I'm happy to report that the  Chico State Distance crew enjoyed a very productive Hornet Invitational this past Friday/Saturday. Meet organizers split the four distance events between the two days, with steeples and open 3k's being offered on Friday evening, and 8's and 15's (in that order) on Saturday afternoon. With the generous scheduling, several Wildcats bounced back from 3k's on Friday with 15's on Saturday.

The high level of competition was also welcomed by the Chico crew. Stanford, CAL, Montana, Sac State, UC Davis, Nevada, and USF were just some of the top squads represented across the distance fields. Since we had so many folks racing, I'll start by listing the times that the Chico athletes produced in the various distances each day. Then I'll give a few thoughts on the various races/highlights.

Friday
Women's Steeple: 10:27.97 Marissa D'Atri NCAA Provisional Qualifier, NCAA leader, 1st place
Marissa beats an impressive field, including Stanford's 9:14 3k/16:03 5k runner Riley Stewart while kicking to the win. Her season opener lands her atop DII for the barrier event and should guarantee her a spot on the National start line for the 3rd straight season.

Men's Steeple:
9:28.12 Hunter Dougherty (So) PR, 2nd overall.
9:32.43 Adrian Hipplolito (Tr Fr) Debut, narrowly misses US JR Champs Qualifying mark
9:45.34 Anders Beil (So) Seasonal Debut

A solid seasonal debut for Dougherty, who debut'd in the event a year ago, only to lose the remainder of the season with a foot issue (this was his second steeple ever). Hippolito, a true frosh from Madera South HS is going to be one to watch. Although he's red shirting this spring, his 9:32 debut is in the top-3 debut's by a Wildcat true frosh in recent history. Beil (9:20 pb) had a rough day with his body shutting down on him mid race.

Women's 3000m:
  9:52.65  Iresh Molina (Fr) Debut, Top 10 AT CSUC5
  9:58.14  Della Molina (Fr) Debut
10:04.99  Katie Hawley (Sr) PR
10:14.33  Jaclyn Denham (So) Misses PB by .01 ;v)
10:17.86  Hannah Ryan (Sr) PR
10:22.98  Jasmine Fletcher (So) PR
10:35.88  Megan Malloy (Tr Fr) PR
10:39.55  Jennifer Ruiz (Jr) PR
11:53.34  Melissa Barajas (Fr) Just diagnosed w/ anemia.

Overall a solid round of 3k's for the ladies.  The Molina twins mixed it up well in the fastest heat of the day (despite the stadium lights going out midway through) and both came away with sub 10 clockings in their first ever 3k races despite Della's more aggressive start catching up with her over the later stages of the race. Katie Hawley won the second heat with a sizzling 73 final lap while clipping almost 10 seconds from her previous best. Jennifer Ruiz also won her heat, giving the 'Cats 3 wins on the night!

Men's 3000m:
8:17.04  Mario Giannini (Fr) PR, 4th fastest of day. Last lap 60 sec
8:20.22  Brayden McLaughlin (Jr) PR
8:25.79  Travis Selby (So) PR
8:32.11  Matthew Gordon (Fr) PR, won his heat
8:33.25  Blake Webster (Tr Fr) PR (Red shirting), right behind Gordon
8:33.25  Daniel Hernandez (Jr)
8:36.21  Jesus Villarreal (Jr) PR
8:39.26  Dylan White (Jr)
8:45.71  Sean Alliegro (Tr fr) PR (Red Shirting)
8:55.37  Andrew Stevens (Tr Fr) PR (Red Shirting)
9:10.01   Michael Torres (Tr Fr) Red Shirting

Some nice PR's in the men's 3k. The Chico crew would put 6 guys into the top-13 on the night out of 54 total runners. Mario, Brayden and Travis all ran very evenly paced races en-route to their new PB's. True frosh Blake Webster's 8:33 was also a pleasant surprise.

Saturday
Women's 800m:
2:17.24   Sienna Bianchi (Fr) PR, Heat winner. 
2:18.27  Katie Hawley (Sr) doubling back from 3k PB on Friday
2:23.91  Olivia Beschorner (Tr Fr) (red shirting) seasonal best.
2:25.56   Natalie Dinin (Jr) seasonal best

Bianchi was placed in a pretty modest heat, and led most of her race en route to the win and narrow PR. Hawley was clearly a bit tired from the big 3k win the evening before but still managed an evenly splitted 2:18 seasonal best mark.

Men's 800m:
1:54.76  Damian Garcia (Fr) seasonal best

Not the greatest run for Damian considering he ran 1:51 in the early season a year ago, but this was his first fresh 8 of the season. Plenty more to come.

Women's 1500m:
4:36.12  Della Molina (Fr) PR
4:43.69  Iresh Molina (Fr) PR
4:46.39  Jaclyn Denham (So) Doubling back from the 3k
4:47.83  Alexi Steinmaus (Jr) Seasonal Best
4:47.88  Sienna Bianchi (Fr) Doubling back 1 hour after 800m PR

Della drops under the 4:40 threshold in her second 1500 ever. Sister Iresh struggled with stomach issues, but still managed a slight pr. Jaclyn doubles back with a strong 1500m run after her 3k the evening before. Steinmaus' 4:47 is her first sub 4:50 since the '22 season.

Men's 1500m:
3:50.08  Mario Giannini (Fr) PR
3:54.04  Alex Lamoureux (Tr Fr) PR
4:02.69  Damian Garcia (Fr) Doubled back from 1500, 80min before.

Quick shout-out to CSUC 1500 school record holder Kyle Medina for an amazing pace-job in this one. With all 3 'Cats placed in the second fastest heat of the day, we knew that some pacing at the front might be helpful. Kyle brought the pack through even 62 second splits to the 1200m mark. True frosh Alex Lamoureux assumed pole position behind Medina through the 3 lap mark. The chase pack made a move down the backstretch passing Alex, who just didn't have a closing gear. Mario Giannini sat on this group as they made their surge into the 200 meter-to-go mark. With 150m remaining Mario took the lead, and his surge ended up becoming a winning one as the Chico HS product closed in 43-point for the final 300m en route to a 3:50.08 PB. Alex hit a bit of a wall in the final 50m and finished with a 3:54.0 PR. Given that he was hoping to grab a USATF Junior qualifier (3:53) Alex was slightly disappointed.. but he has plenty of season left to get the mark, and I have no doubts that he'll earn his spot on the line in Eugene this summer. 

Next Up: Spring break, and a week off racing. Then the Mike Fanelli Distance Carnival the following weekend (29/30) @ Chabot College.