I'm proud to report that the Chico State distance runners took another step closer to normalcy last week, with a very productive trip to Azusa Pacific's Bryan Clay Invitational. All told, 19 Chico State Distance-'Cats toe'd the line, combining for 20 personal bests, 4 All-Time CSUC marks, and 5 NCAA standards. It was SO fun returning to a big meet environment and watching each of the Chico runners support one another throughout the three-day competition. The Chico chant was ever-present, and the 'Cats took another step toward the championship season ahead.

I'll start by sharing a quick summary of results, followed by some highlights for each day's action. 

 
800m: 

Conor Wells (Sr)   1500  3:46.66 (PR, #8 CSUC, PR, NCAA provisional)  
Brayden McLaughlin (Fr)  10,00m 29:29 (Debut, #4 CSUC, PR, NCAA provisional)  
Jack Emanuel (Jr) 10,000m 29:44.04. (#8 CSUC, PR, NCAA provisional)  
Marissa D'Atri (Jr) Steeple   10:44.67 (#7 AT CSUC, NCAA provisional)  
Rory Abberton (So) 5k: 14:26 (PR), 1500: 3:48.76 (PR, NCAA provisional)  
Katie Hawley (So) 1500: 4:34.75 (PR)  
Gracie Dupuis (Fr) 5k: 17:28, 1500: 4:45 (2 X PR's)  
Hannah Ryan (So) 5k: 17:37 (PR)  
Matt Herrera (Sr) 5k: 14:35 (seasonal best), 1500: 3:52.98 (seasonal best)  
Cameron Duquette (Jr): 14:32 (PR), 1500m:  4:00.4  
Daniel Hernandez (Fr) 5k: 14:43 (PR),  1500: 3:56 (PR)  
Brian Hastings: (So) 1500: 3:54.9  
Omar Alvarez-Hernandez (Fr) 5k: 14:47 (PR)  
Alexi Steinmaus (Fr): 5k: 18:40, 1500m: 4:46 (PR)  
Bennett Woodward (Fr) 5k: 14:53, 1500m: 3:57 (PR)  
Dylan White (So) 5k: 14:57 (PR), 1500m: 3:58 
Michael Ramirez (Jr) 5k: 14:57 (PR), 1500m: 4:01 (PR)  
Walker Doucette (Fr) 800m: 1:54.1 (PR), 1500m: 4:01 (PR)  
Peter Normann (Sr) Steeple: 9:28

Wednesday's races

Women's 3000m Steeple: Junior Marissa D'Atri started her first 3k steeple since 2019 on Wednesday. The San Diego State transfer didn't skip a beat, running among the leaders the entire race looking good over the barriers. A solid final kilometer gave D'Atri her first sub 11 minute clocking, hitting the finish in 10:44. The new barrier PR lands her #7 on the 'Cats All-Time list, ahead of several All Americans, and is the leading time in the CCAA.

Men's 10k: Several weeks before the Fanelli Invite yours truly approached RS Frosh Brayden McLaughlin about the possibility of running a 10k this season. With athletes training on their own the past 2 years it's been difficult to see what their strengths and weaknesses are. With an XC season and half of a track season behind us I realized that the 10k might be the best fit for the Del Oro HS alum. Given that teammate and training partner Jack Emanuel was prepping for the Clay 25 lapper, it made sense to plug Brayden into the mix Wednesday with his teammate Emanuel and see what they could do.

The two 'Cats placed themselves among the lead pack that ran splits of 4:40 and 9:19 for 1600 and 3200m. With pacer Dylan Marx dropping from the front in the third mile, the pace slowed a bit and Jack and Bray hit 5k in 14:40. Both looked attentive and ready for the second half ahead. It should be mentioned that neither Brayden or Jack had run a single 5k faster than 14:45 before this season (mostly because of the Covid layoff of course).

