Having just returned from the 2023 CCAA Championships (hosted by San Marcos) I'm proud to report that your Wildcat distance crew represented Chico, and our University very well. Eighteen Distance 'Cats competed for team points in the 2-day competition and all but two managed to add to the teams' runner-up finishes. Highlights for the 'Cats were Marissa D'Atri winning both the steeple and 5k titles (for the second straight year!), Jack Emanuel's 5k win (20th straight title by a CSUC athlete) and the 1-2-3 sweep that he led. Another highlight was the massive runner-up performance of Hannah Tiffany in the 10k. The RS frosh clipped off more than a minute from her PR, and smashed the previous meet record by more than :45 seconds. Her 34:58 PB is an NCAA qualifier (currently #19 on the list), and makes her the 6th 'Cat to eclipse the 35 minute barrier.

Also, a big shout-out to the alumni, parents and fans who came out to support the 'Cats this weekend. It was so fun catching up with each of you between events, and seeing you all brought back great memories of your time here at CSUC.

Onward to the recaps: This year the steeplechase finals moved to Friday, leading off the day of mostly prelim heats of the shorter distances that were then bookended by the 10K finals.

FRIDAY:
Women's Steeplechase: With a PR that was a full minute faster than the #2 seed, (Monterey's Mackenzie Caprino) Marissa agreed to help to create a pace at the front that would be just fast enough for teammate Hannah Wirth to hopefully dip under the 11 minute mark. We figured a mark this fast would help to insure a 1-2 finish despite Wirth's #3 seed going in (11:19 PR). It would also save Marissa's legs a bit for what we knew would be an epic 5k final the following day. Also lining up for the 'Cats was Avery Lambrite who went in ranked 8th with a 12:08 PB.

Marissa did a wonderful job of supplying the pace at the front and even had to chase Caprino to move ahead into the lead by 400m. Allowing Marissa and Caprino to run a spicier first lap than needed Wirth hung back a bit in the early going. By 1200m Wirth drew even and passed Caprino, and now the 'Cats ran in first and second overall. Marissa held sub 11 minute pace to the line, but Wirth wasn't quite able to join her teammate ahead. A solid close gave Hannah her first CCAA podium finish and a nice :15+ second Pr!

Unfortunately Lambrite's race didn't go quite as well, as she fell off the pace of the final scoring spot over the final 800m, eventually finishing 10th overall. *Note: The 'Cats have now won the past 7 editions of the women's steeple

Men's Steeplechase: Cal Poly Pomona would send a pair of 9:10 guys to the line in the steeple (ranked 1-2 in the CCAA). Chico would counter with Anders Beil (9:20 PR), Daniel Hernandez (9:21 PR), and Bennett Woodward (9:24 PR). Woodward was running his seasonal debut for the event after a mid season injury sidelined his training.

The favored Pomona duo jumped to the early lead hitting 400m in a swift 67 seconds. Hernandez cautiously marked the pair ahead, while Anders led a chase pack not far behind. The Pomona guys kept the pace honest throughout, building a 4-5 second lead on Hernandez going through the metric mile mark. Beil was passed by a surging Evan Franco, giving Pomona 3 in the top 4 heading into the final half of the run. Woodward followed in 7th position, but looked prepared for the tough laps ahead.

With just over a lap remaining Nicholas Albro (last year's runner-up) pulled clear from teammate Chris Razo (the other 9:10 guy). Razo was visibly hurting, and Hernandez quickly caught and passed the Pomona runner. Anders Beil has a well known kick in the Chico circles. A number of our guys have been a victim of his final lap wind-up, and true to form, as the RS Frosh from Portland heard the bell, he immediately stepped on the gas. It took Anders less than 100m to catch and pass Franco (who just ran a 4:16 full mile last week) and now Chico ran in 2/4/6 spots on the track. Albro would close well enough to hold off a fast closing Hernandez (9:13/9:15 for the pair).. With 200m remaining the flying Beil nearly fell over one of the final barriers due to the fast approach. Thankfully he would save the landing and charged through the final water barrier with Franco trailing several seconds behind in 5th. As Anders entered the final straight he knew that he could catch Pomona's Razo (who was clearly tying up ahead), he Just had to get over the final barrier and carry the momentum to the finish. As the saying goes "it's not over till it's over" (especially not in the steeple), and Beil unfortunately proved this by catching his trail toe on the final barrier, summersaulting to the track surface. Albro's podium spot was now secured, and to make matters worse Franco cleared the final barrier and passed Beil (while he was on the ground). Not giving up, Beil jumped to his feet and regained his speed. Just before the line Anders drew nearly even with the Pomona runner, but lost a lean at the line, eventually finishing 5th in a PR tying 9:20. Despite the fall Anders' final revolution was still covered in a blistering 66 seconds! Bennet Woodward would finish next, giving the 'Cats 3 of the Top-6 places.

