Without a doubt the best meet of our season each year is the CCAA Championships. It's the one time where all groups within our track and field team come together and combine forces to attempt to defeat our conference rivals. After a season filled with invitationals where athletes' #1 goals are to chase PR's, it's nice to step back and just focus on competition, and trying to score as many points as we possibly can for the team's pursuit of titles. Unfortunately, there were no team titles earned this past weekend, but the 'Cats did place second in both competitions behind strong Cal Poly Pomona squads. The Wildcat men's team had a very substantial chance at scoring the win, but suffered too many injuries and setbacks (during the weekend) to overcome unfortunately.

On the distance front the 'Cats enjoyed another solid CCAA outing. Wildcats won 5 of the 10 distance races, and missed a sixth (Men's 1500) by less than .1 seconds. Marissa D'Atri's third straight year of winning both the steeple and 5k finals was definitely the highlight for the team, as was Brayden McLaughlin's victory in the Men's 5k, that extended our 12.5 lap win streak to 21 years. The women also enjoyed an incredible 5k as the 'Cats crowded 5 into the scoring 8 by the finish. Unlike in the recent past, CCAA powers that be decided to place the 10k finals on Thursday, the steeple finals on Friday and the rest of the distance finals on Saturday (also having 1500m prelims on Thu & 800m prelims on Friday) instead of having all finals except the 10k on Saturday (& all the prelims on Friday). Onward to some race re-caps below.

THURSDAY EVENING:

800 Prelims:
Women: Senior Katie Hawley, and RS Frosh Sienna Bianchi each nabbed spots into Saturday's 800m final, guaranteeing the 'Cats 2 scorers for the event.

Men: Damian Garcia ran a very controlled 1:53.2 while grabbing an auto spot into Saturday's final.

Women's 10k Final: The plan in the women's 10k initially was to have senior Hannah Ryan dictate most of the pace at the front, trying to dial in 86's per lap. We figured this would give her the best shot at a podium spot, and would put a bit of damage into Stanislaus' Najwa Chouati's legs (she was scheduled to run the 10/15/5k triple!). Unfortunately the winds were pretty bad on Thursday night so we decided (as the race unfolded), for Hannah just to tuck in behind early race leader Kimberly Lima (East Bay) and bide her time a bit. At 5k, the green light to take the front was given to Hannah, and she swung around Lima and pulled the pack through an 86 second revolution. Chouati followed closely, as did teammate Yahaira Zuniga (a podium finisher a year ago), as well as San Bernardino's Alexis Wallace, and Lima. Chico's Sophie Pelletier and Jenny Ruiz formed a bit of a chase group some distance behind, and true frosh Megan Malloy ran in 9th position chasing the final scoring point on the track.

In the final 800m of the race Chouati, Zuniga, and Wallace switched gears and left Ryan behind, having to settle for 4th place. Lima would cross the line 5th, and then the 'Cats would scoop up 6th, 7th, and 8th spots with Pelletier, Ruiz, and Malloy finishing before Pomona's only two runners. Although we'd hoped to have a runner on the podium, scoring all four runners, and forcing Pomona off the charts was a small victory inside the battle for the title.

Men's 10k Final: On paper this one looked like a classic Chico/Pomona duel with Pomona sending Francisco Zavaleta (14:22 5k guy, 10k debut), Daniel Echeveste (14:21/3:52 guy), Juan Ramos (14:44 5k), and Thomas McDonnell (XC All CCAA and All West Region). The 'Cats would send CCAA XC champ Dylan White to the line (30:40's PR), Daniel Hernandez (30:03 PR), Travis Selby (14:39/30:54 PR's), and Matthew Gordon (14:48/30:50). Add East Bay's 2 X XC ALL CCAA guy Cole McKain, and there was your race for scoring spots.

Given that Echeveste and McDonnel had missed much of the season (presumably with injury) it was decided that we needed to create a decently honest pace in order to put the Pomona guys in some distress. The plan was to have our four guys rotate the front of the race with each taking 800m stints, before drifting out and letting the next take the front. The Pacing plan didn't go quite as smoothly as planned as Pomona attempted to disrupt the pace as they were able, and Travis Selbly unfortunately fell from the lead group before the 3200m mark of the race. Still Daniel Hernandez, Dylan White and Matthew Gordon each took some strong pulls from the front, getting the lead pack through 5k in 15:25. Gordon fell from the lead group sometime in the fourth mile, as did McKain.

