Wildcat distance runners open season at Wildcat Invitational
Sienna Bianchi only double winner as many improve upon their mid distance PRs

Saturday, March 14, 2026
Comments & photos by Gary Towne/Chico State Distance Coach

I'm pleased to announce that after a long break from competition (Dating back to NCAA XC) your Wildcats are back in action, as it's officially track season. As we've done in the past we opened our track campaign at home at the Wildcat Invitational. Temps were a bit warm and there were some north winds to deal with on the finish stretch, but overall it was a beautiful day for a track meet and we took advantage of the opportunity presented to us. As we usually do, we loaded up the 1500's with both mid distance and distance athletes, creating solid fields in both races. A few doubled back in 800's and relays to get in some additional speed, and some finished their running day with some post-1500 workout intervals on the backtrack.

Overall it was a very productive day for the 'Cats as they prepped for a bigger competition in San Francisco the following weekend. Please follow below for results and highlights from the races.

Women's Steeple: Most of our steeplers will use this coming week's meet as their seasonal debut over the barriers, but Olivia Beschorner has plans to get after a 5k in SF, so she used our home meet to brush up on the barriers. The defending CCAA champion looked pretty well technically over the hurdles and water jumps, but the 70's temps made a PR attempt more difficult than she'd hoped. (It should be noted that Olivia is a North Dakota native, where they're used to shoveling snow off a track in March).

Olivia, despite the heat, settled for an easy win while recording a CCAA leading 11:15. Given her skills over hurdles and water jumps, and her huge breakthrough this fall, I would be surprised if Olivia doesn't cut :45 off this time as the season progresses.

Women's 1500m: The plan for our top distance women was to hold an even 75 second pace per lap (4:41 pace), and then close off that. Yours truly felt as though we could potentially get 6-7 under 4:40 if the race played out well and if we weren't too aggressive too soon. Despite running without Iresh Molina (who will join the fold this coming weekend) the women did a great job of executing this one. Della Molina took the pack through 400 in a mid 75 second lap, as the massive group chased Monterey Bay's Rachel Hoops (2:13/4:38 Pr's from '25). True frosh Paulina Martins took over in lap 2 and things settled just a touch as the pack hit 800 in 2:32. Not one to allow a pace to dawdle Megan Malloy made her way to the front as the pack hit the backstretch the penultimate time. Despite having a PR in the 4:50's Megan hit the front and ratcheted down the pace pretty quickly, putting some space between several of the top 'Cats, while also closing the gap on Hoops.

In the final revolution Junior 4:29 gal Sienna Bianchi found another gear and only Martins and Malloy were able to stay close. The trio motored away from the rest of the field over the final lap with Bianchi taking the win in 4:36. Martins would follow very closely with a low 4:36 of her own (Bianchi and Martins would close under 70 seconds). Malloy would skip the 4:40's all together while clipping 12+ seconds off her previous PB with a 4:38. Della Molina would give the 'Cats 4 under 4:40 with a nice final 100m. Hoops would cross next just missing her PR, and Chico RS Frosh Kira Forsberg would drop over 10 seconds from her PB with a 4:40.9. For good measure Kaya Scuba, Jasmine Fletcher, Catherine McGuire, and Isabel Rosales, would all finish between 4:43-4:45. Madison Decker (4:49) and April Anguiano (4:50) would give the 'Cats 11 of the top-14 finishers on the day!

Men's 1500m: It's nice to have a 3:39 1500m guy on the team who's willing to use an early race as an opportunity to pace his teammates to a good time. Defending CCAA 1500/800 champion Damian Garcia agreed to pacing the men's race for 1200m at a hoped 62 second per lap clip. This was a pace that we felt would be a good fit for our top guys, given where we're at currently with overall fitness.

Of course pacing is easier said than done. Damian got the pack through 400m in 62.5, but slowed during the second lap and ran a 64.0. Hearing the slow-ish split Damian switched gears, along with Sean Alliegro, Sergio Cuartas, Alex Lamoureux and Mario Giannini. Alliegro, who's PB coming into the run was a modest 3:59.7 would seem the most unlikely to push Damian from behind, but as Damian approached the bell Alliegro literally passed his pacer, and Damian decided to step off the track.

Making a big push for home Alliegro hammered the penultimate turn with at least a stride or two on his nearest teammate. Just when it appeared that Sean might steal this one, teammate Mario Giannini came to life and exploded down the backstretch. Giannini, with a 3:50 PB set two seasons ago looked great as he took over the lead with a half-lap remaining. Mario would run a 57/58 final lap to record his second lifetime 3:50, while teammate Sergio Cuartas would close well with a 3:53 PB. Alliegro held on for a huge 3:54.1 PB. Fellow sophomores Alex Lamoureux, Michael Torres, and Adrian Hippolito would finish next with a trio of 3:55's, giving the 'Cats a 1-6 sweep on the day. Jesus Villarreal and Devin Pereira would also crack 4 minutes on the day. New transfer Brett Ephraim would debut for the 'Cats with a 4:00 as well. All told, this was a solid first outing for the 'Cats 15 crew.

Women's 800m: The Wildcat women enjoyed a 1-4 finish in the two lapper. Senior Sidney Garcia led the race through 400m (67) with teammates Sienna Bianchi, Kaya Scuba, Catherine McGuire, a few ticks back. Scuba made a big move down the backstretch overhauling Garcia and taking the lead for a short stretch, before Bianchi found a closing gear that was too strong for her teammates. Bianchi would win her second race of the meet with a 2:17.1 opener. Garcia would fight back for second (2:17.9), while Scuba and McGuire would finish in 2:18's. True frosh Ava Marie Csutoras would double back from the 15 nicely with a 2:19 opener.. as did Katelyn Espino who enjoyed a 4:54/2:23 double.

Men's 800m: Damian Garcia bounced back from pacing duties in the 1500 to get after a seasonal opener in the 800m. The Turlock native would lead gun to tape in this one, splitting 55 low through 400m and powering home ahead of two Humboldt pursuers in 1:52. It should be noted that Damian opened with a 1:56 a year ago at this meet, and eventually went on to run a 1:49 in April. Damian, who already owns the school's 1500m record, has his sights set on the 800m standard (1:48.90). First though, he'll be contesting the 5k at the Stanford Invite in a few weeks, where he hopes to become the school's 4th sub-14 guy. He ran 14:00 at Sac State a year ago in his only attempt at 12.5 on the season. Getting back to Saturday's 800.. Soph Michael Torres bounced back from the early 3:55 with a slight PB over 2 laps (1:57.7).

Men's 5,000m: In order to run in the conference championships in a number of the distance events, athletes need to have hit a minimum qualifying mark, to keep field sizes within check. The men's 5k mark is 15:30 and we sent two of our steeplers out Saturday to get that mark, so they can be used to help continue our hoped success in the 5k going. Anders Beil and Joseph DePascale operated among a decently sized lead pack that ran between 73-75 laps throughout (perfect!). Anders would take the win on a warm afternoon in 15:20, while DePascale gave himself a 3.29 second cushion for the standard, while taking 3rd. Mission accomplished and onto steeple openers next week for both!

Next Up: Johnny Mathis Invitational @ SF State. As previously noted, most steeplers will open their barrier campaigns, as well our distance folks in the 5k's. Stay tuned as we built toward the bigger meets ahead.