Women's 1500m Prelim: Both Katie Hawley and true frosh Jasmine Fletcher navigated their way through the heats with automatic qualifying spots. Fletcher's run was especially impressive as she needed to lead the pace to not allow it to devolve into a kicker's race. Despite leading most of the initial 1200m Fletcher saved the legs needed over the final 300m to grab a spot into her first CCAA final.

Men's 1500m Prelim: This race was perhaps the toughest result of the day for the 'Cats, as senior Brian Hastings got caught in a tactical affair and was passed just before the line by an athlete that ended up grabbing the final spot into the final. Hastings' season has been a tough one since sustaining a hamstring injury in February. For the first time since this coach can remember, the 'Cats didn't have a male qualify for the 1500m final. It's also the first time that a 3:55 prelim run didn't move on to the 12 man CCAA final.

It should also be noted that defending CCAA 1500 runner up (and All American) Rory Abberton had to abandon the season in March due to a mid-season illness. It's been a tough year for Chico milers, after taking 1st, 2nd, and 4th at CCAA's a year ago.

Men's 800m Prelims: Sophomore Walker Doucette ran a seasonal best 1:53.47 in the prelim, grabbing a spot into Saturday's final.

Women's 800m Prelim: Katie Hawley would finish 4th in a fast heat, grabbing her spot into the 800m final for the second straight season.

Women's 10,000m Final: The 'Cats would send no less than 5 women to the line in the women's 10k. Given that only 1 was ranked among the top-5 on the pre-race formchart it was unlikely that all 5 could squeeze into the Top-8 scoring spots. but the goal was to do our best to try to make this happen. Number 1 seed Gianna Bomarito's 34:05 PR was more than 2 minutes faster than the next best seed (36:08) produced by Chico's Hannah Tiffany, but Tiffany has improved a LOT since the early season 10k debut. The 'Cats would also send Gracie DuPuis (seasonal debut), Hannah Ryan (First race of 2023 having only run for 4 weeks leading up to Friday's race), Jenny Ruiz (37:38-7th ranked), and Jacqueline Cascione (10th ranked). This group would work to cover the main pack and hopefully contend for scoring spots by the finish.

From the gun, Bomarito showed that she indeed was there to run fast from the front, as the frosh from Sonoma blazed through the first lap in 77 seconds (32:05 pace). Stanislaus' Yahaira Zuniga sailed through 400m on Bomarito's heels, and Tiffany followed a step behind. The remainder of the field hit 400m nearly 10 seconds after the trio ahead. Hearing the quick early split Yahaira and Hannah backed off the tempo, allowing Bomarito to carve out a several second advantage by 800m. Hannah followed Zuniga through 1200m (84 lap) before swinging by the Stan runner and surging ahead toward Bomarito. The Chico runner dropped an 80 second circuit (faster than her 5k PR pace!) to re-attach to Bomarito. Hannah would follow stride for stride with the Sonoma runner for a series of 81 second revolutions, and a 10:55 3200m split. By 5k (17:10) the pair had established a massive gap over third place runner Zuniga, who also ran well ahead of a large chase pack that contained all 4 remaining 'Cats.

While Hannah Tiffany was on the doorstep of a massive 10k PB, the remaining 'Cats were enjoying an awesome race as well. At the metric 4 mile mark, all 4 'Cats ran in a pack together with only a few opponents hanging with them. Over the final 2 miles Gracie Dupuis would strike out ahead, while breaking away from the chase group, and into 4th and 5th spots.

At the front Bomarito and Tiffany would lap the entire field over the final half of the run. With around 5-6 laps remaining Bomarito surged a bit and dispatched her closest pursuer. Gianna would run uncontested to an incredible 34:40 finish, smashing the previous meet record by more than a minute. Tiffany paid a bit of a price for the quick early laps recording several high 80's, and one 90 second split, before closing with an 83 that saved her sub 35 run. Hannah's 34:58 mark was of course a massive PB, but also places her among the Top-20 in the nation, and was less more than :45 seconds faster than the previous meet record.

