EMPORIA, KS - Emporia, Kansas has been good to Chico State track and field. In the early two thousands a young Scott Bauhs earned his first of many track All American Certificates in this stadium. Years later Marissa D'Atri would take 3rd in the NCAA steeple final, and in her final race in uniform she she placed fifth in the 5k final. This year Emporia offered even more spectacular performances, and championship memories for everyone involved.
This year's qualifiers for the 'Cats distance squad were: Iresh and Della Molina (10k/5k), Sienna Bianchi (1500), Megan Malloy (10k), Paulina Martins (5k), Mario Giannini (10k), and Damian Garcia (8/15). The 7 endurance stars joined our men's 4 X 400 relay team, and women's pole vault school record holder Janey Rubio.
I'm very proud to announce that 6 of our 7 distance athletes return to Chico with at least 2nd team All American honors. First team All American is awarded to Top-8 finishers in each final, and Second team distinction is earned by those finishing between 9th and 12th respectively. Newly minted Chico Sportsperson of the year Iresh Molina led the way with two first team All American runs (3rd in 10k, 6th in 5k), while sister Della earned 1st team (5th in 10k) and 2nd team (11th in 5k). Paulina Martins and Megan Malloy would earn 2nd team honors with 9th and 11th place finishes in the 5k and 10k finals. On the men's side Damian Garcia earned his first, first team AA honor with a 5th place finish in the 1500, while his roommate Mario Giannini also earned his first (track) distinction with a hard fought 6th place run in the 10k. Sienna Bianchi missed 2nd team honors by less than 2 seconds in the 1500. Overall it was a very rewarding and exciting championship weekend. Please follow along for some of the details on each race.
Thursday May 21
Womens 1500 Prelims:
Sienna Bianchi was the second to last entrant allowed into the fastest 1500 field in DII history with her 4:26.8 PR run 2 weeks prior at the last chance meet. In order to make the final Bianchi would need to finish among the top 12 in qualifying (top-4 in each heat + next 4 best times between the 2 heats). Given that the 12th entrant into NCAA's this year was a 4:22.2 runner, Sienna had her hands full in making the final.
Going into her heat seeded 11th of 11, the Fresno native had nothing to lose and locked into a goal of beating as many competitors as she could, in hopes of sneaking into Saturday's final. Sienna's heat was pulled out surprisingly fast by Pueblo's top seed Helen Braybrook, who ran a 4:30 for the full mile indoors this year. Braybrook hit 400m in 66-67 seconds, and despite hitting the 400m mark in 11th position, Sienna was through in a 68 split (faster than hoped). The pace settled over the next 800m and despite slowing Sienna gradually made her way up to and past several athletes who were paying a price for the fast early start. Entering the final lap and with 3 athletes behind her Sienna pressed with all that she had, chasing Alaska's Ryan Smith, and Adams' Clara Keddy. Despite running a 69 final lap Sienna would fall a fraction of a second behind this duo, and missed the final time qualifier by 1.8 seconds. This was Sienna's first NCAA track experience, and the junior is already hungry for more in looking to her senior year in '27.
Mens 1500 Prelims:
Damian Garcia drew heat 2 of 2 and was joined by indoor NCAA mile champion Dylan Specker (Pitt St), and Wingate's Klaus Scholz (1:47.1/3:41 PR's), among others who'd run in the 3:40-3:45 range to qualify. After several 63 second revolutions Damian moved to the front just before the bell and was joined by Sprecker. The two shifted gears over the final 400m closing in 56 seconds. Sprecker would hit the tape first, while Damian did enough to keep his chasers at bay from behind. Damian looked quite controlled and ran with a lot of confidence in this one. On to his second 15 final in 2 years!
Men's 10k Final:
Those close to the Chico program have known of Mario Giannini's potential since his arrival from Chico HS 3.5 years ago. Unfortunately, constant health issues/injuries have sidelined him, and hampered his development. Finally, this spring Mario has found a wonderful patch of healthy training, and he entered his first NCAA track championship 10k with a lot of gratitude and motivation.
In the weeks leading up to championship season it's tradition for us to build a lot of changing pace type workouts into our routine, because invariably championship racing is not even and methodical as most of our invitational time-chasing efforts are. It's a good thing that we do, because Mario's initial laps of the 10k offered a glimpse into how these races oftentimes play out.
The lead pack reached the 400m mark in a pedestrian 76 seconds and followed that up with an 86 second revolution to the 800m mark. Just when it looked like this one would turn into a jog-fest, West Texas' Tobias Ritter sprinted off the front, drawing an instant reaction from the crowd. Initially the pack didn't respond, but soon enough top seeds from various teams got to the front and began to cover the move, much as professional cyclists do in a typical road race. A good portion of the top athletes in the field ran the third lap in 68 seconds, but Mario did a really nice job of not biting on the hard surges forward, and tried to keep an even tempo in the 70 second range. There were times in the first 2-3k where Mario appeared to be giving up spots (which he was), but gaps ahead of him were continually being filled, and he managed to maintain contact with the front group through all of the surging. I should mention that Ritter was absorbed by 2k and eventually finished 17th.