Heading into the second half of the run Dylan White's pull from the front dispatched teammate Hernandez, leaving just White, Zavaleta and Echeveste in a three man lead group. Just when it appeared that Pomona would place two onto the podium Echeveste cracked, and fell from the now two-man race for the title. Sensing that he had his competition on the ropes Dylan squeezed the pace down to a 70 second lap, which broke Zavaleta as well. Over the final 800m White had such a commanding lead that yours' truly encouraged him to "Save some for the 5k." As hard as it was for Dylan to not go for it over the final 800m (especially since he was running a PR) he did dial things back, while enjoying his second CCAA title this school year. Zavaleta held on well enough to secure a second place finish for Pomona, but Echeveste's fall from the podium was a hard one as Hernandez And Gordon swept him up over the final revolutions of the track. With the big surges over the final meters the 'Cats had placed 3 into the Top-4, helping the team's chances in the title hunt.

FRIDAY:
Women's 1500 Prelims: The 'Cats would send 5 women to the line between the two heats of the women's 1500. The depth in today's 1500 on the women's side is historically strong, so it would take a small miracle to squeeze all 5 through to the 12 person final, but we ALMOST accomplished this goal, as our fifth runner (Alexi Steinmaus was the 13th fastest between the heats, missing the final time q by just one place. Della and Iresh Molina scored big Q's to the final by virtue of their Top-4 finishes in their respective heats, while Katie Hawley and Sienna Bianchi doubled back from making the 8 final the day before, with q's into the 15 final Saturday.

Men's 1500 Prelim: With season CCAA leaders Ero Doce (3:43) and Nick Melanese (3:44) not contesting the 1500 prelims, the path for Chico's Damian Garcia to the final, and hopefully to the top of the podium became much easier. Damian would run a very relaxed 4:05 prelim, taking the final auto spot into the final.

Women's Steeplechase: A year ago Marissa D'Atri led her teammate Hannah Wirth to a 1-2 finish in the barrier event. This year Wirth began the season injured (knee issue) and missed much of the winter build. Thankfully Hannah has enjoyed some consistent training in recent weeks, and notched PR's in the 5k and 1500 events at the Chico Invite two weeks previous.

The hoped plan for Friday's conference final was to employ a similar tactic as in 2023 where Marissa pulls competition out quickly, then settles to help Wirth hopefully grab a spot on the podium. Marissa definitely did her part as she sailed through 400m in 78 seconds, and had a Sonoma athlete hot on her heels, along with Monterey Bay's top gal. Wirth hung back as planned, but as the race began to evolve she wasn't able to bridge up as we'd hoped. An awkward water jump landing re-tweaked her knee, and the setback pushed her out of the scoring equation.

Marissa would go on to run the most relaxed CCAA winning effort that this coach can remember while just dipping under the 11 minute threshold. Of course it was smart for Marissa to keep things controlled as she'd have some stiff competition in the 5k final the next day. *Sidenote: A Chico State woman has won 11 of the last 12 CCAA individual titles in the steeplechase, including each of the past 8 editions.

Men's Steeplechase: The Wildcats would send two men to the steeple final on Friday. Sophomore Anders Beil had run a 9:20 a year ago and had a cross country season that showed potential for trying to run under 9:00 in the steeple in the spring. Unfortunately Anders has endured some tough health setbacks that have left him less than 100 percent. Thankfully, even at 80% Anders is one of the better barrier runners in the CCAA, and he went out Friday determined to fight for every point he could. Teammate Hunter Dougherty (a Junior) is also quite familiar with setbacks, as he's had two season ending injuries in track that left him with just 1 steeple race to his name going into this season. Hunter has done a great job of making up for lost time though as he's Pr'd in every race this season, most recently running a CCAA leading 9:08 at the Leopard invite several weeks ago. Dougherty's new PB left him as the CCAA "favorite" on paper, but Pomona would counter with 9:10 guy Nicholas Albro the defending Champ, and the runner-up in '22. The Albro-Dougherty battle was certainly one of the more intriguing pre-meet match ups. Especially given the team scoring implications.

