Each year a handful of Wildcats head south to Azusa Pacific the week after CCAA's in search of one last PR, or to improve their chances of competing at the NCAA Championships. With Saturday being the final day to post an NCAA qualifying mark, and the top 22 in the country advancing to the championships, athletes converge on APU from all across the country. Leading the way for the Wildcats (once again) was Damian Garcia who smashed two school records over the weekend. The junior from Turlock took down Peter Paplanus' 22 year-old 2-lap record with a heat winning 1:48.23 time. Less than 24 hours later Damian posted the second fastest 1500m ever by a NCAA DII athlete. His finish time 3:35.61 is the fastest in DII this season (by nearly 3 seconds) and of course lowers his own school and conference records. It should also seal his place on the start line of this summer's United States championships to be held in New York City. Leading the women was frosh superstar Paulina Martins, who ripped a 16:26/4:26 (5k/15) double. Her new 5k PB secures her a spot on the line at NCAA's where she'll be joined by teammates Iresh and Della Molina. Both of the Orland HS alumna's times rank inside our school's top 5 all time, as she now slots in at #5 in the 5k, and #3 in the 1500! It was another epic weekend of racing, so feel free to check out the recaps below for some additional highlights.

Day 1:

Women's 800m: Kaya Scuba had a nice race going until getting tripped up with 150m remaining and nearly falling to the track. Regaining her momentum she would finish in 2:16, just a second off her seasonal best. Thankfully she would have the opportunity to bounce back in the 1500 the next day.

Men's 800m: The Chico State 800m record dates back to 2004, which was before Damian Garcia was born. In those 22, years a number of 'Cats have come close to the mark, including Derek Morton's 1:48.90 which was just .01 off Peter Paplanus' school standard. Damian had run a 1:49.6 a month ago on the APU track, but his heat went out slowly through 200m, before negative splitting the race. This week we weren't excited that Damian was placed in the third fastest heat of the day, but he was determined to get the record, even if he had to lead every step of the race.

Thankfully Damian didn't need to lead the entire way, as he slotted into third position rolling through 400m in a perfect 53.5 split. As the leaders hit the backstretch Damian took the lead for good, drawing a bead on the finish. A 54.54 final revolution gave him the heat win, and the school record. The new school standard is 1:48.23. You can bet Damian will be looking to push that standard down to 1:47 before he's done. His new PB also qualifies him for next week's NCAA Championship, And was the 2nd fastest time recorded in the meet. Of course the 800 was just the rust-buster for the weekend as Damian was entered in an incredible 1500 heat the next night. Time to rest up.

RS Frosh Jacob Camacho didn't quite make our CCAA roster with his 1:54 time run at APU in April, so he was hungry to take another crack at the distance this week. Although he never looked completely comfortable out there, Jacob dug deep over the final 200m and closed well to nab the 1:53 that he was hoping for. Splits: 56.2/57.4.

Red shirting true frosh Aaron Feaster was out in an aggressive 54 seconds in this one. The final lap was a test of lactate tolerance and toughness, but Aaron was rewarded with a 1:54.4 PR.

Women's 5,000m: Paulina drew the fastest heat of the meet with her 16:41 PR and unfortunately for her, the race had only a handful of entrants, and most would be following a pacer shooting for a 16:20 finish time. Paulina initially tucked in behind a few Adams State athletes but soon realized that the main pack was quickly drifting away. During the second lap Paulina shifted gears notching a swift 77 second split, but still ran a few meters off the 16:20 pace group. Credit Paulina for running a brave race on this night. Although she never quite fully connected to the 16:20 pack, Paulina locked into a series of 78 second laps (with a few high 77's splashed in there) and established a buffer of sorts between her target time (16:30ish) and her current pace. Paulina's 3k split (auto timed 9:49) is officially #8 AT CSUC for 3k, and her 3200 (10:28) is over 10 seconds faster than her HS PR from last spring. Paulina's 5:18 final 1600 split was slower than the first two, but it made no difference, as her dedication to staying close to the 16:20 pace group helped her to an eventual 4th place finish, and 16:26 finish time. As mentioned previously, her new PB ranks her as the fifth fastest 5k runner in our school's history, and places her among the NCAA's top-15 heading into the national meet next week. Onward to NCAA's!!

