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Towne earns 12th West Region Coach of the Year honor
11/20/2009 10:54:17 AM
NEW ORLEANS –Chico State Cross Country Coach Gary Towne will have to settle for one U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association West Region Coach of the Year honor this season. Towne, the winner of a dozen such awards in his nearly 14 years of coaching cross country, was recently named the West Region men’s coach of the Year.
Towne has guided the Wildcats to their eighth consecutive West Region title, eighth consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) title, and 10th straight berth in the NCAA Championships this season. His men’s team is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation, and his women’s team is No. 5. They’ll both toe the line at the NCAA Championships Saturday in Evansville, Ind.
The Wildcats kicked off this season by winning the Division-I heavy Asics/UC Irvine Invitational. They also won the Willamette Invitational, the CCAA Championship, and West Region Championship, while finishing fourth in the Division I-dominated Stanford Invitational and fourth in the San Francisco State Invitational with the Wildcats’ “B” team.
Towne, a 1991 graduate of Chico State, also serves as the distance coach for the Wildcats’ consistently successful track & field teams.
In his 13-plus seasons at the helm, Towne has coached 62 track & field All-Americans, including 2007 National Track Champions Scott Bauhs (10k) and Charlie Serrano (5k) and 2008 National Track Champions Bauhs (5K) and Sarah Montez (3K). On the trails, Towne has coached 140 cross country All-Conference runners, 96 All-Region runners, and 33 All-Americans, with Bauhs winning the 2008 National Championship.
Eighteen of Towne’s cross country teams have finished in the top 10 in the nation at the National Championships (his last 10 men’s teams and eight of his women’s teams). Last year, the women’s team finished seventh in the nation for its eighth top-10 performance in the last nine years. The men, meanwhile, finished third in the nation, which marked the program’s seventh straight top six finish and 10th consecutive top-10 performance.
Towne’s teams have collected 13 CCAA cross country championships (eight straight for the men, five for the women) and 12 West Regional titles (eight straight for the men, four for the women).
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Wildcats of the Week
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Women's Basketball
For much of the season, redshirt freshman Caressa Williams has been sitting at the end of the Chico State women’s basketball team bench, seeing very little on-court action. But the former Paradise High School star continued to work hard on her game, and the extra effort has paid off in recent weeks with significantly more playing time. After a string of short but impressive relief roles, Williams delivered a breakout performance Saturday against Humboldt State, posting career highs in scoring and rebounding in the Wildcats’ 90-67 thumping of Humboldt State. Her strongest effort to date makes Williams the latest Wildcat of the Week.
Williams shot over 58 percent (7-of-12), averaging just under 10 points and five rebounds in Chico State’s two weekend contests. She began the weekend with a solid outing Friday against Sonoma State, contributing five points, two rebounds, one assist and two steals in 16 minutes of action. Saturday, though, she was a major part of the Wildcat reserves combining to score 51 in the team’s convincing 23-point win over Humboldt. Williams played 24 minutes, scoring 14 points and hauling in seven rebounds – both career highs – connecting on five of her seven field goal attempts. She also chipped in with an assist and a steal in addition to shining on the defensive end.
Williams’ productive weekend saw her season scoring average more than double, rising from 1.6 to 3.6 points per game. Overall, she is shooting 50 percent from the field and is averaging two rebounds a contest.
Chico State is back in action this weekend, hosting Cal Poly Pomona Friday and San Francisco State Saturday at Acker Gym. Both games are scheduled to tipoff at 5:30 p.m.
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Men's Basketball
Amir Carraway capped a strong weekend with team highs of 16 points and seven rebounds in the Wildcats’ huge win against Humboldt State Saturday night to earn Wildcat of the Week honors for the second time this season.
The sophomore from Vallejo made two game-sealing free throws with 21 seconds left to finish the night 6-of-7 from the free throw line and pulled down key rebounds on two of the Lumberjacks’ last three possessions. He also set the screen on Jay Flores’ dagger 3-pointer with 40 seconds left.
Carraway finished with 10 points and four rebounds despite playing just 18 minutes due to foul trouble during the Wildcats’ loss to Sonoma State the night before.
The 6-foot-5 forward leads the team in rebounding at 5.5 per game and ranks second in scoring at 10.6 points per game a season after averaging just 1.4 points and one rebound in only 5.4 minutes a night. He’s now led the team in scoring five times and rebounding six this season.
Carraway and the Wildcats, among four teams tied for second in the California Collegiate Athletic Association standings, trail conference co-leaders Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Dominguez Hills by just one game. They’ll welcome Cal Poly Pomona to town Friday night and San Francisco State Saturday.
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1.23.12 | General
The Chico State women’s soccer team and cross country programs will be honored for their runs in this fall’s NCAA Championships during halftime of Friday night’s men’s basketball game against rival Sonoma State. The game is scheduled to tipoff at 7:30.
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1.12.12 | General
HOUSTON – Three Chico State distance running alumni will be competing for a spot in the Olympics at Saturday’s United States Olympic Marathon trials. Yes, the Olympics. Charlie Serrano and Tim Tollefson will compete in the men’s race, beginning at 6 a.m., PST, and Tollefson’s fiancé, Lindsay Nelson, will run in the women’s race that’s set to go off at 6:15. Then on Sunday, Scott Bauhs (whose sites are set on the June 22nd 10,000-meter Olympic qualifier) will go after the title in the Houston Half Marathon.
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12.8.11 | General
While the leaves have been falling in the City of Trees, the citiy's University, Chico State, has been rising toward the top of the list of the nation’s best NCAA Division II athletic programs. The Wildcats finished the fall ranked second in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup fall standings, released Thursday.
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11.21.11 | General
Chico State men’s cross country runner Dayne Gradone had already laid the groundwork for a spectacular finish to his 2011 season. The sophomore from Santa Cruz has notched five top 15 finishes and a pair of top 10’s leading up to Saturday’s NCAA Cross Country Championship at Plantes Ferry Sports Complex in Spokane, Wash. Gradone saved one of his best performances for last, earning All-American honors and helping the Wildcats finish the year as the No. 4 ranked team in the nation. His outstanding run has also netted Gradone Wildcat of the Week honors.
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11.19.11 | Men's Cross Country
SPOKANE, Wash. – The members of the Chico State men’s cross country didn’t feel they received much respect heading into Saturday’s NCAA Championships. The haters can keep their respect. The Wildcats will take the trophy.
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11.19.11 | General
The track my be snowy but the picture should be clear if you click on NCAA.com to watch the Chico State cross country teams run at the 2011 NCAA Championships today in Spokane, Wash. The women run at 11 a.m. and the men at noon.
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11.17.11 | Men's Cross Country
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Chico State men’s cross country team is hoping its 13th straight trip to the NCAA Championships is full of good fortune. The Wildcats, ranked No. 6 in the nation heading into the race, certainly won’t turn down any luck that falls their way as they fight for their sixth podium finish in the last nine years against a stacked field. The Wildcats have never finished lower than ninth during that time.
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