Having just returned from the Johnny Mathis Invitational in San Francisco, I'm happy to report that our Chico State Wildcats enjoyed quite a Saturday of racing. There were a lot of great performances had, but the highlight was certainly the women's 5k, where the 'Cats put 5 women across the finish before 17 minutes had expired. The top 4 in the race all ran under the NCAA provisional standard (16:53) giving the 'Cats some impressive representation on the national level. Despite being a bit of a glorified intra-squad event the men's 5k also produced a good number of PR's for the 'Cats. Please follow along for short recaps of each event, along with some photographic highlights.

Women's 5k:
As this past cross country season evolved it became apparent that our women had collectively taken a huge step forward from the 2025 track season. Of course cross country courses vary in length and difficulty, so we had to wait for track season to come to see just how far we've progressed. Training has gone pretty well for our women collectively, and glimpses of our potential have been offered in several of our tougher sessions. The game-plan for Saturday's 5k was for our top women to work together near the front of the field, trying to lock into an even 17:00 rhythm (81-82 seconds per lap). A very helpful part of this equation was having a healthy and fit Iresh Molina in the field. Adding to the fun for the Chico women was the fact that CSUC 1500m school record holder Ayla Granados was in the race, and had hopes of breaking 17 minutes as well. Before the start I told Ayla of our plan and she was on board with working within our group.

As the race began, several standout club runners from nearby Peninsula Distance Club took the front, covering the opening laps at an even 80 second clip (16:40 pace). Maya Weigel Olympic trials marathon qualifier, was pacing teammate Izzi Gengaro (also qualified for the upcoming Oly Trials marathon). Knowing they would be ahead chasing a 16:30's run, the 'Cats laid off the early pace, and Iresh Molina went to work in guiding her teammates through a smoothly covered 5:25 first 1600. Shortly after 2k Gengaro had already fallen from her pacer ahead, and the 'Cats group was making up ground on the pair with each passing lap. Weigel, having dropped her teammate, stepped off the track during the 6th lap, and by lap 7 the 'Cats pack had caught Gengaro. After the better part of a lap following on Gengaro's heels yours truly let Iresh know that they'd slowed to an 84. Iresh swung around, and soon the 'Cats (past and present) occupied the top 6 spots of the competition. 3200m was reached in 10:56 (17:05 pace) but the Chico women looked ready to rip the final 4.5 laps to get under 17. As the inevitable sub 80 laps began, with Iresh pushing from the front, twin Della appeared ready, as was Megan Malloy (17:38 PR coming in), and Paulina Martins (5k track debut). Granados strained, but kept close to the Chico quartet in front of her. Going into the race a big question was whether RS Frosh Kira Forsberg (17:51 PB from '25) would be able to dip under 17 Saturday. Kira gave up some valuable meters to her teammates over the final 1500m, BUT she held on well enough to where a sub 75 final revolution would get her under the 17 minute barrier.

Iresh, Megan and Della all closed the final lap in 70-71 seconds to dip under 16:50. Paulina Martins became the 'Cats first sub 17:00 true frosh EVER with her 16:51 finish (73 final lap!). Granados would follow next in 16:57, and with a 74 second final lap, Kira hit the tape in 16:59.10!

Lost in the depth of speed ahead of her was RS frosh Isabel Rosales who hadn't broken 18 last track season, but ran a very controlled and methodical 17:19 on this day. Olivia Beschorner would record a 17:39 PB, but was a bit disappointed given that she was running a bit closer to our top gals in the fall. Same for Senior Jasmine Fletcher who crossed in 17:43. Heat 2 brought 100 percent PR rate for a solid group of younger 'Cats who had themselves a day in SF. Sophomore Grace Reed led the charge with a big 18:04 PB. True frosh Hailey Anglin-Solis followed with an 18:10 track debut. Sophomore Roxanna Diaz crossed in 18:21, as did true frosh Angelina Jensen (18:21). Melissa Barajas came next with an 18:29 PR with true frosh Aubrey Pacheco just 1 second back in 18:30.