The 'Cats would send 3 to the line in the second heat. Frosh, Isabel Rosales, and April Anguiano would attempt to improve their 17:12 and 17:40 PR's, while senior Jasmine Fletcher was hoping to finish her Wildcat career with a solid run of her own.

Isabel narrowly missed becoming the 'Cats 6th sub 17 runner on the year with her 17:03 finish time. Anguiano also enjoyed a nice PB with her 17:28 finish time. Fletcher, who was coming off a 10k/5k double at CCAA's hit a bit of a wall in the final mile, as her calves completely locked up. She would still somehow manage a 17:21 finish time, capping a wonderful Wildcat career.

*Btw, you now have to run 16:37 just to make our women's top-10 list for the 5k as Alex Burkhart's 16:39 was bumped from the list with Paulina's run.

Men's 5k: RS frosh Xander Schulte-Sasse joined teammate Michael Torres on the line in the men's 5k. Torres had run a 14:41 PR early this season before turning his focus more toward the 1500. Xander came into the season with a good winter base, only to pick up a knee injury in late February, which took him out of 6 weeks of running. Xander had only around 4 weeks of workouts under him leading into this one, but a 9:10 3200m tt last week showed that he was making nice progress toward fitness.

Michael and Xander followed a train of athletes around the track at a 70 second per lap clip for as long as they could hold it. Unfortunately, Michael stepped out of the race as his laps began to go south in the second half. Xander stuck with the pursuit hitting 3k in 8:50 but showing the pain that comes with a lack of run-specific fitness. It wasn't pretty, but Xander ground out a very impressive 14:46 PR while placing 4th in his heat. Having been in this position for over 30 years now, I can attest that if we can find some consistency of training and health with Xander over the coming years, he's going to be a weapon over the 5k and 10k distances. Stay tuned!

Men's 10k: The men's 10k didn't go as well as we'd hoped, but in all honesty it was going to be a long shot for the 'Cats in this one. With the main group running 70 second lap splits you really had no options but to commit to the pace for as long as you could, and then hold on for dear life from there. Two of our three entrants (Sergio Cuartas and Jesus Villarreal) were coming off 10k/5k CCAA doubles, and Matthew Gordon stepped to the line with a PR of 30:50. Predictably Gordon held onto the pace the longest running through 5k in 14:44 (29:28 pace), but with about 10 laps remaining Matt hit an abrupt wall, as splits quickly escalated into the upper 70's per lap. Cuartas stepped off the track before 4 miles, and Jesus eventually would catch and pass Gordon. It wasn't what we'd hoped, but Jesus ended his Wildcat career with a hard fought 30:42. Matthew held on to a near-pr of 30:52 (the hard way!). Last week's CCAA 10k champ (Pomona's Tommy McDonald) landed between the two 'Cats, showing his fatigue as well.

Women's 10k: Kira Forsberg went into the night having run a 35:17 debut at Bryan Clay in April. In looking at the NCAA list prior to Saturday's race it appeared that Kira would need to drop into the 34:50's for a chance at NCAA's. She would have two main hurdles in this pursuit. First, the field wasn't very deep, and the 10k is an event where competition helps. Next, she'd run the 10k/5k double last weekend at CCAA's, and given that she's still only a RS Frosh, Kira doesn't have the accumulated strength in her legs to recover from big doubles like this. With all of this being said, there was no doubt that Kira was mentally prepared to tackle her third 10k in 4 weeks.

Kira would roll through 5k in 17:28 (which is :30 faster than her 5k PR last year) and looked well doing it. Her pace through half-way was right on track, but the second half would be tough as her four person group was showing signs of fatigue. By the four mile mark Kira was leading the race overall and her closest competitors were starting to slip from her 84 per lap rhythm. Kira had caught early leader Ana Cristina Navarez Ramirez of Mexico, but her splits were slower than what was needed to grab that sub 35 minute time. Despite slowing from the needed pace during the fifth mile, Kira was still running the fastest laps on the track, and by 8k she held the race lead by 3 seconds. Over the final mile you could see the fatigue hit Forsberg's legs and she did all that she could to get to the finish. Ramirez would climb back into the lead over the final kilometer, but none of the entrants would crack the 35 minute barrier. Kira managed a hard fought 35:32 for second place which ends an amazing breakthrough year of running for a gal who never even ran track in high school!