Mario ran much of the race in 15th-16th position, but attached to a pack that included the final All American spots, and not far off the lead group. Giannini reached 5k in 15:06 running 14th overall and just 3 seconds off the lead. To be honest Mario didn't look especially comfortable at half-way, so the fact that he would run the next 5k in 14:29 is an impressive statistic. Of course racing for your first All American award can be quite motivating. With 8 laps remaining Mario ran in 13th place. Laps 19 and 20 each brought improved positioning as Mario dug deep and pushed past several tiring runners. With 1200 to go Mario now ran in 10th and yours truly began the Chiiiccooo Chant with our men's 4 X 4 team. The final All American spot ran some 30m up the track, along with Mathew Storer (who's been an NCAA top-10 XC finisher). Mario reached Storer and Mines' Braden Struhs with 2 laps remaining and clearly shifted gears as he moved past the pair and into 7th position on the track. Mario's 66.1 penultimate lap was faster than all of the field, minus the three who were battling at the front for the win. Mario hit the bell 7th and focused on those ahead and not what was going on behind.
Running just a fraction of a second behind Saginaw's Jacob Walker at the bell Mario swung by and began what would be the second fastest closing lap of the field (61.7). Given that Walker wasn't happy to lose his positioning he stuck to Giannini's heels for the entire final lap as the pair hit the finish 6th and 7th Struhs would record the fastest final circuit while taking 8th just over a second back from Mario. Giannini would hit the tape in a massively negative-splitted 29:35 finish time. His final 1600 was covered in 4:29, with a 2:07 finishing 800! What an exciting finish to Mario's season!
Women's 10k Final:
The 'Cats would send 3 women to the line in the 10k with Iresh and Della Molina, and Megan Malloy. Iresh had placed 5th a year ago, while her sister had placed 6th. Megan was making her NCAA debut and ranked just outside the top-10 on the yearly form-chart going into championship weekend.
Iresh stepped to the line with the 2nd best time going in, behind 2025 bronze medalist Allison Kuzma (NCAA 5k Champ indoors this year). Pre-race talks included being ready for any and all paces, and trying to fit our entire trio either on the podium or among the top-12 by the finish.
After a 90+ second first lap Grand Valley's Anastasia Tucker seized the lead and began to crank out 80-82 second laps on repeat. All three 'Cats were placed nicely inside the top 6-8 overall. On paper the pace was a good fit for the twins, but was well under Malloy's PR tempo. Thankfully Megan is an aggressive racer and not easily intimidated. By 3200 (reached in 11:00) the lead group was a defined 13 runners, as the remaining field was losing ground with each passing lap. During the tenth lap Malloy decided that the pace of the lead group wasn't going to be sustainable, so she purposely drifted into the space between the front group and the scattered chasers behind. Usually when this happens to an athlete, it's just a matter of time before they're absorbed by small chase groups. This wasn't to be the case for Malloy, who went from 81-82 second laps with the leaders, to manageable 86 second revolutions while flying solo.
The 12 person lead pack remained together through a 17:10 5k split putting more time between themselves and Malloy, who ran around 50m ahead of her nearest pursuer at the time. Iresh and Della ran in 8th and 9th positions at 5k, but were safely a part of the 12 person pack as Tucker did her thing at the front. Soon after the 9 lap-to-go mark the NCAA Leader (Kuzma) made a big move off the front, catching the pack by surprise. Her 76 second circuit gave her an instant cushion over the field. Iresh quickly moved into second and increased her pace in an attempt to bridge the gap, but quickly realized that the indoor NCAA champ wasn't coming back. Within a lap or two Iresh was re-absorbed by the chase group and now the race was for second, and the remaining podium spots.
In the laps leading to 8k Iresh allowed Fort Hayes' Emily McCullough to take the front for a lap or two before returning to the fore and pushing the pace in hopes of splitting the lead group. Iresh's efforts were rewarded as with 2k remaining (27:42) only second through eighth places ran in the lead group (and thankfully Della was still attached).
Through all of these laps Megan Malloy ran solo between groups in 13th, but holding tight to 86-87 second laps. Megan's toughness and poise were clutch on this night because after 22 laps of racing Megan finally reached the 12th place runner, who had cracked from the fast early pace. An 84 second penultimate lap carried the Walnut Creek native into 11th and a solid 78 second close sealed Megan's first All American run.