After the conclusion of this 5k I'd say that the present And the future of this women's team is very bright!

Men's 5k:
The Wildcat men may have been overshadowed by the women on the day, but having had some time to evaluate their performance, the guys had a very productive morning over the 5k distance.

The pre-meet rank order list showed several of Alaska Anchorage's top XC guys entered, and in chatting with our guys after the race, they seemed to think that the AK guys would want to take some of the early work to keep the pace honest. Unfortunately AK's top 5k guys had elected for the 1500 instead on the day, and the 'Cats had to lead every step of the charge in this one. Mario Giannini and Sean Alliegro did a fair amount of the work at the front keeping the pace close enough to 70 pace, to where we could get some guys under 14:30 by the end with a decent close.

Alliegro, who's Tffrs PR before the race was Over 15 minutes, has been on fire lately in workouts, and in recent races (last week he dropped his 15 pb from 3:59 to 3:54). Today Alliegro took the lead again from a mile out and rattled off a few 68 second laps. Mario took control after that, and a final circuit of 62 gave Giannini his second win of the early season. Sophomore transfer Sergio Cuartas III followed closely with a 14:26 PR, while Alliegro made his first sub 15 count, with a 14:27 finish time. Jesus Villarreal would finish 4th in 14:31, while teammate Alex Lamoureux would nab a shiny 14:33 PB. Michael Torres (14:41) and Matthew Gordon (14:43) would also record Pr's on the day. True frosh Owen Anderson would dip under 15:00 with a 14:51, while Andrew Stevens crossed in 14:56.

Women's 1500m:
The Chico women didn't have the greatest of fortunes in the 1500 on the day, as collectively they looked a bit hesitant to assert themselves through the course of the run. The exception to this was second year runner, Catherine McGuire (who joined our team just 1 year ago after giving up her roster spot on the CSUC soccer team. McGuire ended last spring with a 4:44 1500 PR, and last week in Chico tied that PB in her season opener. On Saturday McGuire followed teammates Sienna Bianchi (4:29 PR), and Kaya Scuba (4:31 PR) through the early laps in the 74-75 pace rhythm. As Scuba fell off the pace and Bianchi fought hard to stay among the top 2-3 in the field, McGuire locked in and gave herself a chance at her first sub 4:40. With a few meters on her teammate going into the bell Bianchi's 70 second close gave her a 2nd place finish behind Alaska's top runner. Catherine caught a big gear over the final 200m though, and nearly overhauled Bianchi with her 68.9 second final lap. Catherine's big close gave her a massive 4:36 PR, and now the women have nearly 10 sub 4:40 runners on the roster!

Men's 1500m:
With most of the 'Cats contesting the 5k earlier, the spotlight was cast on Damian Garcia, who was making his seasonal debut for his specialty event. Alaska Anchorage would send a few guys to the line with high 3:40's seed times, but the plan for Damian was to run behind teammate Michael Torres (doubling back from a 5k PR earlier) who would take him out in a 60-61 second clip hopefully. From there Damian would hopefully front-run to the win. Things went surprisingly according to plan in this one as Michael did a great job of getting Damian through the early splits before stepping off the track at 600m. The Alaska guys at first trailed closely, but back to back to back 59-point second laps eventually gave the Chico junior a comfortable lead over his pursuers from the north. Damian kept the pace under the 60.0 threshold until the final 150, when things got a bit tougher. Still, Damian would hold on well for a 3:46.00 finish time and win. Recent transfer Brett Ephraim looked a bit ragged in his 1500, but held on for another 4:00 early season effort. He would double back nicely in the 800 later.