Day II (Saturday)

Women's 1500's: The 'Cats sent three to the line in the 1500's. Junior Sienna Bianchi returned after her tumble at CCAA's in hopes of lowering her 4:27 PR and improving her chances at an NCAA berth. Paulina Martins would double back after her huge 16:26 the evening before, and of course fresh off her CCAA title in the 15 the week previous. Last and certainly not least for the 'Cats was Kaya Scuba who ran 4:31 as a true frosh a year ago (CSUC true frosh record).

Kaya and Paulina drew the second fastest heat, which was honestly an ideal one for dipping under the 4:30 threshold. Paulina placed herself among the top quarter of the field from the gun and locked into a 71/72 second per lap pace.. Scuba, who's seasonal best was 4:35, sat back a few spots biding her time and measuring her efforts. As the pack began to separate with the pace taking it's toll, Paulina made a move to bridge up to race leader Ryann Smith from Alaska Anchorage. Scuba was also moving by athletes down the final backstretch. Paulina's strength would win the day as she scored a heat victory in a massive 9 second PR (4:26.55). Scuba would close well taking 5th in a seasonal best 4:32.4. Paulina's new PB suddenly vaults her into the #3 spot on the school's all time list.

Sienna Bianchi's 4:27 seed time was just fast enough to squeak into the fastest heat of the meet which may or may not have been the best option, given that the pacer at the front would be running 68/69 seconds per lap (4:16 pace). The plan for Sienna was to drop straight to the back and go for a ride, using pace recognition to guide, and competitiveness to hopefully win the day down the stretch. Sienna did a Great job of running to her race-plan dropping to the back of the fast-moving field and following on the heels of a club runner from Mexico. Sienna rolled through 800m locked into this position, but then sensed that the pace was slowing a touch, so she moved ahead and began to bridge the gap to a few runners who were falling from the main group. Over the final 600m Sienna kept the pace even and honest and managed to pull a few of the tiring runners from ahead back. With her head down and knowing that a trip to NCAA's might be on the line Sienna hammered down the final straight, finishing 8th in her heat in a new PB of 4:26.83, narrowly missing Paulina's time from the previous heat. Sienna's new personal best mark is the new #4 in school history AND, as of today's declarations for NCAA's lands her in the FINAL spot to the big dance next week! WoooHooo! *Note that Paulina's time would have qualified, but we'll focus on the 5k with her, which helped to unlock the spot for Sienna!

Men's 1500m: Early in the week leading up to Last Chance Damian Garcia texted yours truly with a picture of his 1500 heat for the weekend. We'd heard rumors at Bryan Clay that a high powered 15 was being set up for Last Chance, so I'd hoped that Damian's 3:39 from last season would be good enough to get him into such a race. Thankfully all of the above were true. The heat was LOADED, and Damian's name Did appear near the bottom of the rank order list.

Here's a bit of what Damian was up against in his heat:

Jake Heywood- Professional from UK, 2nd at European Champs 15, 3:31.08 1500 PR.
Craig Engels- NIKE, twice 4th place @ Olympic Trials, 1500/800. 3:33 1500 PR.
Marco Langon-Villanova, NCAA runner-up. 13:05 5k, 3:33 1500 PR.
Ziad Audah- Belgium 3:37 1500 PR.
Isaiah Givens- U of Colorado 3:57 full mile in Boulder, 3:37 1500 pr. DI All American
Chris Caudillo- Cal Poly SLO- 3:35.6 PR, 3:56 mile, 13:28 5k.
Carson Smith- SLO, 1:47-800, 3:38 in last year's Last Chance meet.
There were more, but these were the top seeds.

Getting back to Damian's early week text. After sending me the list of names, he wrote: "I need that heat" In hindsight, I'd have to agree!