From the gun Albro ran as though he were the pre-race favorite as he sailed through 400m in a swift 67 second split. Hunter followed closely, but didn't bite too hard on the frisky early pace. Keeping things measured throughout, Dougherty began to chip away at a several second deficit in the fourth and fifth lap. Just before 2k Hunter, (a walk on who prepped at nearby Chico HS) made a decisive move by Albro, and created immediate daylight between the two. Having been pulled through 2k on PR pace, Hunter kept the pedal to the medal and sailed through the finish in ANOTHER PR (9:05).

While Hunter was securing his first CCAA title, Beil recovered from an early race mishap (someone fell in front of him and he summersaulted off a barrier) to grab an eventual 6th place finish. 13 more team points for the 'Cats after the steeple! *Sidenote: A Wildcat has now won the CCAA title in 17 of the past 20 Championships.

SATURDAY:
Before diving into Saturday's race details I have to add that a Very powerful weather system blew through Turlock during the heart of the afternoon finals. The better part of an inch of rain fell from the sky between 1pm-5pm. The temperatures were cool (around 50F), winds blustery, and the rain was steady. Thankfully the rain was just tapering down and the winds settled just in time for the 5k's and 4 X 4's. The 15's and 8's were really compromised though, with gusty winds blowing from the northwest, creating some very tactical finals.

Women's 1500m: With the winds howling and the rain falling the first of two 15 finals was predictably tactical from the gun. Stan's #1 and 2 seeds Annie Wild and Najwa Chouati ran near the front through a relatively soft 800m split, before making a hard move to gap the field. The early move caught the field off guard, and the Chico women ended up fighting it out with the rest of the chase pack. Senior Katie Hawley attempted to bridge up but burned some valuable matches as she pressed into the headwind on the final backstretch. Della Molina would go by, as would San Marcos' Carly Schuerger. Molina would barely lose a kick for fourth, as Hawley would hold on for 6th. Iresh Molina would give the 'Cats 3 scorers with her 8th place finish. Not exactly the best outing for the group, but Hawley and the twins would return to action with really solid doubles.

Men's 1500m: With the two top seeds out of the men's final, Chico's RS Frosh Damian Garcia sat atop the rank order list with his 3:49, entering Saturday's final. There was a host of low 3:50's guys that would of course make Damian's chase for his first CCAA title a tough one. With the winds blowing hard from the North, there was a challenging head-wind to navigate each lap. The plan for Damian was to stick with the main pack for the initial 1100m before deciding when to make a move for the win. Stanislaus' Dominic Robles (a proven front runner) predicably charged to an early lead, as he had in the prelim the day before. The pack followed close enough to keep the Warrior miler in check, but not so close enough to burn any matches that would be needed over the final stages of the race. Damian played his cards quite well throughout, operating among the lead pack, but not relegating himself to any leading into the wind. With 500m remaining Damian's patience wore out and he made a decisive move to the front, hitting the bell with 11 men in chase.

Taking the lead at this stage was a bit of a gamble given the nasty headwind that he powered into down the backstretch. Despite the winds Damian formed a gap between himself and the splintering chase pack. With 150m remaining San Marcos' 3:51 guy Sanskalp Shastri emerged from the group as a threat to the title. Sensing that he was being chased Damian shifted gears at the top of the homestretch but Sanskalp still had juice in the legs and was ever so slightly reducing the gap between himself and the Chico frosh.  The outcome in this one came down to the wire, as Sanskalp drew even and just passed Damian at the line. The automatic timing showed a .09 gap between the two at the line, with the San Marcos athlete taking home the victory. As the saying goes, hindsight is usually 20/20, and in this case Damian probably should have worked with the group into the windy backstretch before making his bid to win, but thankfully he's got 3 more years to chase and gather titles.