Women's 800m:
Having struggled with confidence a bit in the 1500 Sienna Bianchi bounced back nicely in the 2 lapper, nearly notching a PR with her 2:14.59, which was good for 4th overall. Catherine McGuire would also double back well after the huge 15 pr earlier with a 2:17 near-pb. Perhaps the most entertaining race of the day was that of true frosh Ava Marie Csutoras, a Chico HS product. Running in heat 2, Ava told me before the race that she would try to win the heat. In watching her first lap, there was no doubt that she was serious about this goal, as she rolled through 200m in a swift 30 seconds. 400m was reached in 63.1 seconds and Ava ran WELL clear of the closest pursuer. As is usually the case in situations like this, Ava looked a bit distressed running down the backstretch the final time, but at the same time she was holding her composure well. Then the final 150m hit, and her stride began to shorten, and her cadence became less frequent. Somehow, even while finishing with an 11 second difference between lap splits Ava managed to nearly run a pr (2:17) and held on for the win. It wasn't pretty, but I'm quite confident after watching this run that Ava has a Lot to look forward to in the coming years. Stay tuned!

Men's 800m:
Damian Garcia bounced back from the 1500 earlier in the day and enjoyed another gun to tape victory (1:53), this time over 2 laps. The pleasant surprise in this one was the emergence of RS Frosh Jacob Camacho who looked very strong with his 1:55.02 PR. Running in heat 2 Brett Ephraim doubled back from the earlier 15 with a strong 1:56.6 win, which ended up becoming the 3rd fastest on the day between the 3-4 heats.

Women's Steeple:
Chico would send a pair of second year athletes to the line in the women's steeple. Zoe Aitken had run in uniform a year ago, notching 11:26 as a true frosh. Teammate Katlyn Espino red shirted last year and notched an 11:37 PB. Now they joined a solid field in SF for their seasonal debut. The plan on paper was to get out in the 86-88 range, and try to keep the pace under 90's throughout. Of course things rarely go to plan, and this race was no different, as the pair sailed through 400m in 81 seconds (whoops!). For those familiar with the steeple, you know a hot early lap like this will always show itself later, but what's done is done, and all instructions from the infield were uplifting and positive. Even having heard the splits for laps 2 and 3 Zoe seemed to have a hard time settling into the desired pace. 4 laps was reached in 5:40 and the Lodi native had a large lead on her nearest competitors, who at the time were a pair of Monterey Bay athletes, who had just passed Espino. The final 3 laps were VERY challenging for Zoe, who notched a few 93 second revolutions, before closing with a 90 to just hold off a hard charging Hannah Amondsen (Monterey Bay). Katlyn had a disappointing 11:48 seasonal debut, but I'm confident she'll be running at least in the low 11's by season's end.

Men's Steeple:
Going into Saturday's barrier event the Chico men were ranked 1-4 in the field, with 9:07 sophomore Adrian Hippolito leading the way and no one else in the heat seeded under 9:50. Thankfully St Mary's added 9:04 guy Oisin Spillane (a Tulsa U transfer) to the field, the day of the meet. Spillane took the race out at 67 seconds, and although Adrian let the tall Spilane (6'4?) drift off ahead before reaching 400m, it was helpful having the large figure out front as a target of sorts. Adrian ran a VERY impressively mature race pace-wise. After a 69 second opening lap (chasing Spillane) Adrian would rattle off 6 consecutive laps at 72-73 seconds! Unfortunately Adrian didn't have a big close, otherwise he'd have opened the season with a low 9:0's mark. Either way, Spillane would hold on nicely for an 8:58 PR, and Adrian would follow in 9:08. Fifth year senior Anders Beil gave up some seconds in the second half of the run, but held on well for 3rd place (9:31) with teammate Joseph DePascale crossing just 1 second back in 4th. True frosh Garrett Fenske running in his first 3k steeple ever, raced to an impressive 9:45 debut!

Next Up: The Wildcat distance crew will take a weekend off racing, before heading to the Bay Area for the Stanford and Mike Fanelli Invitationals in early April. Stay tuned for some great distance action.