With a field like this assembled we weren't surprised to find that the heat was to be paced at 3:35 pace initially, and then the top guys would try to close fast off of it. Damian's PR was 'only' 3:39 from last year's Franson meet, but the day before last year's 15 he managed a 1:49.6 for his 800. This year the 8 had gone much better (1:48.2), which gave this coach, (and hopefully Damian) that much more confidence going into such a quick heat.

Cal Poly's Aidan McCarthy (an All Amercan 800m runner, and 3:53 miler) took the front of the field, with Engels on his heels as both appeared to be pacing from the gun. Langon filed into the third spot, followed by Hayward, Caudillo, Smith, Audah, Givens, and Damian. Cruising through 1200 to go Damian looked controlled and engaged, hitting 300m in 43.8. With a pair of strong engines pulling the train from the start, the pace was honest, and during the second lap a gap began to form between the front 4 and the Belgian Audah. Givens swung around, and Damian followed, trying to make up the slight gap that had already formed. Soon enough Damian was attached to the main group. From 1200 to go to 800m to go Damian split a 57.5 lap. The next revolution was covered in 57.2 and even with the increase in tempo, and having passed a tiring Givens, Damian had a gap to make up to reach Smith, Caudillo, Hayward, and Langon. As the pacer stepped off the track Marco seemed to find another gear, and as he hit the bell it was apparent that he was chasing Simeon Biernbaum's new 3:31 DI NCAA record. Hitting the bell in 2:38 I remember thinking that Damian could run a 60 and still PR. Of course Damian was chasing much bigger goals than a 3:38 as he put his head down and chased the leaders the entire final lap. Hitting the final straight on the heels of the front group Damian made his way past SLO's Smith but couldn't quite catch Caudillo who'd smashed SLO's school record with his 3:35.1. Damian sailed through the finish in 3:35.61! As I sprinted to the finish from down the infield I had hit the split button when Damian crossed the line, and I honestly couldn't believe my eyes when my watch read 3:35. When we reached Damian Assitant coach Scott confirmed that Damian's official time was indeed a 3:35!

Damian's new Personal best smashes his own school record by some 4 seconds, and ranks him #2 All Time in DII behind last year's NCAA Champion Tituan LeGriz from Wingate (via France). The mark is also a USATF Qualifier, which was a goal of Damian's going into the season. He'll also go into the NCAA meet as the #1 seed on paper. Onward to NCAA's.

Thank goodness there was a heat or two between Damian's race and Alex Lamoureux's. It took a few minutes to gather ourselves before re-focusing. Alex has by far had the biggest breakout season of any of our men. A year ago he broke 4 min once in the 15 and didn't make our conference roster. This year the RS Sophomore has been on a tear. Here is his progression for the 1500 through the current season: 3:55, 3:50, 4:07 full mile, 3:49, 3:48 (CCAA's). What was next?! Watching Alex operate at 60 second pace made me think he could potentially average just that, in the right race.

On Saturday Alex put that theory to the test and basically ripped off a series of laps right on target pace. Here are his splits for reference: 45.5, 60.1, 60.5, and 59.61. Alex' finish time: 3:45.86 which makes him the 10th fastest Wildcat Ever for the distance, narrowly displacing Wildcat Legend Mark Hoefer, who ran his PR in 1986. Alex' new PR is also the #2 best time in the CCAA and West region this season.

Red shirting frosh Aaron Feaster would double back from an 800 PR (1:54) on Friday to narrowly miss his 15 PR in a tactical run. Despite closing in 2:03.1 for the final 800m Feaster would finish 4th in his heat in 3:55. Feaster has enjoyed a solid spring season and should be a factor in the coming years as he continues to gain strength and experience.

Women's Steeplechase: The 'Cats would send sophomore CCAA 2nd and 4th placers Olivia Beschorner and Zoe Aitken to the line in the barrier event. Olivia was determined to run in the low 10:30's in an effort to punch her ticket to the NCAA Championships (10:42 PR). Zoe hoped to improve on her 10:58 PB, run the week before at CCAA's.