Mile 4 was a 4:45 and both Chico runners were still among the leading group. Somewhere between 7-8k the lead pack began to splinter, and Emanuel attempted to go with the front pack. McLaughlin, in uncharted territory with respect to racing beyond the 5k, elected not to cover the move ahead. Unfortunately the surge in pace got the best of Emanuel, who quickly slid back to McLauglin just before 8k. Brayden hit the 20 lap mark @ 23:35, while Emanuel was at 23:37.

The final mile was a tough one for both, but Brayden did a solid job of closing out his first 10k, finding the finish in 29:29. Emanuel would follow some 15 seconds back with a 29:44 finish time. Brayden's debut is the 4th fastest 25 lapper by a 'Cat, while Emanuel becomes the 8th fastest in the history of the program. With the run Tyler Graff and Aaron Mora were quietly bumped from what's becoming a very stout top-10 list (29:46 is now the #10 time). Graff of course was our school's first sub 30 minute 10k runner some 20 years ago and still follows the program closely.

Thursday (The Day of 5k's and 8's)

Women's 5k's. The 'Cats were 2 of 3 on the day, with the women's 12.5 lap event. Gracie Dupuis (3rd year frosh) and Hannah Ryan (So) came into the weekend with 18:23 and 17:58 PR's. Thankfully both ran in the same heat, and the two worked together quite well en route to 17:28 and 17:37 PB's. Teammate Alexi Steinmaus had a rough outing as she is still navigating the mental side of the longer track races. Her 18:40 finish time was over 20 seconds from her PR, but would supply her with some fine motivation for a Fast 15 the following evening.

Men's 5k highlights: The men's 5k's were a bit of mixed bag for the 'Cats with 4 of the 8 running to PR's, while the others had some narrow misses of their lifetime bests. When you go to a meet like Bryan Clay, expectations are to run lifetime bests at minimum, but overall our 5k's were still quite solid, despite our 50 percent PR percentage.

Rory Abberton (jr) lowered his PR from 14:36 to 14:26 leading the charge for the 'Cats. Junior Cameron Duquette also took a nice step forward with a very competitive 14:32 PR. Senior Matt Herrera ran his fastest time in a Chico uniform (14:35), but just missed his lifetime best set a year ago at the same meet (14:28). Daniel Herrera sliced a second off his PB with a 14:43 run, but admittedly left some on the table. Bennett Woodward, Dylan White and Michael Ramirez would round out the 'Cats 5k exploits with 14:53, :57, and :57 outings. All three missed lifetime bests by less than 2 seconds.

Men's 800m: RS Frosh Walker Doucette a So Cal native enjoyed racing in front of his family while notching a 1:54.1 PR.

Friday (a pethora of 15's):
Sometimes the track seems to be on Fire, and each athlete that steps on it, jumps into the mix and gets swept into a PR-vortex (OK I just made this up, but hear me out). With the entire evening devoted to the 1500 meter distance it seemed as if the entire NCAA sent their best milers to Azusa to chase records and fast PR's. The quickest heats were run first, in the early evening, and the next 4 hours would be filled with FAST metric-mile action. The first race of the evening produced the fastest 1500m ever run by an NCAA athlete, as a University of Alabama athlete (Eliud Kipsang) raced to a 3:33 collegiate record! Nearly the entire heat followed on his heels under the 3:40 barrier. Heat #2 was nearly as fast, as numerous runners dropped into the 3:30's again. The evening continued in the same fashion, and in time the 'Cats athletes began following up these record performances with PR's of their own.

First to step to the tartan surface for Chico State was Conor Wells, a 6th year senior who's finishing up graduate studies while enjoying his final year of eligibility. Everyone in Chico knew that Conor was ready to drop a big mark, as the week before in Sacramento he'd basically solo'd a 1:52 800m PR in a massive windstorm. His 3:50 PR, posted in SF a few weeks earlier was to go down, and it was just a matter of how much he'd lower it by. Conor's race went out at a solid 60 second clip from the gun, but unfortunately the pace settled in the second revolution and he would hit 800m in 2:04. The pace quickened over the next 300m, and as the leaders approached the bell Wells was positioned among the front group. With 250 meters remaining Conor surged to the lead heading into the final turn. The Chico crew sprinted diagonally across the infield to cheer Wells on down the final straight, sensing he was running a big PR. Unfortunately Redlands' Tucker Cargile would deploy his 1:48 800m speed to beat Conor to the line. The heat-loss was quickly outweighed by the 3:46 that displayed on the finish clock following his run. As I glanced at my watch I realized that Conor had split the final 700m in 1:40, which is a good sign that there's more there, if the pacing is a bit more even throughout.