Zuniga would hold on well enough to secure a third place finish for Stanislaus. Gracie Dupuis would finish 4th with teammate's Hannah Ryan, and Jacqueline Cascione taking 5th and 6th. East Bay's Kimberly Lima would take 7th, and Jennifer Ruiz would hold off the 2019 CCAA 10k Champ for the final scoring spot! The Chico women somehow found a way to squeeze the entire 5 into the 8 scoring places after all. A great effort by all!

Men's 10,000m Final: The 'Cats would send 3 to the line in the men's 10k this year, and in looking at the performance chart leading into championship week, we felt that we had a chance for a 1,2,3 sweep. The 'Cats returned defending CCAA Champ Cameron Duquette, Joshua O'Neill (6th a year ago), and Dylan White (ranked 4th going in-30:51 PR). Unfortunately White picked up a nasty case of influenza early in the week and barely made it through our pre-meet the day before the race.

The initial plan of having the 3 'Cats cycling through the front at 73 pace (trying to keep things honest) was pared down to 2 given Dylan's situation. White would run his own race trying to pick up guys as he was able, but not necessarily going with the early pace, given the unknown strength of his body.

The plan worked just as we'd hoped as Josh and Cam traded the front with each 800m covered, and each mile seemed to shed another top seed. Dylan sat back in a chase pack in the early-going measuring his effort, and talking himself through each lap.

After 8k of racing one of Joshua's pulls at the front resulted in a gap between he and Duquette, and Stanislaus' Jose Garcia. Over the following laps Garcia built a decent cushion over Duquette, and at the same time Dylan White had passed another competitor to move into 4th overall. With a few laps remaining Garcia appeared to hit a wall and Cam would move by for an eventual runner-up finish. O'Neill would win his first CCAA title with a strong close and a 30:26 seasonal best. Dylan gained momentum late in the race and had his sights set on Stanislaus' Garcia as he was slowing over the final laps, but ran out of real-estate to give the 'Cats a sweep. Still the Wildcat men would combine for a 23 point team score effort.

Saturday- Championship Day
Women's 1500m: Junior Katie Hawley (2022 CCAA runner-up), and true frosh Jasmine Fletcher went into the championships ranked 3rd and fifth on the pre-race form chart (based on times posted this season). As the race began neither of the pre-race favorites seemed willing to touch the front. Stanislaus' Najwa Chouati had run 4:27 during the regular season, but had a 5k final to contest later in the afternoon. Not one to wait for a big kick finish, Katie Hawley grabbed the front and ran a modest 75-77 tempo for the initial 700m. With 2 laps to go Chouati dropped a massive 67 second lap, which completely blew up the front of the field. Hawley gave chase, running a 70 second lap, with San Marcos' Luz Mercado on her heels. Mercado swung around the tiring Hawley at the bell, and the three front runners would find the finish in order of the regular season rank-order. Jasmine Fletcher ran among the main group throughout and fought hard to nab a fifth place finish (also matching her pre-race ranking).

Women's 800m: Katie Hawley would double back in the 800, and despite running on tired legs (due to the 1500 final 2 hours before) hammered out a hard fought 5th place finish, earning 4 more team points toward the title hopes.

Men's 800m: Sophomore Walker Doucette went into the '23 championships with the 8th best time in the CCAA (1:53.9) but with the experience of finishing on the podium a year ago. His goal going into the final was to tip the cart on the pre-race rankings and make a strong bid for the podium. With a first lap of 54.4 Doucette ran in 5th position on the heels of eventual champion Nick Melanese (San Marcos). While Melanese doubled back with a 55.8 second lap, Doucette lost too much momentum (and two positions) closing in 59.1. The 1:53.50 finish time netted the So Cal native a 7th place finish, just .03 off his seasonal best set the day before.

Women's 5,000m: The women's 5k final featured 3 athletes attempting to win their second title of the meet. Stanislaus' Najwa Chouati had the fastest time of the season with her 16:21 PB set at the Stanford invite. Najwa won the 1500 earlier in the day with a spicy final 800 (2:17). Sonoma would counter with 10k champ and meet record holder Gianna Bomarito (16:51 5k PB). Chico of course would add defending 5k champ Marissa D'Atri who'd won the steeple the day before, and came to the line with a 16:30 PB from the Fanelli Invite.

Chico would also double back Gracie Dupuis, Jennifer Ruiz, and Jacqueline Cascione from the 10k, as well as Jasmine Fletcher from the 15. Going into the 5k the women's team was down by 17ish points to Cal Poly Pomona, who had no real scoring threats entered, but did have a strong 4 X 4 team waiting in the wings.