Women's 800m: As I went out to the soggy warm up area to check up on our two 1500 gals who were now warming up for the 800 final I quickly picked up on the broken stride of Sienna Bianchi, who was noticeably limping (her shin had been bugging her all week, and the 3 races in the past 2 days had made it very angry). Thankfully Sienna just needed to finish to score since it was an 8 person final. Teammate Katie Hawley was getting ready for her final race in a Chico uniform, and was in great spirits. Most of the 800m field was doubling back from the 15 final, so it wasn't a surprise to see East Bay's Jenna Rodriguez (fresh) taking the lead and trying to create an honest pace, despite the ever present wind. A clear group of 3 formed as the field approached the 600m mark. With 200m remaining Katie made a bid to chase down Pomona's Alondra Arias who ran 5-10 meters ahead. At first it appeared that Katie might make the catch, but alas, Arias had enough left in the tank to guarantee her podium spot. Katie would finish fourth, while Sienna found a way to get by one gal, scoring 2 valuable team points!

Men's 800m: Damian Garcia was the lone Wildcat in the 800m final, and he was the only athlete doubling back from a previous event. Despite the tired legs Damian will definitely look back at this one as a source of motivation, as he just didn't give himself much of a chance to be competitive in the field. The pace at the front was slow/tactical from the gun as leaders hit the bell in 57.. Damian ran in the back of the field and allowed a gap to form between himself and the main group in the third 200 of the run. The gap wasn't able to be made up and he was tagged with a disappointing 8th place finish.

Women's 5,000m: In 2023 the women's 5k supplied one of the best races of the meet. Chico's Marissa D'Atri narrowly defeated Stanislaus' All American Spanish star Najwa Chouati (16:21 PB) with a wicked final 200m. A year later D'Atri eyed the possibility of becoming a 3 time CCAA Champ in both the steeple, AND the 5k.. She just had to get through Chouati (and the rest of a talented field). The 'Cats also brought the Molina twins back from the 1500 earlier in the afternoon, as well as a fresh duo of Jaclyn Denham, and Jasmine Fletcher. Add Alexi Steinmaus, and Hannah Ryan, and the 'Cats had some solid scoring potential in this one.

With the winds finally dying and the rain tapering to light showers, the women had some decent conditions to work with as they started the penultimate event of the meet. Wanting a half-honest pace, and guessing that Chouati wouldn't (She was running her third event of the meet) frosh Megan Malloy doubled back from the 10k Thursday with some front-of-the pack pacing through 1600 (5:30). As Megan stepped off the track (2k) yours truly figured it would be up to Marissa to drive the pace from there, but Stan's #2 Kaela Disheon (16:28 PR) took the front and started notching 80 second laps (Perfect!). Disheon's injection of pace broke up the lead pack, leaving D'Atri, the Molina twins, Chouati, and Pomona's Vivian Martinez to vie for the podium spots. Jasmine Fletcher ran in the gap between the leaders, and the chase pack behind that included Jaclyn Denham and a large number of gals from various teams.

3200m was reached in 10:58 and Dishion upped the ante with a pair of 78 second laps. These splintered the lead group to four with Disheon, D'Atri, Della Molina, and Chouati. With 800m remaining Marissa's patience ran out and she bolted to the lead. Dishion attempted to shift to the gears needed, but eventually ran out. Only Chouati was able to stay close, as the Wildcat ran a 75ish penultimate lap to the bell. Heading into the final lap Marissa had gapped the field, but Stan's Chouati was moving well and appeared to briefly be making up some meters on Marissa. With 200m remaining Marissa was encouraged to go "all in" by yours truly and everyone around, and she did.. closing with a 69 second final revolution (5:01 final 1600!). Also enjoying a VERY impressive outing was Della Molina who finished just 1 second behind Chouati, despite her quick close. Della probably becomes one of the fastest ever 3rd placers at CCAA's with her 16:47 mark (after the 15 earlier). Dishion would hold on for fourth (16:50).. Iresh (always up to contest a kick) nipped Pomona's Martinez at the line while taking 5th. Jasmine Fletcher would finish next with a massive 20ish second PB (17:20!) and Jaclyn Denham's 17:35 was good enough to give the 'Cats 5 of the top-8 scorers. Alexi Steinmaus also enjoyed a fine outing, ending her Chico State career with a 17:49 PR! What a great way to end the meet for the Chico women!

