Soggy conditions fail to deter athletes at Wildcat Invitational
Chloe Taylor sets school record 400h while Cats dominate distance events

Saturday, March 11, 2023
Comments & photos by Gary Towne/Chico State Distance Coach

For those who reside in California, you know it's been quite an extended winter that we've had. Given that the good majority of the past 20+ days have included wind and some precipitation, it was no surprise to have some wet conditions at our first home meet of the year (The Wildcat Invite). Thankfully we caught a big break in that the winds were negligible, thus allowing for some good early season times and racing. Competing teams were CCAA rival Humboldt State, and some area JC's (Butte, Redwoods, Sierra). The 'Cats would open most distance athletes in 15's and/ or 5k's, with a handful doubling back for 8's.

Overall it was a solid first week of racing for the 'Cats. Please follow below for quick summaries of each race.

Women's 1500m: The women's 1500 would be an intriguing battle for the title with Chico's Marissa D'Atri (4:33 PR) a returning All American Steepler, vs College of the Redwoods' Hannah Hartwell (a numerous time State JC Champ-4:30 PR). Chico would also add Katie Hawley (4:33 PR), and a host of others.

From the gun, D'Atri and Hartwell served notice that this would be a two-woman race at the front, as the pair split a 72-ish first revolution of the oval. The D'Atri/Hartwell match-up lived up to it's billing as the two ran stride for stride/side by side for the initial 1200m before Hartwell began to quicken the tempo. Unable to respond but still closing at a solid pace D'Atri held on for an eventual second place finish. Hartwell would record a fine early-season 4:34 time, while D'Atri would cross in 4:38.1 (6 seconds faster than the '22 Wildcat meet). Hawley would close with a big final lap to claim 3rd place (4:50). Chico's Avery Lambrite (5th) would crack the 5 minute barrier for the first time with a 4:54 finish, and fellow 'Cat Natalie Dinen would drop her PR to 4:54 as well, while taking 6th.

Men's 1500m: Wildcat Assistant Kyle Medina towed the fast heat of the men's 1500 through an evenly paced 2:05 for the initial 800m. Along for the ride were Chico's Rory Abberton (3:44 PR), Bennett Woodward, Jack Emanuel, and Red Shirting true frosh Damian Garcia. Humboldt also had a few among the lead group at mid-way, including HSU grad student (and 3:53 guy) Nicholas Brichta. As Medina exited the track with his work done, Abberton inherited the lead with Brichta and others on his heels. As the race approached the 1200m mark, the lead group began to splinter and Brichta took the lead from Abberton with just under 300m remaining. Abberton would bide his time well, and re-pass Brichta for good in the final 100 meters. Damian Garcia would enjoy a very fine collegiate debut with his 3:55 run for 3rd. Humboldt and Chico would trade spots between 4th and 10th. The 'Cats would come away with 5 of the top-9 with each running 4:00 or faster in the early season event.

Women's 800m: Junior Katie Hawley would bounce back from an earlier 1500 to claim the win in the 800m in 2:20. Natalie Dinin and Sienna Bianchi would also double back with 2:27 800m efforts on the day.

Men's 800m: With most of the 800m field doubling back from earlier 15's, there were plenty of tired legs taking the line for the 2 lapper. Bouncing back the best were Humboldt's Aris Valerio (1:52 runner in '22 and defending CCAA runner-up), and Chico's super-frosh Damian Garcia. Garcia had beaten the Humboldt runner by 3 seconds in the earlier 1500, but Valerio's 1:52 PR is 2 seconds faster than Damian's over 800m. Valerio held the overall lead through 550m before Damian made his move for the win down the backstretch. Holding the lead into the final turn Garcia pressed the pace, but Valario was able to match his cadence. Coming off the final turn Valerio made his bid for the win slowly drawing even with Garcia (who wasn't going down without a fight) and gradually inching ahead for good over the final 40 meters. The Humboldt athlete would hit the tape first (1:54.8) with Damian finishing less than a second behind in 1:55.2.

Women's 5000m: The 'Cats would stack quite a few athletes into the 5k this week given that a planned 5k in Sacramento the next week was no longer in the cards due to a meet cancellation. Leading the way were severa who were doubling back from ealier 1500's, including Marissa D'Atri and Hannah Tiffany. D'Atri would have a rematch on her hands w/ Redwoods' 1500m champ Hannah Hartwell (also a 16:48 5k runner!). Just as they had in the 1500 earlier, Hartwell and D'Atri separated from the field early and ran stride for stride for the initial 3200m. A big difference in the 5k was that D'Atri held the rail and didn't run the extra distance beside Hartwell as she had in the 15 earlier. Just before 3200m D'Atri began to separate from the Redwood standout while eventually sailing away to victory and a new PR (17:07). Running a Very well executed 5k track debut was Hannah Tiffany who ran a swift 5:22-ish final 1600m to overhaul Hartwell in the final 1600 for second (17:31). The Wildcat women would eventually pack 10 into the top 11 by the finish.

Men's 5000m: The plan for the men's 5k for the Chico guys was for the top guys to run around a 10k race effort throughout and notch things down over the final kilometer. The younger guys had the green light to attack the race as an all-out effort, which should hopefully create a pretty large pack at the front of the field. The race went pretty close to plan as the 'Cats hovered around a 15 minute tempo for the initial 3200m, before dropping the pace over the final 1600. In the end Abberton would claim his second victory of the day with a 14:49 seasonal debut. Jack Emanual would finish just 1 second behind, with Joshua O'Neill, Cameron Duquette, Charlie Giannini, Daniel Hernandez, and Jayden Olea finishing just a few seconds behind. The Chico boys would take the top 12 spots in this one with 7 finishing between 14:49-14:56.