Katie Hawley was next to light up the track for the 'Cats, as the San Diego native stepped to the line with a 4:41 PR, and determined to get into the 4:30's. Katie's heat went out VERY fast from the gun and pace recognition had her sitting in last place at 200m with a 35 second split. The 400m was reached in 73 seconds, but the pace was slowing, so Hawley used this window to improve her positioning among the field. By the beginning of the third lap Katie was placed among the top third of the field, and ready for the pace increase after the pack absorbed the slowish 76 second-lap split. Lap 3 was covered in 71 seconds and Katie took on the challenge of covering this big surge. Fighting for every place over the final 300m Hawley sprinted to a top-5 finish and a 4:34 PR (:53 final 300m). The new PR moves her to within a second of our Top-10 list, and into the #2 spot on the CCAA yearly list. Stay tuned!

Rory Abberton is running his first track season in uniform, having red shirted the '18-'19 season, and then having Covid steal the following two. It's a shame that we lost the past two seasons, because guys like Rory are showing us what would have been, these past two years. Just 24 hours removed from his 14:26 5k PR, the Torrance native blitzed a massive 3:48 1500m PR. With a previous best of 3:55 coming into the race, Rory needed some help just to get into his heat. After initial laps of 61, 62, and 62 (3:05-1200 split) Rory seized the lead down the backstretch making a bid for the heat win. Although he would lose the sprint finish, his 42.9 final 300m sealed the massive PR.

Alexi Steinmaus a RS frosh from San Luis Obispo HS had a rough 5k on Thursday, so the goal on Friday was to race with confidence and fire. Her 4:55 PR had her seeded last of 25 runners in her heat but you'd never know this by watching her run. Steinmaus' heat went out very fast from the start, so she placed herself at the end of the pack, biding her time to move up. Just as teammate Katie Hawley had done in her heat, Steinmaus moved forward several places with each straight, finding herself among the leaders of her heat as they hit the bell. Steinmaus has a stride that might strike most as suited a bit more for the 5k-10k distances as it's very efficient.. But when she opens up the stride and increases the turnover, she covers the ground quickly. With 300m remaining Steinmaus moved past the race leaders and made a bold move for the win. Coming off the final turn Steinmaus still held the lead and she'd even gapped her nearest pursuers. Alas a Portland State athlete found a final gear over the final 100m that allowed her to pass the Chico athlete just before the line. Steinmaus had covered the final 400m in 72 seconds, and she had a 9 second PR (4:46) to show for her efforts!

Gracie Dupuis would double back from her 17:28 5k PR on Thursday with a 4:45 1500 pb. Daniel Hernandez would do the same, bouncing back from his 14:43 with his first sub 4 (3:56), while nearly winning his heat and closing in 60.0. Dylan White who's struggled as of late with sickness had a disappointing 14:57 5k on Thursday, and wasn't sure he'd be able to race on Friday. Thankfully he gave it a go and scored his first sub-4 with a 3:58 PR. Bennett Woodward would also bounce back from a near-5k-PR, with a 1500 PB, racing to a 3:57 in his heat. Cameron Duquette (4:00.4), Michael Ramirez (4:01) and Walker Doucette (4:01) would all double back with PR's as well.

Next up for the 'Cats is the Chico Invitational which will be run on Saturday April 23rd (Tomorrow!) at University Stadium. Most in the Chico distance crew will contest the 800's and/or 1500's, with a few guys making steeple debut's. If you're able to make it out, we'd love to see you!