Marissa D'Atri 5:02.2 **Total Time: 12:07.58 (Meet and School Record)
Thursday Highlights:
Men's 10k:
Going into Thursday's 10k's Cameron Duquette, Joshua O'Neill, Dylan White, and Omar Alvarez-Hernandez had shown potential for a sub (or at least low) 30 minute run in the 25 lapper. Michael Ramirez had also looked to be in much better shape than his pre-covid 32min PR.
Unfortunately Dylan White (XC All American) became ill at the week's start and wasn't quite recovered by Thursday.
Duquette, White, Alvarez, and O'Neill reached the 5k in 15:10 along with a large pack in the top-heat. Sub 30 would take a big second half from anyone in this group. The second half took many victims, including White who would step off the track around the 8k mark. Alvarez-Hernandez faded from the pack, and held on for an eventual 31:04 run. O'Neill fell from contention for sub-30 in the 8th kilometer, but Duquette hung strong with a small sub group over the final 1600m. Cameron's split at 8k (24:12 PR) meant that he was 12 seconds OVER the needed pace to dip under the 30min threshold. With 2 laps remaining Cameron needed a sub 2:15 to run 29:59. Unfortunately Cameron's sub 30 run will have to wait, as the Junior from Modesto would close well, but BARELY miss the 29's by just .35 seconds! O'Neill would follow with an impressive 30:19 debut. Ramirez would log 15:26/15:22 splits to smash his 32 min PR with a 30:48 run!
Women's 10k:
Hannah Ryan and teammate Gracie Dupuis are both wired for the 10k distance physiologically.. the problem for both is that they have been unable to race any in the past 2 track seasons. Both stepped to the line on Thursday hoping to give the 36 minute barrier a run, but also understanding that their lack of experience might make that a tougher ask.
The two ran together for the first 3200m (11:33), but Dupuis started to lose ground on her teammate and a small group during the third mile. Hannah reached 5k in 17:59 and Gracie followed at 18:10.
Hannah lost touch with the leaders heading into the 5k, and early 86 splits crept into the 90 range by the fifth mile. Credit Ryan, an SF native with rallying back over the final 2k with 4 X 87 second revolutions and an 82 closer, for a 36:24 PR and NCAA provisional mark. Dupuis held on well over the final 5k to record a 36:47 25 lap debut.
Men's Steeple:
It'd been since 2019 that Peter Normann had run a 3k steeple, and in that last race he PR'd at the JC State meet with a 9:30 finish time. Today the senior would notch a 9:21 in his season opener.
Friday Highlights:
Friday morning brought 1500's, and all 3 Chico athletes enjoyed solid Pr's in their heats.
Men's 1500m:
Conor Wells lopped 3 seconds off his 15 PR with a 3:50.3 finish time while finishing 4th overall, and as the second collegiate finisher.
In the second heat, local product Brian Hastings stepped to the line with a 3:56 PR, but felt confident that he was ready for at least a sub 3:55 run. It turns out that he was right. Biding his time in the main pack, Hastings sprung from the group with 300m remaining and drew a bead on leader Fernando Salinas of Mexico. With 100m remaining the Chico sophomore hit full stride and was slowly making up time on Salinas. Hastings drew even with Salinas just before the line, and a well timed lean gave him an exciting heat win and 3:53.3 PR.
Women's 1500m:
In the women's 1500 Katie Hawley lopped 5 seconds off her PR with a 4:41 PR on Friday, and an impressive 17 seconds off her previous time @ the same meet in 2019 (our last track season).
Men's 5000m:
The 'Cats top-4 5k guys (Jack Emanuel, Brayden McLaughlin, Rory Abberton, and Matt Herrera) were all placed in the fastest of 8 heats on Friday and if you wished to run with the pack you had to run 14:00 pace in the early going. All four 'Cats hit 1600 around the 4:30 mark, and Herrera was the first to step off the pace in an attempt to not blow a gasket in the later stages. At various stages of the second mile the lead pack dissolved into sub-groups and Chico's Jack Emanuel (14:45 PR going into the day) hung on the closest to the front, hitting 3200m in an 8:59 PR. Brayden crossed several seconds later, as did Rory Kuykendall (9:07ish). Predictably the final mile was a tough one for all 4, but they would all manage to find the finish in respectable times. Jack Emanuel's 14:08 PR would land him on the NCAA list, and in the #9 spot on the school's All Time 5k list, bumping several time CCAA Champ Alex McGuirk from the famed list. Brayden McLauglin also managed an impressive PR crossing the line in 14:16 (14:52 was previous best). Abberton and Herrera would finish in 14:38 and 14:44 seasonal best times.