Olivia was on the desired pace through to the 3-lap-to-go mark, but four 84 second laps turned into an 87 and 88. With a lap to go Olivia came back to life and rallied hard over the final 200m to record a swift 81 second close. Her final time (10:38.00) was a 4 second PB, but would most likely put her on the NCAA bubble. Zoe would struggle in this one, as it was clear that her legs were not yet recovered from CCAA's. The Lodi native still managed a respectable 11:06 finish time.

As yours truly studied the final NCAA list the night after the steeples, there were two athletes tied with 10:37.99 times (each just .01 ahead of Olivia). I remember having a sinking feeling that this could potentially be the break-point to getting to NCAA's for the year. Unfortunately, on Monday we realized that this was indeed the case as Olivia ended up #23 on the final declared list for the championships, basically missing a trip to the big dance by .01. Heart-breaking, but at least she has two more years of eligibility to get to nationals and add to our list of steeple All Americans.

Men's Steeplechase: All three CCAA scorers from Chico State would contest the steeple on Saturday. Adrian Hipolito (2 X CCAA runner-up) would lead the charge with his 9:07 PR. Junior Joseph DePascale would bring a 9:15 PB to the line, while senior Anders Beil would be ending his Wildcat career, minus a massive run that it would take to potentially qualify for NCAA's. Unfortunately for Beil his week following CCAA's was really tough on the academic front, as he had to complete his senior capstone project and present it the day before the race.

Hipolito entered the race with a very legitimate goal of breaking 9 minutes and hopefully qualifying for NCAA's. His goal was to follow an even 9:00 clip, not worrying about the front runners who might go out faster, and then kick home the final lap. The nationals list was looking as if a high 8:50's time would be good enough to make the NCAA field.

95% of Adrian's race went very much according to plan. A lead group of 8-10 led the race, hovering around 8:50-8:55 pace, while Adrian stayed locked into the plan. The timing company's splits tell the tale as Adrian ran: 37.9 (from start to the finish), then a series of laps in: 71.2, 72.5, 71.5, 71.8, 72.0, and 71.9. Hitting the bell in 7:49, Adrian just needed a sub 69/70 close to lock down an 8:58-8:59. With 200m remaining Adrian found another gear and as he swept through the final water jump he began to move by several slowing athletes, and with just the 100m stretch and a barrier in front of him, Adrian was eating up real-estate on the lead group with each stride. Just when it appeared that he was going to punch his ticket to the dance, Adrian stumbled off the final barrier and tumbled to the track, taking out a runner who ran beside him in lane one. A Western State athlete who he'd just passed moments before summersaulted over the pair, and one by one each hopped to their feet in disbelief as to what had just happened. Adrian ran quickly to the finish stopping the clock in 9:02. Upon landing after the barrier mishap Adrian's lead foot completely tore through is spike, so he ran the final 50 meters barefoot with the shell of his spike wrapped around his ankle. I've never seen anything like it.

It's not often that a 5 second PR stings like this one did, but it was hard not to be shocked at how close he'd come to making his first NCAA field. The athlete from CBU that Adrian was about to catch as he approached the final barrier finished in 8:58, and the winner had run 8:55. We'll never know what he'd have run, but thankfully he's got a few more seasons to punch his ticket to the dance.

Senior Anders Beil struggled in his final race, which was a tough way to go out for a guy who's poured so much into this event. Anders has struggled each season since high school with a body that has been very unpredictable with regards to recovery from workouts and races. He does graduate as a 4 time CCAA scorer, and a legend among his peers on the team.

Joseph DePascale would run in the second heat and struggled mightily with his hurdling. Spending much of the early laps in a lead pack Joseph struggled to get the timing of the hurdles correct, and ended up fartleking much of the first mile. Despite the tough hurdling Joseph rattled off 5 X 73 second laps, before the surging finally caught up with him. He would finish in a respectable 9:18 and has a lot to take away from his junior season.

Next up: The Cats will be heading to the NCAA Championships to be held two weeka in Emporia, Kansas. We've qualified 5 women and 2 men. Della and Iresh Molina, Megan Malloy, Paulina Martins, and Sienna Bianchi on the women's side. Damian Garcia and Mario Giannini will represent the distance men. Janey Rubio (pole vault) will join the distance 'Cats, and our men's 4 x 4 relay has also qualified (for the second straight year!)