After watching Friday's 10k final most coaches (myself included) most likely expected Sonoma's Bomarito to take the early lead and create a strong pace. Unfortunately this wasn't the case, as the pack spent the first 3 laps jockeying for position and more or less jogging through 90-94 second laps. Finally the green light was given to Marissa to grab the lead to get the pace going. Having watched Choati's kick in the 1500 earlier left yours truly unsure whether Marissa could outkick her off a dawdling pace so the plan was to make it honest from far enough out, if no one else did.

Lap #4 was covered in 79 seconds and the previously mentioned trio was well clear of the field by 1600 (5:51). Marissa would lead the entire second mile in around a 5:20 split, literally stepping out into lane 2 off several of the turns asking Choati to help with the pace. Choati declined, as did Bomarito. Finally with around 1200 remaining Choati bit on the invite to the front and D'Atri settled into second position just ahead of Bomarito. With around 800m remaining Choati quickened the pace, and within 100m it was a two-woman race for the title. From 600m remaining Najwa seemed to shift into another gear that put Marissa on her heels a bit, but by the bell the two ran nearly side by side. It appeared that Marissa might try to make her bid to the finish on the penultimate turn, but instead she stayed patient and followed Najwa down the backstretch before making a big surge past the Stan runner just before the final bend. Looking incredibly determined Marissa put 2-3 strides into Choati on the turn, and the final straight gave the Chico junior even more daylight, and her second straight Steeple/5k double! Marissa's final lap was timed in 68 seconds!

While Marissa was doing amazing work at the front on tired legs, so were the remaining 'Cats in the field. Gracie doubled back from the 10k the evening before with a 5th place run (4 team points), while Fletcher bounced back with a 7th place finish, helping the women to a 16 point tally and nearly drawing the 'Cats even with Pomona going into the final event of the day.

Men's 5,000m: The Chico men went into the men's 5k with a 19 year winning streak, and on the heels of some major setbacks to our chances to make it 20 in a row. Last year's CCAA 5k runner up Brayden McLaughlin was out for the season with a non-running related injury. As mentioned previously Rory Abberton (3rd in 5k in '22) is out for the season with a medical condition unrelated to running.. and 23:35 8k XC guy Omar Alvarez was also lost for the season with a knee issue. In our eyes, our best chance to keep the title in Chico was senior Jack Emanuel who thankfully has some experience winning this race ('22 5k Champ). Jack is also very keen on the history behind this event at CCAA's, and prepared incredibly well for the chance to keep the streak alive. The 'Cats would send 6-7 to the line, but only several were planned finishers (Emanuel, Daniel Hernandez, Cameron Duquette, and Brian Hastings). The remaining 4 (Anders Beil, Dylan White, Bennett Woodward, and Joshua O'Neill) would be sent out to create a hot early pace in an attempt to get Emanuel to 3200m, hopefully well clear of his closest pursuers (most of whom were doubling back from 1500's or 10k's.

The plan worked to perfection, as Anders Beil (Steeple 5th placer) pulled the leaders out in a swift 4:34 split through 1600. Dylan White now took the front and kept the 68-69 second laps coming. Initially, several of the pre-race favorites followed the 'Cats leaders closely, but during the early stages of the second mile all pursuers were dropped from the pace. The only thing that didn't go as planned was that our hoped final pacer Joshua O'Neill was dropped by the hot pace himself, (as was Bennett Woodward), so White was forced to remain in the race for as long as he could, despite coming off sickness and having a 10k in his legs from the night before. Thankfully Dylan dug into the depths of his mental limits while hitting 3200m in 9:09 before peeling off and allowing Jack to solo the final 1.8k solo. Interestingly enough Josh O'Neill continued running, even passed the 3200m target, and with much of the field behind him reeling from the early pace Josh decided to stick it out and finish the race. As Josh was making this decision, Daniel Hernandez had been biding his time, moving through the field, and eventually clear of any pursuer from other teams. With several laps remaining Daniel caught and passed O'Neill, but thankfully Josh hung strong to easily hold on to 3rd place.

Going into the race it was thought that Jack was our best hope for winning the race, and coming out of it, Daniel and Josh were able to give the 'Cats their 9th sweep in the past 20 years. Of course Emanuel becomes the 20th straight Wildcat to stand atop the podium of the men's 5k. Some added post-race investigation turned up the fact that of the 60 podium spots available in this event over the past 20 championships, the 'Cats have stood atop 47 of them, leaving only 13 to the remaining schools from the conference. It's been quite a run, Literally!

Next Up: A number of 'Cats head to APU's Last Chance Invite on Friday/Saturday 5/12-5/13 hoping to up their chances of making it to D2 Nationals