In later heats true frosh and RS Frosh Matthew Gordon and Bennett Woodward each broke the 15 min barrier for the first time. Gordon notched a 14:48 PR, while Woodward finished in 14:51.
Women's 5000m:
Marissa D'Atri enjoyed a solid debut for the track 5k finishing within 10 seconds of the NCAA provisional standard. D'Atri did a fair amount of leading in her heat, pulling the group through early splits of 5:25 and 10:57 (3200) before paying a bit of a price late in the run. Despite some tough later laps the Martinez native managed a CCAA-leading 17:17 final time.
True frosh Jaclyn Denham raced to her first sub 18 minute 5k with a 17:51 finish time. RS Frosh Alexi Steinmaus also enjoyed a nice 12.5 lap PR with her 18:18 finish time.
Saturday Highlights:
Men's 800m:
The Chico men would send Walker Doucette and Patrick Roehling to the line in the 2 lapper. Both have been trending well in workouts and PR's were almost expected. Walker was first to go and did not disappoint as he shaved more than a second off his previous best with a 1:54 run. Roehling, a RS frosh from Paradise HS had just broken the 2min barrier for the first time two weeks ago, and today he would lower his PB down to 1:55 with a very competitive effort.
Women's 800m:
RS Frosh Natalie Dinin has Pr'd in every meet that we've run in this year. Not one to break positive streaks Dinin once again took another chunk off her PB with an impressive solo 2:22 effort.
Men's DMR:
There's only one meet on our schedule each year that offers the DMR, and that's the Fanelli Invite. The 'Cats guys have won the past several editions of the distance relay and had set the meet record in the final year before Covid shut things down. The '22 squad had an eye on our school best performance of 10:00 set in 2007 at the Wildcat Relays, when a young Scott Bauhs anchored the crew with a 4:01 1600m split.
Conor Wells got the 'Cats off to a Great start with a solo 3:00.3 run, solidifying a nice lead from the gun. Teammate Matt Herrera also did a masterful job of pacing for our "B" team recording 3 consecutive 61 second splits en route to a 3:05.2 1200 leg. Walker Doucette and Patrick Roehling, fresh off 800m Pr's one hour earlier raced to 51.0 and 50.5 splits before handing off to Brian Hastings and Bennett Woodward. Hastings' 55 first lap was a bit on the spicy side for the 15 specialist, but he held on nicely for a 1:55 split, handing off to Rory Abberton who needed a 4:13 or better to help the guys to a sub 10 minute run. Woodward btw would roll to a 1:57 800 split giving Brayden McLaughlin the baton just a few seconds behind Humboldt State's A team (in 3rd).
Abberton did a superb job of racing-to-feel, and pace, and closed well, hitting the tape in 9:58 (4:11 split). McLaughlin caught the Humboldt anchor in the second lap, and had moved into 2nd place, but the Humboldt competitor rallied back nicely to give the 'Jacks a second place finish. McLaughlin's 4:18 split solidified our second team's 3rd place finish in 10:12.
Women's DMR:
The Chico women have always found a way to win the SF DMR, and Saturday was no different. Despite only having one athlete of the 4 training for the mid distance events (Kelli Vierra-400m leg) the Wildcat women got the job done once again on Saturday. True frosh Jaclyn Denham led almost the entire 1200m leg before giving up the lead in the final 200m to East Bay's Chase Worthen. Denham still managed a very nice 3:43 carry for the 3 lapper. Kelli Vierra bounced back nicely in the 400m after a rough 800m an hour earlier, while recording a 64 split that kept the 'Cats within a few strides of East Bay. Katie Hawley took the stick and quickly caught and passed East Bay's 800m runner and never looked back. Hawley raced to a 2:16 split (2:17 PR in open) and now teammate Marissa D'Atri had a 40m lead over her closest pursuer. Marissa needed a 5:02 split for her leg for the Chico women to break Stanislaus State's meet record and she would do just that, racing to a low 5:02 mark giving the 'Cats a 12:07 finish time and school and meet records.
With the DMR's finishing off the meet for our distance crew, it couldn't have ended on a brighter note. It's SO great to be back and we're excited for what's ahead. Especially since SF State will be hosting CCAA's in just over 4 week's time.
Concluding Thoughts:
Overall it was another successful weekend in the Bay. Not all hit marks that we'd hoped for, but confidence is growing as we near the second half of the season. Next up for the 'Cats is the Chico Twilight Invite. This year the meet is a 1 day affair (save a few field events) so if you're in the neighborhood, come check out the meet this Saturday. I'll attach a schedule of events for those interested. As usual we'll load up the 15's mostly with our distance crew.