The final mile was an absolute battle between Chico's Iresh Molina and West Texas' Ghanian Naomi Addo. In looking at each of the final 4 laps, no less than a quarter of a second separated the two as they both ran a 5:15 final 1600 split. Iresh hit the bell just .2 seconds ahead of Addo, but the West Texas standout would move into 2nd on the backstretch. Refusing to allow Addo to run away with the silver, Iresh dug deep and swung wide off the final turn pulling nearly even on the final straight. Unfortunately Iresh's 70.5 final lap fell just .03 short of Addo at the line in what was a photo finish. Fort Hayes' McCullough would finish next, while Della would improve her '25 placing by 1 spot with a big kick of her own.
Although we didn't quite manage to get all 3 on the podium, we did place all 3 on the All American team, which is quite an accomplishment for the ladies. A year ago Megan finished her season with a lifetime achievement (to date) of 3rd in the CCAA 10k final, and now she finishes her season over 2 minutes faster and among the All American recipients.
Friday May 22nd:
With just the 800 and steeple prelims (and 4 X 4's), Thursday is a pretty short program.
(*Sidenote: Although I haven't confirmed it, I believe this was our first year without at least 1 NCAA steeple qualifier since around 2000. Sophomore Olivia Beschorner missed making the NCAA field by just .01 seconds, and fellow soph Adrian Hipolito was also just off making the field. I like our chances at having more to look forward to on Day-2 next year!)
Men's 800 Prelims:
After Damian ran the 1:48.23 at Last chance it was decided that he'd contest the 800 at NCAA's as well as the 1500. The 8 prelim is on the middle day and the final of course is After the 15 on Saturday. If you manage to make the 8 final, you're an All American just by finishing. The tough news for Damian was that the 800 this year has REALLY gone wild, as no less than 16 DII men had run faster than 1:48.6 during the season. In fact the final entrant into the meet had run 1:48.7.
Running in heat 2 Damian ran at the back of a 7 man field through a 54ish first 400m split. On the backstretch he moved into outside lanes to improve his positioning going into the final turn, but the surge seemed to sap his energy as he gave up the few spots that he'd gained by the time the field hit the home stretch. Knowing he had no chance of advancing Damian cruised it in the final 80m in order to save his legs for the 15 final the next day. In talking with Damian after the race he mentioned that he accidently stepped on the line during the first turn (he was placed in lane 7 and it was a 1 turn stagger). Seeing that he'd been flagged during the second lap left him knowing that even an all-out effort to make the final would have resulted in a DQ.. Sure enough as the results populated in the minutes following his run, he had officially been DQ'd. On to Saturday!
(Men's 4 X 4): The men's 4 X 4 ran into a buzzsaw of sorts in their prelim as they would finish 7th with a respectable 3:09 finish time. Junior Brody Staley ran a scintillating 45.9 penultimate lap to move the Chico men into 5th, but GVSU's anchor would run a 44 split to carry them past Chico and into the final. The Chico quartet would take 12th place (between the two heats), which earns the quartet Second Team AA distinction.
Saturday May 23rd:
Men's 1500m Final:
A year ago Damian Garcia went into the NCAA meet with a top seed time (3:39) from the Franson Last Chance meet, made the final, but fell victim to a typical tactical 1500 final that turned into an all out 400m. This year Damian came in hot off the 3:35.6 at Franson (#2 AT DII) and hoping for an honest race, but also aware that 15 finals are almost always tactical affairs. In looking at the past several years' results yours truly figured that the race would probably be jogging through 800m, and then someone would get into the lead with 600m remaining to gain positioning and wind up a fast final 400m. Not wanting that type of outcome the plan was for Damian to take the front at 800m and switch things to a 57 second pace clip to the bell, and then run the final lap as the anchor of a 4 X 4 does, trying to protect his position, while running the rail, and saving a gear for the final 100m.
The 15 field this year was arguably the best ever assembled at these championships, as 4 of the men who'd beaten Damian in 2025 returned, including Pitt's Dylan Sprecker (Indoor Mile NCAA Champ), and Mohamed Aziz (2024 NCAA 15 champ-3:38 PR), and 3:57 miler David Holman were in the race. Nearly all of the All American favorites had also run between 1:47-1:48 for 800m, so there was no shortage of closing speed present.
With all of the fastest guys having legit 800 PR's, the early pace was once again painfully slow. 300m was reached in 48 seconds, and the next lap was covered in a pedestrian 68 second split. Approaching 800m Damian made his move to the front and began to tighten the pace. His next 300m was around 58.0 pace, which in hindsight was a bit too "slow" as this did very little to string out the field. Running down the backstretch for the final time competitors came up on Damian's shoulder, and he surged to protect his position for as long as he could. Pueblo's Scottish star Caleb McLeod (1:47.1 PR) led the charge as he, Sprecker, Aziz, and a few others made their way around Damian on the final turn. Having been slightly clipped in the frantic close Damian re-gained his momentum and battled down the final straight finishing 5th, less than a second behind winner McLeod who'd closed in 52.65. The entire Top-9 finishers had run 53 seconds or faster for the final 400m, and given that they'd all split sub 60 for the penultimate lap, they all ran 1:52-1:53 for the final 800 as well. The final result certainly stung for Damian, who REALLY wanted badly to win the race, but there's no doubt that this was a very impressive field of runners and Damian has nothing to be ashamed of in his execution of the race. It should also be noted that this field was Very international heavy, as Damian was one of only 2 Americans who finished on the podium (Sprecker being the other).