Men's 5,000m: It's no secret around the CCAA that we have two major streaks rolling these days.. Our men's CCAA winning XC streak turned 21 this past fall, and we were hoping that our Men's 5k streak would do the same on this day. Our best hope for keeping the title in the family came in the form of Brayden McLaughlin. Brayden's 5k PB (14:17) was set two years ago, but until recently his 1500 personal best was barely under the 4 minute threshold. Stanislaus would counter with 7th year senior Jose Garcia, a 3:52/14:20 guy, who closed his PR 5k with a 2:10 final 800m in windy conditions. Chico would also send Mario Giannini to the line, but Mario had missed almost all workouts and a fair amount of mileage in the month of April. Recent weeks have brought more consistent running, but it's been impossible to gage just how fit he is, based on the small number of workouts we've been able to get in leading up to the race.

With a fair number of doubled men in the race, and feeling as though our chances for the best outcome would come with an honest tempo, we once again solicited the help of some of our doubled athletes to create a "quick" tempo from the front. The challenge was running a pace that was fast enough to burn off Jose's kick and to get rid of Pomona's 14:22 guy Zavaletta (doubling back from the 10k) but not so quick that it would dump the run-deprived Giannini.

It was our hope initially that Hunter Dougherty would be our pacer to get Brayden and Mario to 3200 and Anders Beil, and Travis Selby would pace him for as long as they could go. As things turned out Dougherty was more gassed at 1600 than the other two, despite their reaching 4 laps in a modest 4:38. Dougherty lasted another 800m (2:19.0 split) before dropping to the infield.. Selby initially began to peel from the lead group at 7 laps, but saw that Dougherty was stepping off early. The RS Frosh quickly surged, put his head down and gave one last lap to the guys, before exiting the track, absolutely spent.

Brayden assumed the lead, having hit 3200m in 9:17 and looking prepared for the final 4.5 laps ahead. The following lap was covered in 70 seconds, but the 10th dropped to a 68. With 2 laps remaining the lead pack was down to 4.. The Two Chico runners, Stanislaus' Garcia, and Pomona's Zavaleta. The pack remained unbroken until the quartet ran down the straight to the bell, when Garcia appeared to make a move to get by McLaughlin, which was covered, and the two briefly got tangled. The brief mele seemed to give Brayden some extra juice as he surged to the bell with a lead that wouldn't be relinquished. The changes in pace tossed Zavelleta, and had Giannini running a few strides off Garcia, who managed to cover all of Bray's surges. With 200m remaining Brayden held the lead on the rail, while Jose ran just off his shoulder on the outside of lane 1. Mario followed just a stride or two behind. Rounding the turn Brayden caught a gear that Jose finally didn't have an answer to (thankfully) and the Junior from Loomis, CA hit the final straight with a full head of steam, not to be denied his first CCAA track title (2:06 final 800m split). Giannini (who has formidable speed) found a final gear to get by Jose, giving the 'Cats a 1-2 finish. Mario's time (14:21 was a new PR). Zavaletta ran a spirited race (doubling back from the 10 on Thurs) taking 4th. Speaking of 10k's.. Dylan White would double back nicely as well, taking 5th in a new 14:37 PB. Teammate Matthew Gordon would Also double back from the 10k with a PB, notching a 14:44 for 7th place. The 'Cat men would score a whopping 24 points in this one, while adding another year (21) to the streak, that started in 2002 with Tyler Graff's upset victory over a trio of UC Davis athletes. In that 21 year span, 63 podium spots have been up for grabs, and now the 'Cats have claimed 49 of them. This stat might be more impressive than the streak itself. Well done guys!

Concluding thoughts: Whew, what a day and meet this one was. Although both Wildcat squads had come up a bit short of their CCAA title goals, they had fought hard, and represented the program and the school with great honor. It was another incredible meet and I couldn't be more proud of our group, and the tradition that we've built.

Next Up: Azusa's last chance meet this Friday and Saturday.