Women's 5K Final:
It's been a while since the 'Cats had 3 women on the start line of an NCAA 5k final so it was so exciting to see the Molina twins joined by super-frosh Paulina Martins on the line in Emporia.
In talking with our 3 women the morning of the race, I painted the picture of a field that would most likely be split pretty early by several returners of high pedigree, and then a large pack that would be vying for remaining All American spots. Leading the list at the front would be Adams' Tristian Spence who was the NCAA XC Champion this fall and was the defending 5k champ last year. Mines sent a pair of sub 16 runners to the line in Grace Strongman (2nd at NCAA XC, and 15:47 PR), and Emily LaMena (9:58-steeple, 15:50's 5k). Fort Lewis' Hannah Hartwell (4th at XC Nat's this fall) was also running fresh. Beyond this group, yours truly felt that the field would be best served Not chasing the front 3-4, otherwise they could risk blowing up. A year ago Spence ran a 5:03 first 1600 in Colorado and of course this year we were at sea level.
The plan for the Chico women was to hold on tight early, in case the entire lead group refused to allow separation to happen between themselves and the lead trio. The goal was to save the legs the best we could for the final mile, when a lot would happen on the All American front.
Things went pretty much as scripted as everyone ran together through a modest 39-40 second first 200m split, before Spence went to the front and dropped a pair of 74 second laps. LaMena and Strongman were game and attached to the Adams star, and Hartwell decided to bridge up herself, though her presence was relatively short lived given how quick the leaders were running through the first mile.
While the quartet at the front hammered mid 70 second laps, the main group settled into 79-81 second circuits. By 2k the main group had absorbed Hartwell and everyone in the race that wasn't in the lead group of 3, ran among the giant chase group.
Spence, Strongman, and LaMena hit 3k in 9:39 and the main group (which had dispatched just 2 runners in the previous K) crossed the timing mat in 10:04-10:05. All three Wildcat women ran at the tail end of the main group for most of the race. Paulina appeared to be yo-yo'ing a bit as the pace shifted, and yours truly just hoped that she'd stick around to contest the kick (given that she has some sneaky closing speed). At the 9 lap mark Iresh, Della and Paulina ran in 18th, 19th, and 20th, but thankfully each of them would spend the rest of the run collecting places as folks in front of them cracked. With 2 laps remaining Iresh ran in 12th, Della in 15th, and Paulina in 16th. A 77 penultimate lap took Iresh into 9th place. Paulina dropped a 78 to move into 14th, while Della stayed in 15th. Starting the final lap Iresh was moving, knowing that she was on the cusp of making her second podium of the meet. Seeing her teammate up ahead Paulina Martins also began her kick as she swung around several athletes on the penultimate turn. Always a great closer, Della followed suit, and the 'Cats were rocking the final lap of this one.
By the time the pack reached yours truly at the top of the final turn, Paulina had moved ahead of Iresh and ran in around 7th position, but she had some heavy hitters just off her shoulder that included Iresh, and Hartwell. Motivated by her frosh teammate Iresh hit the final straight and flew to the line grabbing 6th place behind a pair of Lee runners that included the 1500 national champ, and her teammate who has a 4:20 1500 PR. Hartwell would edge Paulina in the final 50m, as would West Texas French star Kalkidan Vincendeau who would snag the final podium spot. just .8 seconds ahead of Paulina. Martins' big close did sweep her past GVSU's Lauren Kiley who WON the 2024 NCAA XC title. Della would pass 4 athletes herself over the final lap to claim 11th, giving the 'Cats 3 more All Americans. Iresh had closed the final lap in 69.1 seconds improving her position by 3 spots along the way. Paulina also ran a 69 close (5:08 final 1600) while picking up 5 spots. What an awesome way to end another exciting NCAA meet.
Concluding thoughs.
The women (Iresh and Della) combined for 13 points, helping Chico State to a 20th place team finish. Mario and Damian combined for a 30th place team finish between their 10k and 1500 finishes as well.
Looking ahead: All 7 Distance 'Cats have remaining track eligibility so the future is bright.
In fact only Trey Suffredini (men's 4 X 4) exhausts his eligibility this spring (out of our entire NCAA roster). Also, mark your calendars, as NCAA's will return to CA in 2027. Mt Sac will play host next May. Stay tuned!
